Friday, September 09, 2016

Who Knows More About You Than FaceBook and Google?

Your cable box is the ultimate in "big brother" and yet the cable companies have yet to capitalize on it. It is at the top of the data food chain. It knows more about you than FaceBook and Google.


The FCC has a plan that would allow you to get rid of your cable box and make it easier to watch your favorite programs. Apps will soon replace the cable box.

Cable companies have been laggards in how to truly monetize the various opportunities they have from the "pipe"  into your home.

Don't feel bad for the cable companies that will lose out on all of that income renting you those boxes though. They have one thing that is a lot more valuable than that.

You think FaceBook and Google know a thing or two about you, try your Internet provider.

They know what web searches you made, sites you visited, your downloads, your emails. They know what you liked on Facebook. They know what texts/pics you shared on your apps.

They know what TV shows you recorded, when and where you watched them. They know what you were doing with your other devices while you were watching TV.

Sure you can clear your cookies and history on your web browser, but that doesn't stop the cable company from following your online activity because they control the pipe. They can even monitor you when you surf on another provider. * There is only one way I know you can hide your Internet traffic from your provider.

Why the cable companies haven't capitalized on this goldmine is beyond me.




Thursday, September 08, 2016

Apple Kills Headphone Jack But Fails To See Real Trend




Hey Apple,

The future of audio may be wireless, but the future of computing is on the cloud, not the device.

Apple's decision to remove the headphone jack, "diminutive legacy port", in new iPhone is definitely a  step ahead of the crowd and will force even more sales to another new consumer Apple product (Lightning Ear Pods and adapter).


Apple is arguing that the future of audio is wireless, that the world’s current assumptions about mobile audio are not only antiquated, but worthy of immediate abandonment.

 
But right now that future comes with a price: You’ve got to leave behind the perfectly good headphones you own and you’ve got to purchase the new wireless ones as an iPhone accessory.

Don't get me wrong, Apple makes great products but they are behind the curve when it comes to the future of computing. The rapid sales growth of the Chromebook is showing us, the cloud computing shift is already taking place.
 
When the functions on the device (Siri, pinch zoom, camera etc) can be used with the computing power (and content) from the cloud, your disruption takes place. The operating system will be the cloud, not on the device..so what will the new iPhone or Samsung Note really be?..just some metal and glass. I dont think you will see many consumers paying $700 for some metal and plastic.

I dont see consumers paying $700 for that.

Wednesday, September 07, 2016

Your Online Privacy Is Now In Jeopardy




A big court defeat for the FTC this week is putting the agency's power to protect your online privacy in jeopardy, analysts say. The ruling could wind up giving Google and Facebook, not to mention other companies in the internet ecosystem, the ability to escape all privacy oversight from the FTC, and possibly from the rest of government, too, critics claim, unless Congress intervenes.

Unless regulators can persuade the courts to overturn Monday's decision, the result will be "a fatal blow" to consumer protection, said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy.

 "The decision will enable a company like Google … to engage in unfair marketing and data-gathering practices without having to worry about possible FTC consequences," he said.

  (Source)









Tuesday, September 06, 2016

WhatsApp Sells Out Their User's Privacy

That didn't take long. It can only stay "free" for so long.

Two years later, "Free" service WhatsApp,  will soon begin to share some member information with Facebook. That move that is rankling some of the company’s more than one billion users.

WhatsApp said on Thursday that it would start disclosing the phone numbers and analytics data of its users to Facebook. It will be the first time the messaging service has connected users’ accounts to the social network to share data, as Facebook tries to coordinate information across its collection of businesses.

Remember, when you're not the consumer, you're the product. 

Monday, September 05, 2016

Amazon Cuts Out The Middleman, Could Kill Fedex?

Why pay a service to deliver goods bought from your store when you can do it yourself?


Amazon is leasing 20 Boeing 767s from Air Transport Services Cargo and negotiated to buy 20% of the company. They can now ensure one and two-day delivery. 

How long before Amazon is considered a monopoly?

What other companies do you see that will adopt the same strategy?

Why Google Should Be Worried

Smartphone applications now account for half the time that U.S. users spend online, up from 41 percent back in July 2014, according to a new report from comScore. And when you add tablet applications into the mix, that figure rises to nearly 60 percent. (Source)

Doesn't it seem archaic that one application must be created for every operating system and device?

Imagine if that would have been the case for URLs.