5th blog

A few weeks ago in class we had talked about interaction. Within that there are three types; 1)human - computer 2)computer - computer 3)human - human. The one that is most interesting to me is human - computer, for many reasons. I found a really cool website that is for a college you can attend for a major of human-computer information. For my second bachelors degree I might take a route like this. http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/

The human-computer interaction is the study of interaction between people, or users, and the computer. It's often referred to as the intersection of computer science or behavioral sciences. The location of the interaction between the user and the computer takes place at the interface, which is both software and hardware. Software shows up on the monitor from your input using the hardware. The hardware is the peripherals such as the keyboard or the mouse.

The most important thing you can get from human-computer interaction is making a user satisfied to the max. Attention to human-computer interaction is important, because poorly designed human-computer interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems. An example would be something else we covered briefly in class; the Three Mile Island accident.

Sony is a Copy Cat

I read an article about sony having a store in japan that looks like an apple store. it has floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek white counters and friendly employees, who offer advice and tailored counseling on Sony gadgets. Businesses and companies these days need to change how they do things now. It's really competitive out in the market that old style stores won't do any good.

Sony hasn't really been up to par with Mac and Microsoft lately. they have been declining in sales and producing anything new thats worth purchasing or any new gadgets. It’s been a bad year for the company, which once shook up entire categories of electronics with its Walkman music player and PlayStation game console, and fair pricing for top-quality products.

Sony has been hurting lately from Apple with their highly successful product the Ipod. the Ipod of Apple dominates any music device there is in the market. Also both playstation 2 and 3 are trailing in sales with other gaming console devices such as the XBOX 360, The Wii, and DS machines from Nintendo.

To say, Sony needs to pick up their game in the near future, or it will be another company that will fall, and I really don't want that to happen.

9th post-FedEx

Today in class we discussed our case study about FedEx and UPS. I like having the class discussions because it opens us up more and makes class a little more fun when everybody is participating. We talked about the program called Insight that they have and all the details behind it.

First off I think it's really cool that they have developed a system like this because it really is a helpful tool. To know what will be arriving in the mail and when should help out alot of other people and businesses. I know they have a tracking system online that anybody can use at any time. When you place an order you are given a tracking number. I know this isn't quite the same because you aren't being sent the information, you have to actually check on it yourself but it's still a good idea. You can go online and enter your tracking number and it will show you where your product is currently. It tells you when you placed the order, where it was shipped out to and what time it arrived. It shows when it clears through the system and when it leaves the city. Lastly, it shows when it arrives in your city and when it was or should have been delivered to your home or business. I think having this option to check online is a good tool. It assures people that they are working on getting your product to you and you know where it's been and where it's going.

Fed Ex along with many other companies such as UPS, Brown, etc. all have some type of system and I think it helps the customers out and is an effective tool. It is very effective and usually is pretty accurate. It makes the customers feel better when we know where our item is and when we should be recieving it.

FedEx

Today in class we discussed a case study, that contained an interview with the Chief Information Officer(CIO) of FedEx Rob Carter. The Interview was very insightful into the basic business model, and more specifically the operations, projects, and goals of the IT(information technology) department of FedEx. This left me wanting to learn more about this company, and its operations.

FedEx corporation is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee and was founded under the full name Federal Express by Fred Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1971. The company was moved to Memphis soon after the company had problems coordinating with the Little Rock National Airport. Federal Express started out in the red ink for the first few years losing millions of dollars. However with the hard work of Fred Smith the company was able to grow substantially and increase its range while lowering its prices. They were also helped significantly in 1977 with the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, which let them purchase 7 large Boeing aircraft, that they were previously unable to use under Federal law. The company went public soon after. In 1994 Federal Express officially adopted the name FedEx, three years later in 1997 FedEx merged with a number of small companies to form the FedEx corporation.

Since then the company has gone through many changes. The merger allowed the company to expand its operations beyond just airmail, as they absorbed many regional trucking/ground delivery services. This along with the merger with Caliber Logistics and Technologies, allowed them to establish FDX Corporation, later changed to the current FedEx Corporation in 2000. The change in 2000 also saw FedEx re-brand all of it subsidiaries establishing FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Custom Critical, and FedEx Logistics and Technologies. FedEx has had a substantial amount of success in the last decade since then, being listed in Forbes "Best Companies to Work For" 8 out of the last ten years. They have also had solid balance sheets, even during the recession. Although they did have to lay-off some workers because of the economic downturn, FedEx has seemed to have stabilized, and using new innovative techniques and technologies is poised to compete in the parcel delivery business for a long time to come.

Apple's Reign

Last week we had discussion in class and spent most of the time talking about Apple. We touched on their relevance and how they stacked up to Microsoft. I think Apple is a really great company, and even though they may not generate more revenue than Microsoft they are still a force to be reckoned with.

In my opinion, Apple knows exactly who their consumer market is and they know the right procedures to keep they happy. They put out newer, better versions of their same products a few times a year. This is great because it makes the techies buy something new every few months and the people that hear about how great Apple is to get they're first great Apple product and rub it in the face of their friends. The commercials comparing Mac to PC's are genius in my opinion. They really sell themselves as a brand and captivate their audiences.

