Boots in Boston

Getting it Wrong
By Peter Funt on Thursday, May 16th, 2013
Scott Pelley of CBS News raised eyebrows and passions among journalists at a Quinnipiac University luncheon the other day when he said, “Our house is on fire.” He was talking about challenges to the news business from within, as reporters become careless in a rush to be “first”; and, from outside, where social media supply what he labeled “more bad information” than at any time in history. Pelley is a worthy recipient of the Fred ...
Keep Those Catalogs Comin’
By Peter Funt on Tuesday, May 14th, 2013
What America needs is a good Productivity Boosting Nap Pod, a device that looks like a dentist chair with a roof. As luck would have it, this 310-pound unit, that “provides optimal ergonomics for napping,” is available from Hammacher Schlemmer for $16,000. Dagwood Bumstead take note. I don’t recall buying anything from the 165-year-old New York store in over two decades, yet its richly entertaining catalogs have followed me across the country and continue to ...
Wide Options, Narrow Interests
By Peter Funt on Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
I’ve never heard a hotel guest argue that he should pay less if he declines to swim in the pool. And I’ve yet to encounter a coffee drinker who believes a latte would be cheaper if shops quit providing wi-fi to customers who don’t use it. Yet, when it comes to cable TV—and, for that matter, most modern electronic media—many people insist they’re being charged unfairly for content they don’t want. In most cases they’re ...
Rambunctious Raccoons
By Peter Funt on Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
Our backyard is filled with the pleasing sounds of spring created by birds, frogs, crickets and teens down the street testing their new cars. But lately there are also the haunting sounds of raccoons laughing at me. When we moved in 18 years ago, I wondered why neighbors were so protective of their trash that they secured garbage cans with bungee cords and even padlocks. Word apparently spread through the raccoon community that my trashcans ...
Boots in Boston
By Peter Funt on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Riveted to our screens, we learned last week of the enormous value of social media and surveillance video when tragedy strikes. But — and this second point is as significant as the first — we were also reminded of the importance of established, well-funded, conventional media, without which the big picture would have had gaping holes. What the Boston Marathon story confirmed was that new media and old serve us best when they complement each ...