Dot.com to Dot.bomb

The Dot.com industry went wild in the mid to early 90's. It was a time where people made many attempts to make money off the growing industry opportunity, however, they were quick acting. Many companies went under due to many factors. Competitors were no longer confined to locality, but the world could view what they had to offer. It was essentially a dog eat dog world. Some companies prospered and caused smaller companies to go down. It wasn't only who could find your site, but how well the site worked with users. It was a new technology that many didn't understand and opened up the world of e-commerce. Now people are finding new and innovative ways to sell their products to the public, with competitiveness that may help smaller businesses prosper.

Presentation

I'm doing my presentation on cyber crime. I am not focusing on it as a whole, I am focusing on it as a way of prevention. There are many things that people can do to ensure their online safety, however, criminals continuously find new ways to rip people off. It is up to people to keep up to date with current scams that could cost them lots of their hard earned cash. Older generations are the biggest target to to the fact that they are likely to be the most technologically uninformed and may not understand the potential of information that they put online for all to see. There are also many new technologies that have come out that put all people at risk. RFID chips in credit cards are one thing that people may not know if they are at risk or not. People have been known to use their cell phones to pick up these signals and get all the information they need to take all the money they can get, with minimal effort. I won't be focusing on that specifically, but it is important for people to be aware of.

Startup.com

I thought the govworks.com documentary was really interesting. It gives you a different view of a company as it starts up. It also give you and idea of how the dot.com and bust went down. People worked very fast to get their idea up and running, and also cut a lot of corners. They had a good idea, but the implementation was lacking. One of the founders (Tom), was also not that great of a founder. When you open a business of any kind, you almost have to treat it as if it were your child, but he did not do that. It seemed like he didn't care that much if the company went under. If I was the other founder, I would have let him go sooner. The second a founder looses interest in the company, they should exit as soon as possible, so that others can do whatever is in their power to keep the company going and keep the company successful.

Disintermediation

Disintermediation is a good and bad thing. Bad because it does cost some jobs. Since it cuts out the middle man, there are many jobs that are no longer needed. In turn, it does make it much easier for the average consumer to deal with many things with minimal interaction. In banking, there are no longer a bunch of tellers to help people, most things can be done online or at an ATM. You no longer need to deposit money with a person, because many ATM's allow people to directly deposit their money and check, and even with cell phone applications. People can invest money without the need of a broker. One thing that has changed dramatically, are travel agencies. People can now book flights and hotels online. You can usually get a better deal when buying online as well. A travel agent no longer gets a cut of your investment towards a vacation. I find it much easier than making numerous phone calls to plan a vacation.

Things I would nevery buy online

I like to buy many things online, but there are a few things that I would never consider buying online.

• House or land: I think it would be a bad idea to invest so much money into something that I have never personally seen with my own eyes. Some may have a walk-through and pictures, but that doesn't truly tell you anything. Mold, termites, sewer or heating issues; who knows? Photoshop can fix many things.
• Car: Same thing as the house. There is know way to know how a car runs solely by` a description.
• Child Care: People can easily misrepresent themselves online. There are too many people that you can't trust when it comes to kids, even with a good review.
• Groceries: I wouldn't want someone picking out my fresh produce, I'm picky. Sometimes I don't want to eat something right away, so I would rather have something less ripe. Don't mess with my avacados!

The Machine is Using Us

I thought the video was awesome. It really shows how the evolution of technology has created something much better. It shows how everything is connected, and it will never slow down. New technologies are being created every day, making every interaction more advanced than ever before. Information is passed quick and sometimes without people knowing. People share everything and it brings to point that people should change the way they think of things, such as privacy, family, ourselves, and more. Every piece of information we put into the system, teaches the system. It is amazing to think about. I have watched it a few times, because it really makes you think.

A visit from Erik Hanberg

Our visit for Erik was really cool. It was nice to see a young author. I've always wanted to write a book, and it was an eye opener to see how hard it really is to get your works published. I never put too much thought into how a book goes from the author to the public for view. I also never really put any thought into the fact that you can publish through Amazon. It would make more sense to publish on Amazon than strictly paper publishing. More money can be made from people who want to utilize their technologies, than from people who want a physical copy to hold while they read. This is especially true for those who want to "go green." I think I may go that route when I decide to write something. I have had an idea in my mind for a while now, and I would like to write about it. I just may do it.