Category: Business

When The Market Bites Back

Corporate Fuckery, Management, Marketing / Advertising

Probably one of the first golden rules of business is “Never anger your existing customers, and never ignore those customers in chasing after new customers”.

I seem to bang on about this endlessly, but I’m always reminded of just how stupid management can be in ignoring that rule.

Now add on an unbelievably-stupid rationale for changing a company’s product line, and…

Wait.

There’s a much better way to look at this foolishness.

First, I invite you to watch Richard Hammond talking about some new Porsche he test drives at the old Top Gear track.  Because if you watch his glee and excitement, then this little video about Porsche’s idiocy becomes all the more understandable.  (Note especially the effect of Porsche’s marketing decisions on their share price and earnings.)

Nice one, dickheads.

Unexpected!

Corporate Fuckery

Yeah, I bet nobody saw this coming:

Walmart confirmed this week that it had paused hiring employees with H-1B visas in the wake of President Donald Trump’s reforms to the program.

“Walmart is committed to hiring and investing in the best talent to serve our customers, while remaining thoughtful about our H-1B hiring approach,” the company confirmed to multiple outlets.

I wonder why… oh yeah:

Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B applications in September, saying the program “created to bring temporary workers into the United States to perform additive, high-skilled functions, but it has been deliberately exploited to replace, rather than supplement, American workers with lower-paid, lower-skilled labor.”

But fear not, Walmart:

Without an extension, the restriction will be lifted 12 months after the effective date of the proclamation, which is September 21, 2025.

…which means that Walmart will start re-importing their  slave labor  H-1B workers on September 22, 2026.

Anyone care to bet against this happening?  No?

Gosh, such cynicism.

About That OTA Software Thing

Corporate Fuckery, Drive Time

Loyal Readers will remember this little rant of mine about stupid car manufacturers:

And while we’re on high-level fools in Big Auto, ladies and gentlemen, I give you:  Stellantis.

And heeeeere’s the latest from this clown car maker:

A recent software update to the Jeep Wrangler 4xE plug-in hybrid has reportedly caused major malfunctions, leaving many owners stranded and some in potentially dangerous situations after their vehicles were “bricked” by the botched upgrade.

The Stack reports that on Friday, Stellantis released an over-the-air (OTA) software update for the uconnect system, which is installed in various Jeep Wrangler 4xE — the company’s plug-in hybrid model. However, the update contained bugs that caused vehicles to malfunction or become “bricked” if owners installed it. Bricking is technology slang for a device rendered completely useless by an upgrade or software change. The issue quickly became apparent as numerous Jeep owners across the United States reported problems with their vehicles following the update.

Loyal Readers will also recall that I have ranted frequently and angrily about this automotive software issue, so I’m not going to repeat that familiar theme.  Suffice it to say:

   

No electronic / software doodads, powered by a modern VW engine (more powerful than the original Porsche one), stick shift;  and all at a price that’s much less than any entry-level Porsche on the market today.

Okay, to be fair:  I have never been a potential buyer of any Jeep Wrangler of any vintage, and if you add battery power / software to the equation, exponentially less so.

And this, the latest-but-by-no-means-last episode of stupidity, simply increases my hostility to the cars-as-software-platforms concept.

Fuck ’em.

Breaking Down The “Decline”

Business

Here’s an interesting take:

We’ve all seen the nonstop headlines claiming “Las Vegas is in Freefall” “Vegas is Dying” and “Vegas is Finished and Will Never Recover.”

All of which is a gross exaggeration.

First of all, Vegas is plenty busy- just like always. Just a little less busy than last year. Revenues are down single digits from last year- which was one of greatest years in the history of Vegas.

Well, to accountant types, all growth must continue and in fact increase, regardless of circumstance.  Which is a decent reason to beat accountants to death with clubs.

But compared to last year (the best year in history) business is down this year, and Vegas casinos are laying off employees. That part is true.

So, what exactly is happening? Why is business down this year? The mainstream media would never understand this, but this is another classic case of Republican success versus Democrat failure.

Not all of Vegas is down. Only the Vegas Strip is down. The off-Strip and suburban casinos and hotels in Vegas are booming. Why? What’s the difference?

The reason why is simple. All the major resorts on the world-famous Vegas Strip are owned and operated by Democrats — mostly Ivy League-educated Democrats from Wall Street, who know nothing about gambling or tourism.

And here’s the good part:

MGM is run by Democrats. Caesars is run by Democrats. Harrahs is run by Democrats. Wynn is run by Democrats (since they ran brilliant Republican billionaire Steve Wynn out of town). Even Venetian sold out to Apollo Global Management based in New York, since the death of brilliant Republican billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

Not only are the Strip casinos run by dumb, clueless Ivy League Democrats, but most of them sold the land under their casino-resorts to Blackstone- Wall Street firm that now charges them obscene annual $100 million to $300 million land lease charges.

