The Round up Edition

Summary

Skip Montreux – Down to Business English

Episode: The Roundup Edition (October 8, 2011)

Theme:
A lively review and update ("roundup") of several major business stories previously covered on the podcast, combined with a practical discussion of related business English vocabulary for learners.

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Episode Overview

In this special "Roundup Edition," hosts Skip Montreux (Tokyo) and Des Morgan (Abu Dhabi) revisit and update three key tech and business stories from past episodes: the evolving competition between Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad, the ongoing troubles of BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM), and recent turbulence in the gold and silver markets. Interwoven throughout is a context-rich vocabulary section aimed at helping listeners improve their business English.

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Key Discussion Points & Updates

1. The Evolving Tablet Market: Kindle Fire vs. iPad

[01:20–03:26]

• Background:
  Des recaps their earlier conclusion (Episode 32, May 29th, 2011) that the iPad and Kindle could coexist, since they target different markets and use cases.
• Major Development:
  • Amazon's launch of the touchscreen, color Kindle Fire, with "free cloud storage, over 10,000 movies and TV shows…along with all the usual email and E-reader software" (Des, [02:05]).
  • The price point is remarkable: "the Fire is only available in the US at the moment, but the price there is just $199, which compares very favorably with the cheapest iPad at 499." (Des, [02:26])
  • New Kindle Touch also released.
• Market Implications:
  The low price and enhanced features signal a potential shake-up for Apple and other competitors.
  Memorable moment: "If it works as well as Amazon claims, then you could well be right. For the price of an iPad, I could get a Fire, the latest Kindle ebook reader, which also has a touchscreen and still have change in my pocket." (Des, [02:42])

2. Research in Motion’s Ongoing Struggles

[03:07–04:58]

• Background:
  Skip references his report (Episode 14, September 2010) on RIM, the maker of BlackBerry.
• Recent Troubles:
  • Rumors that RIM had to withdraw its Playbook tablets due to software issues.
    • "There's a rumor floating around that RIM had to withdraw some of their flagship tablets from the shelves due to issues with the installed software." (Skip, [03:37])
  • Stock price "has dropped like a stone" ([03:52]), attracting activist investor Carl Icahn.
    • "Their stock price has dropped like a stone to the point where Carl Icahn ... has been buying enough shares to try to get himself a seat on the board." (Skip, [03:52])
    • Reference to Icahn's past takeover of Motorola, which led to the company being split and sold ("one of which, Motorola Mobile, was bought by ... Google." [04:10])
• Forecast:
  If Icahn joins the board, expect significant management changes and possible sell-off of patents.
  • "If Carl Icahn does get a seat on the board, he will probably push RIM to make some pretty big management changes and sell off some of its patents to release shareholder value." (Skip, [04:24])
  • Des notes criticism that Icahn is "more interested in the short term." ([04:44])
• Industry Context:
  RIM is rapidly losing market share to Apple and Google's Android OS.

3. Gold and Silver: From All-Time Highs to Sharp Corrections

[04:58–06:46]

• Background:
  Gold hit record highs in 2010 (episode 13).
• Recent Events:
  • Gold tumbled from "a high of over $1900 an ounce to about 1650 today ... Silver fared even worse, down from above $40 to just below $30 today." (Des, [05:34])
  • Des, himself a gold investor, jokes, "I have the scars to prove it." ([05:28])
• Market Analysis/Outlook:
  Despite the sharp correction, Des argues this is "just the precious metals taking a breather before continuing upwards." ([05:58])

  • He cites: monetary policy (money printing), financial uncertainty (Eurozone), and inflation as continued reasons for gold's appeal.

    "All of the reasons that people initially bought gold still hold true today. A lot of countries are creating new money to bail out their economies with, which makes the value of those paper currencies go down." (Des, [06:09])

  • Skip teases Des about trying to convince himself.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Kindle Fire's Pricing:
  "For the price of an iPad, I could get a Fire, the latest Kindle ebook reader, which also has a touchscreen and still have change in my pocket." (Des, [02:42])

• On RIM's Troubles:
  "Their stock price has dropped like a stone to the point where Carl Icahn ... has been buying enough shares to try to get himself a seat on the board." (Skip, [03:52])

• On Gold's Drop:
  "You can say that again. It came crashing down from a high of over $1900 an ounce to about 1650 today. And gold's little sister Silver fared even worse, down from above $40 to just below $30 today." (Des, [05:34])

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Vocabulary Spotlight

[07:52–15:24]
Throughout the latter part of the episode, Skip and Des break down business English vocabulary highlighted in their news roundup.

