Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Texting- the good, the bad and the ugly!


For this weeks post I wanted to go along with my article about Texting. Texting can be a very good thing and a not so good thing. There are alot of reasons we all like texting. Its easier then calling, you can have longer conversations through out the day, it takes away from those awkward silences and its more convenient like say if your at work or in class you can just text someone if you need them.

But with texting there can be some disadvantages, such as the common misunderstanding text. If you mean something to sound one way, the other person receiving the text might not take it the way you meant it to be causing conflict. I think is this the major problem with texting. It also very distracting, you know when your talking to someone in person and they start to text someone, its annoying. And i'm sure its annoying for teachers when students are texting doing class.

I also think texting and facebook or twitter is becoming the only way people can communicate. I feel like so many people would rather text then call someone to talk. I think texting has also made emailing more popular because now no one wants to sit on the phone and talk when they could email or text.

I think its very interesting how before the telephone, people have to communicate by telegrams or writing letters, well isn't it kind of going back to that way. The telephone was invented so people could communicate easier, well now texting or emailing is kind of like writing a letter, but only faster.

I think texting has changed the way we communicate. Texting invented other apps like black berry messenger. Now you can text, email, bbm, facebook chat and tweet! I think its funny how many ways you can talk to people instead of being face to face or on the phone.

Troubleshooting those ill-advised texts

This weeks article i picked is about texting. I thought this would be appropriate to write about since texting over the last years has become the thing to do.


http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/social.media/11/17/texting.troubleshooting.netiquette/

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Online Shopping


The Neiman Marcus link that I posted introduces a new concept in the world of apps. You can download their Christmas catalog for your iPad and look at the killer gifts that you can’t afford! Haha. The reason for them making this available is the same reason any other company releases a seasonal catalog, to make money.

The reason why I posted the link is because it fascinates me how many people actually make online purchases. Personally, I have only purchased a couple of things off of the internet because it was my last option, but the article talks about how much revenue they make off of their online store. They stated that 85% of Neiman Marcus’ direct sales are from their online store.

My cousin from Columbus who came in town the other day to celebrate thanksgiving works for The Limited, which is a retail chain that owns The Limited, Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. She controls the online store and updates everything constantly. She had to be online at 4am on Black Friday so that she could update the website when their sales started. She told me that their online store decides if they are successful for the year, meaning that the majority of their sales are from the website. She also said that an app for easier browsing is in the works.

I guess I just didn’t realize how popular online stores have become because I enjoy going out and actually have the chance to touch and see in person my purchases, plus I enjoy people watching. In the near future we’re probably going to have many retailers putting out apps for our smart phones so we can shop anywhere at any time of the day. I’m kind of frightened.

Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus App

This high end retailer is keeping up with their customers.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Convergence Culture hitting Japan

I know that the weekly writing should possibly stray away from the article, but I feel that this piece is rather important. Cultural convergence seems to peek out at me while reading it. The definition of a convergence culture is one culture in a form of contact or other interaction with another country. The two cultures at play here are the North American makers of the iPhone (Apple) and the entire Japanese consumer market. Apple is introducing a new product in the cell phone industry of Japan that is taking the market by storm, the iPhone. Like stated in the article, foreign developers passed up Japan for its "insularity". For those of you who don't know what insularity means, like myself, insularity means the state of being isolated or detached. With Apple introducing it's best selling cell phone product now in Japan, this cultural convergence is impacting the sales of application immensely.

For years the Japanese cell phone market has been ruled by high established cell phone companies that would easily dominate any newcomers. With the iPhone being established into the culture now, there is a sway in power.

Since the introduction of the iPhone into the Japanese cell phone market, application sales are sky rocketing. Games such as the best selling game app, 'Angry Birds', which cost consumers only $0.99 to purchase has had 27 million downloads. With the numbers of sales that apps are producing through smart phones, the advancement of new applications are soon to come. An analogy that seems to suit America would be that the U.S. is striking gold in this market looking for something new. Even Japanese developers are getting in on this new market. If you didn't read the article already, Japanese developers topped 3 billion application downloads globally in less than 18 months. Who would have thought that apps could have this big of a role in other cultures. It's definitely a topic that should be watched in the near future.

THEE article of the week

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/27/japan-iphone-craze-global-app-developers_n_788808.html

Apps are now hitting Japan. Apps are starting to look like an even playing ground for companies. This could be real interesting in the near future!

Impulse Shopper? Make sure you download this app!!

Article: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/business&id=7811379



The first step to recovery is no longer admitting you have a problem...but downloading an app to help you with your problem even more!



One day after Black Friday, a new app has surfaced to help you impulse shop "responsibly". The leading application is called PriceCheck by Amazon. The app allows for the smart phone to take a picture of the bar code and scan it. Upon scanning the bar code, all matching codes will pop up showing which store sells that product for the cheapest amount. This app will put more pressure on stores to sell a product at its true value so they don't lose customers.



In my last blog, I talked cultural perspective and how it affects the community in ways of interaction and values. I don't think that this app is too harmful. I know that it could be very beneficial to shoppers like my Dad, the kind to go to seven stores pricing things out just to go and buy the product from the first store they went to. It also helps the bargain shopper know where to frequent. I am interested to see if Wal-Mart really sells their products at the lowest possible cost.



The negative affect of this blog is relying on your phone for even more. That is what all apps do, make you rely on your phone even more than before. Instead of having the day to yourself to shop, your phone will have to be with you and on, which takes away the whole "day to yourself" aspect.



With all apps, this one can service the community for the better, if used with responsibility. Through writing my blogs and reading those from other people, I do feel that some applications are beneficial to today's society. It is a matter of how people use them. Technology is ever evolving. No one will stop it. Dealing in the cultural perspective, technology has effected the community mainly for the better. Relationships can be built based off apps. You and your circle of friends are more than likely going to have the same apps. The same applies in the work environment, depending on your job you and your co workers will use the same apps. It is very mainstream and has even crossed into the church. A lot of my friends with Blackberry's all have the Bible application. It works as a bonding method.



