Few years ago, the scenario of knowing a friend of a friend, how the person looks, his education background and his interests is an uncommon one. Today however, the frequency of this scenario is rapidly rising: this is one of the effects of social networking phenomenon.
By definition, a social networking website is online social network for communities of people who share interests and activities. Some of the notable social network websites that you readers are likely to be part of are Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Friendster.
The creation of a social network that holds private individual information enables the increased scenario where strangers can intimately know another depending on the level of information provided. Though the level of access to strangers can be varied from no information to full disclosure, the concept of ‘keeping in touch and making friends online’ is a pretext to the diminishing levels of privacy. This is particularly true as reported by The Independent, where judicial courts are now expanding their jurisdiction to search social networks to find out information regarding cases, where it is common for people to reveal intimate personal information on their blogs and profiles.
However, despite the knowledge of reduced privacy, many are addicted to it, with Facebook’s statistics showing it is the 6th most visited website in the US. Furthermore, the availability of an audience makes it a good business decision to expand business functions for both business-to-customer (B2C) and customer-to-customer (C2C). An example of the former is the marketing of brand products on YouTube channels and an example of the latter would be Facebook’s Marketplace, where you are able to advertise items for sale for other members of the social network website.
On a personal note and a user of social network websites, I am aware of the amount of privacy that is taken away from me by signing up with these websites. However, by careful selection of what information and pictures I put up and the people I interact with on these websites, I believe it this loss is justifiable for the function it provides: for keeping in touch with friends, especially those who are overseas. As for the business aspects of these websites, I do believe it is an efficient way to market products and ideas to the youth. This is particularly apparent with politicians, especially the US Presidential candidates, having a profile of Facebook and spreading the awareness of the importance of voting.
The phenomenon of social networking websites is unlikely to fade away so soon. It ultimately comes down to the user to decide what level of privacy is worth the value of socializing. So what’s your take on it?
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Presidential Candidates’ Stand On Technology
In the past two decades, the significance of information technology has appreciated rapidly to the point it is generally accepted that it is the way of the future. Another accepted fact is the influence of US Politics as a determinant of world politics. With the US Election primaries currently on going, it is interesting to see what the future leaders of a superpower nation of the world has in mind for the future of IT. This article will attempt to analyse the policies and stand of the leading candidates of the current election.
Starting off with the Republicans, John McCain’s focus on innovation is, as he stated, “fueled by risk capital, skilled workers, incentives for entrepreneurs, a light regulatory framework and open access to markets”. McCain supports the increase of immigration to the US by the expansion of the H-1B visa programme. He also supports embryonic stem cell research. The stem cell research, controversial due to its nature of manipulation of human cells, the devaluation of human life and in conflict with pro-life movements, however, has the potential to treat a variety of degenerative conditions and genetic diseases. The implication of these policies as a whole on digital business is the increase influx rate of high tech employment in the United States along with a more favourable Oval Office response to funding of various bio-tech endeavors.
Moving on to the Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s focus on improving science and technology is through innovation. She plans to do so with increased funding for R&D and emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, specifically tripling the number of National Science Foundation Fellowship and increasing each size by 33% and increase financial support for minorities and women. Clinton’s technological platform also focuses on ensuring adequate funding for e-science research, which will link Internet based tools, collaboration tools, supercomputers, high speed network and software for simulation and visualization. She will also invest in the speedier development of the next generation technology required to replace the aging Space Shuttle. As an analysis, Clinton’s policies on technology will possibly lead to a more interesting development in the field of information technology compared to other candidates and her emphasis on education bodes well for the future development of the sector in general.
Barack Obama’s stand on technology and innovation is similar to Clinton on the STEM education front. As a differentiating factor from Clinton, Obama plans to create a new position of Chief Technology Officer to ensure the government has the most updated technology available and improving the H – 1B visa program to attract highly skilled talents. He also plans to expand access of broadband connections and computers to public schools as well as investing in programs like the Defense Advances Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This is particularly interesting as DARPA is credited with some of the most important innovation that brought information technology to where it is today, such as computer networking, NLS – the first hypertext linking system and a precursor to the graphical user interface. As an analysis, Obama’s focus on innovation, with its amalgamation of strong policies present in both McCain and Clinton’s, makes it one of the more promising policies for the future of the industry.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Has Blu-Ray finally triumph over HD-DVD?
