Select five applications that you have not heard of before from Popular URL's Web 2.0 awards or the webware awards and describe on your blog page how they could be useful to a business.
www.wufoo.com- Wufoo is an online site which allows you to create online forms easily and quickly. It also will organize the received data so that it can be understood and will also allow you to build graphs and create reports and filter data. A Wufoo form can be integrated into a website as well. The service ranges from being completely free through to $199/month.
This is an invaluable tool for businesses wanting to get data from their clients. A form can be done by anyone in minutes and can be transferred onto the company website as well. This allows the company to quickly receive information about customers and customer trends. The data can also be put into graph form and be turned into a report for easy presentation.
www.grooveshark.com- Grooveshark is a free online jukebox service. Users can search for tracks and listen to them right inside of a Web-based player. Similar to software jukebox applications, users of Grooveshark can control music tracks as if they were playing them right off a hard drive. It also lets you save and create playlists, and mark songs as favorites.
This could be useful for radio station or music industries listening to new talents. Its free so can lower costs and is easy to operate.
www.hulu.com- Hulu is a Web video service from NBC Universal and Fox Entertainment Group. Designed as a deterrent for online privacy, Hulu lets users watch full-length movies and TV shows right in their browser, and with limited commercials and other on-page advertising.
Unlike sites like YouTube, everything on Hulu comes directly from the content providers, and not from users. Another thing that sets it apart from most other video sites, is that content is set to expire after a certain amount of time on the service. This is in part to encourage users to watch programming while it's on TV, as well as boost DVD sales.
This could be useful for movie reviews or for movie makers who want feedback on a movie or tv show
www.zoho.com- Zoho is a suite of more than 20 Web-based productivity applications, nearly all of which are completely free to use. Many compete directly with Google's online productivity and office tools and give users a way to work on projects entirely on their browser.
In addition to having a slew of consumer-oriented applications, Zoho has dipped into some SMB applications including a CRM tool, invoicing service, and Zoho People--which is a recruiting tool. The company has also been known to embrace the latest Web technologies including Ajax-heavy editors and compatibility with offline data access using Google Gears.
This could be very useful for people who move locations a lot for their work. It could also be useful for companies who have different software packages. Eg apple laptops by windows computers in the office.
www.opentable.com- OpenTable is an online reservation service. It lets people find reservations at local restaurants and book them from their computer or mobile phone; all the while, not having to use the traditional system of calling or visiting the restaurants in person.
Along with its reservation system, OpenTable also maintains a database of restaurant information and reviews from both its users and partners. Similar to Yelp and CitySearch, this lets people recommend or discourage restaurants in OpenTable's database. Those reviews show up to other users when they do a search or while they plan to book a reservation.
This could be very useful for event managers who need to make reservations. It would save them alot of time as they can review and compare the different restaurants without having to physically visit them all.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Select five applications that you have not heard of before from Popular URL's Web 2.0 awards or the webware awards and describe on your blog page how they could be useful to a business.
www.wufoo.com- Wufoo is an online site which allows you to create online forms easily and quickly. It also will organize the received data so that it can be understood and will also allow you to build graphs and create reports and filter data. A Wufoo form can be integrated into a website as well. The service ranges from being completely free through to $199/month.
This is an invaluable tool for businesses wanting to get data from their clients. A form can be done by anyone in minutes and can be transferred onto the company website as well. This allows the company to quickly receive information about customers and customer trends. The data can also be put into graph form and be turned into a report for easy presentation.
www.grooveshark.com- Grooveshark is a free online jukebox service. Users can search for tracks and listen to them right inside of a Web-based player. Similar to software jukebox applications, users of Grooveshark can control music tracks as if they were playing them right off a hard drive. It also lets you save and create playlists, and mark songs as favorites.
This could be useful for radio station or music industries listening to new talents. Its free so can lower costs and is easy to operate.
www.hulu.com- Hulu is a Web video service from NBC Universal and Fox Entertainment Group. Designed as a deterrent for online privacy, Hulu lets users watch full-length movies and TV shows right in their browser, and with limited commercials and other on-page advertising.
Unlike sites like YouTube, everything on Hulu comes directly from the content providers, and not from users. Another thing that sets it apart from most other video sites, is that content is set to expire after a certain amount of time on the service. This is in part to encourage users to watch programming while it's on TV, as well as boost DVD sales.