Overall, I say apps are a wonderful thing. But with all good things you have to know when enough is enough.

Good or Bad?

Sadly this is going to be my last blog post so I wanted to take the time to do a bit of a recap and kind of wrap everything up. I have gone back and forth when talking about apps and sometimes the articles I write portray apps in positive light but a lot of time the articles are being critical of apps and how they are changing society. If you read my blog you would likely think that I had a very negative view of apps and just sprinkled in something positive to maintain people reading who are interested in the positive side of apps. However, if you thought this you would be wrong.
Yes many of the things I foresee coming from the app revolution are very negative. For instance I don't see it good in anyway that people are relying less on their minds and more on a phone equipped with apps to tell them well just about everything they need to know. Thinking like anything else takes practice and if you stop practicing you will lose some of your abilities over time. With this being said it makes sense that relying on a set of apps for all of your answers instead of thinking and memorizing things yourself can't be good. But despite this I still feel that apps are a good thing.
Yes apps that are possibly having many negative affects on society a good thing. The apps are good just like nuclear energy and many other technologies that can have negative effects on culture and the world. The problem is not the technology itself but rather how people who have the technology at disposal use it. There are many things that can be helped by apps for instance if you are lost and need directions using a map app would be very wise but it gets out of hand when people rely on the apps just because they are lazy and not because they actually need them. When it becomes more of a hassle to use the app and you are doing it anyway just so you don't have to think that is where the problem arises. So apps are great and there are many great apps it is just how you use them don't be the guy who uses the app just because he has it rather use your apps wisely and make the most of them when you need them and when you don't well leave the phone in your pocket you are giving a great technology a bad name if you don't.

Holiday shopping there's an app for that (article of the week)

http://www.thirdage.com/news/smartphone-apps-change-holiday-shopping_11-23-2010 its that time of the year holiday shopping interested about changing your experience check out this article!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Our apps taking over how kids learn?

Going a long with what my article of the week, I feel that this topic fits right into what we are studying. The idea that apps are taking over how kids are learning these days. What I mean by this is that instead of actual books to read, kids are now being introduced to iPads that have books through apps. Such apps were explained in the article in which they help your child learn other languages at the age of four! Media ecology plays an important part in this since it deals with technology playing a leading role in our human affairs. A prime example of technology playing a leading role in our human affairs would be teaching children at young ages how to use an iPad. Instead of picking up a book to read to learn from, children today are now being able to learn through talking books via apps on the iPad. By teaching children at young ages to use these devices, it changes the views of people's cultural perspective. Now the norm in pre-schools is implementing iPads and apps for children to learn through school books and different learning activities. This change in the cultural perspective I feel is rather negative. Not only will children start to rely on such devices but they will also be so attached that it would cut back down on face to face time. A bad thing too would be that if the device was ever broken and don't have the money to get a new one, there goes all those "virtual books" leaving you with no tangible books to read. Those being just a few of the negatives, these book apps do have a rather positive upside. Instead of having to cut trees down, apps are created that bring you books that have animated scenes to certain pages to keep things interesting as well. The childrens books try to incorporate other languages which is also beneficial. If it came down to it though, I would so much rather have a real book than a virtual copy.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Article of the Week

http://http://appadvice.com/appnn/2010/11/ridili-releases-childrens-talking-book-apps/
I find this article to be interesting. Kids are learning from Ipads at such an early age through apps. This may be the future to kids learning.

Thanksgiving with Mom and Grandma?? Not anymore!

Article: http://brooklyn.ny1.com/content/ny1_living/the_app_wrap/129314/app-wrap--cooking--meal-planning-apps


The apps that I have seen lately have not affected the family aspect of society. That is, until now. This is the season of family. A time where families get together fellowship and usually make yummy food together. In my family this is a time for my mom to make her delicious ham and my dad to make his famous and should be award winning banana pudding. Even more important it is a time for us to hang out and for me to learn how to make a new dish. Many families also share these traditions.

A new app has been created to ease the stress of making Thanksgiving dinner and all other meals. This app tells the user how make all sorts of recipes. Within the app there is a timer, shopping list, step by step cookiing guide, and the app even includes a "use whats in your refrigerator" process. Any chef is available, Martha Stewart, Emerelle, Rachel Ray, or Gordon Ramsey to name a few. All of these wonderful recipes are at the palm of your hands.

Cultural perspective asks the question of how we use media and how does it change our community and relationships with one another. This application has the potential to change the way families interact over the holidays, which tend to be when most families all get together. It affects our community because the sense of a friendly neighbor can disappear. There will be no need to borrow salt or sugar from your neighbor if your handy application gives you a substitute. Here is an example of how it would affect me personally. Every year my father makes banana pudding and with each year I get closer and closer to knowing how to make it myself and we bond each year that I try to get more ingredients out of him. However, with the new app, I can simply get the ingredients from a famous cook, which chances are would not be close to what I have become accustom to. As a result the relationship with my father over the holidays will not be as enriched as they usually are. Although this app does enhance the cultural perspective because knowledge of cooking is being spread throughout the community but the community could also be negatively impacted.

The relationship that can be built with your neighbor over sharing recipes or exchanging eggs for butter will no longer exist, which would lead to each family/person living in solitude even more. Too many things are being made so that 1 person can do it all. The dynamic of working with someone is dying off, which also hurts the community relationship.

I am not saying that this app is the worst thing invented. I think that it is a great app for a newlywed couple or a college student in their first apartment, but even then the relationships that could have been built with a grandma, mother, or father will not be as strong because the app has taken their place.

