Hello again from cyberspace!
This post is dedicated to the Internet of Things! The title of the post may sound weird, but that may be a concern in a few short years. The McKinsey Quarterly recently published this article on the subject, which we'll review in this post.
The Internet of Things refers to placing sensors in all manner of items which then utilize the Internet in some form or fashion. This can be wall outlets that can monitor their own energy usage, then let the power company know when it can be switched off, or even a smart refrigerator that can tell you when to buy milk, or suggest recipes based on what's inside. It sounds like something of a Sci-Fi movie, but these technologies are popping up everywhere.
Businesses are interested in this technology because it lets them to respond faster to consumer needs. According to the article, this can be in the form of billboards that change messages based on who is looking at it, or changing the price of an item at the point of sale based on other items being purchased. Unlike some of the other topics discussed in this blog, omnipresent 'big-brother' devices constantly connected to the Internet is still a ways off. It isn't necessarily cheap to mass-produce this technology, and debugging items can be difficult to do. Even so, thanks to the implications of the technology, it is already being discussed in certain circles.
But it isn't all doom and gloom. There is a new wave of self-awareness growing in popularity known as Quantified Self. Quantified Self is quantifying everything you do - how much you eat, how often you breath, how much you walk, how long you sit - just about anything. This is enabled by the Internet of things, mostly from wearable computing, like the combination of Nike and iPods. This is done through a device in certain Nike shoes that can communicate with your iPod, which will monitor your movements and allow you to manage your workouts. It will even pick the music you hear to keep you motivated through the run.
As with anything in life, there are benefits and problems to the idea of the Internet of Things. It may be a ways off, but you need to consider how you feel about your TV watching you back...
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Oh No! Not Another Plastic Jam!
Hello again from cyberspace!
Ever hear of 3D Printing? I know I have, and it's something that has interested me from the beginning. The Economist recently published this article on the subject, and we'll review it in this post.
In case you don't know, 3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is almost what it sounds like - printing 3D items. These devices, which look like cubes full of robot arms, create virtually anything using specialized plastic pellets and computer blueprints. The software for these devices can be used in two ways - either produce items from scratch using built-in software, or copy existing items and produce exact replicas. These devices have existed in manufacturing for years, but have recently taken the hobbyist market by storm thanks to significant price drops. Much like computers of the 1970's and 80's, these hobbyists are creating virtually anything from their garages, bringing a whole new dimension of possibility to the common man.
As is often the case with advancements like this, not everyone is a fan. As you may have guessed, the traditional manufacturing industry is less than thrilled to have their entire industry available in such a ready format. And, thanks to the way these printers work, serious hobbyists can make things that even long-time manufacturers struggle to mass produce.
But the list of foes doesn't stop there. The bigger foe may be Intellectual Property Rights. Thanks to the advanced software used by these devices, any existing item can be easily replicated with the right hard and software. This has people in several industries worried that their hard-earned patents and painstakingly created wares could be found everywhere because of some smart-alec copycat. This may turn into a long legal episode, much like that of the record industry's witch-hunts with file sharing. The danger there is that it could limit the immense potential offered by giving everyone the ability to create almost anything they want.
3D printing is just getting started. While a nice topic for pundits and those on the cutting edge of technology, it hasn't entered the average home. That can change quickly, however, and society will have to decide how it feels on the whole about intellectual property and 3D printing.
Ever hear of 3D Printing? I know I have, and it's something that has interested me from the beginning. The Economist recently published this article on the subject, and we'll review it in this post.
In case you don't know, 3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is almost what it sounds like - printing 3D items. These devices, which look like cubes full of robot arms, create virtually anything using specialized plastic pellets and computer blueprints. The software for these devices can be used in two ways - either produce items from scratch using built-in software, or copy existing items and produce exact replicas. These devices have existed in manufacturing for years, but have recently taken the hobbyist market by storm thanks to significant price drops. Much like computers of the 1970's and 80's, these hobbyists are creating virtually anything from their garages, bringing a whole new dimension of possibility to the common man.
As is often the case with advancements like this, not everyone is a fan. As you may have guessed, the traditional manufacturing industry is less than thrilled to have their entire industry available in such a ready format. And, thanks to the way these printers work, serious hobbyists can make things that even long-time manufacturers struggle to mass produce.
