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Moving! Taking my blog over to wordpress.com @ janafriederick.wordpress.com

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Consumer Tech Products

If you've ever gone to a tech tradeshow, you know that there are hundreds of products that have yet to reach consumers. It's maddening to see all the really cool gadgets and programs and devices that aren't available for sale, perhaps not even for several years!  And it never fails that once you finally spend the money on latest and greatest, something else comes out in a few weeks. I'm not really a techie, but it's really all very calculated.

For innovative companies, it's a matter of timing revenue streams. If companies released all of their new technologies as soon as they were created and tested, it would eat into the potential profits they would receive from late adopters who would be buying the existing products on the market. So it's in the best interests of the firm to wait until the product's life cycle is complete before releasing the next new idea. This is so they can squeeze all the profits out before giving the masses the next great thing.

But being first-to-market is also important. It's a balancing act with tech firms to make sure they extract all profits from existing products, but making sure that their competition isn't going to release the latest and greatest before they do. 


Of course, times have changed. Nowadays there are even partnerships amongst firms that rely on one another for sales. The cable/telecom industry is on the verge of a total makeover. As for the companies that produce the gadgets, it can be tough if they don't have a winning product. And considering the price of a television set, not everyone can change out their tv set every few months. 


I'm really looking forward to seeing tech companies work with communications companies to integrate internet with cable. I know I've had plenty of years paying for a cable subscription for shows I never watch. I'd love to see a custom cable program where certain shows could be paid for or even certain channels.


For several years, I hooked up my laptop to the big screen monitor and did wireless basic computing  from my sofa. It wasn't very streamlined and had a few wires involved, but it worked. Now integrated versions are available. l may even be putting my "old" 42" LCD television on eBay once they come out with something that I'm in love with. Check out this article about Sony's integration of internet with television and touch screen. Sony introduced a 24" version that has basic computing capabilities, Blu-Ray player and cable. I think that most people will not utilize the touch screen capability as much as it's being touted, we'll have to wean ourselves off of the remote control. 
Should I wait for 4-dimensional touch screen version? I bet it's been developed. I wonder how soon this will be available? 

Relationships with Cell Phones

I am loyal to my Blackberry. I am a writer and I need to feel the keys under my fingers. Because of this, I may not ever gravitate towards a touchscreen mobile device and I am happily willing to sacrifice all the cool applications and better gps that comes with the iPhone and other new mobile phones. And at the end of the day, it is a phone and do not feel the need to have it with me at all times. I often miss calls because of this and am quite comfortable with a vibration setting instead of hearing a ring.


My boyfriend, on the other hand, is developing a seemingly serious relationship with his iPhone. He keeps it on him at all times during the day and continues to be amazed at all of its capabilities. He writes emails from it, even though the formatting and spelling always seems to come out horribly, and insists that he prefers to do things from the iPhone rather than sit in front of the desktop. I don't know what else he does with it, but it seems to be quite a bit. He is a heavy iPhone user.


I admit I enjoy being able to look up answers to questions, find directions and communicate with friends family and coworkers from any location, but I know the difference between improved convenience and the compulsion to be "engaged" at all times. I don't mean to sound like a technophobe, as I am quite the opposite, but doesn't all of this technology take away from our daily lives and the enjoyment of the simple pleasures in life if we are not careful? Why are we becoming addicted?

The Definition of Print

This is my first posting on a topic that I feel very passionate about. I am concerned about what is happening within the news industry and the decline of the newspaper and have sought to think of an innovative solution to this problem.


Due to consumers' adoption of technology and the paradigm shift that has been occurring within the media, fewer people are watching the news and even fewer are reading the paper to get their information. Newspaper companies have gone online to save their readership base and have formulated various alternative means of revenue streams, including advertising and annual membership access to news articles. Print has hung on, however, but as internet use continues to grow and fewer people are willing pay for a paper, the very existance of the newspaper is in danger.


To those who love and cherish the time spent reading the paper, its potential decline causes them much conflict, but especially since they too enjoy getting the news online: It's free, it's convenient, and it's really quick. Article headlines can be skimmed through in a matter of minutes and one can feel like they get a glimpse of what's going on in the world without having to leave their desk. And yet, there's something wrong with this. I only know this because the articles that I remember are the ones that I read on Sundays.


Although I wholely embrace online media and keep abreast of what is going on in the digital world, I like to spend my Sundays reading the New York Times. Every Sunday, I usually manage to get through half of the paper in a couple of hours and I find it a meditative practice. It takes a longer time to get through the articles, but I usually find myself better informed and feeling better after having taken the time to flip through the pages. There is a rhythm that is designed into the pages, and after I'm through, the coffee ring stains show that it was loved.


I feel that the majority of my generation would balk at reading an actual newspaper, and forget about asking them to pay for a yearly subscription...the paper would likely pile up in its plastic bag on the edge of the driveway until it was cancelled a few months into the plan.


