Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if the Macintosh had turned out to be the dominant PC platform? To get an idea, take a look at the situation with the iPhone. Its proponents are unable to see the faults in the product. Every new phone that comes along gets compared to the iPhone and invariably fails the test. And iPhone owners seem to have this air of superiority about them. What we end up with is a nice phone with a slick interface and a user base that is so smug that it turns me off to the product. Thankfully there is no single dominant player in the cell phone OS field. Can you imagine what we would have to endure if the iPhone held a majority market share?
With the way the world seems to be going tits up lately, I feel bad being negative about anything. I am usually optimistic about things and I like to look at troubling situations as opportunities for improvement. But yesterday I read a trajic story in the StarTribune. It was about an elderly woman who was hit by a car near her home in Northeast Minneapolis. As if that isn't bad enough, the really tragic part is the reaction from the woman who hit her: "The driver, a 46-year-old Minneapolis woman, stopped after she 'heard a thud,' according to a police report." I can't help but imagine someone yackin' on a cell phone or munching on some potatoes and lard. I spend a lot of time walking and biking, and I notice a lot of people doing things other than focusing on their driving. With as clueless as most people are about how cars, gas mileage, and traffic actually work, it is further insult that they don't devote enough of their attention to driving. And so I am going to conclude that the elderly woman died because someone wasn't paying enough attention. That makes me sad, and I decided that I am going to pay extra attention to cars when I am out walking because I don't trust them any more.
Tits Up News: Kick 'em When Their Tits Are Up
It is a bit premature to be calling tits up on Chrysler, but after reading a Jalopnik report on their "bridge loan" proposal I can't help but extrapolate a path to their ultimiate demise. To recap Chrysler's recent history, the company was bought by an investment firm named Cerberus in 2007. If you read between the lines in what CEO Bob Nardelli outlines as the company's recent accomplishments, you might summarize that he has cut costs and positioned the company for resale at a profit, as investment firms often attempt to do.
The problem is that in the middle of their plan, the auto industry really, truly has gone tits up. Chrysler is a ship lost at sea. There are no substantive product plans for the next couple of years. I have no doubt that Cerberus had intended to sell Chrysler off, either as a whole or as its individual parts: Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep.
Sadly, I don't think it is worth saving. The Chrysler brands have been tarnished and the current lineup doesn't really make sense. I say let it go. Even if the government gives them an $11 billion bridge loan, the company could still fail. Or Cerberus could try to take the money and run. There are too many automotive marques in the world and this one is not worth $11 billion. Let Chrysler fail.
With the way the world seems to be going tits up lately, I feel bad being negative about anything. I am usually optimistic about things and I like to look at troubling situations as opportunities for improvement. But yesterday I read a trajic story in the StarTribune. It was about an elderly woman who was hit by a car near her home in Northeast Minneapolis. As if that isn't bad enough, the really tragic part is the reaction from the woman who hit her: "The driver, a 46-year-old Minneapolis woman, stopped after she 'heard a thud,' according to a police report." I can't help but imagine someone yackin' on a cell phone or munching on some potatoes and lard. I spend a lot of time walking and biking, and I notice a lot of people doing things other than focusing on their driving. With as clueless as most people are about how cars, gas mileage, and traffic actually work, it is further insult that they don't devote enough of their attention to driving. And so I am going to conclude that the elderly woman died because someone wasn't paying enough attention. That makes me sad, and I decided that I am going to pay extra attention to cars when I am out walking because I don't trust them any more.
Tits Up News: Kick 'em When Their Tits Are Up
It is a bit premature to be calling tits up on Chrysler, but after reading a Jalopnik report on their "bridge loan" proposal I can't help but extrapolate a path to their ultimiate demise. To recap Chrysler's recent history, the company was bought by an investment firm named Cerberus in 2007. If you read between the lines in what CEO Bob Nardelli outlines as the company's recent accomplishments, you might summarize that he has cut costs and positioned the company for resale at a profit, as investment firms often attempt to do.
The problem is that in the middle of their plan, the auto industry really, truly has gone tits up. Chrysler is a ship lost at sea. There are no substantive product plans for the next couple of years. I have no doubt that Cerberus had intended to sell Chrysler off, either as a whole or as its individual parts: Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep.
Sadly, I don't think it is worth saving. The Chrysler brands have been tarnished and the current lineup doesn't really make sense. I say let it go. Even if the government gives them an $11 billion bridge loan, the company could still fail. Or Cerberus could try to take the money and run. There are too many automotive marques in the world and this one is not worth $11 billion. Let Chrysler fail.
Labels: tits up
posted by Andy at
9:46 AM
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