On less of an advertising standpoint, I think Apple's presentation of products is great. They really believe in that clean look for their products. Their stores are even technologically advanced yet very clean and simple. They know what this generation wants; clean, sleek products with functionality and great quality. Microsoft's products are not as cutting edge as Apple's which I think is one big reason generation X is taking such a big interest in Apple.

Lack of Space

Frustrated with lack of space on my iPod nano (only 8 GB were offered at the time I bought it), I broke down and bought myself an iPod Touch ("as a graduation present," I told myelf to make myself feel better about the purchase). I bought the 32 GB version to insure myself that I don't run out of space. Sadly enough, it has almost as much space as my laptop computer (which was purchased over 4 years ago). I am running into the same problem with my computer as it continues to tell me that I'm low on disc space. I have to go in and delete programs on my computer that I am no longer using. Therefore, both of these are perfect examples of how quickly technology grows and becomes out of date.

When buying my ipod nano, I thought that 8 GB was plenty of space to last me. I was wrong. Honestly, I never gave any thought to the amount of space I would need on my laptop. With technology growing, how much space do I need? Should I have purchased the 64 GB iPod? I am not one to really go buy the newest technologies just to have them. I just want to have enough space to have the capabilities to do what I need to do. But how much space is that?

Since I just spent a good chunk of money on a new iPod, I can't afford to spend money on buying myself a new laptop right now. So what can I do to solve my hard disk space issues? The major consumers of hardisk space are system restore snapshots and temporary internet files (history). Running the disk clean-up utility can be a real help in finding out what is clogging up your free space. If you are having the same problems as me, try removing temporary internet files, downloaded program files, Windows temporary files, and don't forget to empty out your recycling bin.

Sources:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/space.htm

3D T.V,

I was watching TV the other day and I saw a comical for this new 3D TV. I had no idea that the new wave of 3D movies would soon be available for everyday use. I have seen many of the new movies that have been coming out in 3D and I'm impressed by what they can do. I remember a few years back going to see Transformers 2 in 3D and it seemed like they over used the 3D. They tried way to hard to make it obviously 3D and it ended up taking something from the movie. I hope that when TVs go into the 3D that they don't make this same mistake. we have come along way in the world of 3D imagery.

You would think 3D imaging is a new wave, but it actually dates back to the beginning of photography. David Brewster invented the stereoscope in 1844. The stereoscope allowed you to take a picture in 3D. This technology was improved and Luis Jules Duboscq presented a famous picture of Queen Victoria in the 1851 Great Exhibition. During the second world war not only were 3D cameras available for personal use, but pretty common. 3D motion pictures developed along with the other 3D imagery. The kinematoscope was the first motion picture camera and it was introduced in 1855. This technology has been around for a long time and we have been using it.

In 1952 as the TV hit the market the united states introduced their first 3D film called Bwana Devil. One year after that the movie House of Wax was released in theaters as a 3D film. Even Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder was originally made for 3D, but in order to maximize profits they decided to release it in 2D. Before any of that the soviet union came out with Robinson Crusoe in 3D in 1947. Now in 2010 all the major television makers are coming out with their own version 3D TV. Who knows what the future will hold for the 3D television and what they will make into 3D next.

Web 3.0

A few weeks in class we talked about web 1.0 and 2.0, but what if there was a web 3.0 would it make your life easier? You've decided to go see a movie and grab a bite to eat afterward. You're in the mood for a comedy and some incredibly spicy Mexican Food. Booting up your PC, you open a Web browser and head to Google to search for theater, movie and restaurant information. You need to know which movies are playing in the theaters near you, so you spend some time reading short descriptions of each film before making your choice. Also, you want to see which Mexican restaurants are close to each of these theaters. And, you may want to check for customer reviews for the restaurants. In total, you visit half a dozen Web sites before you're ready to head out the door.

Some Internet experts believe the next generation of the Web -- Web 3.0 -- will make tasks like your search for movies and food faster and easier. Instead of multiple searches, you might type a complex sentence or two in your Web 3.0 browser, and the Web will do the rest. In our example, you could type "I want to see a funny movie and then eat at a good Mexican restaurant. What are my options?" The Web 3.0 browser will analyze your response, search the Internet for all possible answers, and then organize the results for you.
­
That's not all. Many of these experts believe that the Web 3.0 browser will act like a personal assistant. As you search the Web, the browser learns what you are interested in. The more you use the Web, the more your browser learns about you and the less specific you'll need to be with your questions. Eventually you might be able to ask your browser open questions like "where should I go for lunch?" Your browser would consult its records of what you like and dislike, take into account your current location and then suggest a list of restaurants.

Managment information systems

At the start, in businesses and other organizations, internal reporting was made manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistic(s), and gave limited and delayed information on management performance. Previously, data had to be separated individually by the people as per the requirement and necessity of the organization. Later, data was distinguished from information, and instead of the collection of mass of data, important, and to the point data that is needed by the organization was stored.