Kyodo News of Tokyo reported on Saturday, February 16 2008 that Toshiba is considering dropping its HD-DVD format. The Toshiba HD-DVD is currently competing against the Sony Blu-ray format, it is not unlike the VHS and Sony’s Betamax video format battle during the 1980s. Only one format is expected to be the standard – Sony lost this battle with its Betamax and the VHS continued to be the industry standard. Today, Sony is on a different playing field, with its Blu-ray gaining market share with the support of five major Hollywood movie studios and the Friday, February 15th announcement that Wal-Mart Stores will only carry Blu-ray in preference over the HD-DVD. Furthermore, Warner Brothers, the only Hollywood studio to carry both formats, announced last month that they will no longer support the HD-DVD. With Blu-ray continuing domination, if Toshiba does pull out its HD-DVD, it will be a victory for Sony in this latest format war.
An analysis of the victory of VHS over Betamax reveals that Sony’s mistake was in its lack of anticipation of customer needs. Though the Betamax had first-mover advantage and offered quality recording, market research later revealed that consumers preferred lengthier recording time as oppose to quality and ease of information transfer. The mistake was made due to the fact the video recording market was a new one and competitors sacrificed on research and development for first mover advantage. Ultimately, the Betamax lost to VHS though it was a superior format. The advent of the DVD manages to contain an outbreak of another format war as all major electronics corporation agreed to use it the single format for playback.
Sony did not repeat its mistakes with the Blu-ray. With the release of the Blu-ray, Sony managed to convince major film studios to carry this format, some even exclusively. As both Blu-ray and HD-DVD suffer from lack of playability from normal DVD players, Sony ultimately has an advantage with its grasp in the gaming industry. The Sony PlayStation 3 was to use Blu-ray as a format, giving gamers bias towards the Blu-ray format and removes the need of purchasing a HD-DVD enabled player. Statistics show that as of January 2008, PlayStation 3 sales have reached 10.49 million worldwide.
Ultimately, Toshiba’s pulling of its format will finally put an end to the latest series of video format wars.
An analysis of the victory of VHS over Betamax reveals that Sony’s mistake was in its lack of anticipation of customer needs. Though the Betamax had first-mover advantage and offered quality recording, market research later revealed that consumers preferred lengthier recording time as oppose to quality and ease of information transfer. The mistake was made due to the fact the video recording market was a new one and competitors sacrificed on research and development for first mover advantage. Ultimately, the Betamax lost to VHS though it was a superior format. The advent of the DVD manages to contain an outbreak of another format war as all major electronics corporation agreed to use it the single format for playback.
Sony did not repeat its mistakes with the Blu-ray. With the release of the Blu-ray, Sony managed to convince major film studios to carry this format, some even exclusively. As both Blu-ray and HD-DVD suffer from lack of playability from normal DVD players, Sony ultimately has an advantage with its grasp in the gaming industry. The Sony PlayStation 3 was to use Blu-ray as a format, giving gamers bias towards the Blu-ray format and removes the need of purchasing a HD-DVD enabled player. Statistics show that as of January 2008, PlayStation 3 sales have reached 10.49 million worldwide.
Ultimately, Toshiba’s pulling of its format will finally put an end to the latest series of video format wars.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Why E-Commerce Is Not A Successful Business Model in Malaysia - Problems and Solutions
The advent of the Internet brought with it the opportunity to do business beyond the scope of its physical boundaries. A proper implementation of an e-commerce page will enable companies to expand their client range to an international level. It is with implementations that companies such as Amazon and eBay has started and become multi-million dollar businesses. Today, it is not uncommon to have boutique shops prioritizing their expansion into the World Wide Web as oppose to simply opening a new physical boutique. However, the e-commerce equation takes for granted, one element, which many Malaysia feel uneasy about: the process of paying online.