This could be useful for movie reviews or for movie makers who want feedback on a movie or tv show
www.zoho.com- Zoho is a suite of more than 20 Web-based productivity applications, nearly all of which are completely free to use. Many compete directly with Google's online productivity and office tools and give users a way to work on projects entirely on their browser.
In addition to having a slew of consumer-oriented applications, Zoho has dipped into some SMB applications including a CRM tool, invoicing service, and Zoho People--which is a recruiting tool. The company has also been known to embrace the latest Web technologies including Ajax-heavy editors and compatibility with offline data access using Google Gears.
This could be very useful for people who move locations a lot for their work. It could also be useful for companies who have different software packages. Eg apple laptops by windows computers in the office.
www.opentable.com- OpenTable is an online reservation service. It lets people find reservations at local restaurants and book them from their computer or mobile phone; all the while, not having to use the traditional system of calling or visiting the restaurants in person.
Along with its reservation system, OpenTable also maintains a database of restaurant information and reviews from both its users and partners. Similar to Yelp and CitySearch, this lets people recommend or discourage restaurants in OpenTable's database. Those reviews show up to other users when they do a search or while they plan to book a reservation.
This could be very useful for event managers who need to make reservations. It would save them alot of time as they can review and compare the different restaurants without having to physically visit them all.
www.wufoo.com- Wufoo is an online site which allows you to create online forms easily and quickly. It also will organize the received data so that it can be understood and will also allow you to build graphs and create reports and filter data. A Wufoo form can be integrated into a website as well. The service ranges from being completely free through to $199/month.
This is an invaluable tool for businesses wanting to get data from their clients. A form can be done by anyone in minutes and can be transferred onto the company website as well. This allows the company to quickly receive information about customers and customer trends. The data can also be put into graph form and be turned into a report for easy presentation.
www.grooveshark.com- Grooveshark is a free online jukebox service. Users can search for tracks and listen to them right inside of a Web-based player. Similar to software jukebox applications, users of Grooveshark can control music tracks as if they were playing them right off a hard drive. It also lets you save and create playlists, and mark songs as favorites.
This could be useful for radio station or music industries listening to new talents. Its free so can lower costs and is easy to operate.
www.hulu.com- Hulu is a Web video service from NBC Universal and Fox Entertainment Group. Designed as a deterrent for online privacy, Hulu lets users watch full-length movies and TV shows right in their browser, and with limited commercials and other on-page advertising.
Unlike sites like YouTube, everything on Hulu comes directly from the content providers, and not from users. Another thing that sets it apart from most other video sites, is that content is set to expire after a certain amount of time on the service. This is in part to encourage users to watch programming while it's on TV, as well as boost DVD sales.
This could be useful for movie reviews or for movie makers who want feedback on a movie or tv show
www.zoho.com- Zoho is a suite of more than 20 Web-based productivity applications, nearly all of which are completely free to use. Many compete directly with Google's online productivity and office tools and give users a way to work on projects entirely on their browser.
In addition to having a slew of consumer-oriented applications, Zoho has dipped into some SMB applications including a CRM tool, invoicing service, and Zoho People--which is a recruiting tool. The company has also been known to embrace the latest Web technologies including Ajax-heavy editors and compatibility with offline data access using Google Gears.
This could be very useful for people who move locations a lot for their work. It could also be useful for companies who have different software packages. Eg apple laptops by windows computers in the office.
www.opentable.com- OpenTable is an online reservation service. It lets people find reservations at local restaurants and book them from their computer or mobile phone; all the while, not having to use the traditional system of calling or visiting the restaurants in person.
Along with its reservation system, OpenTable also maintains a database of restaurant information and reviews from both its users and partners. Similar to Yelp and CitySearch, this lets people recommend or discourage restaurants in OpenTable's database. Those reviews show up to other users when they do a search or while they plan to book a reservation.
This could be very useful for event managers who need to make reservations. It would save them alot of time as they can review and compare the different restaurants without having to physically visit them all.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Week 13- Security and Privacy
Question 1 -
See if you can find an example of a privacy breach that was reported in the Australian or international news in the last 6 months. What were the consequences? i.e. legal, political, financial, personal etc. What action was taken in response to the privacy breach?
The example I found was of a recent data leak that revealed the email and passwords of senior NSW Police officers and hundreds of journalists. The NSW Police has been embroiled in controversy following a major privacy breach involving the disclosure of the email and password details of senior counter terrorism officers and hundreds of journalists signed up to receive information from the NSW Police Media Unit.
