That’s how big the fitness tracker market is projected to get this year, but there’s one problem: the tiny sensors that make these devices function aren’t improving fast enough. They’re not accurate enough, they use a lot of power and they can’t withstand the punishment that comes with some activities. Experts say those limitations are holding back a huge and growing market.
That’s how much Chicago is cutting its education budget, in large part because of a forced $600 million pension payment by the city. But members of the Chicago Teacher’s Union warn the recent cuts and layoffs may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Another big, healthy business. Salad shops took in nearly a third of a billion in the U.S. last year, the Atlantic reported. Packaged and made-to-order salads are a particularly lucrative part of the growing fast-casual movement, but there isn’t yet an established national player. That void at the top has regional chains and upscale grocery stores like Whole Foods racing.
That’s how much William Walker estimates he has spent on the recording gear he brought to the final Grateful Dead concert, which took place on Sunday. But if you think he was part of the high-def video streaming of the event to fans everywhere, you’d be dead wrong. Walker is one of the “tapers” — a sub-culture of fans who are approved to record live concert audio with their own gear for distribution. As the New York Times reports, tapers have been at Grateful Dead concerts since the 1980s and have sparked concert audio trading among followers of others bands, as well.
That’s how much Burt Shavitz, the man behind the beard for the Burt’s Bees brand, was paid for his shares of the company back in 1999 by co-founder Roxanne Quimby. Not such a great price when you consider Quimby later went on to sell the company for $1 billion. But Shavitz said that the house he was able to buy with the money was enough of a reward, the Washington Post reports. (He also reportedly received $4 million from Quimby when she sold the company to Clorox). Shavitz died Sunday at 80.
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