Okay, I’d better clarify that! Since it’s inception in late 2005, You Tube has released countless videos. They now average billions of hours of videos every month. Now, you no longer have to be online to get this phenomenon.
Effective next month, you can save clips on your portable device for 2 days, and you can watch them when you’re offline. Advertisers will still tout their products, which I’m sure is good news for them. You Tube will be still be free for the viewer, which is good news for me and you. For You Tube video producers, they can option out of the offline option. Why would they want to?
No, I don’t see a downside to this at all. You may say, “Everyplace has wi-fi or online access these days.” Not really. Imagine being in a car with three bad kids, and offline You Tube is the only thing calming them down. I know places, like my gym, that doesn’t have online access. Don’t get me started on airplanes, where in many cases, in-flight entertainment is now a fond memory. Offline You Tube will be a true plus over a crying baby or arguing couple or a disgruntle customer complaining to a flight attendant about everything!? This is good for advertisers too. This frees up more space for more companies to hack more products. I know these commercials can get annoying at times. But I’d rather watch the same You Tube commercial 10 times a day then to pay for You Tube out my own pocket! What do you think about offline You Tube?
It amazes me how things can change so fast, especially in the tech industry. By 2010-11 social gaming network Zynga was riding high. Games like Farm Ville and City Ville were household names and kids’ hobbies. It got on the NYSE and acquired 11 companies. But today, Zynga is on the brink of extinction.
In retrospect, 2010 was the only year Zynga made a profit. The fact of the matter is, since it’s creation in 2007, they’ve lost hundreds of millions. Stocks that were once near $15 are now $3 a share. At their peak, active monthly users were over 300 million. Now, they hover around 125 million and falling. Employees are being laid off hundreds at a time. And experts say there’s no end in sight. So what happened to this once promising company? Shady and borderline shameful?business?practices are what happened. Players were offered credits and hook-ups if they accepted some offer. According to a statement by founder Mark Pincus, “…I needed revenue right now. I mean we gave our?users poker chips if they downloaded this zwinky toolbar…”. Many believe the games created where knock-offs of other video games. Zynga partnered with Facebook. But it wasn’t long before FB changed it’s policy, in part due to Zynaga’s ‘spam mechanism’. Soon, game users on Facebook dropped by 26%.
Wow, this almost reads like a Greek or film noir tragedy. All it took were just a couple of bad choices and questionable habits to unravel the whole operation. Maybe Zynga can learn from these mistakes and make a comeback. They still have some profit left. Maybe they can hire a gaming consultant and come up with an original idea, instead of borrowing from others so heavily. That’s just a suggestion. With what little revenue they have, they can use better advertising methods. Some don’t cost very much at all. What lessons can be learned from Zynga’s downfall?
I’m a big football fan, college as well as the NFL. But I like to keep up with things that go on beyond the playing field. So these are my favorite football apps.
10. Twitter App: Athletes are notorious for their tweets. This app lets me know what they’re saying and how they’re thinking.
9. Food Network in the Kitchen: Because football is a lot more fun to watch while eating with other people. It’s great for football parties! You can even learn to make great drinks with this app.
8. Stubhub App: For those who are lucky enough to attend a NFL game live,?or a SEC game live, this is the way to get tickets without long lines or shady scalpers.
7. iOdds: I don’t encourage or endorse sports gambling at all! But if you’re curious at what the odds are of your team winning, this is the app for you.
6. Ultimate College Football: It’s a fast updating app. You can even upload your photos from the stands, if you’re fortunate enough to go to a game. It’s a great way to keep up with game schedules.
5. NFL Trash Talk: It’s a chat room where you can release your inner Stephen A. Smith (whoops! Did I say that aloud). One room is with your favorite team and one is with the team you’re playing against that week. Bond with your fellow football fans, while verbally running opposing fans into the ground!
4. College Football Scoreboard: It does what it says and more. You can also keep up with standings and all the college football news, collectively and breaking it down to conferences and teams.
3. NFL Pro: Do you go through football withdrawal? NFL Pro is perfect! It’s?a free app, and the graphics rival that of?All Madden. You can be your favorite team by playing this game. And it’s a lot less complicated?than Fantasy Football.
2. ESPN:?This speaks for itself. Find everything you want about pro and college football. Watch the play by play through?gamecast. It’s worth getting an account through these guys because then, you can get all the custom features,?too many to name here.
1.?NFL Mobile: What better way?to get all things NFL than straight from the source? It includes scores, schedules, merchandise, tickets, and yes, even fantasy football. Even the news is?strictly from NFL.com. This app is simple,?yet the ultimate must have for any?NFL fan.