Workshare recommends organisations automate their document compliance processes to prevent the inadvertent transmission of confidential information.
Such systems will:
* Convert content from risky to safe by cleansing and removing 'metadata - or hidden information' such as track changes or speaker notes, hidden columns, etc contained in MS Office files
* Contain potentially dangerous visible information at the desktop and server by monitoring and blocking unauthorised content
* Control sensitive information using document restrictions and on-demand PDF capability. Also record policy violations and hold necessary individuals accountable for their actions.
Source- http://www.ferret.com.au/n/NSW-Police-involved-in-major-privacy-breach-n712847
Question 2 - Have you been using Turnitin software this semester? If you have was it a positive or negative experience and why?
I have not yet used the Turnintin software. I am not personally looking forward to the experience due to the number of students undertaking the same assignment. There will surely be information found and used by more than one student. It can also put a lot of pressure on students as submission dates become closer.
See if you can find an example of a privacy breach that was reported in the Australian or international news in the last 6 months. What were the consequences? i.e. legal, political, financial, personal etc. What action was taken in response to the privacy breach?
The example I found was of a recent data leak that revealed the email and passwords of senior NSW Police officers and hundreds of journalists. The NSW Police has been embroiled in controversy following a major privacy breach involving the disclosure of the email and password details of senior counter terrorism officers and hundreds of journalists signed up to receive information from the NSW Police Media Unit.
Workshare recommends organisations automate their document compliance processes to prevent the inadvertent transmission of confidential information.
Such systems will:
* Convert content from risky to safe by cleansing and removing 'metadata - or hidden information' such as track changes or speaker notes, hidden columns, etc contained in MS Office files
* Contain potentially dangerous visible information at the desktop and server by monitoring and blocking unauthorised content
* Control sensitive information using document restrictions and on-demand PDF capability. Also record policy violations and hold necessary individuals accountable for their actions.
Source- http://www.ferret.com.au/n/NSW-Police-involved-in-major-privacy-breach-n712847
Question 2 - Have you been using Turnitin software this semester? If you have was it a positive or negative experience and why?
I have not yet used the Turnintin software. I am not personally looking forward to the experience due to the number of students undertaking the same assignment. There will surely be information found and used by more than one student. It can also put a lot of pressure on students as submission dates become closer.
Week 12- Trust
Questions1) What does this meant by the following statements?
Trust is not associative (non-symmetric)
This statement means that trust is not on the same level for buyers and sellers. Although the buyer may trust the seller to provide payment the seller may not trust that they buyer will send the product. There is no trust factor between them when it comes to the trading of a product.
Trust is not transitive
This refers to trust not being a transitive relationship. For example if person A trusts person B, and person B trusts person C, this does not indicate that person A trusts person C.
Trust is always between exactly 2 parties
This implies that trust needs two parties to exist. There needs to be a party that is trusting and a party that is trusted for trust to occur.
Trust will involve either direct trust or recommender trust
This statement refers to two different types of trust. Direct trust which is developed from personal experiences with other parties and Recommended trust which is trust that is recommended to you by an outside source (another person) which you can choose to believe or not. Again trust will not occur without one of these two.
2a) Have a look at the following websites. What are some of the elements that have been incorporated to increase your trust in the sites? If there are also some aspects which decrease your level of trust describe them as well.
http://www.eBay.com.au-
· The websites layout it simple but attractive.
· The brand is well known and has a professional reputation.
· Security and privacy notices
· User agreements and privacy statement
· Uses only certain methods of payment
· Some products do not have pictures (decreases trust)
· User feedback.
http://www.anz.com.au
· professional layout
· easy navigate
· secure login section
· security alerts
· well known and trusted brand
· provide ABN and copyright notice at bottom of page
http://www.ozrural.com
· amateur layout/ non professional (decreases trust)
· address and contact number
· not well known brand (decreases trust)
· Wide range of books with pictures provided
http://www.paypal.com.au
· professional layout
· secure login section
· “VeriSign Identity Protection”
· Well known/ uses brand
· Security section
2b) Find a web site yourself that you think looks untrustworthy
I often get emails that send me links to dodgy websites. They ask for credit card details and payment options without supplying any information about products. Sites like these are very untrustworthy to me
Trust is not associative (non-symmetric)
This statement means that trust is not on the same level for buyers and sellers. Although the buyer may trust the seller to provide payment the seller may not trust that they buyer will send the product. There is no trust factor between them when it comes to the trading of a product.