If I had an iPhone, I would not use this app, simply because I like calling my grandma and mother and finding out how to make various things that I have grown up eating.

Google Apps

Google recently made available all their apps to businesses to use in their work environment.
Interesting article and video.

Google Apps

The less than extensive side of apps

Media Ecology looks at new technology and media in terms of the way that it extends ourselves. For instance the telephone extends our ears and mouth and allows us to then communicate with people who are all they way across the world with little more effort than dialing their number. This worked out really well for the telephone because it was much more convenient than sending people messages by horse back and you could better communicate than you could with the telegraph. Apps you would at first glance think are helpful in the same way. They can extend us in so many different ways you can get on facebook to communicate with people far away, skype with your friends, and get scores all without leaving the bus you are on or your bed where ever it is that you happen to be. All of this is possible as long as you have your phone with you and of course the app for that.
This at first all sounds great but are we coming to live in an interfaceless society where communication will all be done through our phones. I know I have many times sat in the same room as another person and for one reason or another texted them instead of talking to them and they were right there. Apps may be further killing our face to face interaction and instead of extending us as the conventional though of media ecology would say they could actually be shortening our reach in many other ways. Now I am not arguing that they give you less ability I am saying they give you less will to use certain abilities. I know I have talked to many people and become friends with them simply because I had to ask them a question that I felt they would be knowledgeable about. Doesn't matter if it was who won the game last night or how to do an assignment apps may be killing that connection. Who wants to go up to a complete stranger and ask them a question risking looking like a moron when they can just take out there phone and use one of the many apps they have to check the scores or their emails. All your problems can be solved by just clicking a few buttons and again there is no face to face interaction needed. I wouldn't be surprised if soon there wasn't an app for breaking bad news such as firing an employee or breaking up with your significant other. I am not trying to say that apps are all bad but sometimes I think we let them take over too much of our lives. We don't need an app for every single aspect of life if you want to know a good place to eat why not stop and ask a local maybe you will make a new friend and its likely the suggestion will be better than something a computer program can come up with.

Article of the week

This article points out that apps may be comprimising your privacy so before you go down loading every free app on the market you might want to do a bit of research.
http://mashable.com/2010/06/23/android-apps-privacy-threat/

Friday, November 19, 2010

Time Travel?


I recently came across an article talking about Google Sky-Map for Android. This isn’t just some regular sky-map, it has time travel! You can look back on certain days to see what the sky looked like or how the sky is going to look in a couple of weeks. It’s extremely fascinating and interesting to experience.

I have seen other apps which allow you to look up into the sky and see constellations and such, but this app also allows you to see these constellations and when a specific planet has possibly lined up.

The reason why I chose to introduce this app is because I not only find it to be interesting, but it makes me wonder how much further we can progress with this app. In a couple of years or even sooner they may be able to not only show us the stars and planets, but satellites and galaxies that are right outside of ours. Then, you add the time travel aspect and we will be able to see what it looked like before those satellites. Is it crazy to think we will be able to see new things using the future aspect of the app? (YES), but I can wish. I just find this app to be pretty neat because I have always been interested in astronomy and it gives me the chance to gaze upon different constellations and planets with a mobile phone that I keep in my back pocket. Who knows what else programmers and technology will allow us to do with our phones, but I know I’m excited.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Are apps controlling us?

Going along with the article I posted about the ipad becoming your TV remote, how much are applications really controlling. People live for their TV, so why not make it connect with your cell phone. There's an application through cable, which allows you’re to record a show from your cell phone. Say you forgot to hit record on DVR for a show you want to watch, don't worry now you can do it from your phone! It amazes me how much one phone can really do. There’s even a program for your cell phones that allows you to turn off and on your alarm on your house. To think 10years ago a cell phone was just used to call people from, and now its used for controlling your TV or your house alarm.

I just read another article about a program you can get on your phone call "cell control". its a Spy Software that allows you to find out who your family members, friends, partners or employees are in touch with.

Listen to Live Calls

Read Text messages

SMS Logging (Incoming / Outgoing)

GPS Tracking

Email Logging (Incoming / Outgoing)

Call History (Incoming / Outgoing)

Call Duration (Incoming / Outgoing)

Environment Listening ( Bugging Device)

Contact Name in Address Book Linked to each call/sms

These are the things that this program can detect. Talk about invasion of privacy. Im not sure how well this really works but could you imagine someone always checking up on you. Its like the panopticism for jails. They can see everything your doing but you have no idea what they are doing or looking at. I feel like this program should be illegal. It takes away from the privacy you deserve. I think is an example of how smart mobs can be dangerous and not a good thing.





Comcast Turns Your iPad Into a Remote Control and TV Guide

The article i found is about a new application for ipads that allows your ipad to turn into your remote control for your TV.


http://mashable.com/2010/11/15/xfinity-tv-ipad/

RockMelt

http://www.rockmelt.com/

Rockmelt is a new social media web browser that allows you to always stay connected with your friends. Its pretty interesting. You have to sign up for an invitation and then they will send you a link to download it. I just downloaded it and still trying to figure things out. But i thought it was interesting. Check it out theres a video you can watch for more information.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Marketing there's an app for that

This post is not actually about an app that helps you market in anyway. To be perfectly honest this post has nothing to do with one individual app at all. This post is more about the cultural phenomonon that is the growth of apps. These things that had hardly even been heard of 3 years ago are now a major player in every aspect of our social lives. Apps are having an affect on our tv time, or social networking time, and of course our mobile lives. When you want to buy an app though how do you ago about hearing about it. Do you just brows the thousands of apps that have been created to find soemthing that interests you or do you usually know what you want when you start to try and find that special app you want to download.
The article I posted this week says that the app you will download is going to be decided by what is featured in the app stores. More importantly what is featured in the apple app store. When you think about it this makes sense. Yes I know that people talk about apps through word of mouth but how does the first person who hears of an app find it. It is highly unlikely that people just sift through the thousands and thousands of apps before finding one and then telling everyone they know. People likely first hear about the apps that get popular because they are featured. So again apps are giving power back to the people who are in control. New new media is supposed to be about taking the control away from the big companies and giving everyone a say but in reality it just makes it more powerful at the top and they are just using other peoples ideas to control culture. Yes dont get me wrong some people probably do sift through all the clutter but the average person likely just downloads what is said by apple to be a great app and then if they like it they will tell their friends about it as well.

