Amazon Explore – Are Virtual 1-On-1 Live-streams the Future?

6

October

2020

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Bored at home? Wanderlust due to the COVID19 travel restrictions? Or just keen to explore/learn something new? Did you answer one of those questions with yes? If you did, I might have found something interesting for you: ‘Amazon Explore’

Amazon (2020) just launched the beta and describes its new service as an interactive live-streaming platform that offers 1-on-1 experiences around the world. The so-called ‘experiences’ are 30-60-minute 1-on-1 live sessions with a host. The host is the person offering a specific experience. The experiences are worldwide and split into three different categories: ‘culture & landmarks’, ‘learning & creativity’, and ‘shopping’. They start at around $10 and can get quite expensive (the most expensive one I found was a tour through Prague’s Old Town for $210). And the best thing is… you can become a host yourself.

Okay, all jokes aside… and sorry for the ad. Now back to business: why do you think amazon launched a service like that? I would say that the reasons are quite obvious. I am sure that all of you watched a live-stream before. And if you did, I guess you are part of the 63% of the population aged 18-34 who enjoy watching live-stream content daily, making it (unsurprisingly) one of the most popular types of online content (Stanimirovic, 2020). Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch (also owned by Amazon), TikTok… you name it. Live-streams can be found (almost) everywhere nowadays. Accompanied by the current COVID19 pandemic, I think that its popularity will further increase. During the first COVID19 lockdown, for example, all aforementioned providers experienced exponential growth in their view counts (Stephen, 2020). I guess that’s why it is hardly surprising that the value of the live-streaming market is estimated to increase to almost $70 billion by the end of next year (Stanimirovic, 2020).

A new market? Whereas normal live-stream providers only offer one-to-many live experiences, amazon sees potential in personalized 1-on-1 experiences. And it is not the first ‘big’ company that wants to take advantage of small-scale virtual experiences. Due to COVID19 and its restrictions earlier this year, Airbnb and ClassPass (a fitness company) had to rethink their business models and launched similar services: Airbnb launched ‘virtual travel experiences’ and ClassPass personal ‘online classes’ (Porter, 2020).

I think that it has potential and can certainly benefit from network effects (more users=more value). And I am convinced that there are people out there attracted to those personalized 1-on-1 virtual experiences (if you check the stats of regular live-streaming). However, I will NOT try this service as I simply prefer real-world experiences. What about you? Would you try ‘amazon explore’?

 

References:

Amazon, (2020). [online] Available at: <https://www.amazon.com/b?ots=1&slotNum=2&imprToken=ecba6fd0-a6fc-ca8b-5b2&node=19424628011&ref=srk_stf_hro_lrn&tag=theverge02-20&ascsubtag=%5B%5Dvg%5Be%5D21259036%5Bt%5Dw%5Bd%5DD> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Porter, J., (2020). Amazon Starts Offering Virtual Classes And Sightseeing Tours Via New Explore Platform. [online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/30/21494995/amazon-explore-virtual-classes-sightseeing-shopping-online-experiences> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Stanimirovic, (2020). The Impact Of Live Streaming On Today’S Growingly Digital World. [online] BRIDTV. Available at: <https://www.brid.tv/how-live-streaming-is-changing-the-world-as-we-know-it/> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

Stephen, B., (2020). The Lockdown Live-Streaming Numbers Are Out, And They’Re Huge. [online] The Verge. Available at: <https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/13/21257227/coronavirus-streamelements-arsenalgg-twitch-youtube-livestream-numbers> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

 

 

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Diagnosis: Cyberattack – A New Threat for Healthcare

2

October

2020

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Cybercrime and healthcare… One might think what a weird combination – right? However, I have to disappoint you. It is a cruel reality.

But let’s start at the beginning… the enabler: It is, what a ’surprise’, the increasing use of technology in the healthcare industry. But using technology does not only imply risks. We all know how beneficial technology in healthcare is. No matter which technology, it (most of the time…) all comes down to an increase in efficiency and effectiveness (AIMS Education 2019). Furthermore, those improvements aim to increase our quality of life while, hopefully, reduce its costs (AIMS Education 2019).

One of the easiest and best examples of technological adoption in healthcare is the digitalization of health records (Online Health Informatics 2020). Do you remember one of your doctors using a paper record? No? Me neither. This example might sound too simple to be true. However, digital healthcare records had a positive impact on not only the quality of public healthcare but also its costs. Those records can be communicated through the Internet of Things (IoT) within hospitals and stored in, e.g., clouds (Jayaraman et al. 2019).

The consequences are tremendous: Due to the sensitivity of medical data, its value is constantly increasing, making it a vulnerable target for cybercrime (Jayaraman et al. 2019). To get a glimpse of how valuable healthcare records are; it is up to 20x higher when compared to credit card details…

Cybercrime – two real-world examples and its dramatic consequence(s): The most recent (known) happened this Monday (28/09/20). The American hospital chain ‘Universal Health Services’ with its over 250 hospitals experienced an IT outage due to a cyberattack – causing no access to medical records and everything connected to WiFi (including the devices that monitored critical care patients) (CBS News 2020). Luckily, this cyber attack had no fatalities. The latter, however, happened two weeks earlier to a hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. There, a cyberattack caused the death of a critical patient (The Guardian 2020)…

Even though it is highly unethical to put monetary gains over human life; I do personally think that this trend will continue. The increasing use of interconnected devices in healthcare will create even more sensitive data which will make it an even more attractive target to hackers…

What do you think? Will this trend will continue, or are technological enhancements, such as blockchain, chances to put an end to it? Let me know in the comments!

 

References:

AIMS Education. (2019). The Impact Of Technology In Healthcare. [online] Available at: <https://aimseducation.edu/blog/the-impact-of-technology-on-healthcare> [Accessed 1 October 2020].

CBS News. (2020). Cyberattack Hobbles Hospital Chain Universal Health Services. [online] Available at: <https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cyberattack-universal-health-services-hospital-chain-united-states/> [Accessed 1 October 2020].

Jayaraman, P. P. et al. (2020) “Healthcare 4.0: A Review of Frontiers in Digital Health,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 10(2).

Online Health Informatics. (2020). 5 Ways Technology Is Improving Health. [online] Available at: <https://healthinformatics.uic.edu/blog/5-ways-technology-is-improving-health/> [Accessed 1 October 2020].

The Guardian. (2020). Prosecutors Open Homicide Case After Cyber-Attack On German Hospital. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/sep/18/prosecutors-open-homicide-case-after-cyber-attack-on-german-hospital> [Accessed 1 October 2020]

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