Archive for 2009

I Can’t Buy One But I Can Dream Can’t I?

December 21st, 2009

A new Ferrari is out in time for Christmas
If you were thinking about changing your car before the end of the year, here’s your chance. Just put $216,500 in your wallet and head for the nearest Ferrari dealership. Seeing that it’s almost Christmas, ask for the red 458 Italia model. It’s the one with the very powerful and very loud V8 engine in an aluminum chassis and body, an entirely new car. This should see you well-set for the coming decade. Driving around in this baby will also help you forget your dwindling pension fund and the non-stop global warming.

Its performance
This car looks fabulous with a functional, unadorned purity that comes from the way aerodynamics dictate the shape. At the maximum speed of 200 mph there’s around a third of a ton of power going on. Some speed, that, and very useful in the daily traffic jams. The phenomenal acceleration will outrun any cop in any weather, but you will have to hang onto to your internal organs.

The gearbox
The car boasts a new seven-speed sequential gearbox, now a double-clutch unit derived from that of the Ferrari California. Ferrari’s previous paddle-shift transmission brought a pause in acceleration with each upshift; this one not only eradicates the pause but also adds a momentary increase in acceleration from the rotational momentum of the engine as the engagement of the higher gear pulls the crankshaft speed down. But this is not the seamless, creamy-smooth shifting of which a double-clutcher is theoretically capable. There’s more drama if the shift feels more “mechanical”, so Ferrari has deliberately roughed-up the shift action a bit.

How it feels
A new steering-wheel design brings almost every hand-operated driving control within its orbit, including thumb-operated indicator buttons. Behind it is the tidiest dashboard yet seen in a Ferrari, with a big, central tachometer and TFT screens each side of it containing the speedometer, the satnav screen and a choice of systems readouts. Driven with the verve for which it is made, the Ferrari feels invincible. Its steering responds much more quickly than that of an F430 but it doesn’t feel remotely twitchy because the rear suspension helps to keep the response measured and progressive. It just feels compact, instantly flickable and amazingly supple, given how flat it stays through fast corners.

Can you suggest anything else?
If the Ferrari feels a bit much for you mechanically, there are some other choices in the same price range.

The Lamborghini
There is the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4: Mid-engined with 417kW and more raw character. Prices start at around $200,000

The Audi
Audi R8 V10: Based on the Lamborghini Gallardo but Audified with a 391kW V10 engine. It’s a satisfying supercar and (relatively) good value. Starts at $203,000.

The Porsche
Porsche 911 Turbo: Rear engine in archaic 911 fashion but modern technology and all-wheel drive make it manageable despite 372kiW and colossal torque. A little cheaper at around $145,000

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The Recession’s not over until the fat lady sings

December 18th, 2009

Don’t break out the champagne just yet, the recession’s still here
There are only ten days to go to the end of the year and the US economy, despite an impressive recovery in the past few months, is still knee-deep in mud and mire. While politicians grab champagne bottles to celebrate encouraging unemployment data, great dangers lurk. The first real positive sign in almost two years is the fact that only 11,000 jobs were lost in November. But the real situation is gloomy, and the impetus for the recent recovery is temporary. The main reason for the recovery is the restocking of inventories by retailers.

Businesses
Businesses suffered as consumers cut back spending. Families who saw their home values plunge, their salaries cut or vanish and their pension savings disappear were forced to cut their monthly budgets to the absolute bare minimum while paying debts at the same time. Families like this make up more than two-thirds of the US economy. A cruel spiral began in which businesses facing a dramatic drop in sales stopped spending on inventories and personnel and slashed prices to lure customers. After more than a year of selling only old stock, the businesses that survived had to prepare for the holiday season, which usually accounts for up to 40 percent of yearly revenue. So over the past few months they cautiously ordered more merchandise from their suppliers.

Factories
Factories that had been idle for months needed more workers, mostly temporary staff. An increase in hiring temporary staff is usually the first sign of a true recovery. But the period between that and committing to permanent positions is fraught with doubts, and firms hurry to get rid of the newcomers as soon as bad news reappears.

Stimulus
The massive federal economic-stimulus plan may have succeeded in preventing a collapse of the economy, but Americans will have to pay for their enormous government deficits, the injection of hundreds of billions of dollars and the various incentives for the auto and real-estate sectors that gave an emergency dose of oxygen and kept them alive.

Peanuts
But all that money is peanuts compared to the trillions dished out to the banks starting in March 2008. The leaders of the world’s largest economies tried to convince us that there was no other choice but to bail out those who created this crisis, and that the alternative would be total chaos. We can never really know what would have happened. What we do know is what the policy-makers should focus on now: helping the small businesses instead of the giants.

The White House
It seems the folks in the White House finally get it. They are now committed to saving those small- and medium-sized firms, the backbone of the nation’s economy. President Barack Obama recently declared that $200 billion out of the TARP funds, originally earmarked for banks, would now be allocated for programs to support small businesses.

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Rolex – I surrender. Please send my watch

December 17th, 2009

How many ads does it take to change a man’s watch?
You’ve done it, Rolex. Your ad campaign is an outright winner. It is so compelling that I throw up my hands in surrender and grudgingly say, “OK, send it!” My full name and mailing address will follow in due course. Now I will try and choose the model I like.

The ad campaign – Monday
Your campaign has gone like this: On Monday you featured the Pilot’s Watch and the Driver’s Watch. These days my flying consists of sitting in cattle-class near the back of the plane usually surrounded by crying babies. I doubt that the Pilot’s Model would distract or keep them quiet. As for the Driver’s Watch, yes, I do drive but my current car has a huge illuminated digital watch in the dashboard. It is even more prominent than the speedometer and I think I will continue to rely on that.

Tuesday
Tuesday showed a full page ad of your Leader model. This watch is for me. I felt excited looking at it and wished I would have had such a gleaming watch on my wrist in the days when I was a leader. Those days are over, unfortunately. A revolution here, a coup there and it was back to the regular hum-drum life for me. That watch is no longer relevant.

Wednesday
On Wednesday we saw the Explorer. In the picture it looks like a smart piece of design and engineering. I am sure the great explorers of the world would be pleased to have such a watch on their wrists. These days I seem to do most of my exploring in the supermarkets so I’ll pass on this model as well.

Thursday
The Deep Dive Watch. This one is definitely not for me. I have never lived near the sea and the truth is that I don’t really like water except when it’s mixed with a tot of whisky. Have you ever thought about a Whisky Drinker’s model, a watch that will show you when its time to quit or better still, will show you how much time is left?

My suggestion
I would like to suggest a new range of watches to you. You use the words ‘New Generation’ freely in your ads. How about an Older Generation Model? What we er, seniors need is a watch that never stops or requires a battery change, which always tells the correct time and has no other features. I don’t need to know about the phases of the moon, the time in Hong Kong, the depth I’ve sunk to or how many miles an hour I’m doing trudging along the sidewalk. It must have big numbers and hands the size of soup-plates so I don’t have to find my spectacles in order to see the time. A leather strap with a buckle will be fine too. Let me know when it’s available – I’m a buyer! Oh yeah, about the price…

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