|
|
 |
|
TAKE NOTE
MILE-HIGH DOT-COM BUBBLE BURSTS
It turns out that airline passengers weren’t that interested
in checking their e-mails while flying after all. In mid-August, Boeing
announced it will stop offering its in-flight Internet service because
there just hasn’t been enough demand.
Connexion offered passengers access to the Internet through a high-speed
wireless network. A survey of 3,200 airline passengers in April showed
83 percent said Internet availability would have an impact on future
travel plans—projected as a $70 billion market after 10 years.
At a cost of about $10 an hour, many fewer passengers actually used
it. Boeing says the number of passengers using Connexion (available
on 156 aircraft through 12 airlines) amounted to “low single
digits” per flight.
SINGLE-FAMILY HOME, GOOD SCHOOLS,
LIKE-NEW HUMMER
A couple in Naperville, IL, really wants to sell their home. It’s
a 100-year-old house featuring the original stained glass, a wine
cellar and a two-story addition in the back. The asking price is $1.5
million. And, oh yes, it comes with a 2006 Hummer H3 with less than
75 miles.
Offering incentives to prospective buyers isn’t new. Offers
of paying closing costs, condo assessments, free televisions, travel
and in-home theaters are most common, but these days as the real estate
industry slows, sellers are getting more creative.
In the case of the Illinois couple, it helps when you own a Hummer
dealership.
WHO'S WATCHING WHOM?
A second-by-second analysis of nightly television viewing habits of
20,000 users of TiVo, a popular digital video recorder, has turned
up some interesting—if mostly expected—results.
For example, on average TiVo users spend half of their TV watching
time viewing programs they recorded earlier (after all, what’s
a recorder for?). While watching those shows, 70 percent of viewers
skipped commercials. That changes, however, when the commercial content
matches the programming. TiVo has learned that commercials featuring
animal characters were skipped less often when scheduled during animal-related
programs.
Although TiVo reports back what is being watched and when, its privacy
policy will not report personal information so viewer demographics
are not available. |
|
|
|