In their infancy, business computers were used for the practical business of computing the payroll and keeping track of accounts payable and accounts receivable. As applications were developed that provided managers with information about sales, inventories, and other data that would help in managing the enterprise, the term "MIS" arose to describe these kinds of applications. Today, the term is used broadly in a number of contexts and includes (but is not limited to): decision support systems, resource and people management applications, ERP, SCM, CRM, project management and database retrieval application.

An 'MIS' is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management. In a way it is a documented report of the activities that were planned and executed.

The terms MIS and information systems are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not intended for decision making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as information technology managment. That area of study should not be confused with computer science.IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise recouce planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support.

History of Windows

Ever wondered why Microsoft named the latest Windows release as Windows 7? Microsoft considers Windows 7 as the seventh generation Windows OS. Following are the 6 previous generations of Windows Operating System,

1. Windows 1.0 – Microsoft released the first version of Windows in 1985 and it featured tiled windows. From the beginning Windows was designed as a multitasking system. It was more of a GUI for the underlying MS-DOS operating system. It is interesting to note that Microsoft supported this operating system for 16 years (till 2001)!

2. Windows 3.11 – The next major release of Windows was in 1993 named Windows for Workgroups 3.11. It included networking and truetype fonts. Within months of release it sold millions of copies and Microsoft was named as the “Most of innovative company in US” by Forbes.

3. Windows 95 – Released in 1995, Windows 95 cemented Microsoft’s position as the solid leader in operating systems business. Microsoft integrated MS-DOS into Windows effectively putting all other MS-DOS competitors out of business. Windows 95 also introduced Internet Explorer 1.0. For optimal use Windows 95 required 8MB of RAM. The basic UI elements introduced in Windows 95 remains even today in Windows 7.

4. Windows 2000 – Windows 2000 was released in 2000 and the primary market was business laptops and server machines. Windows 2000 includes NTFS 3.0 and introduced encrypted file system. Windows 2000 was marketed as the most secure operating system, but continues to receive security patches in short intervals. Windows 2000 is supported till July 2010.

5. Windows XP – Released in 2001, Windows XP is the most used operating system even as of 2009 with more than 60% of market share. It offered a fresh user interface and a number of performance and stability improvements. Windows XP is supported till 2014.

6. Windows Vista – Windows Vista was released in 2007 and was not adopted quickly due to its high system requirements. To get a decent performance it required 1GB of RAM (Windows XP required 128MB) probably due to the fact that its engine core components were rewritten (audio, display, networking etc.). However it does have over 20% of the OS market share as of 2009. Vista is also notorious for its high prices (Ultimate edition costs over $300 almost matching hardware price).

There are a number of other Windows releases which are not considered in the above 6 generations. These include Windows 2 and Windows 3, Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows Me.

And then in 2009, Microsoft launches Windows 7 as the seventh generation Windows operating system.

Bill Gates' House

A couple weeks ago in class, we talked about Bill Gates' house. I personally, find that type of technology very interesting. The thing that I find most interesting is the way that whenever you go from room to room, it senses you. And with that, it will change the room temperature to whatever your personal preference is. Also, it will play what type of music you enjoy best, and the lighting that you enjoy. This type of technology is called ubiquitous computing, which means that it follows you where ever you go. To me, learning about this type of computing was very interesting.

Ubiquitous computing can be used in some very interesting ways. One way that I found very interesting was The Coffee Robot. This type of ubiquitous computing made a robot out of Lego's and it monitors the coffee pot, like the last time made, the temperature, etc. This, to me, shows that anything and everything can be made or used with ubiquitous computing.

With ubiquitous computing being used not only to make coffee pot robots, but used in some one's house, I think we are looking at the future. I could just imagine when the rooms in every one's house, no matter how rich, regulate themselves like the one's in Bill Gates'. This is just one example how far human innovation has come. We started off with simple basic computers, that at first, were barely portable, and now, computers are following us around. What a world we live in.

Microsoft

Microsoft is one of the largest and most diverse industries in the world. They provide a broad range of goods and services withing the computer technology industry. Founded by William Henry Gates (Bill Gates) in 1975, it has grown into a premier company. Listed as the 49th largest public company in the world by Forbes.com, it has made currently made Mr. Gates the worlds 2nd richest man(although 60% of his assets are now outside of Microsoft.). Microsoft has a spectacular balance sheet, with 77 billion in assets(2009) and about 27 billion in liabilities(2009), this gives them a stockholders equity of almost 40 billion, and an estimated profit of close to 18 billion for the fiscal year.


As stated earlier Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, in order to sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 1800, one of the first microcomputers ever created. Gates struck a deal with Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems(MITS), to implement the BASIC programming language for the Altair. This move helped launch the Altair Basic, which marked the beginning of Gates career. He moved to New Mexico where MITS was located and founded Microsoft. After initial success Gates moved the company to the Seattle area of Washington State, and in 1980 hired Steve Balmer, his 24th employee and first business manager, who would succeed Gates as CEO of Microsoft in 2000. Together the two men have worked together to become two of the most successful men on the planet.


