Sage's Blog

Response to Micah’s Blog

sww7583 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:44:38 +0000

Micah’s Blog talks about an article entitled “Amazon PayPhrase Tries to Make Paying Online Easier” that was published online by the New York Times. The article takes a firsthand look at the new technology Amazon is putting in place for purchasing called PayPhrase. With it users can just type in a phrase to purchase something online instead of using a complicated username/password combination like most sites. I personally agree with Micah in that I don’t necessarily agree that this marketing scheme would attract more consumers. Although some people tend to not shop online as much due to the security risk associated with it, I highly doubt that using PayPhrase would change many people’s minds. Transactions would still occur via the web and this always comes with a slight risk attached to it.

Response to Bethany’s Blog

sww7583 — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:25:06 +0000

Bethany’s Blog discussed an article entitled “Online Shoppers Spend Over the Weekend, but Will it Last?” which was found in the New York Times. It talks about the large amount of consumer spending which occurred during the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday). People spent an estimated $913 million which was far over the amount initially estimated. Reasons for this increase in sales can be linked to a staggering number of online shoppers, and better sales promotions all around. I am personally surprised that Americans spent so much on Black Friday. You would think that due to the economy people would be more weary over spending money, but that is obviously not the case.

Google Investing in Mobile Advertising

sww7583 — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:10:43 +0000

The article I read is from Business Week and is entitled “Why Google is Buying Admob”. This article goes on to discuss Google’s recent interest in buying a very popular mobile advertising company called Admob. In the past Google has been quite limited in terms of advertising, but by doing this it will now be able to promote advertising through a variety of mobile devices including iphones, Blackberries, and other smartphones. Google has already agreed to pay a whopping $750 in stocks in return for their new investment, and many critics already agree that the benefits of having Admob will easily surpass this amount.
There are a variety of other companies similar to Admob including one competitor in particular called Doubleclick, but Admob has proven to be the most effective. According to mobile analyst Greg Sterling, one of Admob’s biggest advantages has to do with its “rich advertising formulas, especially ads inside mobile apps” (Hof, par. 4). Though Admob only has around 20 million in overall revenues thus far, it is expected that its popularity will be soon to sky-rocket within the next few years. Many critics still remain confused as to why Google didn’t just create their own version of Admob, yet as a sudden result of their purchase, Google’s stocks have risen 2.07%.
With the use of mobile advertising beginning to expand quite rapidly, Google seems to be headed in the right direction. Though I don’t totally agree with mobile advertising, I do know that Google will probably be very successful with their new investment, and more than likely start a trend.

Source:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2009/tc2009119_588360.htm

Prosecution of Facebook Spammers

sww7583 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:34:47 +0000

The article I read was from CNN and was entitled “Facebook spammer ordered to pay $711 million”. It discussed the recent prosecution of Sanford Wallace, a well known spammer responsible for numerous fake wall postings throughout the Facebook community and tons of junk mail sent to numerous users. Wallace was also convicted of the same offense back in 2008 except in that case it was dealing with spamming on Myspace. Wallace is now bankrupt and highly unlikely to pay off any of his recent fines, but it is suspected that he may very well have to serve some jail time. Facebook released a statement recently confirming that the judge did in fact refer Wallace to the U.S. attorney’s office ordering that he be further charged for criminal contempt (Smith, par. 6). Regardless of the outcome though, things don’t look too good for the “Spam King” who now owes hundreds of millions of dollars to numerous companies and organizations, even including the Federal Trade Commission, who charged Wallace 4 million for pop-up ads which he created (Smith, par. 8). It was also ordered that Wallace never be allowed access to Facebook again.
I think it is only right that Wallace should get prosecuted so harshly. Not only did he break several federal laws, he also invaded the privacy of many Facebook users who put a lot of trust in the security of the site. I personally hate spam messages and junk mail, and I hope that in the future websites will start to take more of an initiative in preventing these problems before they can make an impact.

