5 posts and columns on Luddite

Making Fun of Prince Is Easy–Figuring Out How Talent Thrives in a Digital Age, Not So Much

in News on July 7, 2010 at 12:55 am PT

So, yes, the quote Prince said about the Internet being “completely over” made him sound like a Luddite idiot. But–after spending several days here in Los Angeles this week, talking to execs, talent and others who toil in the entertainment industry–I can’t say what I am hearing is that much different in terms of the continuing frustration with the lack of decent business models to replace the ones that have worked for so long and been so lucrative for the entertainment and media industry.

BoomTown Decodes Google CEO Schmidt's Shut-Up-You-Whiny-News-Folk Op-Ed (So You Don't Have To)!

in News on December 3, 2009 at 1:30 pm PT

Google CEO Eric Schmidt did one of his patented throat-clearers in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal today and it pretty much begs for translation. Well, BoomTown shall not tarry from the task of decoding the extra-long rumination from the head of Google, who was responding to the recent spate of aggressive attacks by traditional media publishers. They have blamed the search giant for everything from their current business woes to the destruction of journalism to Tiger Woods’s dicey marital troubles. Okay, not that! But the rest for sure.
eric-schmidt

This Meeting of Yahoo Directors Is Now Called to Order–No Heckling, Carl

in News on July 21, 2008 at 5:21 am PT

Having so persuasively argued that Carl Icahn is a doddering Luddite with no articulated plan for Yahoo other than the company’s sale to Microsoft, Yahoo has taken the logical next step and appointed the activist shareholder to its board of directors.
icahnhasyurboard.jpg

Who Has Stolen the Old Jerry Yang? (But No Need to Return Him!)

in News on July 20, 2008 at 2:38 am PT

Could the new and improved Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang actually manage to beat back the proxy fight being waged against him by activist investor Carl Icahn? It increasingly looks that way, with only 12 days to go until Yahoo’s annual meeting on August 1. But exactly which Yang will be running Yahoo, if he does win, is probably the most important question shareholders need to ask. Would that be the seemingly energetic Yang of the past two weeks, invigorated by the battle with Icahn and his new best friend and Yahoo foe, Microsoft? Or will it be the other Yang?