|
Summation Push
Auren Hoffman's Summation
Push for the week of November 20, 1999
This issue:
* Introducing Tom Campbell
* Let's Boycott Leap Year
* Response: Click and Mortar Banks
* Profile: kozmo.com
* Summation Push Pick Links
* Hoffman Reading List
--------------------------------
INTRODUCING TOM CAMPBELL
By Auren Hoffman
Tom Campbell is a different type of Congressperson. Thoughtful, cerebral, and
well versed on thousands of subject matters, Campbell is one of the most
respected members of Congress.
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), a colleague on the International Relations
Committee, described Campbell as "one of the smartest and most
principled folks I know on earth."
The only Republican Congressperson from the Bay Area, Campbell is a social
moderate but is a true fiscal conservative. Campbell ranked first on CATO's 1998
list of the most pro-free-trade Members of Congress and was once rated the
single most fiscally responsible Member of Congress, by the National
Taxpayers Union.
One recent news report stated:
"Despite the fact that he is an idealist in a body of pragmatists,
Campbell is not a flame-thrower. Instead, he is soft-spoken and extremely
courteous. Perhaps this is why he is not accused of having a holier-than-thou
attitude, despite his miles-high-mindedness."
And Campbell is popular. He received over 60% of the vote in his last
election as a Republican in a Democratic district.
Campbell was originally elected to Congress in 1988 but left in 1992 in an
unsuccessful bid to gain the GOP nomination to run for the U.S. Senate.
Afterwards, he served a few years in the California State Senate and then was
re-elected to Congress in 1995.
Campbell is pondering another run for the U.S. Senate in 2000 where he would
be the heavy favorite to win the GOP nomination.
Regardless of Campbell's next steps, he is a true class act and great public
servant.
(What do you think? Write auren@summation.net)
--------------------------------
Send Summation Push to a colleague.
--------------------------------
Video rental recommendation: Thin Red Line. This is a long movie, but really
good. One of the best war movies I have ever seen.
--------------------------------
LET'S BOYCOTT LEAP YEAR
By Auren Hoffman
Everyone is talking of boycotts nowadays. It seems like every organization
over 20 people has a boycott list. I guess everyone needs something to
boycott -- but I've been without one ever since New Kids on the Block faded
away.
I've been thinking long and hard and I finally came up with my cause -- leap
year. Leap year is an extreme annoyance. It is too confusing. Next February
29, 2000 should be March 1!
Leap year was authorized by Julius Caesar in 46 B.C., because it was assumed
that the year had 365 1/4 days, with a 366-day leap year added every fourth
year.
My thoughts -- who cares if we are 0.25 days out of alignment each year -- it
will take generations to make any difference. And the weather in San
Francisco is so screwy that it really won't matter.
To make matters more complicated, an Anglo-Saxon monk in A.D. 730, the
Venerable Bede, calculated that the Julian year was 11 minutes and 14 seconds
too long, an error of about one day every 128 years. You're probably saying
-- who cares? My thoughts exactly -- and no one did care until the end of
16th Century. In 1582, the accumulated error was estimated at 10 days, and
Pope Gregory XIII defied all logic and made a universal announcement that the
day following Oct. 4 would be Oct. 15.
To make future adjustments for the error (about three days every 400 years),
it was decided by the powers that be that years ending in "00"
would be common years rather than leap years -- except those divisible by
400. Makes sense? So 1600 was a leap year and 2000 also will be, but 1700,
1800 and 1900 were not.
So I'm going to boycott the next leap year. I'm leading a delegation to the
United Nations to force the world to treat 2/29 as 3/1 and I will send
"Happy Normal Year" card to everyone I know.
