Our lives revolve around our smartphones.
All of you with smartphones, who utilize them well, know what I mean. All of those people without a smartphone have no clue.
I can access the internet, my email, my social outlets (Facebook, multiple forums, and other things like Skype) from almost anywhere. I sync documents between two computers and my smartphone. I can open, compose and save documents on my phone which are instantly updated on those two computers. I can take, edit and send photos and videos. I can do all of this while I hold a conversation on the phone. I use it to navigate, to calculate my gas mileage and gas prices I pay. I find the best gas prices, and report the price I pay so others can do the same. I can lookup the prices of objects on multiple websites just by scanning a barcode as I shop, so I can decide if that store has the best price. I use it to calculate decompression times for technical diving, and the gas mixtures to add to achieve the final mixture I desire. I can find good deals on Craigslist, and schedule appointments. It wakes me up in the morning, and thanks to the generous 32 gigabytes of storage, holds every song I could want to play while I fall asleep at night. If I get bored with all of that, I can play games.
In short, my smartphone is an extension of myself. It replaces multiple devices I used to use. I no longer need a calculator in my car with a pad of paper for tracking gas mileage. I no longer need a GPS. I no longer need an mp3 player. I no longer need a calendar. I no longer need a camera, or a video camera, or a computer to edit photos on. I no longer need a water cooler to talk to friends around.
When I leave the house, I need three things:
-keys
-wallet
-phone
I look forward to the day when I can leave home with just my phone. It should be pretty simple, right? Phones could easily unlock a door by sending a message via wifi, 3g cellphone signal, or bluetooth, with the right door receiver. I need my wallet to hold my ID and money. I could conceivably take photos of my ID's and store them in my phone, and now phones are increasingly being used as a method of payment.
First, let us consider the applications and hardware that allow phones to receive payment. As a business student, I look forward to possibly owning or managing a business in the near future. Being able to use my phone to not only keep in touch with customers, but to take money from them as well, is a huge plus.
This site explains several ways to do just that.
Users can already pay via phone at some places, such as Amigos by using Paypal apps on their phone to send money wirelessly.
The future though is in dedicated apps that allow you to pay anywhere, according to USA Today. However, they predict that mass adoption will only take place after 2014.
As an avid smart phone user, I can only hope that it takes place sooner than that.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Internet, The Law, and The Hits
Often while stuck in the big city traffic, I find myself listening to NPR. On one recent morning, they showcased a short story that I found quite interesting, with a completely different way to think about music leaks via the internet. NPR pointed out that record labels and artists both sometimes leak music on purpose.
Most of the time, we think about illegal file sharing being done in ways that hurt the record companies. Therefore, to read about a record label purposefully giving music out in the hopes that it be shared is a rare thing.
It makes sense though, doesn't it?
We already know that the old fashioned way of selling music on a CD is just that, old fashioned. There is absolutely no reason to sell music that way.
CD's are made from materials that are harmful to the environment. Their manufacture and distribution pollute the environment with a huge carbon footprint as music is hauled around on semi trucks. They are sold in stores that take up space and also leave a carbon footprint. We have no need for CD's any longer. music files are easily transmitted through the air wirelessly or via cables, over the internet. In ones car, music can be played via an ipod or a jump drive. CD's are an incredibly inefficient way to store music, and CD stores are an incredibly inefficient way to sell music. If our country knew what was good for it, it would outlaw the inefficient way of doing music distribution.
In a similar manner, old fashioned ways of marketing music are also inefficient. Leaking a track is a great way to market new music. Music can be shared easily online, and reach a huge number of people, for literally $0. All you have to do is get one person to post the song in a YouTube video, or put it on MySpace, a process which takes only a few minutes with a high speed internet connection. The song will soon show up in searches on search engines, and some avid fans will start blogging about it. Within hours, or days, the song is being talked about by fans around the globe.
NPR highlighted a case where an artist leaked his own music to convince a record label to produce his album. He faced a system that felt his music was not worth producing. His own marketing efforts lead them to change their minds. What this shows is, "socialistic" styles of music production where a label executive decides what will be produced, similar to how dictators or central planners in a socialistic society plan their country's production, falls far short of predicting actual consumer demand.
The music industry will struggle to stop illegal sharing and downloading of music. They will need to find some way to make money from music sales. Congress will never be able to beat technology and black markets will always exist. However, if firms do not realize the vast potential of the internet, the markets will continue to become more and more inefficient.
There is no simple answer to the piracy problem, but it is good to know that some firms realize the file sharing methods are not only about piracy, and are not necessarily bad. When the firms embrace the technology, we can move forward in an efficient system.
Most of the time, we think about illegal file sharing being done in ways that hurt the record companies. Therefore, to read about a record label purposefully giving music out in the hopes that it be shared is a rare thing.
It makes sense though, doesn't it?
We already know that the old fashioned way of selling music on a CD is just that, old fashioned. There is absolutely no reason to sell music that way.
CD's are made from materials that are harmful to the environment. Their manufacture and distribution pollute the environment with a huge carbon footprint as music is hauled around on semi trucks. They are sold in stores that take up space and also leave a carbon footprint. We have no need for CD's any longer. music files are easily transmitted through the air wirelessly or via cables, over the internet. In ones car, music can be played via an ipod or a jump drive. CD's are an incredibly inefficient way to store music, and CD stores are an incredibly inefficient way to sell music. If our country knew what was good for it, it would outlaw the inefficient way of doing music distribution.