Over the last 30 years the company has seen tremendous, and somewhat unprecedented success. Although it has not come without criticism as many lawsuits and claims have come against the software giant for everything from monopolistic practices to environmentally damaging policies. The company currently has a hand in almost every aspect of the computer technology industry. Some of its most popular products/services include; MSN(web portal), the Microsoft Office Suite, Windows Live, Windows Vista, the Zune, MSNBC, the Xbox/Xbox 360, and the newly developed Windows 7. These are just a few of the examples of currently used products and services, as they have designed hundreds of products over their 35 year history. With this said the future of Microsoft seems bright, with no signs of the industry slowing down Microsoft is firmly in position to continue dominance of all things technological.

Information Technology

Information technology creates another new world now. It has changed our thinking and philosophy. From the movement, the change, the storage, the transmission, the conversion, the processing, and the exchange systems engineering, these processes of successful completion are the information method that flow to control procedures.

Automation really can do it but it only relies on the digital-based systems. Digital is a natural tendency without borders or nationality. No matter who invents them, digital regularity is used by science, after human endeavor in half a century, and it has formed standard and track. Like people's hands, which have ten fingers, we can create the world. The center of globalization is the information technology. The benefits of mass digitization are already self-evident, it eliminates the inequality of the information, the wealth and the status. Network communications, remote teaching, and programming tools have been given to equal participation and to create rights.
Therefore, the salary of IT elites is rising with the developing technology.

With the increasingly complex IT environment, the demands for technology products will also increasing in the next decade. A single, modular technology product or services will not be able to meet the needs for social and economic development. "S + S" strategy, which are software and service will become the tendency of the world's IT industry development and it leads to promote the global technical ecosystem toward dynamic and healthy direction to develop.

Webtop Applications

For my ninth blog I would like to discuss the topic of web-top applications. A web-top application is basically any desktop application that is run through a web browser. This is not to be confused with a web/network operating system. A web-top integrates web applications, web services, client server applications, and application servers to provide and environment similar to Windows, Mac, or any other comparable desktop application.

The term Web-top was first introduced by Santa Cruz Operation in 1994 to describe the web based operations for their Unix operating system. Since then it has grown significantly with many major online companies trying to get in on the expanding market. The most used is Microsoft, which offers its popular Office Suite as a web-top, while the ever growing Google is not far behind with Google Apps. Other companies like yahoo, Adobe, and Lazlo are also in the race, but seem to be falling behind the two front runners.

Web-top applications have many advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages include convenience, mobility, software management, and high availability from many locations. These are all very good reasons to use web-top applications. There are still disadvantages though such as speed( speed of the application relies on the speed of the connection), network connectivity, the applications features, and central control issues. One area that is an area for debate is the issue of security, as on one side your information will be less venerable to typical attacks( such as viruses, worms, and other vulnerabilities) as well as stored on a secured server. Unfortunately, the recent attacks on Google have showed us that any server can be hacked, so as long as your information is still transferred over the Internet it can still be intercepted. None the less web-top applications are a great advancement in technology, and are sure to grow to new prevalence over the next few years.

Early Automatons

I have always heard the term automaton but I never knew what they are or how they are different from robots. From what I researched, automatons and robots are very closely related. One major difference is automatons are made with non-electronic moving parts. Automatons are usually created to mimic human or animal actions.

Due to the use of non-electronic parts, automatons have been around for thousands of years. The earliest automatons have been traced all the way back to ancient China. King Mu of Zhou was presented with a life-size human shaped automaton by a Chinese mechanical engineer.

"The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time...As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih [Yan Shi] executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial...The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted."

I found this to be astonishing how something this complex was created around 1000 BC. This also brings up the thought of how was this technology was not explored more by the ancient societies. If this technology had been expanded, the world could have definitely panned out differently. There could have been armies of automatons that fought in the wars instead of people.

The automatons of the 13th to 19th centuries were a lot more complex than the ancient Chinese. Automatons started to become programmable but were used mostly for entertainment purposes. There were automatons created to play instruments, sing songs, hand washing, and other purposes that manipulated the environment for human comfort.

Due to the invention of electricity and creation of computers, automatons are not that big of news anymore. Now a days, companies are investing millions of dollars for robotics. There goal is very similar to the goals of the ancient mechanical engineers. However, companies today have much more resources and I think it is only time until robots become a major part of society.

Interaction

As long as the computer and internet been made there have been human and computer interaction. Human-computer interaction also known as HCI study the interaction people have with technology which open a lot of fields to work under. Such fields as computer science, behavioral science, and design are many fields that people work in most of the times. Interaction people have with computer are everywhere whether you work in the power plant or paying a cashier for items there is constant interaction we have with computers. As we head further into the technology era there will only be more and more interaction between human and computer.

Now we as people are funding and focusing more on the interaction with humans and computers esspecially the SIGCHI. The Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction or (SIGCHI)is focus to find professionals, academics, and students who are interested in human-computer interaction. This group pride itself to finding new members they offer awards and are international showing anybody can participate in their activity. This is not the only group doing this, but it is a well known with having meeting every month. They also travel so that all people in the group or is aspired to be in the group can come and learn about what SIGCHI stand for.