Source:

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/30/technology/facebook_spammer/index.htm?postversion=2009103017

Microsoft and the premier of Windows 7

sww7583 — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:37:22 +0000

The article I read is from Fortune and is entitled “Microsoft reboots”. This article discusses the current competition going on between Microsoft and companies such as Apple and Google. Though Microsoft has made great strides since releasing Vista, many of its products including laptops and the Zune have come up short in sales reviews this year. It is even estimated that Microsoft missed its target amount of earnings by as much as $1 billion last year (O’Brien, par. 3). With the reality of their current finances in mind, Microsoft will have quite a bit riding on the highly anticipated Windows 7 which is set to be released later this month on October 22nd.
This new operating system is even projected to bring Microsoft’s revenues up by a massive $3 billion (O’Brien, par. 7). Along with this, fellow computer companies such as Dell and HP are sure to capitalize on Window 7’s popularity due to their dependency on Microsoft operating systems. If the expected impact of this actually takes place, pc’s will play a major role in the field of technology in the next few years.
Steve Ballmer, the present CEO of Microsoft, has even attempted to boost Microsoft’s image even more so by creating a surf engine called “Bing” which was released in May of this year. The search engine is actually becoming pretty popular amongst users, occupying 9.3% of the market but expected to gain as much as 30% in the near future demand remains (O’Brien, par. 22). Bing not only competes with Google’s search engine, but also aims to capitalize on certain aspects that Google chooses to leave out.
I think Microsoft has a huge opportunity to succeed by releasing Windows 7. This new operating system should be the best yet and hopefully capitalizes on all the mistakes associated with Vista. I definitely expect this to heighten the competition with Apple in the near future.

Source:
O’Brien, Jeffrey M. “Microsoft reboots.” Fortune. CNN, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.

This new operating system is even projected to bring Microsoft’s revenues up by a massive $3 billion (O’Brien, par. 7). Along with this, fellow computer companies such as Dell and HP are sure to capitalize on Window 7’s popularity due to their dependency on Microsoft operating systems. If the expected impact of this actually takes place, pc’s will play a major role in the field of technology in the next few years.

Steve Ballmer, the present CEO of Microsoft, has even attempted to boost Microsoft’s image even more so by creating a surf engine called “Bing” which was released in May of this year. The search engine is actually becoming pretty popular amongst users, occupying 9.3% of the market but expected to gain as much as 30% in the near future demand remains (O’Brien, par. 22). Bing not only competes with Google’s search engine, but also aims to capitalize on certain aspects that Google chooses to leave out.

I think Microsoft has a huge opportunity to succeed by releasing Windows 7. This new operating system should be the best yet and hopefully capitalizes on all the mistakes associated with Vista. I definitely expect this to heighten the competition with Apple in the near future.

Source:

O’Brien, Jeffrey M. “Microsoft reboots.” Fortune. CNN, 13 Oct. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.

Response to Megan’s LIB104 Blog

sww7583 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Megan’s Blog is about the recent prosecution of bloggers in the countries of Southeast Asia. Many people are posting blogs that are aimed negatively towards the government, and instead of just taking the blogs off of the internet, the government is sending law enforcement officials to arrest those responsible. Apparently many of the counties are actually refraining from putting more restraints on the internet though, because they believe it would discourage more technologically advanced companies from offering their services.
I agree with Megan in that it seems quite unfair that the people of Southeast Asia cannot fully express their thoughts and views online. I believe everyone has the right to their own opinion regardless of whether or not others agree. This article just goes to show that even though we take freedom of speech for granted sometimes, there are many people in this world who are not as fortunate and get prosecuted for stating and sharing their opinions.

Original Source:
“Web Censoring Widens Across Southeast Asia” James Hookway, The Wall Street Journal, 9/15/2009 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125288982580207609.html

Controversy over Google Books

sww7583 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:13:54 +0000

The article I read is from Business Week and is entitled “Google Books’ Latest Foe: The Justice Dept.”. The primary issue being addressed is Google’s recent involvement in the online book industry and the controversy beginning to form around this matter.

Google believes it is doing the right thing by adding books to its search engine, thus enabling users to also find books relating to the topics and questions they are searching for. A fee of about $5.99 would be charged to view each book and its complete text. Searches would also bring up books that would otherwise be either out of print or very hard to find anywhere else. It would also be arranged so that authors of the books would receive reimbursement every time there work is viewed.

Opposition to Google’s plan includes Gary Reback, (an attorney known for legal battles involving Microsoft), Apple, Yahoo, and Amazon. All believe that Google’s present attempts in creating an online library to pair up with its search engine would monopolize the electronic book business altogether. Amazon, maker of the Kindle, especially fears Google’s actions due to the fact that digital books for the Kindle cost significantly more than the price Google plans on offering for its e-books. Some also believe that Google will not live up to its words and refrain from crediting all the works that they make available.

I personally believe that Google is actually doing a pretty good thing by including books in its search engine. This will definitely make researching specific topics easier and increase the amount of information made available every time you search something. This will also help to shed light on certain books that would otherwise be overlooked due to their exclusive subject matters.

Source:

Macmillan, Douglas. “Google Books’ Latest Foe: The Justice Dept.” Business Week. McGraw Hill, 20 Sept. 2009. Web. 20 Sept. 2009. .