Downloads

http://touchreviews.net/impact-apps-featured-app-stores/
How are you choosing what apps you download click the link above for some insight on the subject

Friday, November 12, 2010

Happiness

I found the article about "Tracking you happiness" pretty interesting. If iphone apps can tell how a person is feeling, whether its daydearming or being unhappy is pretty cool. But how far will applications go. I feel like a privacy boundry at some point will be broke.

There are some apps out there where they can show people exactly where you are. That’s kind of creepy. Like the "Friends" app on iphones- its designed to keep track of all your social networking and keep it together. This allows you have contacts of all your friends on facebook. You will be able to see their photos, video and post through your contacts on your phone.

I feel like phone apps are taking away from actually getting to know someone by face to face interaction instead of just by your facebook page. Where's communication going? I think over the past couple years relationships have changed. Before you had to ask out a guy/girl in person and now more people are relaying on text or facebook messaging instead of talking in person. I sometimes wonder if younger generations will be able to hold a conversation in person or even on the phone. Phone applications have changed the way we look at relationships. I know for me, sometimes i will be fighting with my boyfriend over text. Which can be good because its less stress because you can take your time to actually think about what you want to say instead of just saying things you might regret but its also bad because things can get misunderstood very easy.

I mean my boss even texts me sometimes. Its really weird to see people my parents age texting and even on facebook.

I wonder how communication and relationships will be 10 years from now.

Track Your Happiness

This week the article I found is about a new iphone app that can track a person's mood. Rseachers from Harvard used a phone app to conduct a study on peoples happiness and daydreaming.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/12/iphone-app-measures-happiness/

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Interesting Website!

http://mashable.com/

I found this website today, i'm not sure if any of you guys have heard about it or have been to the site. Its called mashable. Its a website designed to have the most popular stories about new media, technology trends! Its pretty interesting! thought it could be useful! check it out if you haven't heard about it!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010


Really? I happened to come across this tonight.

Life-Altering Tombstone of the Day: The E-Tomb is an interactive tombstone that allows the friends and family of the deceased to keep in touch with their departed loved ones by downloading photos and videos uploaded by relatives to specific “web spaces.”

Up Next: “You just ousted Mom as the Mayor of Dad’s grave site.”

How Much?

There are now apps for just about everything you can imagine. These apps can range from a variety of genres. A lot of them are great and extremely useful when you’re in a crunch, but lately I realized how much money is being spent on all of this. First you need to purchase a new phone or computer or even that nifty iPad. All of these great buys can range from $100 to $850! Now, if you have one of these bad babies’ you’re on your way to the world of apps! Most of the apps that are downloaded are just new ways of using things that we already own or are a lot cheaper to purchase than an app. Why spend all of this money you may ask, to look COOL, of course. In an article I read, this man purchased iScore Baseball Scorekeeper that costs $19.99, the author went on to say that that is a lot of money to spend to replace a pen and paper. Yes, there is this whole convenience factor added in when all you have to do is pull out your phone instead of searching for a pen (that actually works) and a pad of paper (that doesn’t already have a bunch of stuff written on it). It is useful and a great way of keeping score, if you are willing to drop 20 bucks for something that you can do on your own.

I’m not really trying to put down anything because I have fallen victim as well, but why are we so willing to fork over all this money? I don’t really know why I chose to do it and I don’t regret it because I like my phone and the things it can do, but I could of bought a cheaper phone that did what a phone is normally supposed to do and saved that extra money for something more important. I think it’s time for me to realize what’s truly important and having the latest app or the coolest phone is something I can live with out.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

StubHub


About every day of the week I hear a radio advertisement about StubHub. This advertisement is always done by the wonderful, Ryan Seacrest (HA!). Anyway, the reason why I wish to talk about this is because this is the only app that I ever hear about being advertised. I never seem to see app advertisements on the TV or on the radio and I wonder why. We are constantly surrounded by apps on our phones and our friends showing off the latest apps but why don’t we see more advertisements? I realize there are so many apps available and basically a new one everyday that has some similar functions as others, and we would be completely overwhelmed if every app had an advertisement, but some of the well-made apps could advertise and get their product out in the public. Some people will disagree with me, but I believe that there our some apps available to the public that do some good. Not every app is about gaming, concert tickets and something ridiculously goofy. I believe as time goes on and we become even more entranced in this world of apps, there will be more valuable applications and advertisements.

StubHub

I hear about this app ALL THE TIME!

Post for the Week

This week's post will be focused toward the in-class discussion and also the reading on video games for girls. There were a lot of good comments from people in class, both from the sides of girls and also the side of the boys. What struck me the most though was how girls perceived game and what caused them to stray away from them. From the violence to the non-female leading role, girls apparently get turned off about them. With this in mind, I wanted to check my Iphone to see if there were any apps that were on my Iphone that were linked to these ideas.