• To second (something):

  • Formal meeting language meaning "to agree or support a motion." ([07:52])

• Hectic:

  • Very busy and often confusing. ([08:43])

• Roundup:

  • Noun: An update or summary.
  • Verb: To quickly finish something. ([09:29])

• Copyright:

  • Legal right to control use/publication of original creative work.
  • Contrast with patent, which applies to inventions/technology. ([10:01–11:16])

• Drop like a stone:

  • To fall rapidly (often in value). ([12:09])

• Entity:

  • A business term for a corporate body/company, often for legal distinction purposes. ([13:10])

• Take a breather:

  • To take a short rest or pause. ([14:04])

  "Recently I have started running again...I used to be able to get a good 5km in before taking a break, but now I can only run a couple of clicks before I have to take a breather." (Skip, [14:29])

Pronunciation Note:

• "Patent" is pronounced differently in American (pæ-tent) vs. British (pay-tent) English. ([11:56])

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Recommendations & Resources

[06:54, 15:24–16:08]

• All past episodes and study materials (PDFs) are available at downtobusinessenglish.com.
• Shout-out to the podcast "My American Friend" for learners of general English (available on iTunes).

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Episode Flow & Tone

The conversation is friendly, lightly humorous, and gently teasing. Both hosts use current events as springboards for real-world English learning, modeling practical usage and inviting further learning.

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Useful Timestamps

• [01:20] — Kindle/iPad/Digital Media Update
• [03:07] — RIM/BlackBerry Playbook and Carl Icahn Discussion
• [04:58] — Gold & Silver Market Update
• [07:52] — Vocabulary Section Begins
• [12:09] — "Drop like a stone" idiom explained
• [13:10] — "Entity" explained
• [14:04] — "Take a breather" explained
• [15:24] — End of vocabulary; resources and sign-off

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For new listeners, this "Roundup Edition" is an excellent example of Down to Business English's informative yet approachable style—blending timely business news with accessible language learning.

Transcript

[A]

Hello, everyone. This is Skip Montreux reporting from Tokyo, Japan.

[B]

And this is Des Morgan reporting from Abu Dhabi in the uae.

[A]

And you are listening to down to Business English. A great big warm hello to all of our listeners. Thank you so much for downloading down to Business English today.

[B]

And an even warmer welcome to any of you listening in for the first time.

[A]

I second. That's. I'm glad you have found us. So, Des, how are things going with you?

[B]

Pretty hectic actually, what with work and my private life. I seem to be all over the place at the moment.

[A]

Welcome to my world, Mr. Morgan. My life is always hectic and there just never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done.

[B]

I'll tell you something else that's all over the place.

[A]

Okay, and what would that be?

[B]

Today's episode of down to Business English. That's what.

[A]

What do you mean by that exactly?

[B]

Well, so many of the stories that we've covered so far on D2B have really developed since being recorded. I thought that on today's episode we could have something of a Roundup edition.

[A]

A Roundup edition? An update to some of our past stories.

[B]

That's what I was thinking. Yes.

[A]

That is a brilliant idea.

[B]

So let's do it. Let's get D D2B down to business with the Roundup edition. I will start off with an update on our story on the Kindle, the iPad and digital print media. It was episode 32, I believe.

[A]

That's right back on May 29th of this year. In that episode, you concluded that the iPad and Kindle could probably co exist since they are intended for different purposes and different audiences.

[B]

That I did. But everything has changed now that Amazon has brought out a whole new range of Kindles, including the color Kindle Fire.

[A]

Tell me about the Kindle Fire.

[B]

How does a full color touch screen with free cloud storage, over 10,000 movies and TV shows that can be either streamed or downloaded, along with all the usual email and E reader software sound

[A]

to you sounds pretty impressive.

[B]

And you haven't heard the most impressive part yet. Which is the price.

[A]

Go on.

[B]

Well, the Fire is only available in the US at the moment, but the price there is just $199, which compares very favorably with the cheapest iPad at 499.

[A]

Wow. It seems Amazon might be onto a winner there.

[B]

If it works as well as Amazon claims, then you could well be right. For the price of an iPad, I could get a Fire, the latest Kindle ebook reader, which also has a touchscreen and still have change in my pocket. Hey, have a guess what Amazon have called their E reader?

[A]

Oh, you know, I've heard about this. It's called the Kindle Touch, isn't it?

[B]

It is. I wonder how Apple feels about that with their ipod touch.

[A]

Well, I guess you can't copyright an everyday word like touch. Still, I'm sure the irony is not lost on Apple. I imagine it isn't related to this topic. I reported on a famous Canadian company way back in September of 2010 in D2B episode 14, where I discussed Research in Motion or RIM for short. The company that makes the BlackBerry phones and tablets.

