If, for example, you have been with your phone and/or internet provider (and you could substitute phone and/or internet with insurance, mortgage or bank) for a very long time you know what I am going to talk about: After many years of loyal custom you decide for some obscure reason to ‘go to market’ again […]
Author: Grumpy Old Man
Are Customer Satisfaction Surveys Worth Your Time?
What have the following activities in common: You book a flight, you buy something online, you are a subscriber to a newspaper or magazine, you change your broadband and / or phone service provider, or have you complained to an organisation (and I could give you more examples, trust me!): At first glance not much […]
The Rise of Paying Hosts: A New Swiss Trend
A new trend is apparently taking on in Switzerland: Making your friends pay, like in a restaurant, when they visit you. Hosts apparently charge for food and drink, but also for use of the bathroom. And in another example a woman invited her sister with partner to attend a Christmas dinner at her place, then […]
The Evolution of Coolness: Tech and Social Trends
Do you consider yourself cool (or cooler) because you have an iPhone rather than another make of smartphone? And how much is that ‘coolness’ worth to you? According to a study by the University of Chicago it takes a payment of $31 a month. That is how much college students had to be paid to […]
Glitter, Gimmicks, and Geopolitics: My Annual Eurovision Eye-Roll
For some people it is an annual musical highlight (not for me though): the Eurovision Song Contest which, since Switzerland won last year’s event, took place in Basel last week. Don’t get me wrong, some of the songs are quite catchy and the visuals and technical wizardry are absolutely spectacular, it’s just that overall it’s […]
How much time does it take to govern a country? A take on President Trump’s social media habits
You might think that running a big country such as the United States would be hard and definitely at least a full time job: Well no, it isn’t. At least not when considering how many posts President Trump shares on social media. And not only at odd hours (and outside office hours – if there […]
How Trump’s Tariffs Affect Global Supply Chains
iPhones are expensive, even more so if the purchase is not subsidised by your mobile phone company, and a lot of the cost (especially if you pay the full price) is Apple’s profit margin: at present an iPhone costs in the region of $330 to produce. The supply chain for a typical iPhone is vast […]
The Cost of Combining Politics and Business
Politics and business, for a number of reasons, do not make good bedfellows! Take Elon Musk for example: While he and his minions are running havoc cutting (or more likely ‘slashing’) costs within the US government, sales of his Tesla cars have hit the rocks. In Switzerland in January 26.6% fewer Teslas were registered than […]
The Rise of Global Powers: Challenges for Europe
The world increasingly is revolving around three major powers: the United States, Russia and China. And with all three blocs being led by autocratic personalities and governments, a degree of confrontation is pre-programmed: America seeks to take control of the Panama Canal, would like to accept Canada as the 51st state and wants to buy […]
Navigating Citizenship Tests: A Global Perspective
Besides economic benefits (particularly relevant in light of the ageing and shrinking population of the developed world), new citizens can be seen as adding diversity, new perspectives, and global connections. On the other hand, as the populist trends in many countries around the world in recent years have shown, in an increasingly fraught political and […]
The grumpy older man 