Response to bbh1236’s blog

sww7583 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:00:14 +0000

BB1236’s blog is about BP discovering more oil reserves hidden deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Although this is good news, it will inevitably take about three years to get to this supply due do the fact of how deep it is under the Earth.
I believe this new finding could make a huge impact on the world because as of now the majority of the oil we use is from the OPEC nations. This could possibly start some competition in the oil business depending on the amount of oil that is found. I will also be eager to see if the price on gas drops when they finally get to the oil. As of now though, the prices on have risen some because of the cost of drilling.

“BP Finds Giant Oil Field Deep in Gulf of Mexico”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/business/global/03oil.html?_r=1&ref=energy-environment

Advertiser Prove Unsuccessful on Facebook

sww7583 — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:33:14 +0000

Facebook is said to be worth billions, and on top of that, its popularity is still massively growing. In the past, many companies invested quite a bit of money to get advertising on Facebook. But, as of now, many of those businesses are disappointed due to the lack of success contributed to the ads. Some companies have begun to drop out but now many of them are having second thoughts about investing once more in Facebook due to its recent success.

Millions of users log on daily to chat with their friends and interact with their peers, and the majority of these users also forget to acknowledge all the advertisements hidden on most parts of the sight. “People get on Facebook to socialize, not hunt for products” (Yarmis, par. 2). This seems to run true for the majority of people using facebook and low profits produced by advertisers can reflect that. Shopping seems to be the last thing on peoples’ minds while on Facebook .

I understand that advertising thus far on Facebook has been very unsuccessful and I personally believe it should stop altogether. It simply has no effect on me what so ever anymore. All the advertisements are the same and at a point they become easily ignored especially when they are promoting a product that you have no interest in at all.

Even if the ads are successful, their success rates can’t be too high. Most people never click on pop ups unless it’s on accident. Facebook should just stay about their regular business and eager companies should just resort to more common practices when finding new customers.

Yarmis, Jonathan L. “How Facebook Will Upend Advertising.” BusinessWeek – Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. Business Week, 27 May 2009. Web. 03 Sept. 2009. .

iPhones and Network Usage

sww7583 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:59:45 +0000

Nowadays it seems as though technology is forever building and expanding, and because of this cell phone companies are at a constant battle over whose phone can do more. The iPhone, serviced solely through AT&T, has been topping the charts lately and consumers can’t seem to get enough of them. One would almost say AT&T has it made until you become more familiar with harsh reality of it: With the huge increase of iPhone users logging onto the internet with their phones, wireless networks are getting more and more crowded and sometimes even to the point of crashing.

iPhones seem as though they can do almost anything and users are pushing them to the limit with constant web-surfing and large amounts of stored information including mp3’s, videos, pictures, and even e-mail. While the average cell phone subscriber only uses about 120 megabytes per month, those with iPhones, on average, use more than four times that amount notes telecom analyst, Chetan Sharma (Forrt, Par. 8). Because of this, AT&T is even considering making a new payment plan for subscribers who heavily use wireless internet on their phones. Those who only use the internet from time to time throughout the day, without ever staying on too long, shouldn’t be affected.

One would like to imagine that AT&T may be starting to regret all the complications that come with supplying service for the iPhone, but that is hardly the case. According to spokesman Mark Siegal, “The iPhone is a problem that other carriers would love to have” (Forrt, par. 10). In fact, money is the last thing holding AT&T back from upgrading their network to the almighty “4G”, time is actually the big teller. It is assumed that it would take years to enhance any network to that caliber.

I am personally not surprised at all about AT&T’s wireless networks being overcrowded due to iPhone users getting on the web. At the moment I do not own an iPhone but if I did, I assume that’s mostly what I would be doing too. In my opinion, what it really comes down to is AT&T’s responsibility to ensure fast, reliable wireless access to its consumers. Loads of profits are obviously being generated due to the iPhone so why not invest some of that money in ideas and alternatives in hopes to prevent further problems. Converting to a 4G network is pretty far out of reach at this point but there has to be something. This may even mean introducing the iPhone to other providers like T-mobile, Sprint, and Alltell to insure a wider range of coverage and more network space. Whatever the case may be though, I still believe wireless providers owe it to the consumer to do everything in their means to ensure the best service possible.

Source:

Forrt, Jon. “Bandwidth hogs – iPhone and other smartphones.” Brainstorm Tech: Technology blogs, news and analysis from Fortune Magazine. CNN, 28 Aug. 2009. Web. 30 Aug. 2009. .