Author Archives: Viktor Paulsson

The content of Facebook – is it as captive as it should be?

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I doubt I’m the only one noticed that the news flow in Facebook consist of less interesting things than it used to. One explanation could be the fact that Instagram more or less has taken over as the primary social media for photos and pictures. Today, my Facebook flows consists of approximately 50% commercials and “tag-a-friend-who..-posts”. Some of these posts are actually satisfying, but many of them are boring, or simply posts that you just cannot relate to. In fact, the ones who are gaining the most of these posts are the pages that are behind them, since it continuously gives them more attention and clicks, which in the end generates revenues from for instance sponsors. As it appears, Facebook has realized that this is hampering their approach, since they have started to demote these kind of posts.

The company will be stricter in terms of allowance of “spammy” or “engagement baits” as it’s called. This in an on-going process and it’s said they will work with continuous improvements within this field. This will be done in order to promote more meaningful interactions on Facebook. What goes for my opinion, this couldn’t have been more welcomed. As mentioned, Facebook is not very captive anymore, and since I still consider it as the main social network platform, something needs to be done. In fact, the main reason for Facebook usage nowadays is the messenger platform, and I doubt that their features are very superior to for instance Snapchat’s and WhatsApp’s.

Since I still find some of these “engagement baits” attractive, I wouldn’t say that I want it to be forbidden. Nevertheless, it could to some extent be reduced. For instance, some posts are repeatedly shown in the flow over time since one perhaps has a several different friends tagging their friends in the same posts. This is probably the first step in their improvement process, since one most likely only needs to see a post once.

According to Journalism.org, social media is currently a main news source. No less than two-thirds of the U.S adults gets their news from Social media, and my belief is that most of them are actually from Facebook. This is indeed an interesting topic, thus people go to a platform and gets approached with serious news at the very same time they can see a super not serious “engagement bait”. How does this affect the level people gets influenced by the real news? Perhaps, one can argue that the importance of the reality decreases because it’s delivered in such environment.

I suggest Facebook should continue to be a source of important information, however it still has to stay entertaining. Thus, they cannot make every “engagement baits” forbidden. I believe there is a very thin line between what should be allowed and what shouldn’t. It will be interesting to follow this development and to see if one can notice any differences in the near future. However, what needs to be highlighted is that t’s mentioned that posts asking for help, advice or money for charity won’t be affected by Facebook’s new strategy.

 

News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/18/16789684/facebook-demoting-engagement-bait-posts-news-feed

The smarter way to get your alcohol

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A smart decanter that can pour you whiskey on a single command. Good or bad? Apparently, the bourbon company Jim Beam is selling such a product and what’s not very surprising, it’s already sold out. The only feature this decanter includes is the delivery of whiskey when it’s asked for. It’s mentioned that it might respond to you with a couple of recorded phrases, but this is not what people needs. We wants our liquor and we wants it simple and easy. I have to admit it – I love this product.

As is discussed in the original article, this might be a marketing stunt performed by the company. I doubt it, but it cannot be taken out of consideration. However, if true, this adds an extra feature to drinking, and probably also encouraging yet another drink just because it’s entertaining to use it. At least until you’re familiar with the concept.

Nevertheless, I’m excited about the idea. Not only for home usage, but mainly for pubs. If enough effort is put into this area, the future bars and nightclubs will not need any bartenders. Who hasn’t stood in a line at a club waiting for a drink? I mean, if the drinks are pouring up themselves, there’s a potential of saving time. Hence, people can do whatever they do at clubs instead, and in the meantime the clubs can be more profitable. See, we are looking at a win-win situation.

This idea indeed comes with a bunch of issues. Not to mention the payment, but if the club has implemented self-serving bottles, one can assume that the transaction technology is enough developed at the time as well. Just to elaborate it through the current available technology, the customers can load an account with money upfront or just connect their regular RFID credit cards. Another issue is that it’s more difficult to control the servings of people. I know in some countries it’s illegal to serve persons that are too intoxicated, which indeed would cause some difficulties. But I guess it’s solved with an additional responsibility for the bouncers.

If you can afford it, these problems are avoidable if you establish a bar in your home for private use only. The setback, I can imagine, is that your home will be a victim for a lot of house parties. The thing is, I believe that people around the world are becoming lazier for every day. The most daily issues needs to be solved in the most optimal way, thus time and energy saving. The demand of services are constantly rising and companies are putting a lot of effort in making their products and services as easy as possible for the customers in order to outcompete the competition. The area of consuming alcohol is one that is not yet developed as much as other areas, for example the automatic car-sharing offerings. Hence, I clearly see a potential.

Authors note. It may appear to the readers that I’m glorifying the consumption of alcohol. Drinking alcohol comes with a lots of responsibility and I advocates you to follow the legislation of whichever country you are located in. End of note.

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/11/29/16716156/jim-beam-smart-decanter-amazon-echo-joke-real-product

Drones to reduce traffic violations?

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According to WTO (World Health Organisation), 1,25 million died by road traffic related accidents globally in 2013. Not to mention the several millions of serious injuries. Either these numbers tells us that people do not take the regulations and restrictions regarding road traffic as serious as they should, else road traffic is dangerous itself. Nevertheless, with this in mind, it is a pleasure to present to you a solution that is currently occurring on trials in Bordeaux, France. This is the story about flying drones – an innovation that might be able to catch drivers that are violating the traffic regulations.

Basically, it is a flying machine that is equipped with a camera that provides police officers with a live-stream of a wide area, which makes the whole process of catching crazy drivers more efficient. When a driver, who’s for instance driving like a complete maniac, is spotted, the drone will keep track of him until a cop easily can pull him or her over. Unfortunately, it is not possible for the drone to detect if a driver is breaking a speed limit, but it most certainly has the possibility to spot a drunk driver driving that’s struggling with the matter of keeping the vehicle steady.