Looking through the vast amount of apps of games that I have, a strong outcome came back. Of all the games that I had (30+) only around 2-3 of them had a female role lead. The funny thing about this was that they were both in cooking roles!! One in particular was called Cooking-Mama (no judging it really teaches you how to cook) which helped you learn to cook by no other than a woman. So stereotypes don't dissappoint here with the interrelated areas of women and cooking. Is there a theme going on here? There was one application that's called 'Live Poker'. The picture of the application is of a girl holding up a poker hand. I could look at this photo and could see if two different ways. That its meant for guys and since guys like attractive girls, they would play this poker game. Or maybe it could draw in more females that like poker to download this since it's promoting that girls play poker too and it's not only a male dominated game. What also caught my eye on an application was a game called 'I Mobsters'. When I think of a gangster game, I think of Al Capone or male gangsters in that matter. The funny thing was that a female was on the application holding out up a gun. Like the 'Live Poker' app, this is going against the stereotype that girls should be in the kitchen and play Barbies. This is a way for girls to finally break this stereotype and put a dent into the male dominant game world.

Its funny to see how stereotypes create games such as Cooking-Mama stating that girls like too cook. But wouldn't it look weird if a guy was put on Cooking-Mama or a girl put on the cover of a war app. Stereotypes will always be there, but the way its looking these days, more and more girls are joining this video game world. Before we know it this stereotype that we have of women hating video games will be lost.

Article of the Week

http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-25/tech/developing.apps_1_mobile-apps-smartphone-android?_s=PM:TECH

iPhone Application: The next big thing or a justification of the paranoid?

iPhone Taps into the BedBug Market
A new iPhone app tracks where bedbugs are around the country. This should be of high importance to Cincinnati locals, since Cincinnati is a top 10 hotpot for these critters. I have been ignorant to this fact until a friend of mine happily pointed out that the area I live in is nototrious for bedbugs. not to worry, my house is not infested!
When I was younger, my parents would never dream of this type of technology, being able to track if a business has been deemes dirty or not. Traveling 10 years ago did not entail jumping through so many hoops. Then, all you had to was book your hotel, flight, and where you got your rental car. There was a sense of trust that establishments would not allow their custoemrs to stay in an infested hotel, that trust no longer exists. Now in order to travel you have to go to Travelocity.com, use Google map to see if the area is clean, and now log onto the new app to see if it has a history of bedbugs. It has sparked paranoia in some people. The creator of this app, Adam Kotkin, won't even go to the movie theatre because of the fear of bed bugs crawling on him and infesting his house. My friend works at a bank, she waited on someone who had bedbugs crawling on her, she stopped waiting on the person and had them escorted out of building because she was putting everyone in the building at risk of being infested with bedbugs. Even I think twice before sitting in a public establishments.
This new app tracks where bedbugs have been reported. Some businesses were reported to have thousands of these critters without the knowledge of the management. The sad part of the article is that some Departments of Community Health ignore the steadily rising infestation because there is simply too many to keep track of.
Once on the list however, your business will remain on the list. It will show how long your establishment has been on the list though. Kotkin has a staff of people who work seven days a week t ensure that the app remains accurate.
I think that this app will be helpful to the average person. However, I can see it sparking a new paranoia that will enable people to no longer want to travel or even leave the comfort of their own homes. It also has the potential to ruin a business's name, even after the bedbugs have been killed off.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Phone applications: are they affecting our culture?

Phone Applications have become so advance that they are even used in the medical field. I think phone applications are changing our culture because there are applications to do almost anything. Not only can you use applications to listen to music or get of facebook, but also now you can use it to find out diagnosis and treatments! This new app will allow the nurses and physicians to assist patients from their home and allow them to treat themselves. I would think this would be kind of dangerous to trust an application for treatment. Are phone companies even worried about personal interaction or just making money?

I feel like in the last couple of years applications have grown into this huge thing and I think so everything will be able to be done of your iphone or smartphone. I mean more and more companies are using iphones or smartohones to do business from. I just got my cable and internet installed and now the technicians are using iphones to make their orders and have you sign the receipt electrically right on the iphone.

I think apps are also changing the way people interact with other people, you no longer have to be face to face with people to communicate, you can do so by text, bbm, facebook, twitter and now the iphone is coming out so you can video chat with someone from your phone. I mean everything thought it was amazing when you could do that from your computer but now you can from your phone. Soon will you even need a computer?

As far as in education, I think people are losing their sense to remember things because they can just google it on their phone. I’m guilty to that. If I need to find something that I don’t know or cant remember I’ll google it on my phone because it so convenient. Also, going along with an article that was previously posted about how you can learn Spanish from a phone application. Phone applications have become so advance you can download an app to help you learn a language. It’s a great theory but it takes away that personal level from teachers and students. Why take pay a lot of money to take a foreign language class when you can just get it on your phone.

AT&T Create New App

This weeks article focuses on how AT&T are creating a new application for iphones and other smartphones that allow you to diagnosis and treat your self.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/atts-bet-on-health-technology/#more-53135

Monday, November 1, 2010

Simple Things For Simple People

Yes I know my last few posts have been well rather cheery and put apps into a positive light but I have decided that this week I am over that and want to say how I really feel. Plus making things up and faking a side gets rather difficult so why not just type about what I am actually feeling. Last week one of my fellow blog authors wrote about his niece coming into town and being able to easily navigate his phone and use all the app with relative ease. Now at first thought this may sound like a really good thing. I am not going to try to pretend things being easy is bad. I like to have a level of simplicity and user friendliness that makes it possible for me to pick something up and with little training be able to just have things work but I feel apps are too simple and I really think their popularity says something about us as a culture and a whole that they are so popular despite being mind numbingly simple.
I know what most of you are thinking and yes I did just say that I liked a certain level of simplicity in my technology but think about all the things you are missing out on by relying so much on your apps and not taking the extra minute or two to actually browse the Internet for what you need. With a lot of things when it comes to apps you are taking it down to one things opinion and making that final. Urban Spoon for instance you shake it up and it gives you a place to eat and you just go along with it. But there is something to be said about getting into your Internet browser and searching for certain types of restaurants in the area and being able to read reviews about them and pick one for yourself. Also I don't know how many times I have opened my browser and found a fascinating story on my homepage when I was going to get the sports scores that I would have missed out on had I just relied on apps to give my the sports scores and nothing else. Yes I am sure there is an app that will send me fascinating stories every day and I can quickly browse through them and see if anything catches my interest but that isn't the point. The point is many times its the journey and not the destination that makes many things so great and if you rely on apps for everything you are skipping that journey letting someone else take it for you so to speak and just taking their word for how the destination was.

