Now that the die has been cast — a predictable roll of the dice, mind you — all South Africans who care about their and the country’s future no doubt have something on their minds. For some, this assumes the form, mainly, of misgivings; for others, especially the poor, of hope. And if the impression […]
Business
Posted inBusiness, Lifestyle, News/Politics
Polokwane: Bargain bazaar for albinos and gunslingers
Poor old Polokwane — dragged kicking and screaming into the limelight by a political party’s national conference. Surely the town once known as Pietersburg is newsworthy for more than the fact that a bunch of politicians and thieves has gathered there to squabble over the spoils? A quick trawl of the internet to find out […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Gear: A bureaucratic story, and some tough questions and challenges
“Asiyifuni Gear [We do not want Gear].” This was a common slogan by unionists in response to the government’s Growth, Employment and Redistribution Strategy. It reflected opposition to Gear. Eleven years later, Gear is still hotly debated. Recently, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel offered a spirited defence of the consultation process leading up to Gear. Manuel, […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
The cause of the Web 2.0 bubble
Web techies are lazy when it comes to considering the business aspects of their latest Web 2.0 ideas. They spend even less time developing creative revenue models when they see that web businesses with little real revenue can be valued at $15-billion. When Adwords, Google’s paid search-engine advertising program, launched at the beginning of 2003, […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
To skill a mockingbird
It is a tragic human failing that we find it so easy to take our elders for granted. Maybe because I am easing into that category with alacrity; maybe because I massacred so many brain cells as a piece of furniture at the Fed; but all the hype around skills shortages and development and training […]
Posted inBusiness
Neo-what?
I was quite surprised that so many commentators on my previous piece “A shift of emphasis?” focused, to a large extent, not on my argument concerning the likely reasons for the ostensible shift away from support for Mbeki towards favouring Zuma, but on the meaning of the concept “neoliberal economics”, for the use of which […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
‘Naive and irresponsible,’ says former don
By Adam Kurtz The case of Llewellyn Kriel poses some intriguing questions for South Africa. Kriel (54), a fixed-term contractor to the Sowetan working as senior revise sub-editor (one of two end-of-the-line quality controllers), was found guilty of “gross misconduct” by an internal disciplinary hearing for “bringing Sowetan into disrepute” by criticising its management and […]
Posted inBusiness, Tech
Interviewing the avatar
It may not be a new form of journalism, but it is quickly becoming apparent that interviews with avatars in virtual worlds are going to require a new set of guidelines for journalists. This is one of the first learnings to emerge from an experimental initiative in The Big Change blog. We are conducting business […]
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Corruption House
A recent report in the Mail & Guardian on the largest contract Eskom has ever awarded is cause for alarm. Think Halliburton is corrupt? Wait until you meet the ANC’s very own Chancellor House.
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Facebook 2: The search engine is coming
It’s tough being Mark Zuckerberg. A few weeks ago, you had your competitors running scared and Microsoft desperately hung on to the front of the queue to do a deal with you that, by some estimates, values your company at $15-billion. Unfortunately, you face these nasty rumours that the clickthrough rate for Facebook display advertising […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, Tech
Want to buy the Team.com name for $300 000? Too late
How do you choose a name for a new company? There might be many rules in that book, but I will tell you rule number one: no matter what the new company will do, make sure its .com domain name is available. If the .com name is not available, and you are absolutely, definitely, beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt […]
Posted inBusiness, Media, News/Politics
On making history or making a difference
Yesterday I made history. But it’s a distinction I can do without. I became the first South African to be fired for blogging. It’s a dangerous thing, this blogging. Even if your judge doesn’t have the foggiest idea what a blog is; even if he thinks sub-editors are not journalists and even if he thinks […]