Two from Saturday’s The New York Times

Ever hear of the “razor blade” business model?
It describes a marketing approach “named from the marketing innovation of King C. Gillette, who in the early years of the last century sold razors for a low price but made all his money on the high-margin* disposable razor blades.”

*margin: see point 6 in the American Heritage Dictionary

The New York Times is tying the concept into the digital photo printing business practices of Hewlett-Packard and Canon, who sell photo printer hardware inexpensively but make their money on the repeat expensive purchases of paper and ink (accessories) that go into the printers.

See “Why Do-It-Yourself Photo Printing Doesn't Add Up” by Damon Darlin in the Saturday, October 8, 2005, issue of The New York Times.

What’s new with the flu?
Are you reading or writing about the new Avian Flu pandemic the world is expecting in the near future? With the way government leaders and journalists are throwing around the concepts behind it, how much does the world really understand about the problem?

Here, via The New York Times article in Saturday’s (October 8, 2005) article, “Bush Plan Shows U.S. Is Not Ready for Deadly Flu” by Gardiner Harris, is a listing of information that may help you sort it out.:

● Use of “epidemic” vs. “pandemic” see articles on “epidemics”

● Use of term “Virus” see articles on “Viruses”

● Use of term “Flu” see articles on “influenza”