retroremakes
January 27th, 2010, 06:20
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/gizmodo/2010/01/skymall-final_360.jpgBill Donahue made a trip to the headquarters of SkyMall, purveyors of the most useless gadgetry in the western world (good luck competing with Brando (http://gizmodo.com/5136739/meeting-brando-hong-kongs-usb-willy-wonka)). My favorite part of the article? SkyMall's president is named Christine Aguilera. Ha!
It is kind of an interesting piece, though—SkyMall doesn't make, design, or even (to my surprise) ship products. They just pick and choose their favorites and assemble them into a magazine, and maybe provide some customer service. Mostly, the piece is a portrait of a company that could not be in a worse industry during a recession: Sharper Image and Circuit City have already bit the dust, and SkyMall's profits are way down. But there is a very cheerful-sounding guy working there, and I like their rationale for dismissing a USB-powered air-conditioned shirt:
"You have to unplug it to get up and go to the printer?" Downey said, vaguely incredulous. "I vote no."
"It's a geek shirt," said McCoy. "It wouldn't sell."
Good call, SkyMall. [WorldHum (http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/a-pilgrimage-to-skymall-20100108/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/8-F2v9VzxeM
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8-F2v9VzxeM/the-secrets-of-skymall-lie-in-an-arizona-office-park)
It is kind of an interesting piece, though—SkyMall doesn't make, design, or even (to my surprise) ship products. They just pick and choose their favorites and assemble them into a magazine, and maybe provide some customer service. Mostly, the piece is a portrait of a company that could not be in a worse industry during a recession: Sharper Image and Circuit City have already bit the dust, and SkyMall's profits are way down. But there is a very cheerful-sounding guy working there, and I like their rationale for dismissing a USB-powered air-conditioned shirt:
"You have to unplug it to get up and go to the printer?" Downey said, vaguely incredulous. "I vote no."
"It's a geek shirt," said McCoy. "It wouldn't sell."
Good call, SkyMall. [WorldHum (http://www.worldhum.com/features/travel-stories/a-pilgrimage-to-skymall-20100108/)]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1) http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?i=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/gizmodo/full?a=8-F2v9VzxeM:K02J50Nol-E:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~4/8-F2v9VzxeM
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/8-F2v9VzxeM/the-secrets-of-skymall-lie-in-an-arizona-office-park)