Everytime you get on the computer whether you are typing or moving your mouse know that you are having an interaction with computers. Plus know with these interaction you can do one of hundreds of job they offer. You can be a graphic designer making video games or movie scenes its really your choice it will not really change the interaction you have with computers.From the SIGCHI to the within your household in todays life we cannot go without having any kind of computer interaction. This makes me start to wonder and worry about if the internet falls how will we react?

link to (SIGCHI0): http://www.sigchi.org/

Varies Information Systems Used

In this we have been studying different case studies and identifying the information systems used. Both companies that were brought up in class, both a significant advantage due to the way they engineered their companies. Also, how they executed their information system to work best for them and better for their customers. Which is one of many conventions needed to have a successful company.

In the Wine company, they went a different route to sell and advertise their product using IS. They decided to throw parties for prospective customers and provide the Wine. By doing that, they company gained advertisement and more first hand ratings. To get more customers, the company used Flickr.com to upload pics of the party. That drew more prospects to the company also. It accumulated 4,500 people. In a sense, it's more of the use of Social Engineering. In addition, they used Blogs, Wikis, and Web Video.

Lastly, J&R electronics used E-Commerce to maximize their retail. User participation was key to their success. Also, they had a online loyalty program. It was designed to motivate customers to come directly to its website, rather than arrive via another site. J&R is one of the top 50 E-Tailer in the nation.

http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Mid-Market/Web-20-Turning-Browsers-into-Buyers/1/

http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Mid-Market/MidMarket-Case-JR-Electronics-Pumps-Up-the-Volume/

The IT industry

The other day in class we discussed the IT industry. This is one of the most varied and fastest growing sectors of the economy, competing with health care, education, and energy industries for the highest growth rate. Although deciding which industry is experiencing the most growth is difficult. most lists have the IT industry featured in the top five growing industries. According to information from the United States Department of labor, over the last ten years seven out of ten of the fastest growing jobs were located in the IT industry. This trend is expected to continue in the future with the main competitor being the health care industry.

In order to talk about the IT industry a brief definition of information technology is needed. Information Technology is defined as the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer based information systems. This generally refers specifically to hardware and software applications. This is the traditional definition of IT. In recent years it has begun to encompass many more aspects of computing and technology.

Jobs in the IT industry have many varied functions. Some of the most common duties are data management, networking, engineering, management of information systems, and database and software design. However these are just a few examples in the near endless new applications that IT professionals are pursuing. Computer technology is becoming more advanced, as well as more widely used in products such as cell phones, televisions, and cars among other areas that it has never been used before. This should make the IT industry of the 21st century an area to watch for.

The IT Industry

Last Tuesday we talked about the IT industry in general, and what is out there. We also discussed Apple's humongous market share over the music industry. There are three general major markets in IT: hardware, software, and service. I did some research into the service side of IT, and decided to do this blog post mainly about accenture.

Accenture is defined as a technology outsourcing company, a global management consulting company, and also a technology consulting company. In simple terms, they do a lot. They are single handedly the biggest consulting firm in the world. They are considered a Fortune 500 company, and last year they had a revenue of $23.39 billion.

Accenture did a nice job with the Indian outsourcing upstarts that occured eight years ago. They essentially combined the best aspects of the Indian offshore concept with their own business consulting. To block Indian companies from getting a hold in their accounts, Accenture took on their low-end jobs. They also invested in staying ahead of the competition.

I'm excited to see how this company will succeed even more. I never had an interest in management consulting companies until now. I can see how businesses hold these companies in great stature.

Apple vs. Microsoft

On Tuesday's class, we got into a pretty lengthy discussion about the Ipod's stranglehold on the mp3 player market as well as Apple's growing grasp on the consumer market. Being an avid Apple product user/die hard fan, I had a lot of bias in this discussion. Upon further reflection, I had some extra insight on the "who can take and keep control of the market" debate and these are some of the thoughts I was having.

To me there are basically two markets: Business and consumer. Now, these two markets are quite unequal in size since businesses obtain computers and associated products in bulk and use them every day. The consumer market is also quite large, but since it breaks down to individual people buying individual products, there aren't as many items being sold in quantity. Since businesses rely so heavily on information systems and IT these days, it would be quite time-consuming and expensive to completely ditch the systems they've been using for years and years for a newer, different system. I like to think of it as if America decided to use the metric system. Of course it would make a lot more sense on the whole considering every other part of the world uses it, it would be a huge hassle and very impractical because we are so used to it. For this reason, I believe Microsoft will continue to keep their grip tight on the business market and since it is quite larger than the consumer market, continue to stay on top.

Apple on the other hand has definitely made their presence known for the individual, which is exactly what their business model must be focusing on. There is a lot of money to be made from the consumer, and what Apple does best is they keep innovating and creating wonderful computers and peripherals that are so user-friendly that it is a no-brainer for somebody to purchase. As long as Apple continues to stay on the cutting edge of technology and continue to make more and more accessible user interfaces without sacrificing quality and durability, I don't think Microsoft would be able to touch Apple with a ten foot pole.

Both of these companies can co-exist in the computing business as long as they realize what their individual strengths are as a company and strike that with full force.

