A Cyclist’s Life in Tenerife (Canary Islands)

Although I deeply respect Canarian culture, a lot of them are already biased against the new tram that runs from Santa Cruz to La Laguna. I overheard one of them saying it was only okay for people that come home after a late night drinking in Santa Cruz (or whatever). In my opinion the density of traffic in that zone warrants its installation; if that’s where its most needed, then that’s where it should go. Are they jealous because the tram doesn’t stop right beside their apartment? Or would they complain either way?

As usual, in the beginning the media had a field day with all the negative aspects of the new transport system… how only one line was functioning initially and the number of vehicles (both car and bus accidents) that had crashed with the new tram.

They also all seem to be dead-set against the proposed North-South train link. Why do they love cars so much, and seem to despise anything that runs on rails? :-S

Tags: Island Life by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Interesting Internet Statistics:

Click here for a current traffic report of the global internet communications network!

Within the last decade it seems, the internet has grown to contain ~1 trillion pages. There is ~1 Petabyte of total information storage (a billion Gigabytes). What is the size of the internet?

Tags: That's Business, Science Simplified by Dr. Leslie Brown
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I’m sure the local Canarians people could cope quite well but I invite your comments!

Tags: Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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Boy I must be getting old… I can just picture my future son or daughter responding in disbelief: “You mean when you were a teenager, the internet never even existed???!!”. Its funny just how rapidly the internet has infiltrated our lives. We communicate with the internet (email, chat, forum posts, blogs) instead of the old fashioned ways (conversations over the telephone and in person); we do our banking online; we buy and sell online; we make new friends online; we learn new things online; we watch “television” online (youtube videos); we get the latest news and weather online. In other words, we essentially work and play online. A quick look at your favourites folder conveys some sense of the reality.

What people did before the internet ever existed? When we had to write an essay or a homework assignment, it meant a trip to the library (at the university, school or local council library). Or your family was lucky and your home had a full-colour encyclopaedia set! Neither computers nor colour printers were around, so you had to stick pieces of paper with glue… hence the expresson “cut and paste”. I’m sure that phrase has been lost on the current young generation! Information simply could not be accessed almost instantly like it can today. We played outside, so there was more chance of being exposed to sunlight for one thing… life, in short, was simple.

I for one would like to see an annual ”world without internet day”. What do you think about that?

Tags: Mental Anguish by Dr. Leslie Brown
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BARCELONA, Jan 2, 2004. This is a naming and branding epic.

Spanish candy maker Enric Bernat Fontlladosa died in Barcelona on December 27. He was 80 years old. Born to a family of candy makers, Bernat bought Granja Asturias S.A., a troubled Spanish confectioner, back in the 1950’s. He took the advice of an article in the December, 2003 issue of the Harvard Business Review written by Nirmalya Kumar, Director of the Centre for Marketing at the London Business School. Kumar makes the case for eliminating unprofitable brands and focusing on the clear winners. He points out that many corporations generate over 80% of their profits from fewer than 20% of their brands. And he explains how hard it is for companies to kill their unprofitable brands. 

Soon after he took over Granja Asturias, Bernat made the brave move of axing most of the company’s 200 products to focus on a line of caramel-filled lollipops. Bernat picked a strong brand name that would appeal to kids: Chupa Chups. It comes from the Spanish verb “chupar–to suck.” In English the product name might be “Sucky Suckers.” The lollipops went on sale in 1958, and ten years later his friend Salvador Dali designed the current logo which you can see in the picture. The festive display was an important part of the merchandising, and shopkeepers were told to keep it right next to the register, a fresh idea at the time.

Within five years, Chupa Chups were sold at 300,000 outlets in Spain, and Bernat renamed the company after its flagship brand. The Chupa Chups Group produces four billion lollipops a year which are sold in 40 flavors– including mango, chili and lychee–in 170 countries. Bernat’s three sons are now in charge, and Chupa Chups are the second biggest confectionary product brand in the world after Hall’s, with over $700 million in sales. And it all goes back to having the courage to kill off weak products and focus brand development on one good idea.

Tags: That's Business by Dr. Leslie Brown
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