Extract . . .
The saying "keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer" could be in need of an update.
We already know not to share our pin number, but if you don't know all of your friends that well, would you be happy to give them your home address? With the popularity of social networking sites we now have more friends than ever.
But online social friendships have the same issues as those in real life. For example, most people would not want to share their sort code and account number with just anyone.
Read more here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9026426.stm
Wednesday, November 10
Crowdsourcing: Turning customers into creative directors
Extract . . .
"The office building doesn't look so good from the outside, we don't need it to, so the rent is lower, but inside it's really nice." Ning Li is Made.com's 28-year-old CEO, and we are at the company's London office, on the 11th floor of an unremarkable Notting Hill office block.
Made.com is an online-only furniture retailer, so there's no danger that customers will drop by. The company is six months old and already approaching profitability, with revenue doubling month on month, despite relying on word of mouth rather than marketing.
But this is a furniture business with no warehouse - and no inventory. Instead, products are ‘crowdsourced’.
This is how it works. Visitors to the website are encouraged to submit their designs. The best of these are worked up into prototypes, and posted on the website.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11437839
"The office building doesn't look so good from the outside, we don't need it to, so the rent is lower, but inside it's really nice." Ning Li is Made.com's 28-year-old CEO, and we are at the company's London office, on the 11th floor of an unremarkable Notting Hill office block.
Made.com is an online-only furniture retailer, so there's no danger that customers will drop by. The company is six months old and already approaching profitability, with revenue doubling month on month, despite relying on word of mouth rather than marketing.
But this is a furniture business with no warehouse - and no inventory. Instead, products are ‘crowdsourced’.
This is how it works. Visitors to the website are encouraged to submit their designs. The best of these are worked up into prototypes, and posted on the website.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11437839
Why companies watch your every Facebook, YouTube, Twitter move
Extract . . .
Once upon a time companies could afford to be rude. Unhappy customers would grumble to a few friends, withdraw their custom, but there was little else they could do. Today, they still tell their friends, but they do it online, using social media websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Take the Canadian folk singer, Dave Carroll. After nine months of complaining he had had enough. United Airlines baggage handlers had damaged his $3,500 guitar, but the airline refused to pay compensation and its customer service agents were less than courteous.
So he made a music video about the experience and on 6 July 2009 posted it on YouTube. Within three days it had been watched half a million times; by mid-August it had reached five million.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11450923
Once upon a time companies could afford to be rude. Unhappy customers would grumble to a few friends, withdraw their custom, but there was little else they could do. Today, they still tell their friends, but they do it online, using social media websites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
Take the Canadian folk singer, Dave Carroll. After nine months of complaining he had had enough. United Airlines baggage handlers had damaged his $3,500 guitar, but the airline refused to pay compensation and its customer service agents were less than courteous.
So he made a music video about the experience and on 6 July 2009 posted it on YouTube. Within three days it had been watched half a million times; by mid-August it had reached five million.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11450923
Can avatars and hyper-real video conferencing replace business meetings?
Extract . . .
With eery, childlike eyes staring out of a blank plastic face, the Telenoid R1 does not look like a serious tool for business. Its movements are jerky. Limbs are conspicuously absent. And in terms of function, it is essentially just a $3000 video conferencing system, doing what Skype does for free. But Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University believes his invention meets a real business demand, for hyper-realistic, face-to-face communication over long distances.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11493961
With eery, childlike eyes staring out of a blank plastic face, the Telenoid R1 does not look like a serious tool for business. Its movements are jerky. Limbs are conspicuously absent. And in terms of function, it is essentially just a $3000 video conferencing system, doing what Skype does for free. But Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro of Osaka University believes his invention meets a real business demand, for hyper-realistic, face-to-face communication over long distances.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11493961
Low-power computing promises to boost companies' profits
Extract . . .
The IMEC laboratory in Belgium is a surprising place. Nestled in the sleepy university town of Leuven, its low-key entrance gives little clue to the high-tech facility within. The heart of the complex is a massive, dust-free 'clean room', staffed by carefully-wrapped technicians. Here, microchips are developed based on sophisticated and carefully guarded designs. But unlike consumer chips from Intel or AMD, IMEC's microchips are not meant to be powerful - they are the exact opposite.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11609667
The IMEC laboratory in Belgium is a surprising place. Nestled in the sleepy university town of Leuven, its low-key entrance gives little clue to the high-tech facility within. The heart of the complex is a massive, dust-free 'clean room', staffed by carefully-wrapped technicians. Here, microchips are developed based on sophisticated and carefully guarded designs. But unlike consumer chips from Intel or AMD, IMEC's microchips are not meant to be powerful - they are the exact opposite.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11609667
Viral ticketing: Catching a bigger audience on Facebook
Extract . . .
The opening match of the 2006 football World Cup is remembered by most Germans for the national side's 4-2 victory over Costa Rica. It was the highest-scoring opener in World Cup history. Jurgen Klinsmann's innovative, holistic coaching is credited with taking the team to the semi-finals that year. But for five friends from Munich, it was the catalyst for innovation on the business playing field.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11643405
The opening match of the 2006 football World Cup is remembered by most Germans for the national side's 4-2 victory over Costa Rica. It was the highest-scoring opener in World Cup history. Jurgen Klinsmann's innovative, holistic coaching is credited with taking the team to the semi-finals that year. But for five friends from Munich, it was the catalyst for innovation on the business playing field.
Read more here
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11643405
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