Under a Gibbous Moon

Can you spot the one that’s different?

I think that the normally accurate Google Video search algorithm might be having a problem.

Either that or Google has uncovered a secret link between MST3K and pop music.

After watching the Google Buzz controversy play out over the last week or so, I can honestly say that I am completely confused.

I signed up on Buzz the day it became available in my Gmail account, which was, I believe, the day after launch (and definitely before the shit storm started). When I did so it was quite explicit about what was going on and what it was going to do. It even listed who would be listed me following and gave me the opportunity to edit this list (which I did).

From reading much of the fury around the internet, it seems that my experience was totally unique. Apparently everyone else had Buzz just load up on its own and suddenly steal their identities and head for Vegas.

Now, admittedly, if you started up Buzz and clicked through the first couple of screens, you could be unpleasantly surprised.

I personally believe that much of the confusion comes from the fact that the Buzz icon was placed into the Gmail menu whether or not you have activated it, leading people to believe that was automatically activated.

This simply could have been handled by placing it in the text menu at the top of the screen where the various Google services appear even if you are not currently signed up for them.

Could this have been handled better by Google, certainly. Is the internet’s response to it radically overblown, yes.

Apparently, Aetna has decided to be obstructionist. When I contacted them, I was informed that, despite their name being on my bill, they had received no such thing and I needed to take it up with the hospital.

So, I called the hospital and they told me that they had indeed billed Aetna and that Aetna had denied my claim saying that I was, oddly enough, not insured on the date of the accident (just before and after, I guess).

After several months, I finally got the hospital bill from my car accident way back in November. My car insurance (GEICO) kept up their end and paid. Aetna (my medical insurance) did not.

Various account numbers have been redacted

I called Aetna about this, after 4 minutes on the phone and countless menus, they informed me that they were closed. It would have been nice that if they were going to deny my claim (for yet unknown reasons) that they should have at least told me. No, I have to find out about it when the hospital comes asking for money.

So far, it looks like having Aetna for an insurance company is a very bad idea, well at least for you. Seems like it works out fine for them. Wonder what they’re doing with my premiums?

I’m certain that by now we’ve all heard about the spat between Amazon and Macmillian Publishing over the pricing of eBooks. If not, Macmillian demanded the right to set the price on their eBooks to whatever they felt like and Amazon wanted them capped at $9.99. After an ugly back and forth, Macmillian won.

But this isn’t about that. There’s nothing particularly wrong with Macmillian trying to see what the market will bear with regards to newly published eBooks. What I find far more interesting is how eBooks will bring new life to a different market, low demand and out of print books.

Printing books is an expensive business. There’s the cost of paper and covers, ink and binding. After all that, they have to be shipped to the point of sale. All this means is that for anything to get published, a certain demand must be anticipated. This goes not only for new books but also for older ones. Today’s best seller is tomorrows bargain bin special.

Eventually, and this will vary from title to title, nearly all books will reach the threshold past which it is unprofitable to distribute them in print form. At that point the book falls out of print. It doesn’t mean that there is no longer a demand for this particular title but that merely that there is not enough of it to justify the expense of printing it. This cost is referred to as marginal cost. The beautiful thing about eBooks, though, is that the marginal cost of each eBook is essentially zero dollars.

This means that there is no reason to not have any title on the shelves, since it doesn’t cost money to keep them there. This opens up a whole new world of specialty books, one hit wonders, and former best sellers that would otherwise be difficult to find or would require a very expensive limited run from the publisher.