While the streaming business is growing (adding 220 subscribers domestically in the quarter), and the DVD business sis shrinking (it lost 2.76 million subscribers domestically), it’s margins are much worse than the legacy DVD business. The streaming business has an 11 percent profit margin, compared to a very healthy 52 percent margin for the DVD business.
- Shit Silicon Valley Says (by kibb7711)
Mobile banking in 2012
In late 2010, I switched banks from CitiBank to Ally.com. The decision was easy: no fees, ATM reimbursements, great customer service, and a good online platform. It was a fantastic decision, one which I am still happy I made. Fast forward to 2012, Ally still has essentially the same interface, feature set (although they have added the ability to deposit checks using a desktop scanner), and customer service. They are still a good bank. At the time the large main street banks had horrible online or mobile products which made the decison easy. However, I find myself wondering if its time to make another move.
Today, all the large banks have advanced mobile (iPhone and iPad) applcaitions and online platforms that are as good or better than Ally’s (take for instance American Express’s iPad app). One primarly reason for my switch was the lack of Citi ATM’s in my area. Howerver, now that I am in San Francisco there are pelntly of locations for the large banks here (BofA, Wells, Chase, etc) and with the rise in electronic payments over the last year, I find myself visitng ATMs less frequently, and most of the time its to deposit funds into an account to later transfer to Ally (as that is the easiest way i have fond to deposts funds to Ally).
Its true, you can access Ally’s online site via the browser on the iPad, but its painful and the billpay is even more painful (should only be attempted if absolutly necessary). Ally has stated they are on track to release a basic mobile app in 2012 with later versions (hopefully in 2012) to potentially include billpay and check depsoit via camera image, but truefully its a little late for that. Online only banks are great so long as their technology and ease of use stays ahead, but now the major banks have advanced technology (mobile and online) and have the physical presence to enahnce the equation. In 2012, most things I do are via a mobile platform. If I cant do something on my iPhone or iPad, I likley will not do it. This trend will only continue for more and more of the population.
The one cavate is fees. Ally is a great fee free bank and while the BofA account I used to deposit funds for transfer to Ally also has no fees who knows how long that will continue. It’s time for Ally to catch up with its competition.
Budgeting with Mint.com
Over the holidays this year I sat down to work on my 2012 budget in Mint.com, my favorite online financial service. Unlike previous years where I had budgets in Mint, I tried to make this one reasonable and obtainable. Historically, I have used mint.com for hindsight review rather than proactive budgeting (some of that was due to living in three apartments in the last year, including a move from Washington, DC to San Francisco, CA without updating the budgets).
This whole processing has lead to reaffirm my biggest grip with Mint’s budgeting and to ask a very basic budgeting question.
First, I still cannot believe that in 2012 Mint does not have the ability to set annual budgets. For example, I want an annual budget for things like clothing, travel, and gifts. For the life of me I cannot figure out a workaround to create one. As a result, I am left with keeping these outside of Mint in a spreadsheet. Thats a manual effort that shouldn’t be required. Anyone have any suggestions?
Second, while I have outlined my day-to-day spending in a detailed manner I have also included budgets for my “fixed costs” (those that do not fluctuate from month to month - rent & car payment). In my mind it makes sense to include these, however since these payments tend to be front-loaded in the month it skews the progress bar as soon as these payments are recorded in Mint to make it look like I’m off budget until the very end of the month. While I understand the visual result is due to these payments, it still requires me to look into the various budgets set to see if my variable costs are still on target. So my question to you: do you include your fixed cost structure in your mint budgets, or leave them out?
Happy new year! Let’s celebrate 2012 with some iPhone love.
I can not wait until this app comes out!
Uber car impounded, driver ticketed in city sting
This is absolute crap. The current laws may not be written perfectly for Uber to operate in DC, but that doesn’t mean the city needs to go after the drivers for providing an otherwise valuable and demanded service that is legal in most other cities. After having lived in DC for more than 8 years, this action doesn’t surprise me. The taxi commission has always been a bone of contention for most people.
Massive Health: Swelling Servings: The Growth of American Food Portions [infographic]
Conclusions:
- It’s almost as if there’s a conspiracy to make us fatter. Over time, the size of the portions we consume have gotten larger, and the least healthy foods are the worst offenders. The portion size of sugary and salty snacks have grown by more than 50% in the last 30 years.
- It’s not enough to just plan on eating part of a dish. The overall size of the portion actually influences how much of it you eat before you think you’re full.