So I found myself wondering, what if the things that we love about reading the newspaper could be assimilated with those that we love about online news?  What we love about reading the paper is the page turning, the physcial presence of the articles, the layouts. The online version is great for its convenience, easy access, the non-commitment and, for most journals, the fact that it is free. Of course, more and more journals are requiring a subscription in order to read the entire article, so the final attribute may soon see its end. But since the definition of print has traditionally been "ink on paper", what if we began to think of it simply as "static content"?


Technology has changed the face of the industry, and when this happens companies are forced to either adopt or innovate; most news companies have already adopted an online model. Yet, if newspapers feel that they need to serve a substantial segment of their marketplace that desires static content news, they may need to innovate. Combining the two attributes of both models might look like a newspaper that was "wired", with slim LCD panels for pages and a subscription that provides updated content, daily static content, every morning. Consumers would buy the "online paper" from the newspaper companies and pay for an annual subscription. It would be akin to Amazon's Kindle, yet with a much larger surface area and potential layout space for graphics and articles.


The LCD panels are in production. Just last week they released the thinnest LCD panels ever made, as thin as a magazine page. It's called e-paper.  I witnessed Fortune's application of similar video media on the cover of its magazine about a year ago, although it was battery operated and on a loop. Consumers would select the sections of the paper that they typically read most often and pay for a subscription to these sections, as one might for a certain number of preferred cable channels. Then, each morning, the newspaper would update its content with news articles. The consumer could elect to 'refresh' the content to get the latest breaking news, and the ads would, of course, be tailored to the consumer...which would be of great interest to potential advertisers.


This innovation may be well into the future, perhaps too expensive and maybe long after newspaper companies have been abandoned their presses. A good solution for those die-hards who love the New York Times, without the coffee stains, and who may just be willing to may a little more for the experience that the newspaper is.

Are those your chickens?

Recently got the old green girl fixed up at the Flying Fish Bike Shop. Took her out for a spin in Tampa.

I knew that the place to ride was on Bayshore, but I thought that a little exploring was in order first. I made my way east toward Ybor City, and came across a lovely bunch of run down houses with chickens running all over the yard. I spotted a guy making his way towards one of the hens, and they were tame!

I called out to him, "Are those your chickens?"

He seemed startled, and looked up at me and put his arms down to his sides. "No...they're not"

I had been sincere in asking, but then realized that he was trying to steal a chicken!! I had just put a stop to a chicken murder!

I rode on trying to find some straight roads away from traffic, but finally gave up and decided to turn around and head for Bayshore. Plus, the brick paved streets, while quaint for foot traffic, were giving me quite a headache.

Bayshore was only a short jaunt through downtown, I figured. After several near-collisions, I found my way. Of course, I was on the wrong side of the street. With no crosswalk in sight, I headed towards the nearest stoplight. I ran over a few lizards on the way and had to walk my bike around construction twice.

Finally I reached Howard Avenue and got across the road. Freedom! The straightaway was brilliant with the water on my right-hand side and the smooth sidewalk under my tires...I cranked my gears up and took off.

Then, after about 2 minutes, it started to pour down rain. Fortunately I had my sunglasses on that acted as a windshield, but it was pretty awful.

I got home soaked to the bone, missing the country roads of Indiana...

Jana of the Jungle

I recently came across a creative cartoonist who has developed a character called Jana of the Jungle, who is a female version of Tarzan. She has a spear and always wears animal print. She also has an albino jaguar friend.

Funny things about New Orleans

Funny things about New Orleans:

If you get a traffic ticket, go to the traffic court's excuse for an office and ask to speak court lawyer. You can negotiate the fee, he doesn't care about what happened or why you were speeding. They're going to get some cash from you, so you'd better offer them something reasonable but don't assume you have to pay the ticket in full. Just tell them you've only have 100 dollars on your person and you didn't bring your ATM card. They take your cash and put it in a drawer. That's it.

If you see a puddle of water in the road, DON'T DRIVE THROUGH IT! It's likely to be a 4 ft deep pothole and your tire will burst.

Go to the Voodoo Museum off of Royal street and take a small tour through the decrepit rooms with a man who sports a goiter the size of a large grapefruit off the side of his neck. Ask him to point out the decayed cat that is nailed to the wall.

Read this article about how one small town in Louisiana dealt with a black man elected to mayor: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7133943

If you bite down on a small, naked baby made of plastic in your cake during Mardi Gras, you have to buy another cake for the next party. Who made up this rule??

Alligators like to eat marshmallows. Go on a tour with the Swamp Boat Tours and see for yourself.

Another funny news story. But not that odd considering what we see in the paper on a regular basis. http://www.wtlv.com/news/strange/news-article.aspx?storyid=92934 In fact, red traffic lights in New Orleans are really optional.

My favorite haunted house is called the "Castle" on 4th street in the lower Garden District. A woman who calls herself the Black Queen Annie is the housekeeper and she spins Oldies on vinyl at a nightclub on the weekends. She doesn't go upstairs because she doesn't mess with ghosts, but she's extremely friendly and will tell you all sorts of stories, even some about her experience at the superdome during the flood if you stay and talk with her a while.