In a similar manner, old fashioned ways of marketing music are also inefficient. Leaking a track is a great way to market new music. Music can be shared easily online, and reach a huge number of people, for literally $0. All you have to do is get one person to post the song in a YouTube video, or put it on MySpace, a process which takes only a few minutes with a high speed internet connection. The song will soon show up in searches on search engines, and some avid fans will start blogging about it. Within hours, or days, the song is being talked about by fans around the globe.
NPR highlighted a case where an artist leaked his own music to convince a record label to produce his album. He faced a system that felt his music was not worth producing. His own marketing efforts lead them to change their minds. What this shows is, "socialistic" styles of music production where a label executive decides what will be produced, similar to how dictators or central planners in a socialistic society plan their country's production, falls far short of predicting actual consumer demand.
The music industry will struggle to stop illegal sharing and downloading of music. They will need to find some way to make money from music sales. Congress will never be able to beat technology and black markets will always exist. However, if firms do not realize the vast potential of the internet, the markets will continue to become more and more inefficient.
There is no simple answer to the piracy problem, but it is good to know that some firms realize the file sharing methods are not only about piracy, and are not necessarily bad. When the firms embrace the technology, we can move forward in an efficient system.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Real Privacy Concerns
Consumers are right to be worried about their privacy. Many people have applauded recent FTC efforts to increase protection of privacy by consumers as they surf the web. The new efforts seek to limit the data collected on consumers as they shop online.
However, an article earlier this year on an FCC blog highlights an even more insidious concern: wifi snooping. One example in the FCC article mentions how Google's "Street View" cars collected data from many unencrypted, unsecured wireless networks as it took images of streets for the map service it offers. People with unencrypted, unsecured home wireless networks are an easy target for snoopers to steal data from, while they are shopping or not, and whether they have selected preferences to not have websites collect their personal data, as the FTC is promoting, or not.
However, privacy concerns go even further. It used to be that only the "elite hackers" could do things such as wifi snooping, but Firesheep, a Firefox add on, gives this technology to the masses. E-Security Planet discusses this program and ways to protect yourself against it. Firesheep allows users to easily access any "secured" site that is accessed with a password, but which does not use HTTPS. HTTP is the old way to surf the web, modern users need to be aware of the difference. The S stands for secure, and HTTPS protects users against the cookie sniffing that Firesheep exploits to allow users to log in to other's accounts.
While users need to consider how online sites use data it collects on them, a much more pressing concern is the data that those passing through your network, or surfing on the same unsecured network as you, can collect. Anyone who uses the internet needs to strongly consider taking steps to protect themselves. He who lives in glass house should install shades.
This government guide provides several tips consumers can use to protect themselves. Take a moment to read it and to consider your online privacy and security before you login to anything you don't want your friends to log into as you, again.
However, an article earlier this year on an FCC blog highlights an even more insidious concern: wifi snooping. One example in the FCC article mentions how Google's "Street View" cars collected data from many unencrypted, unsecured wireless networks as it took images of streets for the map service it offers. People with unencrypted, unsecured home wireless networks are an easy target for snoopers to steal data from, while they are shopping or not, and whether they have selected preferences to not have websites collect their personal data, as the FTC is promoting, or not.
However, privacy concerns go even further. It used to be that only the "elite hackers" could do things such as wifi snooping, but Firesheep, a Firefox add on, gives this technology to the masses. E-Security Planet discusses this program and ways to protect yourself against it. Firesheep allows users to easily access any "secured" site that is accessed with a password, but which does not use HTTPS. HTTP is the old way to surf the web, modern users need to be aware of the difference. The S stands for secure, and HTTPS protects users against the cookie sniffing that Firesheep exploits to allow users to log in to other's accounts.
While users need to consider how online sites use data it collects on them, a much more pressing concern is the data that those passing through your network, or surfing on the same unsecured network as you, can collect. Anyone who uses the internet needs to strongly consider taking steps to protect themselves. He who lives in glass house should install shades.
This government guide provides several tips consumers can use to protect themselves. Take a moment to read it and to consider your online privacy and security before you login to anything you don't want your friends to log into as you, again.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
"What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun."
-Ecclesiastes 1:9
Neuromarketing, "the application of neuroscience to marketing" (Roger Dooley, writing for NeuroScienceMarketing.com), is nothing new. Solomon predicted that. It has drawn increasing notice from consumers for two reasons.
1. Technology is improving so marketers can collect even more neurotic data.
2. Consumer paranoia is increasing along with a feeling that we have a right to our thoughts.
But do consumers really have a right to privacy when it comes to actions taken subconsciously based on their thoughts?
Even if researchers are denied access to the inner thoughts and chemical balances of consumers, they can obtain quite a bit of neurotic data by observing subconscious actions.
The eyes are the windows to the soul, and their attention is of utmost importance to marketers. Juergen Bluhm published research results in 2008 showing the importance of location when it comes to catching the attention of the eyes.
His team used eye tracking equipment to create "gaze trails," showing where consumers looked, for how long, and in which way their eyes browsed the goods. Glances were measured in milliseconds, showing just how short a consumer's attention span can be.
Adults tended to look at the upper shelves, but not the highest shelf. Children tended to look at lower shelves, most likely due to their lower height. They also looked significantly longer than adults, most likely due to the fact that the subject matter was a candy shelf. Had the researchers used tools, children might not have looked as long. Consumers tended to look at the center of the shelf and to the right. Both adults and children begin their gaze in the center of the shelf, near the middle of their looking area, then move their gaze to the top of the looking area before moving over to the right and continuing down to the bottom of their looking area.
Their work shows how powerful this research can be, while remaining non invasive and completely confidential. Additionally, neuromarketing research can be done on paid subjects who submit to the research, then applied to those outside of the lab with fair results.
As consumers, we should welcome and not fear neuromarketing, and avoid getting too neurotic about it.
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