South China Morning Post (August 6)
Hong Kong’s “tough Covid-19 measures have lasted too long. They have sucked much of the joy out of everyday life and left the city isolated.” Politics have also lessened Hong Kong’s appeal. “The protests, the national security law, mass arrests and relentless rhetoric have all had an impact.” So many of the best and most “cherished memories of the city…. belong to an era that has ended.”
Tags: Appeal, COVID-19, Era, Hong Kong, Isolated, Joy, Mass arrests, National-security law, Politics, Protests, Rhetoric
The New Yorker (January 28)
“In an era of social media and fake news, journalists who have survived the print plunge have new foes to face…. The more desperately the press chases readers, the more it resembles our politics.”
Tags: Desperate, Era, Fake news, Foe, Journalists, Politics, Print plunge, Readers, Social media
Ekathimerini (August 19)
“Greece’s formal exit from the bailout program does not mean that the country has reached the end of an era and is turning over a brand-new leaf.” During the next phase, Greece will require “even more determination and discipline to meet stringent targets and push through more reforms that will help it get back on its feet.”
Tags: Bailout, Determination, Discipline, Era, Exit, Greece, Reforms, Targets
The Guardian (August 9)
“The era of low interest rates will last for at least another 20 years, despite gently rising official borrowing costs in the coming years, one of the Bank of England’s leading policymakers has forecast.” Outgoing monetary policy committee (MPC) member Ian McCafferty said that “structural changes in the global economy meant UK borrowers and savers should get used to interest rates being “significantly” below the 5% average in the 10 years leading up to the financial crisis.”
Tags: BOE, Borrowing, Costs, Era, Financial Crisis, Global economy, Interest rates, Low, MPC, Structural changes, UK
The Economist (April 14)
“Germany is entering a new era. It is becoming more diverse, open, informal and hip.” As the Merkel era draws to a close, “many of the country’s defining traits—its ethnic and cultural homogeneity, conformist and conservative society, and unwillingness to punch its weight in international diplomacy—are suddenly in flux.”
Tags: Conformist, Conservative, Diverse, Era, Flux, Germany, Hip, Homogeneity, Informal, Merkel, Open, Traits
Wall Street Journal (October 7)
“The fourth major era of computing” is leaving mainframes, PCs and the Web further behind. “The mobile era began this summer, as there are now more mobile users than desktop users, with 1.8 billion surfing the Web on their smartphones. Having a personal computer in your pocket is changing the tech world because, unlike a computer, a smartphone is always there when you need it.”
Tags: Computing, Desktops, Era, Mainframes, Mobile era, PCs, Smartphones, Surfing, Users, Web
Wall Street Journal (July 15)
“India’s state-run telephone company delivered its last telegram on Sunday. We are told an era is ending, as if mankind’s desire to communicate isn’t ageless.” For 163 years, telegrams served a purpose in India, but e-mail, SMS and Twitter are increasingly filling the need. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited had been losing approximately $23 million annually on telegrams since volume dropped to 5,000 daily “from 160,000-odd before smart phones and email.” In the U.S., Western Union eliminated telegrams in 2006 for similar reasons. Ironically, the short Twitter format of “140 characters pushes the limits of verbosity in a telegram,” but of course at greater speed and zero cost.
Tags: Cost, E-mail, End, Era, India, Smart phones, SMS, Speed, Telegram, Telephone, Twitter, U.S., Volume, Western Union
New York Times (May 26)
Marking the end of an era, Apple became the most valued technology company in the world. At a market valuation of $222 billion, Apple surpassed long-time leader Microsoft by about one billion dollars. Microsoft continues to dominate desktops, PCs and business applications, but market growth now centers on in-hand mobility. The New York Times states this “heralds an important cultural shift: Consumer tastes have overtaken the needs of business as the leading force shaping technology.”
Marking the end of an era, Apple became the most valued technology company in the world. At a market valuation of $222 billion, Apple surpassed long-time leader Microsoft by about one billion dollars. Microsoft continues to dominate desktops, PCs and business applications, but market growth now centers on in-hand mobility. The New York Times states this “heralds an important cultural shift: Consumer tastes have overtaken the needs of business as the leading force shaping technology.”