Trust is not transitive
This refers to trust not being a transitive relationship. For example if person A trusts person B, and person B trusts person C, this does not indicate that person A trusts person C.
Trust is always between exactly 2 parties
This implies that trust needs two parties to exist. There needs to be a party that is trusting and a party that is trusted for trust to occur.
Trust will involve either direct trust or recommender trust
This statement refers to two different types of trust. Direct trust which is developed from personal experiences with other parties and Recommended trust which is trust that is recommended to you by an outside source (another person) which you can choose to believe or not. Again trust will not occur without one of these two.
2a) Have a look at the following websites. What are some of the elements that have been incorporated to increase your trust in the sites? If there are also some aspects which decrease your level of trust describe them as well.
http://www.eBay.com.au-
· The websites layout it simple but attractive.
· The brand is well known and has a professional reputation.
· Security and privacy notices
· User agreements and privacy statement
· Uses only certain methods of payment
· Some products do not have pictures (decreases trust)
· User feedback.
http://www.anz.com.au
· professional layout
· easy navigate
· secure login section
· security alerts
· well known and trusted brand
· provide ABN and copyright notice at bottom of page
http://www.ozrural.com
· amateur layout/ non professional (decreases trust)
· address and contact number
· not well known brand (decreases trust)
· Wide range of books with pictures provided
http://www.paypal.com.au
· professional layout
· secure login section
· “VeriSign Identity Protection”
· Well known/ uses brand
· Security section
2b) Find a web site yourself that you think looks untrustworthy
I often get emails that send me links to dodgy websites. They ask for credit card details and payment options without supplying any information about products. Sites like these are very untrustworthy to me
Week 8- Online Auctions
Q1: eBay is one of the only major Internet "pure plays" to consistently make a profit from its inception. What is eBay's business model? Why has it been so successful?
eBay uses a brokerage business model where they facilitate transactions between two separate parties, the buyer and the seller. This is a successful business model because it provides a simple and convenient way for the buyers to purchase items they may not be able to find in stores. It also allows for sellers to get rid of unwanted items and possibly make a profit on them. The simplicity of the model also hinders eBay’s success. There is no interference within every transaction but choose to provide a platform for buying and selling of items.
Q2: Other major web sites, like Amazon.com and Yahoo!, have entered the auction marketplace with far less success than eBay. How has eBay been able to maintain its dominant position?
I think the excitement on an auction is a factor that keeps consumers returning to eBay. Also eBay’s strong reputation and the fact that it is well known not only draws new customers but ensures that past customers keep returning also. eBay is also the first to enter the auction marketplace and there for loyalty comes into play as people will choose to stay with what they are comfortable with rather than opting to explore a new option The wide variety of products available on eBay attracts a wider audience than that of amazon.com which also contributes to eBay’s success levels.
Q3: What method does eBay use to reduce the potential for fraud among traders on its site? What kinds of fraud, if any, are eBay users most susceptible?
The element of trust between eBay the sellers and the buyers is very large but eBay do put some measures in place in attempt to reduce the risks of fraud. These include:
A feedback rating- both buyer and seller have a feedback rating which uses the feedback given by other buyers/sellers to create a rating for a certain user. This allows others to determine how trustworthy the buyer/seller has been in the past.
Payment Methods- eBay only allows certain payment methods which are less suceptable to fraud. PayPal is the preferred payment method due to the fact that it has buyer protection for up to $20,000
Source- www.ebay.com.
The main type of fraud that users are vulnerable to include- Purchasing the product and never receiving it or the product being faulty or not what the product was described to be. E.g a fake or cheaper version. Or from a sellers perspective, never receiving payment for the product sold.
Q4: eBay makes every effort to conceptualize its users as a community (as opposed to, say "customers" or "clients"). What is the purpose of this conceptual twist and does eBay gain something by doing it?
The eBay community has advantages for not only eBay but also sellers and buyers. It enables an element of trust to be gained between all users which can potentially reduce the risks of fraud on the site. By allowing all users to contact each other and develop a community feel, users will feel more comfortable and safer using this site and therefore continue to use it. It can also make the trade a social experience between the two, similar to that of a real store.