article of the week (week 5)

This weeks article focuses on getting more culture in your life and the method of doing so is apps of course. Yes highlighted in this take on culture and apps is the 30 best apps for adding culture to your life hope you enjoy. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jan/03/iphone-apps-for-culture

Saturday, October 30, 2010


Yesterday my niece came into town, which is always a great time. She is three and never runs out of energy. After dinner I was watching some cartoons with her and I pulled out my phone because I had a message. Well, as soon as she saw my phone she said APPLE!! Referring to the apple on the back of my phone. She proceeded to tell me that you chew apples because if you didn’t chew, you would choke. After her insightful PSA she asked to see my phone. She immediately knew how to unlock it and just started touching the screen. I showed her an easy game she could play that would keep her occupied while continued to watch cartoons. I was surprised that she could actually figure out and stay focused enough to continue playing the game and then searching through my phone and actually not messing anything up or getting extremely confused. I asked my sister if my niece had played on an iPhone before and she said no, but the daycare that she attends in South Carolina uses touch screen computers to teach the children. My sister said that everything that they try to teach the children is turned into some sort of app on these touch screen computers and that kids find it to be fun and they actually retain some of the information. I think that’s great! I remember when I was a child everything was touch oriented but we didn’t have the same technology as we do now. These schools and daycares are able to accomplish a whole lot more with this new technology and make it more enjoyable for the kids and beneficial. I’m in full support of this technology being used to TEACH children.

Apps Taking Over Our Culture

It doesn't matter if you like it or not apps have become and are continuing to become one of the most important aspects of our every day lives. This is perhaps even more true of apps than it is for the Internet. If you ask someone who is writing about smart phones they would likely try to tell you that if it were not for smart phones than apps wouldn't exist at all. This may be partially true but I think it has gotten to the point now that it is the other way around. Yes I will give you that the use of apps and their popularity initially came from smart phones. However it has gotten to the point where apps are being used all over the place. Apps have even gone as far to spread all the way to televisions. Yes you can now buy a TV that has apps that people can use. So I would have to argue that it has gotten to the point that phones are now evolving to be better so they are better able to keep up and support all the new applications that are coming out.
Apps have begun to control everything. They are completely changing our culture. TVs need to be able to use apps phones must advance so they can accomadate all the things apps can do and you cant turn on the television or go to a internet homepage without reading something about apps. Why is it that apps are becoming so important to us as a culture though. I believe that it has to do with the fact that we want everything as fast as possible as easily as possible. If you want to find something out such as sport scores using an internet browser you have to go through many different pages but apps have made it to where all you have to do is suscribe once to the scores you want and they get delivered to your phone and when you want to see them all it takes it the pressing of one button. So apps are here and they are very important they have gotten into the heart of our culture and are likely here to stay so I suggest getting a phone that has them and learning to embrace them.

week 4 article of the week

This weeks article of the week is actually a video about apps bein able to make you fit
http://www.fastcompany.com/1692250/can-apps-make-a-difference-to-your-life

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Apps can help you learn Spanish!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Learning-Spanish-Is-Fun-With-iPhone-Apps&id=5147093

Monday, October 25, 2010

Youtube!



http://www.ehow.com/how_2031116_upload-video-youtube.html

The link for this article are steps on how to upload youtube to your phone. I thought this would be appropriate since our class discussion was on youtube. Since youtube has started its grown into something much larger. Not only do people watch youtube videos on your computers but now you can even watch them on your phone. Again it just shows how big applications are getting for your phone and how people love watching youtube.
I think youtube is a good source for entertainment but its also good for advertising. more and more companies are posting ads and commercials on youtube because its faster to upload, easier and cheaper to do so then having their ads on TV. Today you can pretty much find anything on youtube. It just makes me wonder how much bigger youtube will get.

Emily Johnson

Friday, October 22, 2010

Spontaneity...there's an app for that!

When all of us choose to be in this group we had ideas of how awesome we felt apps were and we wanted to let the world know about it. However after a couple of weeks of digging into them we seem to have realised that apps seem to be slowing us down in some aspects of life and just aren't worth the hassle. This is not what we really wanted to be talking about when we started this though we wanted to show them in a positive light for all the world to know about their awesomeness. We have gotten away from that in many posts so I am going to get back to it and this week I will be writing about a personal experience I had with an app this past week and yes it was a good experience!
Now I don't know about the rest of the world but a good 4 of my meals a week come from well not my kitchen. Yes I am talking about going out to eat. I must admit it is one of my favorite things to do. It is not cheap and many times the food is not good but there is just something about going out with a group of friends and having a meal that you didn't have to work to prepare. However, when you eat out as much as I tend to you end up going to the same four or five restaurants every single time. So what do you do when you want to go out to eat but you want to try something new. You could drive around wasting gas looking for something that pops out but this runs the risk of you ending up in a shady part of town and you have no real way to know what to expect when it comes to price range on the food. The solution I found came in an app called Urban Spoon.
Urban Spoon is an app where you put in what kind of food you want to eat and what you expect to pay for the food and bam the place you will be eating for the night has been picked and you are on your way. I tested this app twice this week and I must say I was very pleased with the results. First off the app was extremely easy to use which is always a good thing. Also the places that were picked by the app fit really well with the price and food type I said I wanted. So instead of going to those same four or five places you can try a new place every night you go out which lets face it isn't realistic without such technology. I know I said last week that apps were cheapening knowledge but it would be unrealistic for someone to have this much knowledge about the places to eat in a city this big plus Urban Spoon can really do some good when it comes to steering people away from chains and towards the little guys which may not have gotten the business without the app being used. So I highly suggest you check it out!

article of the week (week 3)

http://www.nyveldt.com/blog/post/5-iPhone-apps-that-have-changed-the-way-I-work.aspx

I am getting a negative vibe about apps from looking over the blog so this week is going to focus on some positive stuff from me starting with this article about work changing apps!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

What's your heart rate?

