Google Glasses – Awesome or Awful?

6

October

2013

No ratings yet.

Hi all!
Maybe you have already heard something about Google’s ongoing project called Google Glass. For several years now, they have been working on a set of glasses that would incorporate your social media life into it and give you the opportunity to be instantly connected to all your friends. If you do not know what it is, this trailer of Google demonstrates it pretty well:

The thought behind the project is that because technology can be really intrusive and distracting in your daily life, it should be brought closer to you, according to the project director Steve Lee. In that sense, you would get technology out of the way but still wear it.

If you are interested, this video is an interview with the project directors of Google Glass, while the interviewer tries the product on himself. They explain in short what the main thought is behind the project.

 

Google Glass is a topic on which a lot of opinions will probably diverge. The product is a paradox within itself; we want to get technology out of the way, but actually we even integrate it deeper into our lives.

I was wondering what you all were thinking about it. Personally, I find them really awesome on the one hand if you look at the possibilities with the glasses. Also, the main technologies are already existing, but currently we are using them on our smartphones. If we would be using them on our glasses, it might indeed get technology a bit out of the way; no more annoyance about that friend that is always glancing down on his/her phone during your conversation.

On the other hand, now that same friend might be talking to the glasses to order it to find something out while you are having a conversation. Is that really better? People walking around in the streets, talking to their high-tech glasses?

So, what do you think? It is an awesome concept for its new possibilities, or is it awful for making technology even deeper ingrained in our daily lives?

Please rate this

Where the hell is Matt?

26

September

2013

No ratings yet.

Hi all!
Matt Harding was a guy that lived for producing and playing videogames only. However, in 2003 he decided that there was more to life than working, and started travelling around the world. Together with his friend, they thought it would be funny if Matt would do ‘his dance’ in front of the camera, a dance that could best be described as a kid on a sugar rush. When they saw the result, Matt thought it looked funny and decided to do this everywhere he went.
He uploaded a video of his dance across the world on his blog, and noticed that in 2005 someone had uploaded it on YouTube. From that point on, he became increasingly more famous and his video went quite viral.

It was due to the nature of social media that his videos started spreading and became viral. Without all these people sharing it on their social networking profiles, Matt would probably not have become as famous as he is now.

 

However, later down the path, Matt received a call from a chewing gum company called Stride, and they asked him if he would be willing to make a dancing video for them. Furthermore, Visa hired him to feature in several advertisements in which he appeared dancing. Now you can even buy T-shirts, a book, the videos, and the soundtracks to the videos on his website www.wherethehellismatt.com.

I really like the core idea of how it all started; Matt dancing a silly dance around the globe and uploading a funny video on the Internet. However, what quite disappoints me now is that it has gone way beyond just a viral video but has been turned into merchandise. Even though there is the possibility that Matt provides all the content on his website himself, it seems less authentic to me now that there are sponsors and a webshop.

I was wondering, what do you think? Did this go over the top and should it have stayed a viral video on social media, or is Matt smart to obtain sponsors and start a website?

Please rate this

Homework Assignment: “Thinking of New Chai Flavors and Joining the Army: The Contemporary Prosumer”

26

September

2013

No ratings yet.

According to Diffley et al. (2011), the difference between a consumer and prosumer is that “the prosumer is highly knowledgeable about products and services and can play a key role in improving these products and services” (pp. 49).
Bearing that definition in mind, I have taken two cases as examples. The first one is a platform launched by Starbucks, www.mystarbucksidea.com. Consumers can submit ideas for Starbucks to implement, and can vote and comment on each other’s ideas.
The second example is about the campaign by Warner Bros for ‘The Dark Knight’. Warner Bros created a viral campaign that merged the online and offline worlds in a spectacular way, directing their fans to numerous addresses at which they fulfilled tasks in order to join the Joker’s Army. If you are interested, check out http://www.voxmagazine.com/stories/2008/06/26/building-jokers-army/ and www.whysoserious.com.

All in all, both ideas are very successful, but there are some drawbacks to every case. Starbucks needs to be on top of its website in order to prevent customers who have submitted their ideas but received no credit for it from becoming frustrated. In the case of Warner Bros, the fans were not really creating content themselves; however, they were fully engaged with the brand.

I am curious to hear what you guys think about these two examples!

 

Please rate this

A kangaroo on a unicycle

15

September

2013

No ratings yet.

Last year, Samsung Canada received a Facebook message from a loyal fan of theirs, a man named Shane Bennett. Shane listed all the products he already had of Samsung, namely a TV, a Galaxy S, and a laptop. However, he was hungry for more, and asked Samsung for a free Samsung Galaxy S3 because he was such a loyal fan. But that was not the only thing that Shane did for them – no, he included a picture of a dragon that he drew all by himself.
Of course, Samsung was not very eager to start giving out free phones, and explained to Shane that they would very likely go bankrupt if they would do so. However, the employee handling the Facebook account decided that the drawing of the dragon was “epic”, and returned the favour by drawing a kangaroo on a unicycle.

Samsung

Shane was amused and decided to post the conversation on Reddit, and the case soon became viral.
Samsung received a lot of positive attention, replying to a customer in such a playful and creative manner. Because of the enormous amount of publicity they had received thanks to Shane, they decided to grant his request and send him a free Samsung Galaxy S3 – but then customized with the drawing of the dragon.

Samsung2 Samsung3

Personally, I like this case a lot, since Samsung is showing a whole other, more personal side of them. Instead of being a big corporation that sends out standardized responses, or no response at all, this employee really made an effort to provide a creative and amusing answer to Shane’s nearly ridiculous request.
However, we were talking in class about the issue of keeping up the professional appearance as a company. Some thought that a more serious, large corporation should not be all too neighbourly with its customers on social media. However, in the case of Samsung, do you think they were letting go of their professional image or is it ok to be so personal in their responses? I am curious to hear what you think about this case!

Please rate this