February 9, 2008 by crazyopinions.

This is so obvious now, it makes your teeth hurt, doesn’t it? Or are we the only ones who see this coming?

In the last month, two automotive industry events occurred that are signposts to the future. Tata Motors of India has designed and will build a 1 Lakh [sub $2500.00 US] car, something other car companies the world over said was impossible. Other Asian auto makers are planning similar sub $4000.00 (US) cars. The Tata RS 1 Lakh is being hailed as an engineering milepost. It took 500 engineers, and resulted in over 40 patents. Across the globe, Chrysler LLC recently told its dealer network that it will shrink and consolidate the network, and also its own model lineup to better reflect marketing realities and eliminate redundancy. The additional puzzling comment by Chrysler executive James Press (formerly of Toyota), is that they will also develop new models to fill “gaps” in the model lineup.

Common industry wisdom now sees Press and his boss Nardelli as trying to take cues from the Toyota playbook. On the surface, this seems bulletproof, to imitate the (soon to be) World’s Largest Automobile Company. However, we beg to differ.

Turn Chrysler Into Tata! Or at least, steal THEIR play book.

Just in case Chrysler isn’t paying attention, current and foreseeable US (and worldwide) market conditions say that trucks and SUVs will have limited use as personal transportation over the coming years. Think Wars and Oil here. Of course, the Tata RS 1 Lakh is designed as a 5 passenger vehicle, so it should be possible to make a 2 passenger mini truck out of it.

Why let China be the first to bring a practical “value car” to the US market, and rub US automakers noses in their own heritage? Henry Ford must be turning in his grave. His principle of requiring that one of his workers be able to afford a practical basic car with cash in hand has been squandered. Now, inflated auto worker wages and pensions conspire to require them (and all of us) to take out longer and longer loans to acquire bloated, rolling blingmobiles.

Stop the madness! Recession proof your wallet and your portfolio! Buy a Tata.

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »

February 1, 2008 by crazyopinions.

Microsoft Offers To Buy Yahoo: Why They Haven’t A Clue

In their bid to compete with online rival Google, Microsoft now thinks that Yahoo is the answer. Bad idea.

It is amazing, that with all of the resources available to Microsoft, they still don’t get the relationship between online ads, search engines, and those who search. This dynamic has a key ingredient that both Yahoo and Microsoft ignore, yet Google seems keenly aware of.

Simplicity.

This is not to mean your online presence has to be merely simple. It also has to NOT be many things. Obnoxious, for one. Here we are in 2008 already, and STILL we see advertisers serving up animated, blinking, misleading banner crap.

Not to imply that Google is the shining example of perfection. Far from it. It is merely the present benchmark. The fact that it is primarily a functional tool that happens to serve up some advertising is the main point.

An opposite example is the recent Microsoft Live effort with Live.com. Here is an example of a wasted opportunity that could blow Yahoo out of the water, as the class act of internet search. Instead, they integrated Hotmail with Live [thereby diluting the Live brand!], and made the interface clumsy and obtuse. Instead, Microsoft wants to spend nearly 45 BILLION [what’s with this “billion” number lately, anyway?] to merely buy market share from a shrinking, no-class player. After AOL, Yahoo is the next refuge of the unwashed internet masses. As the market trends have shown, Yahoo [and their shareholders] is on it’s way down the Internet Commode.

The larger question is, will Microsoft [and their shareholders] follow?

Posted in Uncategorized | Print | No Comments »