SAS

As we have been discussing jobs in the IT industry, I thought that I would talk about working for Google in this blog. In all of my classes at the College of Business, I have heard or seen videos on what a wonderful environment it is supposed to be to work in and so, I thought that this blog I would look more into the benefits of working for Google. During my search however, I was sidetracked by the benefits of another IT company.

For its fourth consecutive year, Google has ranked within the top five of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” being listed as number four this year, however, above them on the list at number one is SAS. At first I thought they meant Scandinavian Airlines and was baffled how an airline company could be doing so well during the recession and after all of the cut backs I have heard they had to make on the news. Investigating further, I learned that the SAS listed in FORTUNE was not Scandinavian Airlines, but Statistical Analysis System. SAS is in the business of business analytics software and services, helping its customers in their decision making processes. Providing service for 92 of the top 100 companies on the 2009 FORTUNE Global 500 list, its software is used in more than 45,000 sites in more than 100 countries.

While Google was ranked at number four on the general top 100 companies to work for, it didn’t make it onto any of FORTUNE’s other lists while SAS was at the top for most.

SAS makes the cut for low turnover, no layoffs, and perks and ranked at number one for the best work-life balance. They provide,

“high-quality child care at $410 a month, 90% coverage of the health insurance premium, unlimited sick days, a medical center staffed by four physicians and 10 nurse practitioners (at no cost to employees), a free 66,000-square-foot fitness center and natatorium, a lending library, and a summer camp for children.”

SAS has made the FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” since the list launched in 1998, and recently made it into the list’s “Hall of Fame.” If you are interested in business analytics software, I would definitely recommend applying here. I only wish that I had more of a mind for technology and could have chosen a more stable career path in the IT industry.

Rise of Technology

My blog this week is sort of more a question than just all facts. How does all of this technology adapt to our environments? How long did it actually take all of these companies to come to the level that they are at now? When we talk about technology evolving we can now say that its our lives evolving as well. Most people follow what they see on the internet. Companies have managed to keep consumers wanting more and more each new upgrade.

Before people generally used a plug in telephone cord to connect to the internet. The speed was fairly slow, and graphics weren't up to pair. Then came around broadband. A faster speed but not much faster. This grabbed a lot of users attention because they could now be wireless in their homes. In March of 2004 to 2005 it grew 24% in usage of the net. By that next year it had risen to 56% just because of broadband connection. After a few years a new thing Call Wi-Fi was brought about. Meaning people could connect anywhere that had that type of wireless radiation in the area. Some Areas are trying to make it free for everyone to enjoy without paying for it.

Out of all I would think that technology is at the least bit slowing down because there's always room for improving. Nothing is ever perfect, upgrades are always useful for internet companies. Wanting to make consumers are happy and coming back for more service.

Out of the Norm

Today in class I liked having a discussion about the case studies. I don't know that much about computers or the industry that surrounds it but it was quite interesting. I didn't know that Microsoft had a product in every category of the industry, that's quite impressive. I like hearing about Apple and how they came about. I never knew that Steve Jobs was the one that really made them what they are today.

Having class discussions are wonderful because they breakup the everyday routine. I hope that next time the discussion will be even better. I think that it may be better because there are handouts instead of using the book. Since I don't know that much about this area of business I like to hear others' perspectives on the different topics.

One thing that I am rather skeptical about is putting everything on the internet. But this afternoon I went to my accounting club meeting and they were talking about that same subject. A firm came in to speak and it was Thomson Reuters and they specialize in accounting software. It was interesting because they had a set of integrated programs that were based on the internet. This wasn't through google or anything like that though. So maybe there is something there but I am still unsure.

Apple Domination ?

Apple had a break through when they came out with the iPod. They dominated the scene of mp3 players and music downloading. I remember when the iPod came out my brother told me I didn't want one becuase you couldn't even put music from your CDs onto the mp3 and you could only buy the music you wanted on it off of iTunes. I don't know if that was ever true, but Apple did have the only copy protection software that is compatable to to iPod.

I have an iPod now and I love it. Before I had an iPod I had a Creative Zen. It was huge, mainly thick and I used windows media player to download the music. The Zen lasted about a year before it decided to die for no reason, and my sister had the exact same one and it did the same thing.

With the iPod the iTunes is convient because you can look up music and download it on spot, then hook up your iPod and it will sync the new songs automatically. In the book it compared the iTunes store to online music stores like Rhapsody and Napster. With the Rhapsody you pay a monthly fee to download all the music you want. The downside to it is that the music stays on your computer, so you can't burn them to a CD. That could be a downside to people if they want music in their cars and like to play CDs.

One of Apple's iPod competetors is the Zune by Microsoft. I know people who have these and they love them. They are simple and small like the iPod. Now it's up to the customers to pick which product they like better. That is the way a company will get ahead, by the appeal to the market. Each product out now seems reliable, but it's about teh company behind it. Both Apple and Microsoft know what they're doing, but for now Apple is ahead of the game with the MP3 products.

Web Mashups

Put two or more web applications together and what do you get? A web-mashup!

