Robo Protect

My last post! I found an article on this robot that will help protect your home while you are away! How cool is this?!

All you need is an internet connection, then you can check out your home while you are vacationing in Europe. If you happen to see a robber, you can even talk to him and tell him you are calling the cops! The price point on this device is only $170. I think my father-in-law needs this for Christmas!

See ya later tech world!

Net Neutrality

Here is a good article on net neutrality and the difficulties of implementing it. If everyone had access to quality internet services, the world would be a different place.

Google and Facebook are being challenged because they create so much data. The question is whether they are willing to pay for the increased data traffic they create...

If they pay, we will likely have to pay too.

Virtual Classes

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/us/05college.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=technology

Since I just finished listening to 4 lectures online, I thought this article was appropriate. However, I wish we could have virtual classes live like the students in the article. That way we could ask questions and/or make comments. I am not a huge fan of the virtual lectures that do not allow for any interaction...

GPS Upgrade

My father-in-law came in town this weekend to visit and travel around southeast Louisiana. He just got back from a few weeks traveling in Europe. As we were traveling to several different small towns to check out restaurants and festivals, Sam was telling us about his GPS.

First, it is compatible all over Europe. Second, it not only has the speed limit displayed, but also notifies you when you are approaching a speed trap! How cool?

Turns out that Google and the French Competition Authority just entered a settlement regarding advertising on the Web. As Google rejected advertising for NavX (the company that collects the speed trap data) because radar detectors are illegal in France, French authorities requested Google overhaul their policies and procedures for rejecting sponsored ads.

Google agreed to a three month notification period for ads they reject. The adjustments currently only pertain to France, but they will eventually be effective worldwide.

Although the FAC made Google change there policies on a worldwide scale, NavX still filed a commercial suit seeking 7 million euros in damages to their business. Yikes!

The Social Network

I though the Social Network was such a great movie especially for business students. The film offers a lot of do's and don'ts of the business world. Here are a few I noted:

1. Make sure you can trust your business partners. Maybe this is the lawyer in me, but if you are investing money in something, you should have a plan to go along with it.

2. Don't get too greedy. Don't steal others' ideas, screw your friends for money, or lose yourself in the pursuit of a new business venture. $26 billion isn't worth being a friendless jerk.

3. Be innovative.

4. Don't undermine the opportunities a break-up can bring. Could be an idea worth $26 billion...

5. Use your resources and collaborate. Mark used his roommates for funding, algorithms, marketing, etc. He could not have done this project alone.

6. Have a good lawyer and always settle!

Just some lessons learned from Mark Zuckerberg. Unfortunately, I am not technologically gifted. At least I have friends that are actually my friends on Facebook!

KMS

Knowledge management systems are invaluable especially to companies who only have knowledge to give. However, there are many problems in developing a successful and useful knowledge management system (as we saw with Siemens and ShareNet).

How do you ensure the quality of postings? Some companies have implemented a quality ratings system. Others have placed expiration dates on the items in order to automatically eliminate outdated knowledge and/or redundancies.

How do you encourage people to use others' experiences? People are not always willing to share their experiences. In fact, people are more likely to share only success stories whereas the failures present the most opportunities to learn. Once people post their success story, how do you get others to adopt it? Wouldn't you try and succeed on your own? Why would you want to work really hard, and then in the end give all the credit to Joe in Africa for his idea?

It is important to understand that face to face interaction is just as critical as technology. Knowledge management systems are a good resource, but I do not think a substantial investment should be made in them. They help jump start ideas, not create streamline solutions.

Really, live isn't enough?

FanVision is a new product developed for sports fanatics. The product offers spectators at the game opportunities to watch the game on TV while being at the game live. The device allows people to keep up with their fantasy points and stay entertained during the time outs and commercials.

Only 12 NFL teams have adopted the product. The teams who have decided to embrace it installed their stadiums with four transmitters to allow the system to run on its own Network and not use cellular or wi-fi bandwidth. FanVision was presented to all NFL teams, but 20 have rejected the item. “A lot of them are old school and don’t move too fast on new ideas, so they said, ‘Let’s wait and see how the other teams do," says Stephen Ross, owner of the Miami Dolphins.

There are costs associated with the product. Ross has been paying to have the stadium wired and offered the team 5000 devices which they can distribute as they wish. They then sell them for $200 each at the stores and kiosks inside the stadiums.

The product has potential. However, I think that most people have a similar device in a cell phone. Most cell phones offer TV and I know there are apps for Fantasy Football. It seems like just another device to have to hold...and who has 4 arms for a beer, a hot dog, a phone, and now a FanVision? Maybe the teams who are resisting are not old school, but they took a step back and asked "is this filling a void fans are missing? or replacing something they already have? If it is just replacing, it better be a really fabulous product. I am just not sure this will go very far. Also, maybe I am just being resistant to change...

