E-book pricing

In class we covered why e-books cost so much and we learned that it was due to the fact that publishers controlled the prices of the e-books.  This article discusses why publishers make their prices high http://t.co/6s4l0DMu .  In this article the publisher argues that the price of paper and shipping is really not that much and is only a couple of differences in dollars.  The traditional publisher and e-book publisher still have to pay for author advances, design, marketing, publicity, office space, and staff.  When e-readers such as the Kindle first came out the prices of books were cut in half to sell help promote Amazon’s e-readers (Kindle).  These prices devalued the books though which made it hard for other companies to compete with Amazon because Amazon had an advanced start over other companies and was able to make revenue from selling their Kindles rather than from selling books. 

Later publishers and Steve Jobs came to an agreement in which it was decided that publishers would make 70% of the price of the e-book price.  Publishers took that deal raised the prices of their books and then imposed it on Amazon.  The deal however did not allow them to make more money.  What raising the price and standardizing it did was stop competition on pricing between e-books and keeps e-books relatively competitive.  This is not a long term solution though because e-books continue to become increasingly more popular. 

Timeline

                Do you like the new Facebook timeline?  Well some brands love it.  They have discovered that they can receive more fan interaction on Facebook because of timeline.  For example, the cover photo for timeline allows the brand to place their logo at the top of the page advocating to who they are.  In some cases it allows the brand to advertise their fans photos which creates competition and participation among fans which spreads the brand to more people.  It also allows the brand to improve its’ EdgeRank.  It also allows page administrators to engage a fan in a private conversation, without needing to use their personal account to make the connection.  Timeline looks like an infograph of a person’s life.  It shows data in an organized manner which helps companies.  http://yhoo.it/HDhrfp

                Back to my original question, do you like Timeline? Surprisingly I do, because at first I found it hard to figure out how to use, but then once I learned the basics it was easy.  It is not as atheistically pretty as the original.  The original board was simple and neat and was easy to read updates and helped me to easily read my current events and had far less junk in it, but this new junk is what made timeline more necessary.  It allows users to separate information about themselves into different block so that the data can be better organized.  For example, it separates Pinterest from the rest of the user’s board and has status updates on the other side.  The way that the information is displayed gives a viewers a general idea of the user is like from their billboard cover photo to their Application use to their photos and status updates.  In a way Facebook is becoming more like a social diary and archive than a way to keep in touch with friends or at least the timeline section appears to be more like an archive. 

                So whether you are a brand or using Facebook for fun you are probably dealing with Timeline and before you completely reject Timeline give it a shot.  You may discover that it serves a function that was not in the original design.

Favorite web page

Wikipedia is probably one of the most useful sites that I have come across and I use it constantly.  It holds a vast database of information and even if the information is not always accurate it is easy to access.  I particularly like the way that Wikipedia’s web pages are set up.  I like that there are no ads floating on the side of the web page that will distract me.  Also I do not have to worry about pop-ups or ads suddenly playing audio.  The nav bar with the links makes it easy to navigate the web page itself rather than me scrolling around to get to the information that I want to see.   The placement of pictures within the body of text are placed in a way that spruces up the page rather than interferes with the layout of the page.  I like that within the page there are links that can take you to get more information on the topic without sending the user to a questionable web site.  Wikipedia includes links at the bottom of their web page if somebody wants to fact check the site or if they want more information.  The color scheme of Wikipedia makes it easy to read and will not cause the viewer headaches.  This can be done by going into the CSS and choosing gray or white.   

Way back when there was no digital cameras…..

            Do you remember a time when photos were not digital?  If you do remember then you also remember that there was no red eye reduction, photo deletion, and zooming in on subjects was hard.  Go even further back though, back to a time in which photos were taken in black and white.  Actually it was not really that long ago.  The grandparents of today still have these photos of your parents, but unlike digital photos they are not being shared, yet; however, with the new app Shoebox, which only ask for non-digital photos, these film/polaroid pictures are starting to join their digital cousins on the internet, as people decide to scan them and put them online.  Shoebox though is a fast way to scan photos in by using iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad.   Mark Zuckerberg the creator of Facebook liked the app so much that he messaged one of the co-founders of Shoebox to see if it could be linked to Facebook timeline. 

            Facebook started off as a site for Harvard college students, but now anybody can join.  So you can only imagine how many less than perfect photos from childhood will end up online and you will probably have your parents to thank for that.  Of course there will also be a lot of cool photos from the past that will go up online too.  Who knows one day when children of the future are writing a school report they will use Facebook as a familial archive.  Facebook is becoming an archive of peoples’ lives and will make it easier for future generations to see what was happening at the time that their ancestors were alive.  Of course they will have to sift through all the silly crazy adolescent photos that we have taken.   http://t.co/17QvOVaK

Technological accessories

Do you wear a watch? No? Well they might be coming back in a new and better fashion.  The Motorola MotoActv watch can track your data while you run, bike, walk, play tennis etc, not only that is a GPS fitness tracker and smart MP3 player.  I Bet that is more than your old watch could do.  Not only that there is another product out there known as SmartWatch which can monitor your health, so if a person was experiencing a seizure while exercising, SmartWatch would send out a text message notifying friends and family.  The way in which SmartWatch works is that it communicates to the person’s android phone to send the messages.  This is a good example of technology is social with itself in sharing information.  WIMM One acts in much the same way that SmartWatch does in the fact that is communicates with an outside device to work.  WIMM One has the ability to send push notifications to the watch and also gives you the ability to hang up on calls. http://t.co/ZPHqz7Fu

Much like the new improvements for watches, glasses may be the next accessory to receive a technological upgrade. Google has recently come out with a nifty pair of spectacles, while are not available for the market yet they are definitely a product to look out for in the future.  The glasses known as Project glass would give their wearers the ability to connect to various websites and communicate with family and friends through the glasses and ideally much more.  This technology would keep us hooked up all the time which depending on your opinion could be good or bad.  I mean the convenience of it all would be very nice, but we all know what is like to be stuck behind a person walk and texting and how oblivious they can be.  At least with the glasses though the messages would appear in the same visual space as to where the person is looking as they travel.    

