Max Chafkin

My Chat With Earthlink Customer Service

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:51:00 -0400

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: Hi Juliet

Juliet A: Hello this is Juliet A from Earthlink. How may I assist you?

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: I just opened an earthlink account and I’m trying to figure out when/how my cable internet will get installed

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: What’s the next step?

Juliet A: You will receive call from installation department within 72 business hours

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: can i just make an appointment with the installation department now?

Juliet A: Once you receive call, they will schedule an appointment and service will be installed,

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: also, is there a charge for installation?

Juliet A: You will receive call from installation department within 72 business hours from the day of sign up.

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: is there a charge for installation?

Juliet A: We do not have information about installation charges

Juliet A: Once you receive call, you will be informed about charges and bill plan

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: is there someone i can call who might have that information?

Juliet A: Once you receive call, you will be informed about charges and bill plan

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: are you a human being?

Juliet A: Yes.

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: ok.

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: thanks

Juliet A: You are chatting with a Live person

Juliet A: You are welcome

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: hard to believe

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: but i suppose its possible

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: can you tell me a joke or something?

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: just kidding

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: thanks for the help

Juliet A: You can contact installation department at 212 or 718.358.0900

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: THANK YOU!

Juliet A: That’s Funny!!

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: okay i believe you

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: thanks for the hlp

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: help

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: seriously

Juliet A: Thank you. It’s nice and pleasure to assist friendly customers like you.

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: sorry to question your humanity

max.chafkin@earthlink.net: have a nice day

Juliet A: Not a problem.

Juliet A: Thank you. Have a nice day.

Future TechStars, Step Forward

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:02:38 -0400

(Not so fast, you.)

An Oral History of Occupy Wall Street

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

An Oral History of Occupy Wall Street:

From the February issue of Vanity Fair.

"Anyone who has spent any time with Hsieh knows that he is prone to wild thought experiments and is..."

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 14:14:00 -0500

“

Anyone who has spent any time with Hsieh knows that he is prone to wild thought experiments and is especially susceptible to huge and unreasonable ideas. “One of the best things about Tony,” says Michael Cornthwaite, a Las Vegas restaurateur and a friend, “is that he doesn’t live by or within the same limitations that you’re used to dealing with. He has never—maybe never in his whole life—thought within the same constraints as the rest of us.” This means that a lot of what comes out of Hsieh’s mouth must be interpreted impressionistically: If he says that he’s building a movement to make the world a happier place, you understand that to mean that his online retailer has loftier goals than selling shoes. If he says that one day, there might be a Zappos airline, he means that his company could expand to other businesses—apparel, say, or housewares.

But every so often, these visions remarkably turn out to be true in a literal sense. A few months after our interview, Hsieh sent me an e-mail confirming the plan to move to city hall. The subject line of Hsieh’s e-mail included a smiley-face emoticon—Hsieh loves emoticons—and the following subject: Playing SimCity in Real Life.

”

- From my February Inc. magazine feature on Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s attempts to reinvent Downtown Las Vegas. Tony is somebody I’ve written a lot about in the past and I think he’s one of the most fascinating entrepreneurs working today. This is the most ambitious thing he’s done yet.

I traveled to Seoul for a December feature for Inc. on...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

I traveled to Seoul for a December feature for Inc. on entrepreneurship in South Korea. The piece focuses on Korean-American entrepreneurs who are choosing to set up shop over there rather than here. Reactions from Felix Salmon at Reuters and Reihan Salam at the National Review.

The New Establishment

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 22:24:00 -0400

The New Establishment:

I helped out my friends at Vanity Fair on this year’s list.

A Constant Feeling of Crisis

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:24:00 -0400

A Constant Feeling of Crisis:

Part two in my Inc. magazine series on global entrepreneurship.

Rob's World

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400

A profile of Etsy founder and CEO Rob Kalin. It was an April cover story in Inc. magazine. Kalin was subsequently replaced by CTO Chad Dickerson.

Ja Socialism

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:58:43 -0500

Ja Socialism:

My cover story this month:

We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism—and find out that it’s not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship?

Reactions from Felix Salmon and Matt Yglesias. Lots of comments here and here.

"Yes, getting to Mars will be a challenge, even for someone who knows as much as Elon Musk. So he..."

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 22:09:57 -0500

“Yes, getting to Mars will be a challenge, even for someone who knows as much as Elon Musk. So he isn’t worrying much about getting back. His will most likely be a one-way mission: a glorious and romantic and — let’s be honest — insane attempt to take civilization beyond this planet.”

- From my latest profile of Elon Musk in Inc.’s October issue.

“Someone once asked me, ‘What new technology will...

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:24:16 -0400

“Someone once asked me, ‘What new technology will allow entrepreneurs to create the next big thing?’ But the Next Big Thing already exists. It’s just a matter of thinking like an artist — of trying to take something that already exists and repurposing it for something it wasn’t intended for.”

—From my Q&A with @Biz in Inc.’s September issue.

What happens when you play several hundred hours of video games?

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:33:23 -0400

What happens when you play several hundred hours of video games?:

You write a hilarious New Yorker essay. Also: Great headline.

"Grove’s argument, like all protectionist plans, is essentially-backward looking, a bet on..."

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:40:55 -0400

“Grove’s argument, like all protectionist plans, is essentially-backward looking, a bet on existing industries and institutions—in this case, large computer manufacturers. But what of the industries that haven’t been created yet? Why should we be content with shoring up Intel’s balance sheet when we could be helping the founders of the next Intel? Don’t we want to next great companies and the next great industries to be based in the U.S. rather than somewhere else?”

- My thoughts on that Andy Grove essay.

I've got a blog!

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 21:42:33 -0400

I've got a blog!

Tony Hsieh: Why I Sold Zappos

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:10:00 -0400

Tony Hsieh: Why I Sold Zappos:

I worked on this piece with Tony. Reactions from the New York Times, Reuters, TechCrunch, and others.

"O’Reilly is old enough and rich enough to consider retirement. But if he sold the company..."

Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 -0400

“O’Reilly is old enough and rich enough to consider retirement. But if he sold the company today, he is not exactly sure what he would do. A life that doesn’t include helping out with the construction of the next transcontinental railroad doesn’t sound to him like a very interesting life. “When I imagine what it would be like, it’s like, What would I do then?” he says. “Right now, I have this tool that I can use to make stuff happen. If I sold it, I’d just have money.””

- From my cover story on Tim O’Reilly, “The Oracle.”

The Office is Dead. Long Live the Office. My April cover story...

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0400

The Office is Dead. Long Live the Office. My April cover story on virtual companies. Nice attention from the Times, CNBC, and NPR.