I just happened to stumble across an app that will be coming out soon for the iPhone. Basically, this new app will keep track of your heart rate and then allow you to disclose this information over the social network of your choice. All I have to say is WHY?!

I think this is one of the most ridiculous apps anyone could think of. Yes, I understand those who need to track their heart rate because of health and heart issues but why is there this need to broadcast this information over Facebook? They claim that the reason why you would want to post your heart rate on Facebook or something is so that your friends can send you a disgusting or terrifying picture to get your heart rate higher. If I did happen to have heart problems and my heart rate was continuously up, I would not want someone sending me a picture to get me all worked up after I just got my heart rate down. Plus, I don’t think many people are really going to care what your current heart rate is…. maybe your grandma or something.

I feel like we’re becoming this society who needs to tell everyone about everything that is happening in our lives. I can’t stand getting on facebook and reading all these status updates about where someone is or what they are currently doing, I truly don’t care. I also can’t comprehend how people find the time to constantly be on the computer or on their phone. I work two jobs and go to school full time and can barely find the opportunity to even process what I’m doing.

Sorry if I sounded ridiculous but this app just got my mind racing. Anyway, hopefully as they continue to work on this app they will add some better features that make more sense. That’s just my opinion.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

A Good Body is a Healthy Body

In the environment we live in today, awareness of personal health has skyrocketed. As the entire world knows, the United States has a serious obesity problem. This problem has open the gate ways for reality shows such as 'The Biggest Loser' and 'Celebrity Fit Club' in which people lose weight and are supposed to keep it off. These shows though only help a handful of people whom are with trainers 24/7 of the day for month spans. This "reality" isn't the same reality for the millions of other Americans and people around the world. The common person doesn't have the time to go to a gym every single day or have a trainer watch exactly how much calories you eat in a single day. This is where Smartphones come into play. No, I'm not saying your smartphone will make you lose 100lbs like on the T.V. shows, but they are helping consumers manage their health through thousands of applications. An article I stumbled upon the other day explains these health applications for smartphones in greater detail.

Click the following link to access the article on health applications: http://smart-products.tmcnet.com/topics/smart-products/articles/70447-smart-health-smartphones-thousands-apps-growing.htm

I did a personal study this week and wanted to see what all this new hype about health apps were about. The study I did was to download a few healthcare and fitness apps and use them for a week to see if they were worth it. I downloaded a few popular healthcare and fitness apps called 'Daily Burn' and also 'Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker'. Just to start off, these two bad boys were totally free, so far so good. Let's just say that that the 'Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker' was very useful I found out. Not only is it very easy to use, but I found myself using it day in and day out. I was somewhat surprised to see how successful this app was in helping me take care of my personal health. I started to watch what I took in and I will keep this application on my phone forever now, it's a definite for anyone looking for such apps. As for the 'Daily Burn' application, I had a few mixed reviews. It was very buggy and would crash, but still helpful in what I did burn. It was very similar to the other application, but nothing worthy of remembering or posting about it.

Overall, I was very skeptical of healthcare and fitness apps actually working. I came to the conclusion that maybe these healthcare and fitness apps are on to something. As it was stated in the article above, healthcare and fitness apps are becoming the most downloaded apps on smartphones and for good measure. You will probably find bogus healthcare and fitness apps like I did, but there are some really good apps that do help you obtain a healthier body. It's not a personal trainer to bark at you to exercise everyday, but healthcare and fitness apps are helping those who aren't "special" enough to get on reality T.V. shows obtain a healthier body they've dreamed about.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Cheapening Knowledge

Yes there are many things that come from apps that are very good when it comes to communication but there are also down falls. Everyone thinks that it is so great to be able to access anything that you want at any time you want. I for one thing it can be great but at the same time I fell that it is doing things to people that are not so great. If you can go to your cell phone that is always on you can find out any information you need in a matter of seconds why would you need to memorize things. Apps make it easier to quickly access information just as having the internet on your cell phone did before. However the furthering of apps makes it easier to access that knowledge quickly which is giving people less incentive to think and more incentive to pay 30 dollars a month to have access to any information they need. Essentially the furthering of apps on phones is cheapening knowledge.
You may think that having access to apps actually expands your knowledge because if you dont know something you can look it up and yo believe that doing this you will learn more stuff and remember it thus making you smarter. However for me it is quite the opposite. I did a test this week to see if I gained knowledge from the use of having information at the ready any time I wanted or lost knowledge and just relied on the technology to be there for me over and over any time I needed it. The way I did this is I received a new client today which I have to drive to pick up every day. Before I would look up the directions on the internet and memorize them allowing me to quickly learn how to get to places I have been before over and over. This time however I used the mapquest app on my phone and I found myself relying on this app every day instead of using my brain to memorize the route to the house. This may not seem like a big deal but if you find yourself without your phone or service for some reason you will be much less capable of performing what used to be a simple task. My mother will use her gps feature every time she gets in her car if she is leaving our home town even if she is going somewhere she has been 20 times before.
Yes I feel like apps can be helpful in a lot of things but if we are not careful then the wide spread use of apps will cheapen knowledge and we will find ourselves lost as if we are going somewhere without our map quest app.

article of the week (week 2)

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/cody/2010/10/13/app-investing-buy-google-and-apple-short-the-cable-companies/ just a little info on apps and business pretty interesting stuff

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My Thoughts

Apps are basically the reason why people purchase Smartphones. Why else would someone actually want to purchase a larger phone? These larger phones better have some extra capabilities, and they do. I have come to realize that everyone who owns a Smartphone uses it for the wide variety of apps out there. We have become so obsessed with all the different things we can do with these phones and we like to show off and act like our phone is better, even though that individual can immediately download it onto their phone.