But the list of foes doesn't stop there. The bigger foe may be Intellectual Property Rights. Thanks to the advanced software used by these devices, any existing item can be easily replicated with the right hard and software. This has people in several industries worried that their hard-earned patents and painstakingly created wares could be found everywhere because of some smart-alec copycat. This may turn into a long legal episode, much like that of the record industry's witch-hunts with file sharing. The danger there is that it could limit the immense potential offered by giving everyone the ability to create almost anything they want.
3D printing is just getting started. While a nice topic for pundits and those on the cutting edge of technology, it hasn't entered the average home. That can change quickly, however, and society will have to decide how it feels on the whole about intellectual property and 3D printing.
Electronic Government
Hello again from cyberspace!
We're going to depart from the idea of e-commerce for a bit and explore the idea of e-government. If you have a healthy amount of American skepticism toward Government, this may not seem like something plausible, but there are many benefits to both citizens and businesses if the Government embraces technology like private businesses have.
There are four main ways for Government to interact with the general population:
Even if you are a skeptic and don't believe in the capabilities of the government, I think you will find many of these items palatable and accomplishable. And this isn't all pie-in-the-sky talk, either. There are several examples of this in place now, including:
Whether you like it or not, the government has a lot of power and information at its disposal. Making services and data more available to citizens is a step all governments should strive for, and will improve the standard of living for everyone.
We're going to depart from the idea of e-commerce for a bit and explore the idea of e-government. If you have a healthy amount of American skepticism toward Government, this may not seem like something plausible, but there are many benefits to both citizens and businesses if the Government embraces technology like private businesses have.
There are four main ways for Government to interact with the general population:
| Government to Citizens | Government to Business |
|
|
| Government to Government | Internal Efficiency and Effectiveness |
|
|
Even if you are a skeptic and don't believe in the capabilities of the government, I think you will find many of these items palatable and accomplishable. And this isn't all pie-in-the-sky talk, either. There are several examples of this in place now, including:
- Online Petitions
- Petitioning the government has long been a right of Americans, and now they can do it online. Granted, there are some silly petitions out there, like building a Death Star, but making the process of petitioning the government easier puts people closer to their rights.
- Interactive Tax Assistance
- The IRS offers the ITA as an online knowledge base for tax questions. This helps people understand tax laws, complete their taxes correctly, and even brings a measure of transparency to tax laws.
- Access to Technology
- Before you can get online, you need the infrastructure. While this isn't directly online, it is as important to e-anything as the foundation is to the house. Australia is working on building a national broadband network, bringing high-speed Internet connectivity to all its citizens.
Whether you like it or not, the government has a lot of power and information at its disposal. Making services and data more available to citizens is a step all governments should strive for, and will improve the standard of living for everyone.
I'll Take a Layer of Software to go with that Business, Please
Hello again from cyberspace!
This post will examine leveraging a company's software layer to better do business, and references an article from the Kinsey Quarterly. We'll focus primarily on understanding and integrating the software layer.
To start with, let's define 'the software layer'. For the most part, the software layer sits around the core business, and represents the digital interactions between a company and its customers. This can be a corporate website, Facebook page, or mobile application. In the case of some businesses, like Amazon and IBM, the software layer may represent a large portion of the business. For companies in the first category, the software layer has become increasingly important in recent years. According to the article, this is not because of technological advancements, but due to customer behavior. According to Google's public data, upwards of 80% of Americans use the Internet regularly, as shown below:
While many companies are working on improving their digital presence, along with adding more ways to do business over the Internet, it isn't as seamless on the back end as it may appear from the outside. You may remember a few years ago when Starbucks received a black eye for not accepting gift cards at their Barnes and Noble locations. Even though a company appears to be the same to a customer, the mechanics of fulfilling an order online may be far removed from the store down on the corner. Living with this divide in processing is something many companies cannot do for long. Despite the cost and inconvenience of updating business processes, it is necessary to continue to do business in the digital age.
As long as customers want to do business online, companies must address their software layer and integrate it into their core business. Certain industries, like retail, may have an edge in this, but every industry connected to their customers can benefit from improving their digital capabilities.
This post will examine leveraging a company's software layer to better do business, and references an article from the Kinsey Quarterly. We'll focus primarily on understanding and integrating the software layer.