The process of online payment usually takes the form or using credit cards or an electronic wallet of an individual’s bank account, like PayPal. Banks in Malaysia currently do not offer its account holders connectivity to PayPal and the closest of its kind is the Maybank2U account, which is not accepted world wide. This leaves the only efficient payment option as credit cards. A number of websites that attempted to use ecommerce in Malaysia had a money postal order concept or an upfront deposit of cash into certain bank accounts which is technologically inefficient. As an analysis, I do believe the fear in the use credit cards online is mostly due to the rampant fraud cases prominent during the late 90s. Though many measures are now implemented to improve credit card authentication and reduce fraud, the fear of its use remains and takes its toll on the full potential of e-commerce in Malaysia. This perhaps partially explains the limited success of websites such as eBay Malaysia and Lelong.com.my.
A remedy to the problem, I believe, would be to introduce the use of electronic wallets; a bank card which automatically doubles as a debit card and accepted nationwide (an EFTPOS implementation) or the introduction of an internationally accepted debit card by a major card issuer company, such as the VISA Debit Card, as available in many developed countries.
The process of online payment usually takes the form or using credit cards or an electronic wallet of an individual’s bank account, like PayPal. Banks in Malaysia currently do not offer its account holders connectivity to PayPal and the closest of its kind is the Maybank2U account, which is not accepted world wide. This leaves the only efficient payment option as credit cards. A number of websites that attempted to use ecommerce in Malaysia had a money postal order concept or an upfront deposit of cash into certain bank accounts which is technologically inefficient. As an analysis, I do believe the fear in the use credit cards online is mostly due to the rampant fraud cases prominent during the late 90s. Though many measures are now implemented to improve credit card authentication and reduce fraud, the fear of its use remains and takes its toll on the full potential of e-commerce in Malaysia. This perhaps partially explains the limited success of websites such as eBay Malaysia and Lelong.com.my.
A remedy to the problem, I believe, would be to introduce the use of electronic wallets; a bank card which automatically doubles as a debit card and accepted nationwide (an EFTPOS implementation) or the introduction of an internationally accepted debit card by a major card issuer company, such as the VISA Debit Card, as available in many developed countries.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Google Data Center In Malaysia?
The Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was quoted on Sunday, January 27th 2008 saying that Google Inc expressed interest in setting up a data center in Malaysia. The remark was made to Malaysian journalists at Davos, after meeting with the Google Inc’s CEO Eric Schmidt during the World Economic Forum.
Google Inc is believed to be eyeing Malaysia, India or Vietnam as the choices to set up its data center facilities. The Prime Minister was later remarked that statistics have shown that Malaysia forms the largest group of Google users in South East Asia. This, along with Malaysia’s strategic location and infrastructure, was stated to make Malaysia an ideal location.
A data center is a facility to house computer systems and its components. It will usually include backup power supplies, security measures and environmental control against damages. While Google has an office in Singapore and in Sydney for its Asia-Pacific region, if the data center plan goes through, it will mean a first of its kind for the region.
As an analysis of this development, what does Google Inc’s presence in Malaysia entail? In terms of social development, it will provide more jobs to the nation. Indirectly, Google’s confidence in the country by creating its data center will also help to boost FDI (foreign direct investments) into the country by other corporations, which try to follow suit in Google’s footsteps. As Google is one of the largest IT companies in the world, its choice in Malaysia will also create emphasis in Malaysia as the new IT hub in the region, which currently is generally accepted to be the Philippines.
Google Inc is believed to be eyeing Malaysia, India or Vietnam as the choices to set up its data center facilities. The Prime Minister was later remarked that statistics have shown that Malaysia forms the largest group of Google users in South East Asia. This, along with Malaysia’s strategic location and infrastructure, was stated to make Malaysia an ideal location.
A data center is a facility to house computer systems and its components. It will usually include backup power supplies, security measures and environmental control against damages. While Google has an office in Singapore and in Sydney for its Asia-Pacific region, if the data center plan goes through, it will mean a first of its kind for the region.
As an analysis of this development, what does Google Inc’s presence in Malaysia entail? In terms of social development, it will provide more jobs to the nation. Indirectly, Google’s confidence in the country by creating its data center will also help to boost FDI (foreign direct investments) into the country by other corporations, which try to follow suit in Google’s footsteps. As Google is one of the largest IT companies in the world, its choice in Malaysia will also create emphasis in Malaysia as the new IT hub in the region, which currently is generally accepted to be the Philippines.
A Start
This blog will talk about my opinions on how recent developments of digital business will affect us. I will be discussing its implication in terms of social, socio-economic and the future of the industry.
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