Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Disposable Digital cameras from CVS
cvs
As you can see CVS is selling disposable digital cameras for $20. You get a 2 megapixels camera, flash, LCD screen and 25 pictures. You can delete any bad pictures so all 25 pictures you should want to keep. The catch being the $20 does not include prints or a CD with the prints on it. Seems a little pricey but a good start. They are not truly disposable but more appropriately should be called rentable digital cameras. Once you return the camera to CVS they repackage it if need be, clear the memory and re-rent the camera. A great idea that will evolve into the the killer of the original disposable camera.
While we are talking about CVS they have also setup a kiosk where you can print camera phone pictures for 29 cents a picture. Your camera phone must have bluetooth or infrared. The money in digital photography is in the prints and CVS appears to be getting a jump. The premise is the same way that Kodak made his money, create cheap cameras and film then have a monopoly in the development of the film and charge what you wish.
CVS is creating lots of buzz around digital photography.
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Hotel, Motel Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn
Holiday Inn is taking control of their internet sales. Holiday Inn is no longer making there rates/bookings available to all inclusive travel websites (ie Expedia, Hotels.com etc...) "Taking back the sales and promotion of their hotel properties gives the hotels the opportunity to develop their marketing communications, customer relationship systems and the customer intuition data that will drive innovation and growth in their businesses." I presume Holiday Inn rates are still available on other site like Travelocity and Orbitz.
Now I go back and forth on this. For one having control over your product, image, data etc is extremely important and some companies are good at that. Southwest is a great example they have always controlled there internet sales. You can only buy their tickets through their website. The downside is you get less exposure and must do more marketing to let people know to get the deals they must come to your website.
I know people that like the centralization of all the hotels on one site and want to compare rates in an instant. I think Holiday Inn can make there website work if it is done correctly.
In broad terms of buzz I cannot say if there is a trend for companies to take control of their sales by only using one website for all sales. But some are "Exhibit A: The Apple Store. Exhibit B: Tupperware pulls out of Target and sticks with their "party" model." C: InterContinental to Cut Expedia, Hotels.com From Online Sales
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Thursday, August 19, 2004
Buzz Links
The Future Lawyers and Accountants
This is a commencement address given by a contributing editor of Wired Magazine. The speech discusses were the future of jobs is headed. He argues that designers and artist will be more in demand that accountants or lawyers.
"Last year, Harvard Business School, the premier MBA program in the world, the place where even the President of the United States earned his degreeĀadmitted only about 10 percent of its applicants. That's pretty tough. But there are several places where the admissions standards are even tougher. For instance, the graduate program of the UCLA Department of Art admitted only three percent of its applicants. In other words, it's easier, much easier, to get into Harvard Business School than UCLA Art School."
Now numbers can be misleading but I tend to agree that the future will be full of designer, artist and innovators creating things the world did not know it was missing. The speech raises a lot of questions about job buzz and I think the job shift will be occurring sooner rather than later.
Demand for Innovation
This article, from the Boston Globe, relates to the above article. Customers are driving the need for innovation. Customers are demanding that the latest and greatest be available immediately. And for this to occur companies have to stay ahead of the game by innovating. So the area of innovation within companies will be a long term buzz area. Both articles compliment each other.
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This is a commencement address given by a contributing editor of Wired Magazine. The speech discusses were the future of jobs is headed. He argues that designers and artist will be more in demand that accountants or lawyers.
"Last year, Harvard Business School, the premier MBA program in the world, the place where even the President of the United States earned his degreeĀadmitted only about 10 percent of its applicants. That's pretty tough. But there are several places where the admissions standards are even tougher. For instance, the graduate program of the UCLA Department of Art admitted only three percent of its applicants. In other words, it's easier, much easier, to get into Harvard Business School than UCLA Art School."
Now numbers can be misleading but I tend to agree that the future will be full of designer, artist and innovators creating things the world did not know it was missing. The speech raises a lot of questions about job buzz and I think the job shift will be occurring sooner rather than later.
Demand for Innovation
This article, from the Boston Globe, relates to the above article. Customers are driving the need for innovation. Customers are demanding that the latest and greatest be available immediately. And for this to occur companies have to stay ahead of the game by innovating. So the area of innovation within companies will be a long term buzz area. Both articles compliment each other.
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Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Turn your Ipod into a Boombox!!
iboom
www.Everythingipod.com is coming out with a boombox that has a cradle built in for your Ipod. It also has an FM radio, no mention of AM. No price is listed but it appears to becoming out in September. It is pretty amazing the amount of businesses that have been created off the Ipod. MP3 players being incorporated into stereo equipment is happening and will continue to be an integral part of the design. As the music world works records dead, eight tracks dead, tapes dead..... cds dead!! The bigger question is when will you be able to buy MP3's at Best Buy. (feel free to use that Best Buy)
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Wednesday, August 11, 2004
PlayStation 2 in a Flat Panel TV
ps2
Sony has announced they will be coming out with a flat panel TV with the PlayStation 2 integrated in the set. The device won't hit the market until 2006. I like the idea of a TV that comes with everything you want already in it. Meaning with a game console inside, a wireless internet connection, a TiVo inside, a DVD player etc.... I actually have seen something like this from a English company called Elonex. This TV is a CD player/TV/mp3 player/PC/stereo. Elonex is ahead of the game on this and I expect the big players to follow soon. Check out Elonex they have some video and demos of the TV showing off all the advantages. Buzz for the future. Hopefully sooner than later.
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Cellphone Buzz - Motorola V3 RaZr
moto new
Motorola has come out with a great looking phone that also has some great features. This phone is all metal and super compact. A review on Howard's Forum gives you a ton of pics (some a little weird) and a review of all the features. It has bluetooth, a camera, color screen, stereo speakers, mp3 ring tones and much more. The only two downsides to the phone are that it will be on the expensive side and that if you leave it in the sun for to long it will be burning hot to touch. Read the review for all the information. Nothing like a shiny gadget!!
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Tuesday, August 03, 2004
Buzz of the Past Week
HBO new show
ENTOURAGE - New HBO Sunday Night Show
-This show is only 3 episodes in but just got picked up for a second season. It is HBO's prime sunday night spot. The premise is simply one guy out of his friends makes it big in hollywood and brings his friends along for the ride. Every guys dream of living off the high hog and not doing any work. Check out the website there are clips from the episodes. Definetly a guys show but I know some girls that are into it. Only negative is that it is only 30 minutes.
WWW.ICEROCKET.COM - Taking Down Google?
- Just found this search site. Mark Cuban is apart of this company in some form so it sure to be different. I have used it a little and found it usefull but check out Mark Cuban's blog, he explains where the site is headed. Sounds interesting!!
IPOD and BLUETOOTH - Rumor!?
- This blog posting shows a bluetooth adapter for an Ipod. The technology is available I wonder what it will do to the sound quality. There are other rumors on the web that the Ipod of the near future will have bluetooth. A good match of technologies in my mind.
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