But the off-Strip casinos and resorts are almost all owned and operated by Republicans.

Station Casinos is booming- the Republican Fertitta family owns them.  The downtown Golden Nugget is booming- it is owned and operated by Tillman Fertitta- a Trump Republican who is now President Trump’s Ambassador to Italy.  Boyd Casinos are booming. They are run by the Boyd family- who gives mostly to Republican candidates and PACS.  South Point Casino is booming- it is run by the Republican Trump supporter Michael Gaughan.

And the details:

The Vegas Strip resorts run by dumb, clueless Democrats from New York are all charging rip-off rates.  Parking your car is now $50 at any Strip hotel.  Two martinis cost $80.  A nice meal costs $500.  Resort fees will run you up to $100 extra a day on top of room charges.  At MGM properties a bottle of water in your minibar might cost you $25.  And here’s the craziest rip-off of all:  MGM (run by a bunch of dumb Democrats) now charges $25 extra for room service if you want knives, forks and napkins.

Putting Manhattan cost structures into a Western desert town.

On the other hand, at any of these off-Strip and suburban resorts owned and run by Republicans, the parking is free, the meals are reasonable, the room rates are inexpensive, and they have movie theatres, bowling alleys, food courts and babysitting. Anyone can afford a fun night out on the town! It’s still like “old Vegas.”

I have to stipulate at this point that I cannot stand Las Vegas:  Strip, off-Strip, suburban, whatever.  Every time I go there — once because I’d never been there before, the other times on business or to attend a conference — I couldn’t wait to leave, couldn’t wait to get on the plane, get in the car, whatever.  Nothing about the place attracts me, and just about everything in the place repels me.  In my own parlance:  I’d rather watch an F1 Grand Prix race at Spa Francorchamps, in the chilly rain, than the one in Las Vegas.

But as a case study in how to screw up a good thing, modern-day Vegas is surely an excellent example.  As Wayne Root memorably puts it:

Personally, I preferred the Mafia. They knew how to treat customers.

Control Freaks

Corporate Fuckery, Drive Time

What is it with Germans and their fixation on control?  Here’s the latest from their foremost corporate branch of Control Freaks International:

The 2026 Mercedes-Benz CLA and the 2027 Mercedes-Benz GLC are the automaker’s first truly software-defined vehicles, meaning they have the brains and chips for virtually everything on the car that’s controlled by software to be updated over-the-air. They have the new Mercedes-Benz operating system, known as MBOS, as well as fourth-generation MBUX infotainment systems with fancy touchscreens, all developed in-house.  The new MBOS represents a paradigm shift, says Ola Källenius, chairman and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Group. It’s the gift that keeps on giving, with 100 percent of the car reachable via over-the-air updates. Now, cars come in with an empty electronic control unit (ECU) and then Mercedes loads [the software] into it as part of the production process, he adds. In the past, the ECU came from a supplier with the software already pre-loaded. Not anymore. Mercedes wanted an end-to-end software package it created itself.

Am I the only one who is getting chills from this little exercise as described?  Here’s why I’m both apprehensive and white-hot angry.

“It’s the gift that keeps on giving, with 100 percent of the car reachable via over-the-air updates.”

And those “updates” would include “shut-downs”, all at the behest of MBOS — and if you don’t believe they would, you haven’t been paying attention to the recent history of Germany.

Also, remember that “the gift that keeps on giving” refers to the gift to Mercedes, and not to its customer.

Finally, if you think that these “updates” will remain free forevermore, you really haven’t been paying attention to the history of technology companies — and Mercedes is increasingly becoming more about technology than about engineering.  Which means that at some point, the design of the updates will be left to A.I.

How nice.

Funny, that:  the GLA 250 was always on my list of potential future car purchases.  Not anymore.  I wouldn’t accept one as a gift, because of what I’d be giving up to Mercedes:  my freedom and indepence.

No Surprises There

Management, Technology

It appears that the Mighty A.I. is falling somewhat below expectations:

95 percent of organizations see no measurable return on their investment in these technologies, even as the number of companies with fully AI-led processes nearly doubled last year and AI use has likewise doubled at work since 2023.

Specifically:

Today’s generative AI models are very good at identifying patterns and stitching together bits and pieces of existing content into new compositions. But they struggle with analysis, imagination, and the ability to reason about entirely novel concepts. The result is often content that is factually accurate and grammatically correct but conceptually unoriginal.

“Workslop”, indeed.