decision

A couple of recent articles dovetail nicely about how specifications, and what those specifications describe, influence how people make buying decisions.

The first is from a study looking at how choices between competing products are made, first based on subjective criteria, and then when specifications are introduced.

In an initial experiment, Christopher Hsee and colleagues asked 112 students to choose between one of two hypothetical cameras: one boasted better resolution, the other having superior vividness. Based on sample photos taken by the two cameras, but without detail on the precise resolution specs, most participants (74 percent) chose the camera that … Read more

OMG, WTF, LMAO, and a million other Internet expletives for our new leader, Mr. Barack Obama. Even Jeff, The Lone Hater, can't seem to contain his excitement over the election results. Former 404 host Randall Bennett also joins us via completely useless hologram to share in the excitement and recap the events. Hats off to you, Mr. President. Please give us a call if you're ever in the Gramercy, N.Y. area, we'll see if we can pencil you into the show.

Even though all of us are out of breath and stricken with sore throats from a night of "Whoos!" and "F**K You Tennessee," we still manage to drag ourselves into the studio this morning to celebrate our country's triumphant return to common sense. It's like waking up from an awful nightmare that somehow managed to last eight grueling years. Our special guest on the show today is Randall Bennett, former host of The 404, who helps us weigh on the presidential election, the cheerful optimism resonating from the streets of New York, Twitter's flawless victory in the face of 13562834791 simultaneous tweets, and perhaps most hilarious--the AMAZING CNN HOLOGRAMS! Because when you've got money coming out of your ears and split screens just aren't enough, count on CNN to be the face of American frivolity. USA! USA! USA!

There's no mistaking who benefited from a federal-court decision to set licensing fees that three top Web services must pay songwriters and publishers for the right to stream their music.

But the question left unanswered is whether the losers also include consumers.

AOL, RealNetworks, and Yahoo may end up paying the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) $100 million as a result of a decision by a U.S. district judge to set the licensing fee for streaming music at 2.5 percent of adjusted music-use revenue.

"(The court's decision) is a victory for songwriters, … Read more

My last post - Don't be a sucker when it comes to stocks - ruffled quite a few feathers among investors of a certain stock. There were comments and emails - mostly calling into question my journalistic integrity - but a few of them also told detailed stories about the company's situation. That's today's topic.

Just like people, every company, every stock, has a story, and everybody tells it differently. In each story there are facts, an anecdote or two, and of course, opinions. Some of them are so fascinating that people write articles, entire blogs, or even books about them.

But when you're considering joining or investing in a company, or buying a product, how do you know which stories to believe? Everybody's famous in the Internet age, so how do you know what information to base your decision on. It's harder than you think.… Read more

Mark Radcliffe writes cogently on his blog about a recent court decision that may have wide implications for open source. It's not a software case.

It revolves around model trains. Curiouser and curiouser....… Read more