Food Trucks: A Bubble in Food Service
CEA’s HQ is in Crystal City– an area that is perhaps a square mile at most (here’s a map: http://g.co/maps/tdcfy). There are roughly six thousand residents and about 60,000 daily employees in Crystal City. Like any urban setting there are a plethora of restaurant choices. And yet today there were at least 5 food trucks in Crystal City – District Taco, Doug […]
One of the Key Problems in the US
In 1982 Lenny Skutnik became the first to be invited by a President to sit in the President’s box during the State of the Union address. This year the President invited Debbie Bosanek, Warren Buffett’s secretary, so he could make a political point. We take what was once reserved for recognizing true American spirit, an […]
On Apple’s 1Q12 Numbers, iPads and other Apple-related Musings
Apple surprised to the upside (though it really shouldn’t be a surprise) with their quarter results today. Here is a quick overview of what they reported for fiscal 1Q12: Revenue: $46.3bn (+64% q/q +73% y/y) v. consensus of $38.9bn and company guidance of $37.0bn. Gross margin: 44.7% for the quarter (up 440 bps q/q) v. […]
Tablet and eReader Ownership – How to Read Apple’s Numbers
Later today, Apple will report Q1 figures. We know much has changed in the tablet market over the last three months. Earlier this week, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project reported tablet and eReader ownership (unsurprisingly) surged during the 2011 holiday season. This is consistent with what I expected (and subsequently reported) following Black Friday […]
The Fat Part of the Digital Data Adoption Curve
I’ve written in the past how adoption always follows an s-shaped adoption curve. When it comes to digital data adoption we are in the fat (steep upward sloping) part of the adoption curve. Reuters reported on Monday that Google is now streaming 4 billion videos a day. Moreover, 60 hours of video content is uploaded every minute […]
Trends from the 2012 CES
Here is my presentation on some of the trends I was tracking headed into the 2012 International CES. I also highlight some of the product launches at CES. You can skip past the opening video which takes you through the week of CES in 3-4 minutes. [prezi id=’gx1myc0u1-ka’ width=’600′ height=’450′]
Baseball + 9/11 = America
This is what is great about baseball that can’t be replicated elsewhere: [youtube]bxR1tZ08FcI[/youtube]
Why the Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet are Good for Traditional Retail
This month Amazon’s new tablet the Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet go on-sale this month. While both products are technically the house brand of competing retails, they’ll be widely available in a variety of retail channels. One would typically presume that a consumer interested in the Kindle Fire would just go to Amazon.com to […]
Why Don’t Retail Sales Show More Seasonality?
My title is a bit deceiving – retail sales definitely do show strong seasonal trends driving by year-end holiday buying. As the chart makes evident, retail sales are very seasonal. For GAFO, which represents stores that specialize in department store types of merchandise (furniture & home furnishings, electronics and appliances, clothing & accessories, sporting goods, hobby, book, […]
Idaho Requiring Online Coursework to Graduate High School
USA Today recently reported Idaho is set to become first state to require online coursework of graduating high school students.
