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I’ve been annoyed at Starbucks for awhile - it’s the CD racks, countertop displays and spinners that clutter their stores.

The Starbucks on the mauka side of Bishop and King Streets is a prime example of how this retail initiative is a nuisance to customers. That store is small - I’ve seen closets that are bigger. The CD displays make it much harder to stand in line when there’s more than 3 people waiting for a barista. I’m surprised there aren’t ADA lawsuits pending.

CDs and coffee don’t mix

I can’t imagine that the employees like dealing with these racks, either. What happens when a customer knocks over some CDs or spills a drink on merchandise? How do stores control shoplifting and shrinkage? What about teenagers and young children who decide to “play” with the packages?

Starbucks is phasing out its music CD retail business, according to an AlleyInsider.com article called Starbucks (BUX) Dumping CDs. Starbucks stores will have 4 CD slots per store.

I expect that Starbucks stores will still sell iTunes gift cards, as part of the WiFi promotional campaign for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

In addition, Starbucks has handed over the day-to-day management of its Hear music label to Concord Music Group.

Related articles and pages on billso.com

• Digital music
• iPhone
• 27 February 2008: Starbucks, coffee and music
• 26 February 2008: iTunes is number two
• 11 February 2008: Starbucks signs with AT&T
• 7 July 2004: Downloading music at the coffee bar

Nokia is buying the 52% of Symbian that it didn’t own, and spinning off the mobile software company into a new entity called the Symbian Foundation. Sony Ericcson, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo are the other partners in a long-needed effort to reunite the various forks of the world’s most popular mobile phone operating system. AT&T, LG, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments. and Vodafone have commited themselves to the new effort. Samsung is also expected to join the foundation. See this article from the Associated Press for more information.

Related articles and pages on billso.com

• iPhone
• 20 April 2008: Mobile phones - the cure for global poverty?
• 21 February 2008: Nokia brings back N-GAGE
• 20 February 2008: Mobile phone platform wars
• 25 January 2008: Nokia claims 40 percent market share
• 20 January 2008: Nokia, Sprint announce layoffs

I attended the University of Georgia, so I know that Georgia has more than a few folks who need some exercise. Google’s Atlanta office is a founding sponsor for Get Outdoors Georgia, a state program that encourages people to get off their seats and exercise in a park. Google is donating a branded YouTube channel, advertising services, maps and other features to support the effort.

If Google ever opens an Oahu office, I hope they will support a similar program for the island. A recent Federal study concluded that 8% of all Americans are diabetic. That’s 24 million people, with another 54 million who are on the verge of looking like the humans in WALL-E. Once someone, especially a child, gets fat, he tends to stay fat. This Motley Fool article, This Drug Market is Booming, discusses how pharmaceutical companies and investors are trying to profit from the diabetes epidemic.

See Get Outdoors with GO Georgia! for more details.

Helio, the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that tried to sell MySpace-branded handsets and service, has been purchased by Virgin Mobile. 

After EarthLink bailed out, SK Telecom pumped an additional US$270 million into Helio in a last-ditch effort to save the struggling business.

The Helio kiosks in Ala Moana Center never looked very busy. I’m not sure how many Helio subscribers signed up in Hawaii, but the nationwide numbers had gone down to 170,000, compared to Virgin Mobile’s 5 million. Young adults seem to carry T-Mobile’s Sidekick or a Verizon phone, although the iPhone may gain traction in a few weeks with its new low price. 

See this TechCrunch article titled Helio Hangs It Up for more details. 

Related articles and pages on billso.com

• iPhone
• 9 June 2008: iPhone 3G
• 13 April 2008: MySpace keeps trying to sell music downloads
• 29 September 2006: ESPN sacked, Helio scrambling

I see more white and silver laptops than black models when I walk around campus and the shopping mall these days. Colored laptops might look nice in the home, but do people really want to live with one color choice for 2 or more years?

If you don’t like the stock color of your device, Colorware will sell you a custom painted Blackberry, iPhone, iPod, game console or laptop. They’ll also paint your equipment. Their process takes a few days, and you have to wait for the mail or FedEx, though.

It’s easy to wrap a laptop in decals. Students and programmers like to do this, because it’s a great way to personalize a computer. The decals also help the user identify their computer easily.

But I’m not sure I’d go to a job interview with a laptop covered in bumper stickers, unless I knew the client well enough. An accountant might not visit carry a bright purple computer with Astroturf on the lid to a major client meeting.

Erica DeWolff has posted a nice article about this issue at Professionalism and computer color: What do you think? The comments on that article are fun to read.

Skinit.com, schtickers.com, skinvo.net and other companies sell a variety of large, colorful stickers that are custom cut each model’s dimensions - and some companies will let you design your own laptop skin.