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/deal-google-crazy-augmented-reality-glasses-220145242.html

Burglars can use twitter too

Burglars can use technology and social media too and they can use it to target you.  For example, if your twitter access is set to public and you are tweeting about being on vacation, at the store or looking forward to coming home people will know that your house is more than likely vacant.  So make sure that you go by an obscure twitter account when you are tweeting to people you don’t know or do not trust.  Also Facebook can be used in this same way too.  So once again if you don’t trust your “Friends” you might want to save the messages especially since you are on vacation.  There is no problem with people just enjoying themselves and disconnecting from their lives at home for a while.  In addition, like anything else on the internet it is never truly deleted and employees may have the ability to access that information.  So burglars robbing people is only a more upfront reminder to be careful on the internet. 

Admittedly, though there are burglars close to home that you cannot prevent even with precautions.  Even technology such as Google maps can be used to scout out territory and that is beyond the reach of the average internet user’s control.  Despite the possibility of being robbed at any time precaution will prevent some of the risk that make your home a target.  http://t.co/uqJdPSg7

Video game industry

Many people play video games and they seem to be thriving with new gaming consoles coming out all the time.  So I was surprised when I read this article http://t.co/JAx1R2I4  about how the video games industry was losing money.  Apparently they are losing money because retailers have the ability to take returned games and sell them at a discounted price which means that they are losing sales.  It surprised me that the industry was really loosing so much money from video games being resold.

It reminded me of how we were discussing that piracy was hurting the Music industry.   Online music piracy, however; is the blatant illegal downloading of music.   Despite the losses from piracy the music industry is still standing and they probably also have to deal with people returning CDs to stores and then having them resold at discounted prices.  My hope is that since they have seemed to survive all these years with loses in money that the video game industry will also be able to make it through as well.

an apple a day keeps u from being out of the loop

Half of the homes in the USA own at least one apple product http://t.co/LqGg0BGs .  Are you surprised?  Of all these products that apple has sold most of them are portable electronics such as IPhone, IPad and of course the IPod.   This is a rather unsurprising statistic though as apple was one of the first companies to come out with a device that could play music without a CD or cassette player.  Also Apple created Itunes where people can buy music, movies, games, applications, podcast and books for their devices.  The Itunes store creates a convenient place to store music and shop for more music at the same time.  This easy to use interface is probably what gave Apple a leg up over the competition such as Sandisk mp3, the Zune and Apple knock offs.

                I would not be surprised if these households even owned multiple Apple products.  Apple is constantly cranking out new models, colors, shapes and sizes for their products.  As the products grow more sophisticated people with older products tend to upgrade but are often left with their older device which will have less of a market to be sold in.  Apples products being portable also appears to be a major part of their success as people constantly seem to be on the go.  This is evident through the wide use of cellphones being used to connect to the internet rather than people going home to use the internet.  The fact that a device such as the Iphone can connect to the internet , text, and play music is a testimony to why people like the Apple products.  Apples prominence in households across the USA appears to be due their ever changing and shaping products. 

The Hunger Games the Social Game

The Hunger Games is a book that has been adapted into a movie and now onto a computer game that you can play on your Facebook.  The game is free to play and comes out with the movie! It is interesting to see how The Hunger Games has traversed from a book medium to a movie and now a game.  It is interesting to see how ideas can translate into multiple mediums and then these mediums can advertise toward many different crowds.  It reminds me of how Harry Potter went from a book to movies, to a video games, board games, merchandise and even has its’ own theme park now.  It is a good example of the possibilities The Hunger Games could have if people really love the series and want to see more of it. 

To that end the placement of The Hunger Games as a game on Facebook is a clever place to put the game.  When people play the game their scores can be shown on Facebook and potentially draw in more viewers.  The raises awareness of The Hunger Games and allows people to participate in the series even if they have yet to watch or read the book.  This is an interesting concept though.  If people have yet to read the book then will they be less inclined to watch the movie? Well I guess we will see come Friday.

http://news.yahoo.com/hunger-games-social-media-game-facebook-172834313.html

Facebook quiz

Do you find yourself constantly updating your Facebook status about your latest and greatest adventures and personal triumphs?  Do you enjoy putting up photos of yourself and being tagged in others photos.  Do you know who all your Facebook friends are?  Well you might want to be careful because you might be labeled a socially disruptive Narcissist.  http://t.co/5YXsolCg  

Facebook is a social website where a bunch of applications can access our information and put it all together to determine out location and what stores might interest us.  If studies like this continue people can start stereotyping social media behavior.  This information could hurt people, because it might make you not want to friend a co-worker for example, if they are constantly tagging photos of themselves and making status updates, because you are led to believe that this is a form of narcissism.   An employer might learn of this study/quiz and rule out employees based on this information. 

Facebook information can often be very accurate when judging a person, but it can also be very deceiving too.  For example, when I looked up my roommate on Facebook I thought that she had weird taste in music but when she plays music it was different than the music she had under her likes.  This shows that she either had not updated her profile or that she did not want to include all of her information.   This shows that our profile information may be out of date or not show everything about us.  We have always created social personas, but those personas have usually been limited to acquaintances.  Now though people that we do not even know may be trying to give us a psych evaluation because we did not read the rules when we agreed to the Farmville app.