Q5: eBay has long been a marketplace for used goods and collectibles. Today, it is increasingly a place where major businesses come to auction their wares. Why would a brand name vendor set-up shop on eBay?
A brand name vendor would set up an eBay shop because of the high level of consumers choosing to participate in online shopping. The vendor may only have limited locations of physical distribution and therefore buy selling products online can reach a wider audience. Selling on eBay may be a cheaper, simpler and more convenient option then setting up their own website. It also gives the vendor an idea of how much consumers are willing to pay for a particular product.
Week 7- Digital Automata
1. Write a one paragraph describing the Turing test and another paragraph describing an argument against the Turing Test, known as the about the Chinese room.
Turning test:The turning test can be described as a way to test a machines (system) “capability to demonstrate thought”. This demonstrates a computer/system operating without the need of a user (operator). The turning test, tests “whether or not a system is intelligent”. Alan Turning developed the test and describes it as when a person/human is having a conversation on the computer/system. If the person/human cannot “distinguish the machine from a human” the system would be deemed as intelligent. An example is when a person is on a computer and receives replies the person does not know it is a computer not another person replying to their instructions.
Source- http://www.bcp.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/contents/T/turing_test.html
Chinese room:The Chinese room highlights the fact that if the system uses Chinese symbols then the system would pass the turning test. This argument shows that if the system replies with Chinese symbols the user may think it’s another human which it is not. This in theory would be a successful turning test but the system might just send out Chinese symbols but the symbols do not make sense with the question or conversation. Searle states that a Chinese speaker communicates with the system can the system responds in Chinese the person might think it is another person but the system might not actually be intelligent. This demonstrates that the Chinese speaker may think it is another speaker who may not know how to read the symbols properly.
Source:
http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/chineseroom.html
2.Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience.
There are a wide range of categories involving agents. These categories include:
Mobile agents
Distributed agents
Autonomous agents
Intelligent agents
Fuzzy agents
Source :
Knox,I.(2009) Automata week 7 power point presentation.
When trying to determine whether or not a virtual agent can be successful in delivering high quality customer service over the web, there are are a number of different factors that should be looked at. The internet has alot of virtual agents. Companies like Google have agents involved when a user/customer put in a word or question into the search engine the agent gives a reply with similar websites relating. This can be very successful and save comsumers alot of time when searching for a particular site or information on the internet. Search engines also have negative aspect. When searching with the search engine the response given can sometimes not be what you are looking for or not relevant to the words entered in the search. In these circumstances google and other similar search engines that are using agents are not always delivering gigh quality customer service. Rappa Explains this by stating “ the agent ideally gives the best customer service it can but does not always give the customer what they ideally want.”
Source-
http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/automata_tr.html
Turning test:The turning test can be described as a way to test a machines (system) “capability to demonstrate thought”. This demonstrates a computer/system operating without the need of a user (operator). The turning test, tests “whether or not a system is intelligent”. Alan Turning developed the test and describes it as when a person/human is having a conversation on the computer/system. If the person/human cannot “distinguish the machine from a human” the system would be deemed as intelligent. An example is when a person is on a computer and receives replies the person does not know it is a computer not another person replying to their instructions.
Source- http://www.bcp.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/contents/T/turing_test.html
Chinese room:The Chinese room highlights the fact that if the system uses Chinese symbols then the system would pass the turning test. This argument shows that if the system replies with Chinese symbols the user may think it’s another human which it is not. This in theory would be a successful turning test but the system might just send out Chinese symbols but the symbols do not make sense with the question or conversation. Searle states that a Chinese speaker communicates with the system can the system responds in Chinese the person might think it is another person but the system might not actually be intelligent. This demonstrates that the Chinese speaker may think it is another speaker who may not know how to read the symbols properly.
Source:
http://philosophy.uwaterloo.ca/MindDict/chineseroom.html
2.Can virtual agents succeed in delivering high-quality customer service over the Web? Think of examples which support or disprove the question or just offer an opinion based on your personal experience.
There are a wide range of categories involving agents. These categories include:
Mobile agents
Distributed agents
Autonomous agents
Intelligent agents
Fuzzy agents
Source :
Knox,I.(2009) Automata week 7 power point presentation.