The article mentions some criticism against this idea, with the concern that some motorists might take their eyes of the road just to spot the drones, thus causing more accidents. Nevertheless, the government is reported to be interested in further expansions within this system. In my opinion, this is probably the most accurate argumentation against such an innovation. If this drone actually works, it might save the police a lot of time in their fight against traffic violations. On the other hand, if the statistics later on can show that the drones sometimes actually is the cause of some accidents, then this investment will be a total waste of money. In addition, I suppose some violators might even just blame the drones, even though it was entirely the driver’s fault, just as an attempt to get more excused.

Even though I mentioned that road traffic is reason of millions of peoples deaths, my opinion is that the police has more important tasks to do than chasing bad drivers. If an innovative product like this might allow the officers to spend their time within other crime areas, it’s definitely worth giving a shot. Like in business life, one can compare the police resources to a company’s resources. An innovation that can relief the pressure of a certain department within an organization is considered beneficial. The environment is constantly changing and one can assume that the police officers also faces changes in their daily works. With implementation of new technology into their tasks, they might be able to cope with these changes. Thus, the conclusion is that this innovation is considered being of high value, even though it probably needs to be more developed. I mean, some additional features is necessary, for instance the ability to catch speed violations, since I suppose these violations are the ones causing most of the deaths.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/drones-help-french-traffic-cops/http://www.who.int/gho/road_safety/mortality/number_text/en/

 

Add a member to your family!

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As for the 18th of November 2017, you will be able to purchase a new family member. At least if you can spare 1300$ and lives in Japan. The product is a robotic assistant called Xperia Hello and is one of Sony’s latest releases. Watching the video below, one can tell that it kind of reminds of something you have seen in a Star Wars movie.

The Xperia Hello is intended to give the perception of a real family member. It recognizes the whole family and is designed to move, talk and even show expressions such as happiness, loneliness and excitement. This due to some lights at the top of the “body” that are supposed to work function as eyes. And yes – of course it can dance.

What goes for the features, the robot will respond to voice, gestures and facial expressions. It also takes photos, makes Skype video calls, provides reminders, news and information regarding weather and traffic. The feature that seems most interesting is the fact that it can provide status of other family members, both inside and outside the house. For instance, when parents are away from home, the assistant can give them live updates of what the kids are up to. Kind of surrealistic, according to me.

Thinking a little bit out of the box, this product can be seen as both good and bad. As for the positive aspects, it will provide you with information about your home and family even though you are far away. This indeed might lead to the perception of being calm to some people. In addition, through a negative perspective, this little fellow will most certainly have the potential to interfere with the personal integrity. Being home alone, having time of your own, is nowadays history. This, of course, goes both good and bad, since it for example would be able to detect and perhaps prevent any cheating husband or wife from having affairs in the family home.

Another interesting thing is that most of the features that it offers is already available in your smartphones, which makes me wonder if this product really satisfies a customer needs enough. According to me, the main difference is in fact that it has it’s own torso and never leaves the home. However it is seen as a cool product, but I wonder if it is cool for longer than the first week of usage. I think that it has to include some additional feature for being attractive enough, especially since 1300$ is an amount that not every family can afford for something that somehow still can be defined as a toy. I mean, the least you could expect from a robotic assistant is that it could cook your dinner.

With this in mind, one can draw the conclusion that the success of this product might absent. The potential market for such a product is probably not big enough. The advantages it brings to the normal daily life is just too similar to what is already offered via smartphones. Nevertheless I can’t deny it – I for sure want to have it dancing on my kitchen table when (or if?) it enters the European market.

Bildresultat för xperia hello

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/10/24/16533086/sonys-xperia-hello-home-robot-assistant

https://blogs.sonymobile.com/2017/10/23/xperia-hello-launches-japan/

The future of travelling by air is coming

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There are two time-demanding issues when managing travelers at an airport – the check in of luggage and the security gate. Concerning the latter, perhaps we will see a decrease of time elapsed in the near future. If you have ever thought about better solutions regarding the security checkpoints at the airports – then apparently you were not alone. The international airport of Dubai has come up with a high-technological way of controlling the security of their departing passengers. This new method can be explained as a tunnel which, while walking through it, will scan your face by the help of no less than 80 cameras. This tunnel is also decorated as an aquarium, thus encourages the travelers to look around and thereby increases the capability of the cameras.

When approaching this technology, which almost feels like a decent science-fiction movie, one can tell that this method indeed has the possibility to revolutionize the way of travelling by flight. Facial recognition is actually already being used in some airports around the world, but that is more like photographing the traveler, thus not improves the process as whole. If some time can be spared for the travelers by decreasing the lines of security controls can be seen as one positive feature, the fact that airports will have the possibility to re-organize their personnel and thus become more cost-effective is another.

Through a business perspective, the most important for such an installment is the fact that it eventually can replace the current security process. In my opinion, facial recognition is a substitute for showing a passport, and as long as it is working, it would probably out-compete the current way. For instance, having pictures of a person in real time instead of a quite unrecognizable 4-5 years old one, is of a great advantage, thus might improve the overall security. One problem with this is of course that every single airport will have to adopt to this technology, otherwise a traveler will have to bring the passport nevertheless. I can assume that airports will have to establish some kind of collaborations regarding such expensive (I suppose) investment, since the budget most likely differs a lot from airport to airport.

To summarize, this could be a great success in the future. According to the article, the first installment will take place during the next year already, which almost sounds too good to be true. In the beginning phase, it will most likely work as complement to the original security check, thus will take additional time. But from the security perspective, it could indeed be considered as interesting right from the start.

 

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/10/16451842/dubai-airport-face-recognition-virtual-aquarium