To start with, let's define 'the software layer'. For the most part, the software layer sits around the core business, and represents the digital interactions between a company and its customers. This can be a corporate website, Facebook page, or mobile application. In the case of some businesses, like Amazon and IBM, the software layer may represent a large portion of the business. For companies in the first category, the software layer has become increasingly important in recent years. According to the article, this is not because of technological advancements, but due to customer behavior. According to Google's public data, upwards of 80% of Americans use the Internet regularly, as shown below:
While many companies are working on improving their digital presence, along with adding more ways to do business over the Internet, it isn't as seamless on the back end as it may appear from the outside. You may remember a few years ago when Starbucks received a black eye for not accepting gift cards at their Barnes and Noble locations. Even though a company appears to be the same to a customer, the mechanics of fulfilling an order online may be far removed from the store down on the corner. Living with this divide in processing is something many companies cannot do for long. Despite the cost and inconvenience of updating business processes, it is necessary to continue to do business in the digital age.
As long as customers want to do business online, companies must address their software layer and integrate it into their core business. Certain industries, like retail, may have an edge in this, but every industry connected to their customers can benefit from improving their digital capabilities.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Porous Walls
Hello again from cyberspace!
Ever scoured the town looking for the best deal? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, you aren't alone. In fact, a recent article discusses the impact being able to shop online while in a store using your smartphone is breaking down the lines between online and brick-and-mortar shopping.
According to the article, many people are starting to shop for items they see in a store online, right from their smartphone in the store. The idea being they can find the best deal at the time of purchase, the most vulnerable of which are big-ticket electronic items. There are websites and apps dedicated solely to this purpose, including TheFind, RedLaser, and Amazon's Price Scanner app. Several factors contribute to this growing trend, including the prevalence of smartphones, the expanded use of QR codes on products and in marketing campaigns, and the success of online retailers like as Amazon.
Even so, I'm not entirely convinced that this is the 'wave of the future', or that brick-and-mortar stores will be entirely replaced by online stores. First, anything purchased online must be shipped, and that introduces both shipping fees and wait time. I'm sure there are people (being one myself) that are willing to pay a little more to not wait for something in the mail. Even if you don't find a deal for that perfect something online, but at a different store, is it worth your travel time? Finally, and probably my biggest issue, is that the article obsesses over Black Friday deals. Black Friday brings out the price-shopper in all of us, and seems to be better than Christmas for die-hard bargain hunters. In fairness, the article admits that this is still a small niche of customers, and I'd be interested to know if the same people would drive an extra 10 miles to save $0.10 on milk...
I think this is an interesting idea, blending reality with the internet in a real-time situation. The invention of price-comparison apps mentioned in the article shows an interesting new wave in bargain hunting, but I don't think the time of the brick-and-mortar store is at an end. I'd say that this is a niche trend for folks hell-bent on saving a few pennies, and won't take over the general population.
Ever scoured the town looking for the best deal? Well, according to the Wall Street Journal, you aren't alone. In fact, a recent article discusses the impact being able to shop online while in a store using your smartphone is breaking down the lines between online and brick-and-mortar shopping.
According to the article, many people are starting to shop for items they see in a store online, right from their smartphone in the store. The idea being they can find the best deal at the time of purchase, the most vulnerable of which are big-ticket electronic items. There are websites and apps dedicated solely to this purpose, including TheFind, RedLaser, and Amazon's Price Scanner app. Several factors contribute to this growing trend, including the prevalence of smartphones, the expanded use of QR codes on products and in marketing campaigns, and the success of online retailers like as Amazon.
Even so, I'm not entirely convinced that this is the 'wave of the future', or that brick-and-mortar stores will be entirely replaced by online stores. First, anything purchased online must be shipped, and that introduces both shipping fees and wait time. I'm sure there are people (being one myself) that are willing to pay a little more to not wait for something in the mail. Even if you don't find a deal for that perfect something online, but at a different store, is it worth your travel time? Finally, and probably my biggest issue, is that the article obsesses over Black Friday deals. Black Friday brings out the price-shopper in all of us, and seems to be better than Christmas for die-hard bargain hunters. In fairness, the article admits that this is still a small niche of customers, and I'd be interested to know if the same people would drive an extra 10 miles to save $0.10 on milk...
