This article is about a term used in economics. For other uses, see service (disambiguation).

In economics and marketing, a service is the non-material equivalent of a good. Service provision has been defined as an economic activity that does not result in ownership, and this is what differentiates it from providing physical goods. It is claimed to be a process that creates benefits by facilitating either a change in customers, a change in their physical possessions, or a change in their intangible assets.

By supplying some level of skill, ingenuity, and experience, providers of a service participate in an economy without the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, their investment in expertise does require marketing and upgrading in the face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions.

More on [ Service ]

NYT > Television

A Top Producer for ‘Idol’ to Leave for Other Projects
Wed, 06 Aug 2008 04:25:47 -0000
The producer Nigel Lythgoe is leaving “American Idol” to concentrate on another Fox reality series and a new joint venture with Simon Fuller, the creator of “Idol.”
Inflated Egos in a Deflated Market
Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:31:34 -0000
“Million Dollar Listing,” a reality series on Bravo, shows signs of retooling since its debut two years ago in a very different real estate market.
Tv Sports: When Favre Showed Up, News Didn’t
Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:19:34 -0000
The coverage of Brett Farve’s return to the Green Bay Packers delivered repeated segments, graphics and interviews but not much news.

L.A. Times - Movie News

Woody Allen on 'Vicky Christina Barcelona,' love and his life
Sun, 10 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Filmmaker's latest comedy stars Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and a European sensibility. THE ONLY place Woody Allen ever really wants to be is in his bed. "My spot on the bed is my spot in the world," he explains. It's where he watches baseball games, and reads, and where he writes, usually in the morning, because if he starts at night, he sometimes gets so excited he can't go to sleep. It's where the act of imagination is actually "pleasurable and I might go cast the people and see my characters come to life. And I put the music in and I see the characters playing their scenes to the beautiful music behind them. You know, I get a kick out of that. And if nobody else does, that's too bad."
Review: 'Elegy'
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Film version of a Philip Roth older man/younger woman novel is slow and lifeless. Based on the recent novel "The Dying Animal" by Philip Roth, "Elegy" charts the doomed-to-fail love affair between older man David Kepesh ( Ben Kingsley) and younger woman Consuela Castillo (Penélope Cruz). While it is always a pleasant change of pace to see a film that deals with maturity and the struggles of aging rather than the youth-regression/obsession of so many current movies, "Elegy" seems determined to make real every ageist dig that could be thrown its way -- out of touch, balefully slow and, for a film at least partly about the zesty enterprise of sex, awfully lifeless.
Review: 'Transsiberian'
Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700
Intrigue abounds on a Russian train. "Transsiberian" is the quintessence of what critic Judith Crist affectionately refers to as a movie-movie: a picture that breathes entertainment through every celluloid sprocket hole while seeming, without affect or pomposity, to encapsulate the entirety of film history.

Billboard News - All

Man Charged In Beating Death At Lil' Kim Party
A New York nightclub worker has confessed to beating a woman to death during a Sunday night birthday celebration for rapper Lil' Kim, the police commissioner said.
Billboard Bits: Ingrid Michaelson, Mary Chapin Carpenter
Singer/songwriter Ingrid Michaelson will use her music to fight cancer via the Oct. 14 release of the album "Be OK."
U.S. Sheds See Grosses, Attendances Rising
As Live Nation preps for its Q2 earnings call after market close today (Aug. 7), the company can point to an amphitheater season that has not only weathered an iffy economy in the first half of the year, but managed to post some improved numbers.

Subscribe to Arts_and_Entertainment RSS feed