After reading the article it talks about how technology is impacting business in a negative way. The company RealNetworks mentions wanting to increase DVD sales by allowing customers to make duplicate copies of the movies that they buy. Movie companies do not want that to happen because they are already hurting in DVD sales of movies. If RealNetworks win the court case then people will have software where they can burn and copy as many copies of a movie as they want to. The company at stake here is Real DVD which produces the software which enables users to save digital copies to their computers. The developing software would allow companies to make DVD players able to make copies of movie discs. The current speed for downloading these movies onto the computer takes about 20 minutes and each player can hold around 70 movies. Each DVD player would sell for about $300 and the way Real would make money is by a commission for each one sold. RealPlayer’s argument is to allow people to legally download movies the right way and I think they have a valid point here.

I do think that a technology like this would indeed make DVD’s cool again and people would enjoy building a collection of movies on the new DVD player. I do know that it would hurt movie companies businesses because people would not buy the movie and that is what their sales depend on. This relates to chapter 12 because it is a technology that could possibly be coming out that will definitely change business. It first happened with music cd’s and now it could possibly be happening to the DVD world.

Stone, B. (2009, April 23). Software that Copies DVDs Is On Trial. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from New York Times Technology website: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/technology/24dvd.html?_r=1&scp=11&sq=software&st=Search

After reading the article I realized that big companies hired immigrants to work as high-tech workers.  I would have never guessed that they brought people over to work in the large companies. But many of these immigrants are leaving because legislatures have put in fine print how the companies will be punished if they continue to employ these workers. The thing to fear here is that all of the employees that are getting the slip to go back to their countries are going back to work for their country. It is projected that over the next five years over 100,000 immigrants are going to go back to both China and India. All of the things they learned here might end up hurting the U.S. in the long run.

Part of the other reason why they do not have a problem going back is because they are being offered good jobs because of the skills they know.  In order for the United States to help keep these workers here in the U.S. they must create incentives to help keep them stay put in America. Through research it states that one out of every four technology or engineering companies were in complete control of immigrants.

I think that the U.S. needs to do a better job keeping these immigrants here working for us. If not, they are just going to go back to their country and apply all of the principles they learned to the new company they are working for. I think that these workers should realize that working here in the United States will benefit in better pay for them and their families. In the book it talks about how offshore outsourcing is changing the way we do business. In places like China and the Philippines workers can be paid less and the company can still receive high quality work.

Lohr, S. (2009, March 2). The Real High-Tech Immigrant Problem: They’re Leaving. Retrieved October 28, 2009, from New York Times Technology website: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/02/the-real-high-tech-immigrant-problem-theyre-leaving/?scp=2&sq=insourcing&st=Search

The company Accenture has taken full use of the videoconferencing technology out there for businesses. It has installed 13 of the videoconferencing rooms at its offices around the world. The company decided to use the technology to conduct meetings because it saved over 240 international trips and 120 domestic flights in the time span of just one month. The annual savings I predicted to be millions of dollars and less travel stress put on its employees.

All sizes of companies are beginning to train employees and give demonstrations through this method of technology in order to save money. The cost of these videoconferencing rooms’ costs about $350,000 and the resolution of these screens is even better than high-definition televisions. If a company wants to show an item it can by placing it in front of the camera and they can zoom in to see the exact item just as if it were really in front of them. Also having videoconferencing available it is suppose to close deals 20% faster because you are able to meet up and see the person immediately. If the room is used regularly it can pay for itself in a little less than a year.

This article on videoconferencing technology relates to chapter 10 because it talks about how companies use this technology. It is a newer technology that is starting to become utilized more and more in the daily business life. I expect more and more companies, both big and small, to use videoconferencing more frequently as budgets get tighter and tighter in an effort to help and save money.

Lohr, S. (2008, July 22). As Travel Costs Rise, More Meetings Go Virtual. Retrieved October 27, 2009, from New York Times Technology website: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/technology/22meet.html?scp=3&sq=videoconferencing&st=Search

A few months ago, IBM paid $1.2 billion to buy SPSS Inc. SPSS Inc. is the maker of software that is used to analyze statistics and predict models. It has been common lately for software companies to purchase a lot of software to help improve business intelligence. In fact the software companies have spent over $15 billion over the past couple of years on business analysis software. The reason they want as much software as possible is to help better maximize their companies when it comes to decision making. They want to have the inside edge over the other software companies. Business intelligence software is seen as a way to identify cost-cutting techniques with the way the current market is running.

The software can help find trends in the current market by analyzing multiple factors such as the internet. IBM and the SPSS software currently being used are teamed up to perform functions such as screening patient’s health records to find which ones are most likely to suffer. With inside information like this, it can save the company a lot of money by finding out who is most likely to cost the company a lot more than a healthier patient. IBM is in it for the long haul because they are going to continue to hire analysts to help better determine the trends in the business world.

This article relates to chapter 9 because it talks about business intelligence and how it is involved in the current software market. Business intelligence is extremely important to companies because it gives them an inside edge on what might happen in the near future. It also lets them know what customers might be a problem and what the proper techniques might be to help keep the customer around and doing business with the company.

