One of the most important challenges for TaxiMagic is obviously the presence of multiple competitors. On one of the slides, it showed a bunch of other taxi applications if one were to search for a taxi application on their phone. That shows how many competitors there already are right now. That number will only grow. Also, one risk is that one of these competitors might actually be good and undercut TaxiMagic with lower prices once their contracts are done with the various fleets around the country. As the speaker admitted, they were actually AFRAID of one of the companies because of how the rider can pay the taxi driver directly through their mobile phones. I forget what that competitor's name is called, but just the fact that they admit to being nervous about how they will fare against a competitor should say something about that challenge.
As far as opportunities for TaxiMagic, perhaps (as some people have already mentioned) they can extend their reach into the sedan or limo business. However, I don't think a car rental type of thing would really help them since Enterprise, Avis, and other big names already have that industry mastered. I liked how they went into a partnership with Heineken. Perhaps similar partnerships with other companies could increase their visibility. They can maybe get into a partnership with some TV networks. Let's say a ride is for sure going to take more than 25 minutes, perhaps TaxiMagic can show an episode of The Office on one of those devices that they showed us in class... just a thought.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 2/11
Discuss the importance of Internet technologies in the recent Egyptian protests. How have technologies like Facebook and Twitter impacted the movement?
Prior to reading this discussion question, I didn't even have a clue that FB and Twitter had even the smallest role in the Egyptian protests. So, I read an article and watched a video pertaining to this topic. I was amazed at the importance of these two social media sites and how useful they were to people that were in the heart of the movement. For example, some people would tweet that they needed an ambulance at a certain street corner. I have never even thought of using my Twitter in case of an emergency like that. However, if I were in a desperate situation, I guess I would eventually think to myself to use my FB and Twitter applications on my phone to contact people. They were also important in exposing what was going on in their land as well as informing the public about what types of progress have been made. Also, journalists were having a hard time reporting while they were over there because of the violence and because of attempts by people trying to stop the movement to prevent any news not beneficial to them to become internationally reported. Instead people would go on FB in order to share information in groups or Twitter to report or announce important messages. I am very impressed with how these two sites were used. I use FB and Twitter everyday, so I know how most people use the sites, and it is definitely not as empowering as how it was used by the people in Egypt.
(BTW, I don't know what's wrong with my computer, but I can't turn off the italics. Sorry!)
Prior to reading this discussion question, I didn't even have a clue that FB and Twitter had even the smallest role in the Egyptian protests. So, I read an article and watched a video pertaining to this topic. I was amazed at the importance of these two social media sites and how useful they were to people that were in the heart of the movement. For example, some people would tweet that they needed an ambulance at a certain street corner. I have never even thought of using my Twitter in case of an emergency like that. However, if I were in a desperate situation, I guess I would eventually think to myself to use my FB and Twitter applications on my phone to contact people. They were also important in exposing what was going on in their land as well as informing the public about what types of progress have been made. Also, journalists were having a hard time reporting while they were over there because of the violence and because of attempts by people trying to stop the movement to prevent any news not beneficial to them to become internationally reported. Instead people would go on FB in order to share information in groups or Twitter to report or announce important messages. I am very impressed with how these two sites were used. I use FB and Twitter everyday, so I know how most people use the sites, and it is definitely not as empowering as how it was used by the people in Egypt.
(BTW, I don't know what's wrong with my computer, but I can't turn off the italics. Sorry!)
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Response to Discussion Question Posted on 1/31
Discussion question(s): Are there any effective ways for content producers to deal with piracy or should they just give up? What would make you choose to purchase content over pirating it?
To me, piracy is something that cannot be completely done away with ever, so companies should already consider these losses due to piracy as inevitable lost business. They should focus and reward those who DO buy authentic products. If they really wanted to though, I think they could put more money into programs that seize these pirate websites and close them down. However, there are just too many out there for producers to deal with. Also, I think producers ask themselves, "How come we should do the work to close these pirates down. Why can't other businesses share in the workload?" It would take every business in an industry to see eye to eye to share the burden of finding and closing down pirate websites.
As for the second question, I feel that I'm part of a small number of people that still regularly buys CDs and Blu Rays. I enjoy the aesthetic value that a CD case or Blu Ray case provides, especially since I have a bookcase that I place books, CDs, and Blu Rays in. I was also never the most computer savvy especially with downloading movies. The files are way too big and I don't have the fastest internet connection at home. I also find it easier to just pull out the Blu Ray and watch it right there. When I watch movies at my friend's house, he always has to find the file, put it on a flash drive, move it onto his PS3, and the quality is not always the best. It's just too much work to watch a movie. Generally, I get more enticed to buy the real thing when there are little extras included with the purchase such as perhaps a DVD included with the CD or a small poster inside.
To me, piracy is something that cannot be completely done away with ever, so companies should already consider these losses due to piracy as inevitable lost business. They should focus and reward those who DO buy authentic products. If they really wanted to though, I think they could put more money into programs that seize these pirate websites and close them down. However, there are just too many out there for producers to deal with. Also, I think producers ask themselves, "How come we should do the work to close these pirates down. Why can't other businesses share in the workload?" It would take every business in an industry to see eye to eye to share the burden of finding and closing down pirate websites.
As for the second question, I feel that I'm part of a small number of people that still regularly buys CDs and Blu Rays. I enjoy the aesthetic value that a CD case or Blu Ray case provides, especially since I have a bookcase that I place books, CDs, and Blu Rays in. I was also never the most computer savvy especially with downloading movies. The files are way too big and I don't have the fastest internet connection at home. I also find it easier to just pull out the Blu Ray and watch it right there. When I watch movies at my friend's house, he always has to find the file, put it on a flash drive, move it onto his PS3, and the quality is not always the best. It's just too much work to watch a movie. Generally, I get more enticed to buy the real thing when there are little extras included with the purchase such as perhaps a DVD included with the CD or a small poster inside.
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