Wearables as the Potential Future

     Apple has recently completed their World Wide Developers Conference with no wearable device or watch being revealed to the public like what was expected. However, the software being released in the fall has hinted to the potential of an iWatch in the near future. As we learned in class, connections to the internet and social media is becoming extraordinarily easier to access. With the new potential addition of wearables, people wouldn't even need to spend take their phones out of their pockets. It is already convenient enough to be able to retrieve all that information from your phone. Now with the addition of being able to just look at your watch, I think it is getting to the point of being to consuming in our lives. In the case of Google Glass, you would be wearing this technology constantly, receiving notifications all the time. It takes the concept a step further. I personally don't like the technology coming out because it is becoming a little to unnecessary to have content being delivered at the instant it happens. People should be living their lives with the people right in front of them. I am scared the world is going to turn to be virtual reality reliant. We would just camp out inside and avoid the things happening in the real world in exchange for a fictional one.

Netflix and the Battle of the Fast Lane

     Netflix has recently paid a large chunk of change to Comcast in order to get their service up to the speeds they want with out the congestion or bottleneck. Just this past week Netflix has been sending a message to customers using Verizon internet service that blames Verizon for the poor video service they are getting. Verizon is now considering the use of legal action if Netflix continues their bad business practices. There has been much debate over who is to blame for the slow service, and Netflix has taken the stance that big internet service providers not taking the necessary steps on upgrades so the customers get video streaming in a timely manner. Verizon claims there is no basis for their accusations. In fact Verizon recently just signed a commercial deal with Netflix to improve performance. There are many different contributing factors that can lead to poor streaming. As we learned in class, the world is coming closer and closer to cutting the cable bill from their life to move to exclusively streaming from the internet. Everything will eventually go directly to internet whether Comcast and other big television providers believe so or not. I personally plan on not getting television service when I get out of college because I don't watch nearly enough of the programming being offered for me to even bother getting it.
    Netflix better be more willing to help out the internet service providers if they want to improve their customer satisfaction. Instead of shamelessly pointing the finger at someone else, they should be taking responsibility. In my opinion this was not a good public relations ploy. No matter who is technically at fault, calling out another company they have a contract with is not a good decision. I can see this mistake on Netflix's part coming back to haunt them.

E-Commerce vs. Brick and Mortar

     E-Commerce is an industry model that is booming right now with more and more people leaning towards it as their main shopping medium based on the convenience it offers. This model is becoming an increasing challenge to the typical brick and mortar model that has been used for countless years in this country as a means of purchasing all kinds of merchandise. A lot of people do not like dealing with other people so any chance to avoid salespeople is a win for a lot of consumers. However, this does not mean the brick and mortar companies are out of luck. Numerous people still enjoy going to the store to actually physically see the product they are thinking about buying. The expertise of the salespeople can help the less knowledgeable audience make a decision on a product. The problem nowadays is people will go to the store see what they want and walk out to buy it online. Price is usually a big factor when deciding, and online retailers have been offering up the cheapest prices for most items. The advantage brick and mortar stores need to take advantage of is the availability to have the item right away. Furthermore, the online store for most of these brick and mortars now offer a "pick up in store" option which allow the convenience of online with the instant gratification consumers look for.

     E-Commerce lacks in this area due to the shipping of items they have to deal with. People often don't like to wait for things so retailers like Amazon need to find out ways to encourage customers to stick with them over the competition. Amazon is in the works of developing new strategies to reduce the wait time using drone delivery and anticipatory shipping. Anticipatory shipping is when Amazon will ship new items to distribution facilities closest to people that are most likely to buy them based on past purchases. Shipping is an expensive task that online retailers have to deal with and finding an affordable solution has been difficult. 

     When brick and mortar companies get customers to come back to their stores, they are building stronger brand loyalty with the customers. If a customer really likes a particular store, he or she will be more likely to come back rather than find the product else where. Additionally, once the customer is in the store, they have a better chance of purchasing more than they originally intended to. Online retailers, on the other hand, do not get as many people to do the same. Overall, this battle between shopping mediums has yet to come to an end, and it will be interesting to see who ends up winning. 