Lohr, S. (2009, July 28). I.B.M. Will Buy a Maker of Data Analysis Software. Retrieved October 27, 2009, from New York Times website: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/technology/companies/29ibm.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=business%20intelligence&st=Search

This article talks about how it has become easier to back up your files at home and not just in the offices at work. People need to back up their files at home because once you lose it, it’s gone for good. Mistakes are likely to happen because technology is supposed to be reliable, but sometimes it can be quite the opposite. The article talks about how easy it is now for consumers to back up there data on a network. There are multiple networks that people can choose from. Mostly all of these networks offer the same basic functions, but some have their own special features. The person who wrote the article has a Mirra network storage system and he says that if there is ever a problem like a disk failure then the company will try to fix it or they might also pay up to $1000 for a specialist to treat the problem. It is important when choosing a backup drive to keep in mind the capacity requirements. If you put more photos, music, or videos you are going to be using up a lot of space really quick. In the end you will most likely need to backup your backup drive in case something was ever to happen to the original backup.

This article relates to Chapter 5 because the book talked about how big time businesses need to back up there customer information. It is critical to keep backup copies mainly because if you are to lose it then you will be responsible for confidential information possibly leaking out. Also it will take more time resulting in lost money if you do not have a backup and have to go back to redo all of your lost files. I do not have a backup, but think it would be a good idea to get one. Not only would it save me the hassle of having to redo everything, I would also have the reassurance to trust technology because I would be having two copies.

Rothman, W. (2006). Now It’s Easy to Back Up Data on a Network. Retrieved September 22, 2009, from The New York Times Web Site: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/technology/circuits/30basics.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=backup&st=Search

A month ago in Italy when Zack Ajmal was on vacation the first thing he needed was a map of the country. He didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars it would have cost him to get a digital map placed on his Garmin GPS device. Instead he looked at Open Street Map to help him navigate the country efficiently.

Open Street Map is a community-driven map database that gives users te ability to upload maps onto there GPS units for free. The good thing about these maps compared to the standard maps that are on GPS units is that these maps show the little things that might help out a lost tourist.

These little things like shortcuts and updated trails can be beneficial to the average consumer. There is nearly a half a million users who download these maps and load them onto there GPS devices or smartphones. It is very convenient and saves the average person a lot of money especially if him or her travels a lot.

The big thing about these maps being offered is that they can be constantly edited. For example if there is a trail that is no longer offered because it is flooded, these crowdsourced maps do a great job for the user. This would save the traveler valuable time knowing that they needed to use the next fastest trail. Traditional GPS services cannot offer functions like these ones simply because the information is always changing. This process is so simple because all you have to do is taking one of the maps from an available folder and dropping it into a folder on your device.

The Open Street Map also has an available application for the iPhone which is called MotionX. This application is targeted at bikers, hikers, and skiers simply because the iPhone is a handheld device not taking up much room.

I like the idea of how simple this might be because when you are hiking you need up to date information on trails in order to be safe. That is why some people are scared to go hiking because usually the maps they refer to are extremely old and hard to interpret. I like the idea of a user friendly mapping system because it is created by the people and for the people.

Ganapati, P. (2009) GPS hackers blaze trails with crowdsourced maps. Retrieved August 28, 2009, from CNN Technology Web Site: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/08/27/gps.digital.maps/index.html

Since the release of the iPhone, users have taken full advantage of the unlimited internet features that AT&T has offered to come with the phone. Earlier in the year at a music fest in Texas, so many of the attendees had iPhone’s that the network took a huge hit. Both voice and data services were temporarily shut down for many customers in Austin, Texas. The users of the iPhone that were affected were very upset leading AT&T officials no choice but to bring in extra network equiptment.

Smartphone devices are targeted towards customers who want to have access to pretty much anything at there fingertips. They do however pay for these services at an already high rate. The article that I read referred to the iPhone’s features as an “all-you-can-eat buffet.” This is true because why would you not want to take full and complete advantage of something that you paid a good amount of money for. I mean isn’t this the reason why consumers purchase these types of devices?

The problem that wireless operators are having with smartphones is that their users are always moving from location to location constantly tying to get into the network. Chaos can occur when lots of smartphone users gather in one spot and flood the network. AT&T’s CIO, John Donovan said, “3G networks were not designed effectively for this kind of usage.” A telecom analyst estimated that a wireless user like myself who does not have an iPhone uses 120 megabytes each month compared to four times that amountbeing used for iPhone’s.

The problem for the future is that other phonemakers are creating more similar devices like the iPhone and there is not enough networks out there for the additional phones. With the increase in the number of users, it is too difficult to update the existing systems. To help slow the problem down a little carriers are going to get pickier over which applications to accept on their networks.

Up until now unlimited data plans were affordable and a cool thing to go along with. Now with all of the flooding of networks, wireless carriers are most likely to update the pricing for these extra additions hoping to eliminate some people from enjoying these features. AT&T is currently in the stages of coming up with a new plan to make people who rely on these data plans pay a heavy rate.

I think this is a great idea because it seems like everywhere I look I see an iPhone these days. Even kids who are in elementary school have constant access to the internet and are watching movies in class on YouTube. The network is not set up for everyone to have access to anything they want on there fingertips and raising the prices is a great idea that they should have thought of before making it available to consumers.

Fortt, J. (2009). Bandwidth hogs-iPhone and other Smartphones Retrieved August 30, 2009, from CNNTech Web Site:http://brainstormtech.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/08/28/bandwidth-hogs-iphone-and-other-smartphones/