When trying to determine whether or not a virtual agent can be successful in delivering high quality customer service over the web, there are are a number of different factors that should be looked at. The internet has alot of virtual agents. Companies like Google have agents involved when a user/customer put in a word or question into the search engine the agent gives a reply with similar websites relating. This can be very successful and save comsumers alot of time when searching for a particular site or information on the internet. Search engines also have negative aspect. When searching with the search engine the response given can sometimes not be what you are looking for or not relevant to the words entered in the search. In these circumstances google and other similar search engines that are using agents are not always delivering gigh quality customer service. Rappa Explains this by stating “ the agent ideally gives the best customer service it can but does not always give the customer what they ideally want.”
Source-
http://digitalenterprise.org/transcripts/automata_tr.html
Monday, May 18, 2009
Week 6- Digital Makrets
Question 1
a) What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have used the internet to purchase tickets, book hotel rooms, buy a digital camera and to recharge my pre paid internet.
b) Describe a good experience.
When I brought my camera from the Ted’s Camera House website, I found it really easy to navigate around the site, to compare different camera features and prices and also the different mailing/ payment options were easy to understand and follow. There were no problems with the order or product and I will defiantly consider using the same process next time.
c) What did you like about the online store you used?
Again that it was easy to follow, it allowed me to compare the different camera styles, features and prices. The site was very clear in the procedures I needed to follow when purchasing the camera.
d) Describe a bad experience.
I once used a Best Western motel website to book a room for a night. Although the process seemed simple enough, when I called the next morning to double check my booking had been received they had no records of my booking.
e) What problems did you have with the online store?
The problems I had with this site where that the booking did not actually reach the motel that I intended to make the booking in. I had to leave my credit card details on that site and it made me feel very unsafe about who exactly got those details from that site.
f) What features make an online store more appealing?
· Instructions are easy to follow
· Store is easy to operate
· Well known/ recommended by friends/ family/ media source
· Multiple delivery options
· Multiple payment options
· Wide variety of products
· Detailed images/ features of items
· Refund or exchange for items
g) What features make an online store less appealing?
· No images of products being purchases
· Little known stores
· No refund or exchange on items
· Instructions are difficult to understand
h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
As more and more consumers migrate to online shopping, the prices of goods and services should fall as the market becomes more competitive.
Question 2
a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.
I agree. Consumers look for products and compare the prices in general. Consumers look at products from different stores not only in store but online too, and then decide which to buy through the price. If an online store has a product cheaper than a physical store then the consumer will be more likely to buy from the online store to save money.
b) The importance of brand names will decrease.
The importance of brand names in my opinion will not decrease. Due mainly to brand loyalty. People often go with what they know works regardless of the costs.
c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.
I agree that when stores compete on price that the product becomes cheaper. Such items as iPods when people purchase them they look around at the price since the product is the same in each store.
d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.
I agree. Sites such as Amazon, eBay and other sites dominate since are well known so consumers turn to them first.
e) How do you think the balance of power between buyers and sellers will change?I think that the balance of power will change between buyers and sellers are that people will be looking online for things. The buyers have to make sure that their prices are competing with other stores. If other stores are cheaper than consumers are more incline to go elsewhere. Sellers have more opportunity now since they can go online and see where they can get a product for a cheaper price.
f) Prices are cluster online.I think that the prices online vary.
If products can be purchased online this does not mean that the prices are all the same.
g) Online prices are elastic. (I.e. immune to change up and down with demand).
Most prices would most likely stay the same due to demand always varies. Such items go through waves of popularity. If the items continually change through demand then the prices will change throughout the seasons. The price for a product might reduce for a certain amount of time but I do not think that prices online are elastic.
h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).
I agree. Online prices would be close to the marketplace prices. Certain products are known for their value so if the online price is more expensive than other prices then consumers would purchase elsewhere.
http://moodle.ballarat.edu.au/file.php/24/Digital_Markets/MIT_price_paper.pdf
Question 3
a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?My mobile provider which is Optus provides such m-commerce as:· paying bills online,· emailing· Bluetooth· Games· Internet
b) Which of these services do you use?
Bluetooth
Games
c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?
I only use my phone for calls and messages.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?
My phone allows many transactions however I’m not really interested in making any transactions on my phone.
e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?
Wireless advertising is a good idea as more people have a mobile then internet access. People are always on their phones it makes sense that marketers would tap into this trend. By making it easier for people to make transactions using their phone this helps people do things faster. With the introduction of iphones people have seen this as the latest craze since it allows consumers to go onto the internet to do normal things they would do on their computer. The iphone is bigger and easier to take anywhere.
a) What experiences have you had with shopping online?
