Flying home today, from London via San Francisco, after more than two weeks traveling. Traveling is a reminder for me, always a good eye opener. News from the USA is economic disaster, the fed looking at things as drastic as since the “great” depression.
Madrid is enjoying one of the best new airports in the world, bustling, booming, a cleaned up, exciting city.
I’m reminded, also, that in the US we get poorer news, or less news. CNN ought to be the same everywhere, you’d think, but then it isn’t. There’s more news and less fluff in CNN’s non-US versions. What’s up with that? Business, I’m afraid. CNN is a business, it sells ads, and we watch more ads when they give us fluff.
I don’t think when we thought up a free press, back in the old days, that we envisioned it like Kris Kristofferson’s line in Me and Bobby McGee: “Nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ when it’s free.” We don’t get much about elections in Zambia, or unrest in Indonesia, but we know a lot about our celebrities.
Just as an aside, I try to post daily on this blog, and I missed some days last week because of the travel schedule. I should be back to normal now. I’m very much looking forward to judging the Rice University venture competition, in Houston, at the end of the week.
Tim Berry is the founder and chairman of Palo Alto Software and Bplans.com. Follow him on Twitter @Timberry.