Between 1983 and 1993, John Sculley was at Apple serving as CEO. During his reign, Apple went from an $800 million franchise to an $8 billion franchise. His reign was famous for something else too: the termination of it’s own founder, Steve Jobs.
By 1985, Apple 3, Apple 2, and Lisa had either failed or was on life support. Now, everything depended on Macintosh, which needed funding in a hurry. You see, what’s hails today as one of the greatest computers ever was then little more than an object of ridicule. Jobs proposed the Macintosh price be dropped and most of the advertising be shifted from Apple 2 to Mac. Sculley opposed this move, and it went to the board. The board sided with Sculley. Jobs was removed as head on the Mac division, and the rest is history.
Sculley says Jobs wasn’t a good executive back then. I think Sculley’s background plays a part in this. During the interview last week, he blamed the board. But Sculley admits he came from a background where he had to be accountable to stockholders and other colleagues. Jobs was more of a revolutionary, convinced the Mac was going to change the world. Eventually, these two philosophies are going to clash, and they did here back in ’85. Logically, if I was in that boardroom, I would have sided with Sculley. I would’ve been thinking about the bottom line, and the bottom line was we need something to happen now, not in the future.? But this is why I have so much respect for Jobs. He stuck to his guns and knew he had a winner, and he was willing to risk it all. And eventually, he got the last laugh. Of course, this experience helped him become a better executive. I think we can all learn a lesson from one of most infamous showdowns in tech history. If you’re passionate enough about something, stick with it. You may fail, you may be ridiculed, and it may cost you, but keep persevering. Eventually, you too will have the last hurray. Can you imagine what life would be like today if Jobs gave in or gave up back in 1985?
In the spirit of competition with Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, even Wal-Mart (I never thought I’d live to see the day), Target is getting in the act. Target is launching Target Ticket.
Target Ticket will allow consumers to rent and purchase movies and TV shows digitally. They can be streamed on any device from smartphones to TVs to gaming consoles. There will be around 15,000 movies and shows available. Movies through Target Ticket will cost $15 to purchase and around $4 to rent. Television episodes run you $3 an episode and $35 a season. Networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, Showtime and USA have given permission for Target Ticket to use their shows. Apple products may have problems downloading this service. After renting a movie, you have 30 days to watch it, but after you start watching it, you only have 48 hours to finish it. They do offer a pin system for security and parental control services so you can decide what is appropriate for your children.
I don’t know about you, but I’m not interested. Apple’s having problems with Target is a serious red flag. Think of how many millions of people use Apple. Let’s not forget the fact that 48 hour rule. Okay, we have 30 days to watch the movie, but only 48 hours to finish it. Did it ever occur to Target we might be busy and may need more time to finish the movie? And why are they giving us so much time to watch a flick and so little time to finish it? I’m not happy about these prices either. How are they going to charge these exuberant fees when competitors like Netflix are offering whole monthly packages for less? Thank you but no thank you. Does Target Ticket even stand a chance?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Well, for parents of school aged children, as well as the kids going to college. Here are some great apps for kids of all ages.
10. Encyclopedia Britannica: Yes, they have encyclopedias on all devices available for apps. Yes, people still do use encyclopedias to do papers.
9. Mint.com: This is a good tool to teach your jr. high or high school kid about the importance of budgeting. This is a great tool for working high school and college students who are putting budgeting into action.
8. Slate Math for Kids: Perfect for elementary school kids. Math is something that is needed by all and if you get behind in your elementary school years, may God help by the time?they get to Algebra and Geometry. Slate Math for Kids keeps them ahead.
7. Kid Science: This one is also geared toward elementary school kids. It makes science fun and easy to learn. You know this is going to be good when the founder of the app studies bacteria.
6. Dragon Dictation: This is heaven sent for writing papers. If you ask me, this app also helps with listening and speaking skills.
5. KNO: Apparently, the days of hand held textbooks are numbered. They serve schools and publishers as well as students. They even serve publishers. But what’s really cool about KNO is they donate $1 of every purchase to classes in need.
4. Graphing Calculator: When in college, I had to pay hundreds for these graphic calculators and still came out confused. Now they got free apps for that and free guides too. Sometimes kids today have it too easy.
3. Court Smart E-Textbooks: Not only do they offer textbooks at 60% lower than the paper books, but you got to love their tools, like cut and paste and search topics.
2. Evernote: This free app offers it all. You can take notes with the app. You can remind yourself of homework assignments and projects. You can even remember all those connections you’re making on campus.
1. Dictionary.com: This should be self-explanatory. It’s always good to carry a dictionary with you. But now, you can carry one on your device.