I have used the internet to purchase tickets, book hotel rooms, buy a digital camera and to recharge my pre paid internet.
b) Describe a good experience.
When I brought my camera from the Ted’s Camera House website, I found it really easy to navigate around the site, to compare different camera features and prices and also the different mailing/ payment options were easy to understand and follow. There were no problems with the order or product and I will defiantly consider using the same process next time.
c) What did you like about the online store you used?
Again that it was easy to follow, it allowed me to compare the different camera styles, features and prices. The site was very clear in the procedures I needed to follow when purchasing the camera.
d) Describe a bad experience.
I once used a Best Western motel website to book a room for a night. Although the process seemed simple enough, when I called the next morning to double check my booking had been received they had no records of my booking.
e) What problems did you have with the online store?
The problems I had with this site where that the booking did not actually reach the motel that I intended to make the booking in. I had to leave my credit card details on that site and it made me feel very unsafe about who exactly got those details from that site.
f) What features make an online store more appealing?
· Instructions are easy to follow
· Store is easy to operate
· Well known/ recommended by friends/ family/ media source
· Multiple delivery options
· Multiple payment options
· Wide variety of products
· Detailed images/ features of items
· Refund or exchange for items
g) What features make an online store less appealing?
· No images of products being purchases
· Little known stores
· No refund or exchange on items
· Instructions are difficult to understand
h) Should we expect to see the prices of goods and services rise or fall due to the migration of consumers online?
As more and more consumers migrate to online shopping, the prices of goods and services should fall as the market becomes more competitive.
Question 2
a) The dispersion of prices (that is, the spread between the lowest and highest price for a particular product) will narrow.
I agree. Consumers look for products and compare the prices in general. Consumers look at products from different stores not only in store but online too, and then decide which to buy through the price. If an online store has a product cheaper than a physical store then the consumer will be more likely to buy from the online store to save money.
b) The importance of brand names will decrease.
The importance of brand names in my opinion will not decrease. Due mainly to brand loyalty. People often go with what they know works regardless of the costs.
c) Price competition will make all products cheaper.
I agree that when stores compete on price that the product becomes cheaper. Such items as iPods when people purchase them they look around at the price since the product is the same in each store.
d) Digital markets will become dominated by a handful of mega-sites, like Amazon.com.
I agree. Sites such as Amazon, eBay and other sites dominate since are well known so consumers turn to them first.
e) How do you think the balance of power between buyers and sellers will change?I think that the balance of power will change between buyers and sellers are that people will be looking online for things. The buyers have to make sure that their prices are competing with other stores. If other stores are cheaper than consumers are more incline to go elsewhere. Sellers have more opportunity now since they can go online and see where they can get a product for a cheaper price.
f) Prices are cluster online.I think that the prices online vary.
If products can be purchased online this does not mean that the prices are all the same.
g) Online prices are elastic. (I.e. immune to change up and down with demand).
Most prices would most likely stay the same due to demand always varies. Such items go through waves of popularity. If the items continually change through demand then the prices will change throughout the seasons. The price for a product might reduce for a certain amount of time but I do not think that prices online are elastic.
h) Online prices are generally transparent (the extent to which prices for a given product or service are known by buyers in the marketplace.).
I agree. Online prices would be close to the marketplace prices. Certain products are known for their value so if the online price is more expensive than other prices then consumers would purchase elsewhere.
http://moodle.ballarat.edu.au/file.php/24/Digital_Markets/MIT_price_paper.pdf
Question 3
a) What types of m-commerce services does your cell phone provider offer?My mobile provider which is Optus provides such m-commerce as:· paying bills online,· emailing· Bluetooth· Games· Internet
b) Which of these services do you use?
Bluetooth
Games
c) What types of transactions do you perform through your cell phone or other wireless device?
I only use my phone for calls and messages.
d) What types of transactions would you like to perform, but are currently unable to?
My phone allows many transactions however I’m not really interested in making any transactions on my phone.
e) What is your opinion of wireless advertising/mobile marketing?
Wireless advertising is a good idea as more people have a mobile then internet access. People are always on their phones it makes sense that marketers would tap into this trend. By making it easier for people to make transactions using their phone this helps people do things faster. With the introduction of iphones people have seen this as the latest craze since it allows consumers to go onto the internet to do normal things they would do on their computer. The iphone is bigger and easier to take anywhere.
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