June 10, 2011
Weekly Roundup: ‘The end of shopping,’ the ‘end of the PC era’ and ‘a new era’ in China
Posted by: Jessica Vaughn - New York in North America
-The New York Times’ Thomas L. Friedman talks to the author of a book on “Why the Climate Crisis Will Bring On the End of Shopping and the Birth of a New World,” who argues for a happiness- rather than consumer-driven growth model.
-A report from BP finds that world energy use in 2010 spiked by 5.6 percent, the largest percentage leap since 1973.
-Two Morgan Stanley economists consider whether emerging markets are “graduating” to developed market status in the FT.
- The New York Times takes an in-depth look at a new Indian city that’s “a microcosm of Indian dynamism and dysfunction” and an example of the challenges to economic growth.
-With her “antiestablishment reputation,” French Open champion Li Na marks a “new era” for sports in China, says The Wall Street Journal.
-BRIC countries will be the ones to drive U.S. auto industry growth, reports NPR.
-McKinsey concludes that despite the March disasters, Japanese consumers haven’t lost their taste for luxury.
-USA Today takes a look at the “new American shopper [who] is changing the way retailers market, merchandise and maneuver.” DailyFinance and Ad Age report on how post-recession Americans are shopping for groceries. And Bloomberg examines how chain restaurants are revamping to appeal to the more affluent as lower-income Americans cut back.
-The U.N. names Internet access as a human right, while a Cisco report estimates that more than 40 percent of the projected global population will be using the Internet by 2015, according to Mashable.
-“Welcome to the Beginning of the End of the PC Era,” says tech blogger Harry McCracken in Time, as Apple introduces the iCloud and Microsoft previews Windows 8.
-Juniper Research says NFC (one of our 100 Things to Watch in 2011) is “steadily gaining traction,” Tech Crunch reports, forecasting that contactless payments will near $50 billion worldwide by 2014.
-Are online pawn shops the next big thing in e-commerce?
-The New York Times looks at “social minus the media”: the growth of online services like Grubwithus that use social networking to connect people offline.
-Gamifying job marketing: The Wall Street Journal looks at the “emerging trend of using computer games for recruiting.”
-A new study documents racial differences in media consumption among U.S. tweens and teens.
-Mashable looks at two m-health startups that are helping to save lives in the developing world.
-Small farms in the U.S. are embracing agritourism, reports The New York Times, as urbanites look to experience country life and farmers seek additional forms of income.
-While the e-book market is booming, The New York Times outlines how “the college textbook has met resistance in its digital form.”
-The proliferation of free messaging apps is threatening the income that U.S. mobile providers see from texting.
-The Wall Street Journal looks at how wedding registries are changing with the times.
-From UV-blocking T-shirts to caffeine-enhanced leggings, The New York Times weighs in on the rise of functional fashion.
