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Amazon and its rivals are teaming up to keep the U.S. Postal Service the way it is

Aug 9, 2018
The group of retailers call themselves the Package Coalition.
U.S. Postal service mail handler Eric Smith sorts packages at the U.S. Postal service's Royal Palm Processing and Distribution Center on December 4, 2017 in Opa Locka, Florida.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Why advertising is no longer the holy grail of tech revenue

Aug 3, 2018
This tech earnings season, services, gadgets, and the cloud won. Advertising ... took a hit.
A picture taken on November 20, 2017 shows logos of Google displayed on computers' screens. 
LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

A mall in Montana lost its department store ... again

Jul 30, 2018
When managing a shopping center, "every day is a fresh opportunity for creative problem solving."
People exit a subway into a Manhattan shopping mall on June 28, 2018 in New York City. The American economy showed the weakest performance in consumer spending in nearly five years new numbers from the Commerce Department show. Despite the drop in consumer spending, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the January-March period to give a mixed picture on the state of the American economy.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

This is why Amazon Web Services is growing so much

Jul 27, 2018
Amazon reported some blockbuster numbers this week, with quarterly profits of $2.5 billion — a nearly 1,200 percent increase over this time last year. When you think of Amazon, you probably think of its giant online store where you buy a year’s worth of paper towels or order groceries delivered to your house. But one […]
This illustration picture taken on April 29, 2018, shows the logo of Amazon displayed on a screen and reflected on a tablet in Paris.
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images

Hey, kids! Robots aren't people

Jul 24, 2018
We need to work with designers so children don't think of digital assistants as buddies, one expert says.
“There actually is a sort of pent-up demand for robot conversation because people are lonely,” says MIT researcher Sherry Turkle. Above, a Tanscorp UU smart robot at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Tech, data, privacy and time: It's a trade-off, but are we trading too much?

Jul 23, 2018
"If I don't understand the trade-off that I'm making, how can I help make decisions for my child?" one marketer asks.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images for Somerset House

July sales are pressuring the shipping industry like it’s the holiday season

Jul 16, 2018
Today is Prime Day, Amazon’s annual day of discounts that the retail giant hopes will rack up sales and lure new subscribers to Prime. Walmart, Target, Macy’s and other retailers are also getting in on what’s being dubbed Summer Black Friday. With all those packages on the move, the shipping industry is ramping up to […]

For public good, not for profit.

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Your Amazon deliveries don't just magically appear at your door

Jul 3, 2018
Some of them come to you via Amazon Flex, an app that allows regular people to deliver your packages.
Packages are stored at the Amazon's logistics center in San Fernando de Henares, near Madrid, on the eve of 'Black Friday', on Nov. 24, 2016.
Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images

Why streaming services sail in to save TV's castaways

If your favorite show gets canned on network television, there may be hope yet, thanks to the internet.
LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)