I think this is an interesting idea, blending reality with the internet in a real-time situation. The invention of price-comparison apps mentioned in the article shows an interesting new wave in bargain hunting, but I don't think the time of the brick-and-mortar store is at an end. I'd say that this is a niche trend for folks hell-bent on saving a few pennies, and won't take over the general population.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Mutant Crosswords!
Hello again from cyberspace!
This post is all about Quick Response (QR) codes, those funny little mosaics you can see popping up everywhere. A recent article in the Economist highlighted the impact QR Codes are having on the consumer marketplace.
To give a little history, QR codes were invented by Toyota in Japan way back in 1994 as a replacement for standard bar codes. This is because of the amount of information they can store, whether it is alpha, numeric, binary, or virtually any other data type. Bar codes have served well to visually tag an item or product for a computer to read, but much like the storage difference between binary and digital, the amount of information that can be recorded in a QR code is superior to the standard bar code. This is because QR codes are 2 dimensional. QR codes can also be read even if damaged thanks to built-in data duplication and error correction. If you haven't used them, I can say that this is a pretty handy feature. Technology has a tendency to be, shall we say, fragile, but QR codes read easily into many different types of devices.
The complexity of the QR code also appeals to marketing professionals. Coupled with the prevalence of smartphones with cameras, a simple app can read a code, then send the user to a website, or display information about the business. This is why these codes seem to be popping up everywhere - cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, even in the grocery store aisle. Some of the basic ones will just take a customer to a website, but according to the article, this isn't enough. The most successful marketing campaigns, include coupons (very popular in Japan), contain some sort of app, allow entry into contests, or even allow participation in a poll. A bonus for companies is that it is easy to track their success by simply counting the number of QR code hits received.
They don't need to be used in business, either. In fact, the Nintendo 3DS includes QR reading software, allowing companies to spur interest in their games by making additional content available through QR codes. Companies can lengthen the time the game stays at the forefront of the gaming community by spacing out this new content, thereby increasing sales. QR codes can also add a social aspect to games by letting players share their gaming experience by creating a code to share with others by posting them on the internet.
The QR code's success is intertwined with the proliferation of smartphones, and they have added a level of interaction with the real world that wasn't there only a few years ago. The marketing buzz around QR codes shows no signs of slowing down, and in the next post we'll see how smartphones, sometimes using QR code technology, are forcing brick-and-mortar stores to compete online.
This post is all about Quick Response (QR) codes, those funny little mosaics you can see popping up everywhere. A recent article in the Economist highlighted the impact QR Codes are having on the consumer marketplace.
To give a little history, QR codes were invented by Toyota in Japan way back in 1994 as a replacement for standard bar codes. This is because of the amount of information they can store, whether it is alpha, numeric, binary, or virtually any other data type. Bar codes have served well to visually tag an item or product for a computer to read, but much like the storage difference between binary and digital, the amount of information that can be recorded in a QR code is superior to the standard bar code. This is because QR codes are 2 dimensional. QR codes can also be read even if damaged thanks to built-in data duplication and error correction. If you haven't used them, I can say that this is a pretty handy feature. Technology has a tendency to be, shall we say, fragile, but QR codes read easily into many different types of devices.
The complexity of the QR code also appeals to marketing professionals. Coupled with the prevalence of smartphones with cameras, a simple app can read a code, then send the user to a website, or display information about the business. This is why these codes seem to be popping up everywhere - cereal boxes, shampoo bottles, even in the grocery store aisle. Some of the basic ones will just take a customer to a website, but according to the article, this isn't enough. The most successful marketing campaigns, include coupons (very popular in Japan), contain some sort of app, allow entry into contests, or even allow participation in a poll. A bonus for companies is that it is easy to track their success by simply counting the number of QR code hits received.
They don't need to be used in business, either. In fact, the Nintendo 3DS includes QR reading software, allowing companies to spur interest in their games by making additional content available through QR codes. Companies can lengthen the time the game stays at the forefront of the gaming community by spacing out this new content, thereby increasing sales. QR codes can also add a social aspect to games by letting players share their gaming experience by creating a code to share with others by posting them on the internet.
The QR code's success is intertwined with the proliferation of smartphones, and they have added a level of interaction with the real world that wasn't there only a few years ago. The marketing buzz around QR codes shows no signs of slowing down, and in the next post we'll see how smartphones, sometimes using QR code technology, are forcing brick-and-mortar stores to compete online.
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