Costco's costly largesse

Happy employees make for happy customers, goes the old adage; but what if it makes for unhappy shareholders? That's the dilemma facing Costco, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Costco Wholesale Corp. often is held up as a retailer that does it right, paying well and offering generous benefits.

But Costco's kind-hearted philosophy toward its 100,000 cashiers, shelf-stockers and other workers is drawing criticism from Wall Street. Some analysts and investors contend that the Issaquah, Wash., warehouse-club operator actually is too good to employees, with Costco shareholders suffering as a result.

Update: P-I reporter Christine Frey looks at this issue from the Costco perspective -- and finds that the company is quite comfortable with its philosophy for compensaitng employees.

Simputer ships

The Simputer, my favorite example of socially responsible vaporware, has finally become a hard reality, the Associated Press reports.

It's a low-cost, Linux-powered handheld computer designed by Indian scientists in 2001 to introduce computing to populations too poor to afford regular computers. Simputers aren't designed for use by individuals or single households but entire villages. Wired News outlined the developers' ambitious goals, and the ingenious ways they use technology to circumvent problems such as illiteracy, three years ago (although the specs of the finished device have been upgraded from what's detailed in the article).

Will the Simputer have as great an impact as Freeplay's wind-up radios have? We'll have to wait and see (although people are already hashing out the issues on Slashdot, naturally.)

Taiwan this weekend

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Lien Chan protested in the streets of Taipei today, demanding a recount of the contested election. Reuters has a good, scene-setting account.

Rounding up other news organizations' coverage:

• CNN notes that Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian, re-elected by an original margin of 30,000 votes, has agreed to a recount -- but notes that the country lacks any legal mechanism for holding one. Meanwhile, he announced he would meet with Lien on Monday.
• Nonetheless, Channel News Asia (Singapore) reports that Chen was "defiant" and took "a tough line" with the protesters, calling the civil unrest a test of his leadership.
• As The Age (Melbourne, Australia) puts it oh-so-succinctly, "The rivalry between Mr Chen and Mr Lien threatens a prolonged crisis that could paralyse policymaking in one of Asia's most vibrant economies."
• Washington Post focuses on what Chen's re-election, the public unrest and the Bush administration's apparent endorsement mean for China. No, Beijing isn't happy at all.
• Reuters points out that "Taiwan hit back, telling Beijing to mind its own business."
• On a related front, the Post reports that the election crisis in Taiwan could affect chances for democratic reform and direct elections in Hong Kong.