Ride sharing service Uber has faced tough challenges everywhere it has pioneered. Local governments and taxi unions have slammed the company, tried to block it and fought Uber in court. Sometimes Uber won. Sometimes they lost. Sometimes they just kept operating anyway. Now, though, it seems like ride-sharing was winning, by popular demand if nothing else. Uber and Lyft had blazed the trail and taken the proverbial bullets. Now the market had shifted. At least, that’s how things looked. But that may not be the case.
Several members of a Penn State University fraternity have been in hot water in recent months, the subjects of an investigation into the alcohol-related hazing death of a pledge. Now, though, there is a bit of breathing room for the 12 accused college students. A judge tossed out the involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges.
Sometimes, when you try to make it right, you make it worse. Take British Airways for example. This past May, the European airline suffered a catastrophic customer service nightmare.
One of the most universally reviled Super Bowl commercials in recent years is not one that’s typically discussed. Sure, most of us spent too much time trying to get Puppy-Monkey-Baby out of our heads, but that’s not the one to which we refer. No, this one had the power to bring the entire big game party to a screeching halt with only three words: opioid induced constipation.
One of the most common knocks against social media powerhouse, Twitter, is the tone of the “conversations” on the app. People can get way out of line. Twitter has cost people jobs, careers, relationships … and, some have said, even more. The company has vowed to go after those who use the platform for hate speech, terrorism, and a host of other angry content.
Not that long ago the critics insisted Tesla could never make a fully-electric car that was affordable for the middle class … and still good looking and enjoyable to drive. Now, those critics are silent, as Elon Musk’s company is taking orders for more than 1,800 Model 3 cars every single day.
In social media, Facebook and YouTube reign supreme. But there are a host of up and comers and strong contenders, especially second generation apps like Instagram and Snapchat, which marketed to Millennials and younger audiences, leaving Facebook largely to their parents. Twitter, though it does cross generations, is not in the top three.
In the race for digital technology supremacy, one question has remained stubbornly elusive: who will achieve rural broadband first? While it’s true that some places can get decent speed internet and cable service through satellite providers, the fact is the United States is behind many developed countries in delivering high-speed services to all its citizens.
With the advent of digital music, many in the biz scoffed. Those iPod things were just a fad, another Steve Jobs gimmick that would fizzle out. They, as we all know, turned out to be very, very wrong. But now music has come even further than that. Ask any 20-something you know, and you will find they don’t even download tunes anymore. They’re subscribed to a service that builds playlists based on preferences.
Cleveland’s Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame recently introduced a new exhibit that invites fans to learn what it feels like to be a star inducted into the Hall. The new exhibit, “Power of Rock,” comes with film clips, laser lights, smoke and recorded stories by Hall inductees.