Part of how Web 2.0 is changing the way people interact with the Internet is in the creation of web-mashups. Want to know what there is to eat in a specific area? Try Foodio54. Foodio54 provides you with a list of restaurants within a radius (that you specify), of where you would like to eat. You can even tell it what type of restaurant you are looking for and have it exclude fast-food joints if you are in more of the sit-down type mood. You also have the option of subscribing to their site, which gives you the added bonus of Foodio54 learning about your eating habits and making personalized recommendations for you!

Or, maybe you are going on a vacation, and want to know the base price of hotels in a given area, what restaurants are nearby, if there are any landmarks, even how many and the locations of the Starbucks in the area. You could give HotelMapSearch.com a try. It will show you on a Google map right where these services are located.

These are just a few of the mashups that I found while on a web-site called Webmashups.com. They have lists of sites that utilize mashup technology, based on categories such as: food, music, sports, mapping, etc.

The Internet is getting a whole lot more interactive!

Viacom vs. YouTube(Google)

Viacom is suing YouTube(Google) for copywrite infractions involving the airing of uploaded videos on YouTube's site. Viacom says, "YouTube was intentionally built on infringement and there are countless internal YouTube communications demonstrating that YouTube's founders and its employees intended to profit from that infringement." Actually this is an interesting lawsuit, in the fact that Viacom employees were intentionally uploading videos onto the site. Viacom was uploading these videos to promote their movies and television shows. This is a legal test for who is responsible for the content on a website.

As of this minute, the law states that you are responsible for all the information (postings) on your website or webpage. For instance Facebook, Facebook wouldn't necessarily be held liable for each individual webpage on its service. In that case, you would be liable for any and all postings on "your" site. People don't realize that anything that you post on your MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook, is memorialized forever and you can't necessarily take it back. You could be sued for either slander or libel.

Viacom is asking YouTube(Google) to remove all of the illegal (pirated) videos posted on the YouTube site, even the ones that Viacom itself posted. I do not agree with Viacom in this matter. Not only did they post themselves, but they also received a benefit from the postings on YouTube. I believe they (YouTube) should not be able to post these videos beyond a certain date. They should not have to decipher the videos, and who posted them, from the past. I have included a blog that has many different opinions.

The Future of the Web

In class we talked about Web 2.0 and the changes that have been made from Web 1.0, which allows us to have more interactive web sites rather than sites used only for retrieving information. Therefore, you do not need to go to 20 different websites to see everything you want to see. Instead, you only have to view a "half dozen." In the future, you won't even have to view that many sites to get the information you want. How is this possible? The answer is Web 3.0. It will allow for searches to become faster and easier, and you will be able have multiple searches through typing just one complex sentence. Relax, the Web will do the rest.

An example of a sentence you could type into your browser would be the following: "I want to see a funny movie and then eat at a good Mexican restaurant. What are my options?" The browser will then analyze your response, search the Internet for all possible answers, and then organize the results for you. This is known as the semantic web, which means that the meaning of information and services on the web is defined. The information will be understood by computers, and therefore, they will be able to perform more of the "tedious work" involved in finding, combining, and acting upon information on the web.

Will this make us lazier? Maybe. However, I feel the damage has already been done as far as the ability to retrieve information quickly and easily, so why not make it easier? It will save us more of our valuable time because it will be able to aid in decision-making. That's right, it will be like having our own personal assistant. The browser is going to have the ability to learn our interests. After your browser learns more about you, it will be able to answer questions for you, like "where should I go for lunch?" It will then look through records of what you like, what you don't like, and where you are currently located in order to making a suggestion for you.

Sources:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semantic_Web

Picture:

http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/images/2007/10/04/web20301.jpg

The growth of the web

As we approach the tail end the semester, we began this week talking about web 1.0 and web 2.0. We compared and contrast these two phenoms and looked at how they have transformed over the years.

As a business major this particular subject is very intriguing to me. Its intriguing because of how web 1.0 was based on the authors of the cite trying to get as many eyes as possible to view they're information. As for 2.0 authors of the cite moved they're focus to not only getting eyes to the cite but encouraging user interaction.

With 2.0 its no longer about the information that I want to get out to the world. A shift has been made and it is now about what the user whats to know and use. Increasing my interest is all the software that companies use or integrate to increase user interaction. For example software and applications like Facebook, Google Maps, and Flickr.

My Future Life

The class activity on Monday really got me thinking about mashups and what they will be coming out with soon. I really liked the brainstorming section of the class because it was nice to think what I could do to contribute to the internet. Sometimes I think that people don't think that their ideas are good enough or that other people wouldn't care about what they have come up with. Maybe there are a lot of ideas that aren't put out there because people think it's only themselves that care about this, but in reality thousands of other people are thinking it themselves.

I have been thinking about the academics website since Monday. I think that it would be awesome to have this type of resource out there for other prospective students. Imagine being able to look up a school and seeing different resources available. These students could assess the school in a more thorough manner because of this added knowledge. Students could look at other current students and perhaps see their ACT or SAT and high school GPA and see if it is realistic for them to get in. I think that people don't apply to a lot of schools because they think that they aren't good enough to get in.