Finding the Answer to Online Bullying

     Online bullying is becoming an increasing problem in a world of continued technological advancements of communication. People are able to interact with one another online and create friendships solely online. The problem with communicating online is people think they are anonymous, and they can say whatever they want to others. Numerous people are struggling with their own personal problems everyday, and some of those people turn to the internet to extend their burdens onto other people in the form of cyber-bullying. Most of these online bullies are being punished on a zero tolerance basis nowadays. The problem I have with this format is the people that punish the bully don't ever look into the underlying causes for the bully's actions. Usually there are things that happened in the past of the bully that make them have negative feelings towards others causing the bullying to occur. Danah Boyd claims a punishment-oriented approach is not the right solution to the cyber-bullying problem. I kind of agree with her in the sense that punishment should not be the sole answer to the problem; however, unlike Boyd, I think punishment should still take place on bullies, otherwise the bully is going to think it is okay for him or her to be conducting this act again in the future. Furthermore, I think authorities should look deeper into the background of the offender to try and help the prevent them from doing any further bullying. Additionally, advisers at high schools should get trained in cyber-bullying so they can offer an avenue for students to go if they are ever getting harassed repeatedly. Steps should be provided to the student into how the problem can be solved. I believe the only way to solve this problem is for other parties to getting involved because it can be overwhelming for the victim to get out of the situation they have gotten stuck in.

What is Addiction?

     With so many people especially teens spending a large part of there time on social media websites, some would consider that we are becoming addicted to it. Danah Boyd would argue that there are many constraints placed on teenager that cause a large consumption of social media. One of these constraints would be their parents over scheduling them to the point where 95% of there day would already be planned leaving no time for hanging out with friends and doing what they want. This situation then causes them to use their phones and computers in order to compensate with the communication avenues consisting of social media. I believe it is not an addiction because once the user joins in on a real life social event, usually social media is pushed to the back burner and used to a lesser extent. The user is most likely with the people he or she is looking up on the web so it is unnecessary.If you were truly addicted, you would be struggling every minute you didn't have it out.
      It appears to me that the main culprit is convenience that is causing the massive overuse. I don't think addiction is the answer. People are finding numerous different ways to communicate with people, and it is technology that is providing more pathways to fulfill the need. I agree with Boyd about there being many different conflicting factors that lead to the large usage in today's society. Boyd also mentions how having a productive talk about the priorities a teenager should have will be more beneficial than calling all social media devilish. Furthermore Boyd mentions how parents are become less trustworthy with other children just based on the content children are growing up with so they isolate their children from the rest of society. In order to fill this void in their life, they are forced to turn to social media. Society is the main driving force to massive social media consumption; therefore, I don't necessarily agree that social media is a terrible problem that all parents should have their kids avoiding. Addiction is out to the question for me. Critics should first look at the underlying problems before they make judgement on social media.

The Termination of Net Neutrality

     F.C.C. has come to a conclusion on allowing fast lanes to the companies willing to pay more money to the internet service providers. Net neutrality allows for any company providing legal content on the internet to allow consumers to have equal access to the content. I believe this action by the F.C.C. will be a disaster for all consumers on the internet. Small businesses will stand no chance in an environment consisting on humongous companies like Google who can easily afford the extra price tag. The way the internet would be set up would allow the big companies to continue to be in charge with the start up companies being left in the dust. Where would company's like Facebook when they were starting up be if they were not able to afford the fast lane? Internet speed discrimination discourages innovation of new companies and business models. People in today's society lack the patience of waiting for the content they request to arrive on their screens. Once they get tired of waiting, they might choose to go to a different website to get their content.

LinkedIn: Mostly Acquaintances

     After now spending more time in business classes this term to complete my minor in business administration, I decided to revisit my measly looking LinkedIn page that I created last year. When I created it originally, I only put in a few basic things in and lost interest pretty quick. What got me hooked back on was when I got an email from LinkedIn saying that the guy next door to me wanted to add me as a connection. A couple days later I began talking to him about LinkedIn, and he convinced me to go back on and add more relevant information that I haven't yet posted. I then spent a few hours adding info and looking for connections to add to my collection of people. Next thing I knew, I saw it as a competitive game of who could gather the most connections. This scenario relates to what we discussed in class about adding friends on Facebook just to get more online friends than your other real life friends. I found myself just adding people to add them on LinkedIn. Some of the people I didn't even now very well at all, but I wanted to continue adding them because I felt that the more people I am connected to the better the chance they might be able to help me in the future. It made me feel like a dirty person for basically using them for their This concept continues on LinkedIn via the endorsement section. In this section, you basically just give kudos to be on different skills they have listed. The person endorsing you may not even have seen or experienced work done by you. Overall, my experience on LinkedIn has left me to question the direction social media websites are going, but I still plan to continue using it in the future in order to make those connections that lead to a future job I might want.