Then we'll add a minute at the end of every day -- which will give us about
365 extra minutes a year -- or about 1/4 of the day. And then the world will
rejoice =)
(What do you want to boycott? Write auren@summation.net)
-------------------------------
BUSINESS IDEA: CLICK AND MORTAR BANKS
Last Summation Push, I wrote about building a brick and mortar bank office to
service all the online banks. Here are some responses:
Jason Palmer, CEO of Mascot.com, writes:
"Startup costs for this venture are a lot less with the right partner. I
suggest using an existing bricks-and-mortar establishment that people visit
regularly and trust already. For example, WalMart or a well-respected
supermarket chain. The world is already moving this way, and the
www.wingspanbank.com folks should scoop up the "exclusive ATM
relationships" at WalMart or Kroger as soon as they can. This would give
them bricks-and-mortar 'everywhere presence', with a capital cost of almost
nothing (since they would presumably pay monthly rent)."
Andy Choy, Manager of eCommerce at Virco Manufacturing Corp, comments:
"Auren -- that's the 11th stupidest thing I've ever heard. That bank
idea is perhaps the worst thing you've ever come up with. Think about what
you are saying. It's so much easier for a bricks and mortar bank to offer on
line services than it is to try to build a bricks and mortar arm for online
banks. Now having a bricks and mortar outlet for ALL on-line merchants...
That's a hot idea. It could be a place where you could return books you
bought from amazon.com, CD's you bought from cdnow, toys from etoys, and so
on. You would save on consolidating return postage as well as serving as
small distribution hubs for the dot com companies that sign on for the
service. Sorry for being so harsh, but damn, it's a dumb idea. By the way,
don't forget I've reserved numbers 1 through 10."
Larry Hebb, Senior Vice President at Northern Trust Bank, replies:
"The old rule of thumb was a brick & mortar branch within 15 minutes
of your client. Web enablement will reduce, but not eliminate that need. In
our business model, we figure that to cover 80% of our target market (top 2%
of households measured by investable liquid assets), we need no more than 200
physical locations to cover banking, investment management and fiduciary
needs of our clients together with state of the art and constantly improving
information delivery & connectivity. Pure e-commerce won't work for our client
base. The ability to touch & meet a human face to face, perhaps within an
hour or so of a client's location, whether we go to the client or the client
comes to us, is of paramount importance."
(Got a good idea? Write auren@summation.net)
-------------------------------
Profile: kozmo.com
Kozmo.com (http://www.kozmo.com) is one of my five favorite Internet
services.
Want to rent a video? You could go to the local Blockbuster that might have a
small selection, big lines, and chances are that your movie is already
rented. Or you can log into kozmo.com from home or work and order a movie.
Kozmo charges $3.75 for new releases and $2.75 for older films.
In San Francisco, Kozmo will deliver the movie to you within an hour and you
can pick an hour window during anytime of the day (until 1:00 am) to have the
movie delivered.
Of course, you can buy food, snacks, magazines, video games, and more to be
delivered with your movie. And you can return the movie to your local deli,
bagel shop, cafe, or gym. kozmo.com will quickly take major cities by storm.
(Thoughts? Write auren@summation.net)
--------------------------------
Send Summation Push to a colleague.
--------------------------------
THIS WEEK'S SUMMATION PUSH PICK LINKS:
* Kozmo.com (http://www.kozmo.com) - this is a great company that delivers
rental videos and food directly to your home or office within an hour of
ordering them. It is amazing -- check it out.
* Tom Campbell (http://www.house.gov/campbell) - one of the most distinguished
members of Congress.
* Live 365 -- (http://www.live365.com) -- you can get great streaming MP3
Eighties music.
* Get a Free House now! -- (http://www.summation.net/freehouses/)
-- Is free stuff getting ridiculous? Get a free house.
* What am I reading? The Hoffman Reading List (http://www.summation.net/reading.html)
NOTE: Auren Hoffman works
for BridgePath.com but the opinions expressed
herein are solely those of Mr. Hoffman.
NOTE: You may reprint in
full or in part (for free) with permission from author.
|
SUMMATION
Past Summations
About the Author
About Summation
The Fans
The Links
|
