Week 4: There is an app for that!

Find your face on that book!

One day, my friends and I had this really interesting idea. What if you can just take a head shot photo from a person and the app can find that person on Facebook for you.  That is amazing. What if you are too shy to talk to someone like? The app can help you to know that person even you don’t know that person in real life. You know what they like before they tell you. Is there privacy problem? We will leave that to Facebook. If you choose not to show any of your information on your Facebook, then the app won’t show it.

The basic idea of the app is to use face recognition on the Facebook profile picture. What if that person has a picture of a dog or something that is unrecognizable? That the app won’t work.

The app may sound like a little creepy. However, Facebook is creepy. One of the main issues is convince Facebook add the face recognition plug-in. And also Facebook has to allow the app uses Facebook databases. If Facebook said yes, everything will work fine. The main function of app is to scan faces and try to find the right match picture on Facebook database. Will there be stalkers problem? Even without this app, people can still find you on Facebook and stalk you. Let just not see the app as a stalking tool. We should see it as a tool to help us make friends easier.

The app would be free to download. Of course, there will be an upgradable version, which will cost about 0.99 cents. An upgraded app will be able to see to the person’s photos too. You can poke that person right on that app. You can even add and massage that person right on that app.

Week 3 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

Based on the BCG Growth-Share Matrix, there are Stars (high share and high growth), Question Marks (low share and high growth), Cash Cows (high share and low growth), and Dogs (low share and low growth). 

And based on my research on video game market, here is what I got:

1.)    Star- download digital data i.e. iphone games/apps

Stars generate large amounts of money and also consume large amounts of money. It has strong and high market share and growth rate. A star can become a cash cow when the market growth rate deceased which means lesser choices. And the iphone app market is HUGE, it is "worth more than $2.4 billion a year."  Learn more click this link: http://gigaom.com/2009/08/27/how-big-is-apple-iphone-app-economy-the-answer-might-surprise-you/

2.)    Cash Cow- Xbox 360

Cash Cow has a greater return. It is high share and low growth. When it comes to home entertainment gaming devices, xbox 360 and ps3 are on the top of the list. Microsoft is a cash cow. It enters many different markets to maximize its cash flows. From software to motion games, it has covers all. Here is what people say "Microsoft's Kinect offers several features such as voice commands, hand gestures and the ability to communicate with friends and family...  The strength of Kinect lies in its simplicity of use."
http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360s-kinect-will-be-big-winner-this-holiday-says-market-researcher-ipsos/

http://beta.fool.com/shamapant/2011/12/22/djia-analysis-microsoft/260/

3.)    Question Mark- Will

Question Marks are growing fast. It has a low market share but high growth. It can go two way: up to Cash cow or down to Dogs. Wii is focusing on kids. It offers large range of motion games thinking if the kids want it, the parents would buy it. However, that is not the case. Many people also think "that the Nintendo Wii is dying."

http://www.conceivablytech.com/2685/business/game-console-market-dissected-nintendo-wii-is-dying

4.)    Dogs- PlayStation 3

Dogs have low market share and low market growth. Xbox 360 might do better in America but in the Japan or Asian countries, PlayStation is the cash cow. Why would I say that PS3 is the dogs? One of the main reasons is that it is so easy to hack. Do you remember when Anonymous attacked PlayStation Network? "Its stock dropped.  Everyone freaked out. Information got stolen." How can you make money when people don’t trust to use your system? It might not be the dog now but if Sony does not do anything about it, it will soon become the dog.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/04/anonymous-attacks-sony-to-protest-ps3-hacker-lawsuit.ars

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer Service

What is great customer service? It is always to be helpful- even if there is no profit immediately. For example from chapter one:  Zappos does not focus too much on advertising. It truly understands the meaning of “the aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary”   (Marketing An Introduction, p.4/52). It is an online retailer but how did it become so success? Here are some of the reasons: free delivery and free returns.  Not only that, it has a 365-day return policy. It has a customer- service center which is 24/4 open. It actually hires over 500 staffs to answer phone calls. People who call want to talk to a live person, not a fake pre-corded robot voice.

Another good example: Wal-Mart, it is now the largest retailer in the world. Why is Wal-mart so successful? First of all, it opens 24 hours a day. I mean how could a store provide customer service when is closed. Second of all, it keeps its promise: “Save money. Live better” (Marketing An Introduction, p.3/52). It always offers low prices. Third of all, it also provides site-to-store service. It is a free service that lets you ship your online order to any Wal-mart store in the United States. Customers would be able to order anything but groceries without having to waste any time by walking down the aisles and grab them. If you are really lazy or busy, you would like that service. Customers will be able to choose from thousands of items which you won’t  see them normally in store. The bestselling point of that service: it is free shipping orders to any Wal-mart store.

Week 1 EOC: My Voice

What does it feel like when you have the ability to create tomorrow? Let me tell you, it is awesome! As a web designer, I am able to create tomorrow by creating web sites, fill in data, and code for the future.

What do I mean by code for the future? When is the last time you have been on YouTube or “Google” something? You are probably doing it now. And we, the web designers, make that happen. 

As a professional in the web design field, I am able to create from static we pages to interactive web pages. The tools I use range from HTML, CSS, Javascript, Php, and so much more.

Back in the days, sharing and learning information were HARD. For example, you have to do a research paper and it needs supporting sources. Back in the days, you would have to go to a library and search for books. You would have to spend hours and days. Nowadays, we, the web designers, make your life so much easier.  You just have to Google it.

 By the way, web design is not just about making pretty web pages. We care about the viewers also. Yes, white texts on black background will sure pop-out because of the high contrast but if you read that for too long, you will hurt your eyes. We actually care about you. We all like pretty things. However, as a web designer, I am not only making pretty things, I make useable things including clean and simple layout, easy-to-understand navigation, and easy-to-follow links.

Well, actually I am more into the web development side of the web design. Then what is web development? If you searched web development on Wikipedia, this is what you will get: “Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). This can include web design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development. However, among web professionals, "web development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding.” What does it mean? Basically, we make or code the layout and make sure the functions of the web site work. Well, what is a function?

Have you ever gone on a web site which requires you to login first? Have you used a search bar on a web site? Have you clicked on an image and it pops up and enlarges? They are all functions. Back then a web page is just a web page. It only displays information and more links. But now, we are able to add interactivity on a website. We use programing language like JavaScript to add interactivity on the client side for users like you. So now you can click, drag, or move things around on a web page. We also use programing language like php to connect to the server side. For example, if you search or login, the web page will send the request to the server and the server will return the result and displays it for you. In that example, the server side programing language does the tricks.

Why did I say I am more into the web development side of the web design? Whenever you ask me to choose what colors to use on a web page, my brain would freeze. I would make everything gray, all the text would black (Arial), and the link in blue. Yes, I love to make pretty things; however, I am not good at just making pretty images and colorful layout. In my view, a beautiful website is clean, simple, and has no broken codes. Do you know how annoying it is to have a search bar that doesn’t work? I would close that web page and never go on it again.

The future is the web (my short term for World Wide Web). The web is our future. And I love the web. I am passionate to be working in this field.