When using this site you could look at the night life and safety of the surrounding area. There could be a timely warning area that is for the notifications from the university. Another area that I think would be great would be to have testimonials from students and faculty about certain areas of study. Branching from the professor angle there could be a specific page that had updated results from Rate My Professor.com. I think that this would be great for students to see when considering their intended course of study.

There are a lot of great ideas out there. Some people just need to find help facilitating them. We should put our ideas out there and the worst that can happen is someone saying no. But if we don't put them out there, the only person shooting them down is yourself.

What do I want?

I really enjoyed the last assignment that we had to do for this class. The decision making behind this project was really wonderful. I had never thought to assign a number value to the importance of a certain aspect of a decision. I liked how the assignment was set up. It was geared towards making decisions for the future. I like to plan ahead for the future and this was useful.

The first time that I did the excel part of the assignment I accidentally did the car comparison. I was really interested in doing this comparison because I know I will have to buy a new car in the future. I liked the comparisons that I had because then I actually knew what each brand offered in a similar model. The areas were cost, mpg highway, exterior, interior, and safety. It is interesting see the hard numbers based on what was more important to me overall.

When I had realized i did the project incorrectly I chose to look at houses for the future. Since I don't know where I am going in life, I did a variety of states. I knew I wanted a specific type of house so it wasn't that hard. Not only was this assignment great for the knowledge of this type of decision making but for the resources needed for these decisions. I liked that I had to look up different cars and houses online. It gave me an expanded knowledge of these areas and what types of keywords to use.

Rfid Chip

The other night I went out drinking with a few freinds and sure enough half way through the night one of my friends lost his wallet. This really got me thinking how nice it would be to not have to cary these things on me. Not have to worry about what one's drunk self will do with that all important wallet. The RFID Chip we talked about in class could be one of the answers to this problem. This Chip can trnasmit through radio waves a persons Identifcation and could even be used as a credit card. The potential for this kind of product could make major changes in everyday life. There are so many way that this could be intergated into your future everyday life for good or for bad.

They use many of these RFID chips to day in maby diffrent ways. They are use in tracking live stock and to keep them seperated between owners. They can be used in retail in order to keep track and count of inventory. In January of 2005 Wal-Mart required it's top 100 suppliers to use the RFID labels on all shpiments. Some hospitals have started using them in patiences wrist bands in order to keep more accuratly keep track of patiences. This could also be used to keep patiences records. Libraies have used these RFID labels to Keep track of all there books and it makes them easier to locate when needed. These are just a few of the ways that RFID chips are being used in everyday life.

If you think that this kind of technology couldn't be used for the identification of humans then you would be wrong. In 1998 a British professor inplanted on in his arm as an early experement for everyday use. Then in 2004 Conrad Chase offer the use of RFID chips in his Barcelona night club. That same year the Mexican Attorney General's office had 18 member inplanted with these chips in order to control access to secure data rooms. Above is a picture of a chip that has just been inplanted into someone's hand. I don't think that i would ever accually get this done. Something about people being able to keep track of me when and where ever I go just doesn't seem right.

Blog #9 - Netflix

Netflix is a online business that sends DVDs through the mail that you make a list of the DVDs that you would like to watch and they send them directly to your house instead of going to places such as blockbuster.

The advantage of this service is the convienence that you don't have to leave your house to get a movie that you want to watch. Other companies such as blockbuster have adapted this way of business, which leaves Netflix to have to lower prices and provide something that makes them appeal to customers.

The disadvantage to this type of service is that you have to wait for your DVDs, instead of just going out and being able to get what you want when you want it, but this is a small disadvantage.

As a former customer of Netflix i think that they really have a good service to provide, because people are very busy these days that they don't have time to go out and get to the movie store before they close. One thing that Netflix has done to improve their service is provide you to watch the movie or the TV season that you want right on your computer, which is a big plus for people that aren't a fan of waiting for things.

Other companies like Gamefly have adapted this way of doing business, they provide you with Video Games delivered straight to your house. In the end i think Netflix giving you the option to watch movies on your computer is a really good business move.

Netflix

Fewer and fewer video stores are being seen in neighborhoods everywhere. With the advent of sites like Netflix, why leave the comfort of your own home when thousands of movies are available at your fingertips? You even have the added comfort of knowing that you will never have to pay a late fee, you can keep the movie as long as you want, and many movies are available to watch instantly!

The watch instantly feature is a definate plus for me. You see, I have an XBox 360, which means that I can watch those "watch instantly" movies through my XBox 360 directly to my TV! There is an occassional lag time that I have to contend with (I guess no one said that it is perfect), but the biggest problem is that there is almost too much choice. We now have a que of hundreds of movies and shows to watch. I think that I may be forgetting what sunshine looks like (although, in Michigan, there isn't often much of that anyway!).

Of course, there is also the pure pleasure of rummaging through stacks of videos, looking at the back of the boxes to make a selection. Now, even blockbuster is going out of the business of in-store rentals! The town that I live in now has 3 empty spaces where video stores used to be. The world is definately changing, and even though I am fully enjoying the benefits of those changes, I still wonder if they are all for the better? Will there come a day when everything will just come to me, and I won't have to leave the house at all?