I noticed the other day while I was at work that we are relating our conversations to apps and the ability to point to what we want and have instant access. The reason why I noticed this is because I said something to my coworker about his tattoo looking like it had moved further up his arm. He immediately took his finger and pretended to drag this tattoo around his body and said that it was a new app. We had a good laugh but it just made me think that having a touch screen and the ability to gain instant access with the flick of our finger has changed the world. I can’t even fathom what new and exciting things are going to happen with this new technology in our lifetime.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Apps Can Help You Kick Smoking Habits

Being as this is the first post for the blog, I felt it that it would be interesting to start off with a somewhat comical topic. Have you ever got addicted to cigarrettes and everything you tried to make your self quit just didn't work? Well, you may have just been looking in the wrong place. Not everyone can kick bad habits to the curb with patches or pieces of gum that taste gross!! If you're one of those people, than apps has a solution for you! There are now 11 applications that can help you kick this habit you've all been wanting to do for so long.

To view this article of the 11 applications click the link here: http://www.switched.com/2010/08/23/11-iphone-smoking-apps-for-kicking-the-habit/

The beauty if apps in the world today, is that the sky is the limit. Yes, it seems a bit cliché but I feel that line sums up apps. From games to help amuse our boring lives and kill time or to social networking apps to help us Tweet and Facebook our fingers off until they produce sores. Yes, this is what the world is coming to whether we like it or not. As I bid you farewell for this blog session I'll leave you with this question to ponder upon, "Have consumers only seen the tip of the iceberg of what apps are capable of doing, or is there going to be a plateau in the field of apps?

Saturday, October 9, 2010

What Are Apps??

Since I am going to be blogging about "Apps" or applications over the course of however long I decide to keep my blog in commission I feel my first post should clarify what exactly Apps are. Not only what they are but what different mediums you can use to access apps and just some of the many things that can be done with these amazing things. Let us first take a look at the basics.
Apps also known as applications are things that can be accessed from your smart phone, e reader, computer, and even certain televisions these days. They are a relatively new when it comes to the technology scene and they have rapidly gained popularity recently due to the expanded use of smart phones. It doesn't really make sense to have apps on your computer because it is so easy to access everything you need through your Internet browser. This however changes when you are using a cell phone that is much slower and smaller. The size of cell phones really made apps extremely valuable. They make it possible to access the information or tool you want to use by pressing only one button instead of having to go through the multiple steps of the Internet. The simplicity of them really entices people to pick using them over standard methods of getting around technological devices.
You may be thinking all of this sounds great but you still aren't completely sold on the idea. Why do you need apps in your life when you can do most of the things without them. First of all many apps are free of charge and greatly reduce the stress on you. there are apps for everything from finding a place to eat to changing your voice to sound like a rappers. Do you need to get somewhere but not know how. You can either pay to use the navigation system on your phone or why not just pull up your map quest app. The ease at which you can do so many different things really is amazing so it's no surprise that they have become so popular.
Perhaps the most amazing thing in my opinion about apps is the possibilities they make for remediation. What is remediation you ask?? Well remediation is the process of taking one medium and making it available on another medium. I know this sounds a little confusing but lets take the New York Times. This for those of you who do not know is a newspaper. If you have an Ipad with apps you can get the New York Times app and instead of carrying around the actual paper you can have your paper but in the form of your Ipad screen. Pretty cool right. To top it all off this isn't the only example of that say you want to update your facebook status but don't want to leave your couch. They now have televisions with a facebook app so you can get on facebook right from your couch through your tv.
This is all the time I have for this week and I hope you all now know a little bit more about apps. I look forward to writing this blog and hopefully you look forward to reading about what I have to say about apps over the next lets say 10 weeks or so.

article of the week (first week)

Just found this article dealing with apps thought it was something worth checking out!

http://broncobytes.boisestate.edu/2010/03/16/training-and-communications-implementing-google-apps-at-boise-state-university/

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Take your Smartphones ahead of time with latest Applications

Author: Cecily

Keeping a Smartphone itself takes one ahead of others in time and technology and in addition, adding a number of applications to one’s Smart Phone can make one’s life a lot more interesting and convenient. One can in fact buy the latest Smart Phone applications and in turn the functions of one’s Smart Phone will become limitless and unbelievable. One will in fact get so much dependent upon these applications that one would come to think, that how he or she was able to do without all these facilities earlier.

Today, one of the latest and best Smartphones applications is Shazam. With the help of this application, one can listen to music and at the same time get the details of the music as well. It provides not only the facility to analyze the content minutely, know the name and details of the track, but also it helps in buying the music from a store. Another promising application is the Box Net. This is a nifty application and with the help of this, one can have a free access to a file of up to 16 GB. Hence, one will not have to download the file in order to access it and also the memory of the phone can be kept free and be utilized for other purposes. Another interesting and latest Smart Phone application added to the kitty is Check Pleases application. This application provides a solution to the user when he or she goes out to an eating-joint with friends. It eradicates the problem of calculating the bill and even the per-head charges incurred. In fact, it also helps one to calculate the tip to be paid.

There is another very interesting application for use in the Smart Phone, called the Clap and Seek application. This application is developed for those users who regularly keep losing their PDA Phones and then keep searching for their phones in their own house. This application provides the unique option to track one’s Smart Phone whenever the phone is lost, by just making a clap. In response, the phone will beep and inform its exact location to the user.


Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1746675_45.html