Wine? Please!

This week we have focused on when to invest in technology and whether to create a new playing field or just keep up with the competition. Restaurants are creating a new playing field. Several high-end restaurants have invested in iPads to help customers order wine. Instead of receiving recommendations from a waiter (who is likely biased for several reasons (1) he wants you to spend a lot of money and (2) the restaurant may have 200 extra bottles of a certain wine they are trying to quickly sell), the customer can now read about the vineyard and rankings prior to ordering their drink of the night.

While there was some hesitancy in whether this would be a successful investment, it has paid off so far. One customer purchased a wine which cost 25% more than his normal purchase simply because he was able to read about the rankings. He also tried a new wine in which he had never heard of before and liked it.

This is an interesting concept. I drink a lot of wine, and my family makes wine in France. However, I am no expert when it comes to choosing a wine at a restaurant. Usually, I pick one with a cool label or name. However, if I had an iPad full of information regarding the wine, I could make a wiser choice and likely get a better wine for my buck. To top it off, I would be learning about wine and different vineyards around the world.

I think this is a definite shift in the playing field for high-end restaurants. Even though I only eat at nice places for extra special occasions, I would definitely love to order my wine via iPad.

Frustration Free Packaging.

Remember on Christmas morning when you were 7 years old (ish) and all you wanted was the latest Barbie that came with all the fancy clothes and accessories? Do you also remember how long you had to wait while your parents fought to get everything out of the package?

Well, Amazon is pushing companies to move towards easy to open, environmentally less wasteful, and less fancy packaging! There is absolutely no need for a glittery package when you order an item online. Consumers simply want their item to arrive in one piece. Further, we are so eager to use our new purchases, we get frustrated by the need to whip out our machetes just to see our new phone, camera, book, or sweater.

Currently, only about 600 of the millions of items on Amazon come with frustration free packaging. Wal-Mart and Target have yet to make any changes. Companies would have to provide two different sets of packaging. One for in-stores and another less-fussy package for online orders.

The in-store items need to remain flashy and hard to access to encourage sales and prevent theft. However, these reasons do not exist with online purchases. Amazon stated that products with less hassle packaging have received a 73% reduction in negative feedback. Businesses are still resisting the change because it may initially cost both time and money. However, an e-commerce friendly packaging option will result in benefits for the consumer and the company.

The article specifically addresses the fact that many companies are not willing to change because of the expense of change. This emphasizes how important it is to be adaptable (unlike Mrs. Fields). In the long run, companies would ultimately save money on packaging. First, companies can use pure cardboard for shipping. Then, the cardboard can be recycled and reused. Sounds like a win-win...

Check-In Fatigue?

Currently, I am at home sitting at my desk hurriedly working on school work so I can eventually go relax before bed. Typically, I would keep these unimportant life details to myself (unless someone calls to inquire). However, today many people are sharing each and every detail with their hundreds of Facebook friends. I first heard about FourSquare over the summer when I read an article on CNN explaining the "check-in" phenomena. Red flag: absolutely NO privacy.

After reading this article on CNN, I may be a convert to the idea. Maybe not FourSquare, but the Shopkick and Geoloqi concepts are really interesting. What girl wouldn't go for the idea of earning discounts at clothing stores for taking a simple picture or just being in the vacinity. Currently, Shopkick is only available in large cities, I sure hope it comes down south soon!

Geoloqi sounds awesome. I want my grocery list to be texted to me when I am arriving at a grocery store. And, running late to work? No worries! The app will email your boss for you (my husband needs this one...)

While it is a little freaky that you are being tracked 24/7, in reality, these apps/programs could make life and business easier and more interactive. Is there a better way to advertise and create customer loyalty than encouraging them to become the mayor of your store/restaurant/bar? (FourSquare. Some people are growing fatigued of checking in to their locations; don't worry, you can set up automatic updates.)

And, Yelp, the venue review site helps businesses immediately adapt to customers wants, complaints, and needs (if they read the reviews, of course!). As consumers review restaurants, we are able to assist other customers in making decisions while also assisting businesses make new business decisions.

I recently bought a new phone, a Google Android MyTouch 3G. (My first internet friendly phone!) There is an option to set my phone up so that it will automatically change settings depending whether I am at work, home, or school. I have not set this program up yet because I am just not sure I want my phone to outsmart me... I guess this is so you can have a dreary setting while working and happy when at home?!

While most of these programs/applications are really intriguing, they are also a little bit scary as they step a little bit too hard on the toes of privacy.