[B]

Haven't they been having some problems with their Playbook tablet that they have.

[A]

There's a rumor floating around that RIM had to withdraw some of their flagship tablets from the shelves due to issues with the installed software.

[B]

Ouch. Things are not looking too rosy for rim, it would seem.

[A]

No they aren't. Their stock price has dropped like a stone to the point where Carl Icahn, the multi millionaire investor, has been buying enough shares to try to get himself a seat on the board.

[B]

He did that same thing at Motorola, I believe he did.

[A]

And when he got on the board, he split Motorola into two separate entities, one of which, Motorola Mobile, was bought by Easy Google.

[B]

You'll have to try a bit harder than that.

[A]

I might have known you would know that. Anyway, moving on. If Carl Icahn does get a seat on the board, he will probably push RIM to make some pretty big management changes and sell off some of its patents to release shareholder value. At least that is what he usually does.

[B]

So he's more interested in the short term then.

[A]

That is what his critics generally say about him. But hey, RIM is constantly losing market share to Apple and Google's Android os. So maybe a change is called for.

[B]

Time will tell, Skip. Now I would like to move on to our last topic. Finish this sentence. All that glitters is not gold. Indeed, we reported on gold last year in episode 13 of D2B and at that time gold was at an all time high and was still climbing.

[A]

I remember that.

[B]

However, for investors in gold today, the past few weeks have most certainly not been a glittering success.

[A]

Aren't you one of those investors, Des?

[B]

Yes I am. And I have the scars to prove it.

[A]

So gold is down then?

[B]

You can say that again. It came crashing down from a high of over $1900 an ounce to about 1650 today. And gold's little sister Silver fared even worse, down from above $40 to just below $30 today.

[A]

It really? Sounds like the party is over. Did gold reach a peak and is now on its way down?

[B]

That question does keep me awake at night. But in my opinion, this correction is just the precious metals taking a breather before continuing upwards.

[A]

Why do you say that?

[B]

Well, all of the reasons that people initially bought gold still hold true today. A lot of countries are creating new money to bail out their economies with, which makes the value of those paper currencies go down.

[A]

Ok.

[B]

Political and financial uncertainty in the eurozone makes the safety of precious metals attractive and of course they are a protection against inflation.

[A]

Sounds to me as if you were trying to convince yourself that that is true.

[B]

Well, maybe I am a bit. But I still see gold as having a glittering future, even if it is getting a bit beaten up right now.

[A]

I certainly hope so because I really hate it when you cry.

[B]

It's embarrassing me too, so let's not dwell on it.

[A]

Good idea. Why don't we get D2V down to vocabulary? Just before we get started with vocabulary today, I would like to mention that all of our past episodes are available online. So if you are a new listener and didn't hear the original stories that we are updating today, it would be very useful to go back and listen to them. You can get them off our website or through itunes. In fact, if you are not already subscribed through itunes, I encourage you to take a moment and do that. It really is the best way to receive down to business English.

[B]

That is a very good suggestion. Shall I get things started?

[A]

By all means.

[B]

First up today is the phrase to second something. This phrase is most often used in formal meetings. In a formal meeting, after an issue has been discussed, someone will put forward a proposal or motion. They will say something. I move that this committee accept resolution 19088. Before that motion can be accepted, someone else in the meeting must announce, I second that. So when you informally say I second that, it simply means that you agree with what the other person has just said.

[A]

So at the beginning of the show when Des welcomed all the new listeners, I said that I second that because I agree with his statement. I think that's pretty clear. I move that we proceed with today's vocabulary.

[B]

I second that.

[A]

Okay, next up is the adjective hectic. We have explained this word on a past show, but it is worth reviewing. Hectic basically means very, very, very busy. It also carries with it the connotation that the situation is confusing.

[B]

In the story, I mentioned that my schedule recently has been pretty hectic, and

[A]

I took that to mean you have a lot to do lately. So Des, how are you managing with everything?

[B]

I.

[A]

Are you hanging in there?

[B]

Only just. Here's another example. The retail industry is always hectic during the winter holiday seasons. Christmas shopping makes it one of the busiest times of the year.

[A]

Christmas. Wow, that is just around the corner.

[B]

Yes, it is. Moving on, I'd like to now talk about the word roundup. The title of today's show is the Roundup episode. And as Skip explained in the opening, a round up is the same as an update.

[A]

It can be used as a verb as well, can't it?

