Word: basics
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Hamburgers. Fries. Soft drinks. After decades of Big Macs and Whoppers, that combo hardly seems to qualify for cult status. But as this entertaining corporate history demonstrates, doing something basic--but exceedingly well--has catapulted In-N-Out Burger to pop-culture stardom. The California-based chain, which owns 232 restaurants in the Western U.S., causes "burger jams" every time it opens a new location. Famous habitués, from Tom Cruise to Julia Child, have given the fare impassioned (unpaid) endorsements. In short, says Perman (a former TIME writer), "it is the envy of the industry and the darling...
Skype's popularity underscores the fact that even wireless providers who consider themselves leading edge are increasingly viewed as utilities that provide a basic service like water or power. What matters most to users is the latest iPhone or BlackBerry with the sleekest applications. These added pressures to the customer base and bottom line may turn out to be for the telecom industry what the automobile was to the horse. Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom predicts that in less than a decade, telcos and cablecos will be on the bottom of the telecom food chain, faceless operators of low-value...
...standards, we need to define the purpose of a public education. Right now, public schools are trying to be all things to all people: teaching about everything from harassment to baby care, and doing much of it poorly. We need a mission statement and a definition of basic education before we can effectively set standards. Sue Wachtman, PORT ORCHARD, WASH...
...third chance of saving everyone and a two-thirds chance of saving no one. Overwhelmingly, subjects chose the 200 sure things. Then the same people were given the same choice but this time framed in terms of 400 certain deaths. Most respondents changed their answers, even though the basic facts were identical...
When a successful class is defined by acquiring the minimum amount of necessary information in the minimum amount of time, then something is off. Lectures should be interesting, not just useful for the midterm, and when we budget our class time we give up on this basic intellectual ideal. The nuances that get cut with an economic approach to class time are what make the Harvard academic experience more than four years of test prep. When we drop them, we drop learning for its own sake, that clichéed goal that we laud but clearly do not internalize...