[B]

That's right. As a verb, to round something up means to quickly finish something. For example, at the end of a meeting you might say, OK everyone, we're almost out of time. Let's quickly round up what we've covered today.

[A]

Nice example. Following on is the noun copyright. A copyright is a legal right given by the government to the creator of something to print, publish, perform, record or film their creation. Only that person has the right to use that work.

[B]

So without a copyright, anyone can use the work without permission?

[A]

Yes, that's right.

[B]

Does it only apply to books, music and other works of art?

[A]

Correct. In the story you mentioned that Apple can't copyright the word touch. In other words, the government would never let such a common word be copyrighted by a company. But just as a side note, Apple did try to copyright the word multi touch when they released the iPhone, but the government turned them down.

[B]

Are you sure about that? I thought that Apple had copyrighted multitouch.

[A]

I think you are referring to the technology behind multitouch. Apple has patented that technology, but they were unable to copyright the word itself.

[B]

I see. A patent is similar to a copyright, but applies to technology rather than art.

[A]

Exactly. Can you give an example of copyright or patent?

[B]

Of course. The background music you're listening to right now is not copyrighted. If we used copyrighted music, we would have to pay a license fee to the owner of the copyright. An expense that we'd like to avoid in order to keep costs down.

[A]

Good. How about patent?

[B]

The last year has seen the outbreak of the patent wars between the major players in technology. Google is suing Apple, Apple is suing Samsung, Samsung is suing Apple and Microsoft is suing Google. They they are all claiming that the other is using their patented technology without permission.

[A]

That is a story all in itself, isn't it? Everyone, please note the difference between the American pronunciation patent and the British pronunciation patent. But we should move on.

[B]

Yes. Next I would like to introduce the IDIOM to drop like a stone. I think it's easy enough to imagine what happens to a stone if you drop falls straight downwards very quickly. In the story, Skip said the stock price of Research in Motion, the makers of the BlackBerry, had dropped like a stone. In other words, it had fallen downwards very quickly.

[A]

Yes, it has fallen roughly 50% in the last six months. Here's another example. Some people thought that Apple's stock price would drop like a stone after the death of Steve Jobs. However, although it slightly dipped, it quickly rebounded and is currently pretty much holding steady.

[B]

A very big moment in business history indeed. And for those of you who are wondering why down to Business English didn't cover Steve Jobs passing, we should explain that we had just done an episode on his resignation in August. When we look back over his career

[A]

and impact and Our last newsletter is dedicated to Steve Jobs. Our next word today is the noun entity. This is a common business term that describes an individual company. It is often used to make a legal distinction between a parent company and its independent subsidiaries.

[B]

In the report, Skip talked about how Motorola split the company into two separate entities, one of which was acquired by Google. These two entities were completely independent of each other.

[A]

And another example is how Fox News in the US is a completely separate entity from Fox Entertainment. Even though they are both owned by Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. Empire, they are two distinct companies and are run independently of each other.

[B]

An appropriate example. Finally, today we have the casual phrase to take a breather, which means to take a rest or a pause from an activity. In the story I stated that I believe the precious metals market is taking a breather at the moment. In other words, I thought that prices are only pausing at current values before starting to rise again. Skip, can you give us another example?

[A]

I most certainly can. Recently I have started running again.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yes, I have now. I used to be able to get a good 5km in before taking a break, but now I can only run a couple of clicks before I have to take a breather.

[B]

We should stop smoking. I bet you would see an improvement pretty quickly.

[A]

Yes, but what would happen to our podcasting voices Anyway, that is all the time we have for vocabulary and phrases. Today we highly recommend that you listen to the report again and focus on those key words. Thanks Des. As usual it has been a blast.

[B]

You too, Skip. Just before we sign off, I'd like to remind everyone to drop by the site, download a copy of the PDF for today's episode, and sign up for the newsletter. Our website address is downtobusinessenglish.com Great idea, Des.

[A]

Both the newsletter and the PDF are valuable study tools. One more time. That's down to businessenglish.com Also, I want to give a great big shout out to Marta Encenti. Marta is one of the hosts of the very popular English learning podcast My American Friend. Marta was kind enough to mention down to Business English on a recent podcast and I just wanted to return the favor.

[B]

Yes, thank you Marta.

[A]

My American Friend is aimed at more general English words and phrases and is definitely worth checking out. You can find My American Friend on itunes. Thanks for listening everyone. See you next time.

[B]

Bye for now.

[A]

How's your voice?

[B]

Really, Skip, it's time we gave up that filthy habit.

[A]

The music in today's show comes from Mi Vo's Music Alley. Check it out at music.mivo.com.