The smartphone industry has been leading the cellphone industry since the development of iPhone. Yesterday when I went to Apple store to fix my little brother’s iPhone, I had a talk with one of the specialist about some of the iPhone functions that I was not sure about. He suggested me to update my computer, restore my data in iCloud regularly, secure this, secure that, organize files, photos, purchase an external drive, update my account etc. I was so overwhelmed by all the information I needed to be concerned about with a single phone, or a single laptop.

Back a few years ago, nothing was this complicated because the technology was at a much slower pace. Linking back to the presentation we heard last class from Modern Craft, there are updates happening every minute, and the online world is growing at an unbelievable and uncontrollable level. This really frightens me because this massive data might eventually crash one day in the future, and security will be a very huge issue to everybody who is involved in online activities. Everything has its good and bad side, so on one hand, we are enjoying this what we have imagined to be a miracle 10 years ago, but on the other hand, there is the fear of what is going to be like in another 10 years from now?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/retailers-scale-up-online-sales-distribution-networks-1447792869?mod=ST1

“Home Depot says it opened its third U.S. distribution centre in the third quarter dedicated to e-commerce fulfillment as online sales soared”

In the recently years, many retailers expanded their e-commerce supply chain because online sales have grew tremendously; one of which is Home Depot – it can now can ship to 90% of its U.S. customers within two business days after recently opening its third online-order fulfillment center in Troy Township, Ohio.

” E-commerce revenue grew far faster than in-store sales. Online revenue increased 25% compared with the same quarter a year ago against 6.4% growth in Home Depot’s overall revenue.”

In comparison to in-store sales, online sales are more attractive, convenient for both sellers and buyers. Relating this news to what we discussed in E-Marketing class, many retailers such as Best Buy and Future Shop are shutting down stores around the world, due to waste of labour and capital. By switching to online shops or vending machines, the cost reduce by massively. There is also a trend that is causing retailers to shut down stores, which is ‘screening’. Many customers go to the stores to check out the products, and copy down the ‘code’ to search online to purchase at a lower price. It seems like online selling and marketing will keep growing until something more advanced replaces.

http://mic.com/articles/112944/anonymous-went-after-the-islamic-state-with-a-massive-hack-but-was-it-a-good-idea#.AEne4A7av

Summary of news: Breaking news on November 13th. Paris was attacked by ISIS terrorist bombs in various locations. more than 130 people dead, and lots wounded. It was a dreadful scene, and a miserable day for Parisians and people around the globe.

A few days after the attack, Hacker group named “Anonymous” responded ISIS terrorists by posting a video, declaring a war against them. The spokesperson wore a mask announced in French, “Expect massive cyber attack.s War is declared, Get prepared. Anonymous from all over the world will hunt you down… You should know that we will find and we will not let you go. We will launch the baggiest operation ever against you.”

Comments: Hackers, as we already know, have extremely expertise skills to hack the internet to steel people’s information. In our current world with so much data entered into the computer system, hackers are able to search certain information that they need. They have declared war to ISIS, which means that they will be hacking through their data to find out about their plans and conspiracy.

#prayforfrance#prayforworld

http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/instagram-essena-o-neill-social-media-isn-t-real-1.3302045

Essena O’Neill has been “internet famous” since age 16. Her dream at the age of 12 was to become someone who is “perfect” in the audiences’ eyes. She measured her perfectness through the number of followers, likes, and appraisals from her social media accounts: Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr. She would dress mature, take hundred of pictures and photoshop the best one to post them on social media to gain likes. By the age she graduated high school, she has made income off her posts and modelling for brands.

“I had all the attention I had ever dreamed of and more. And … I had never been more miserable in my life,” she wrote. “I was a living paradox of conditional self-love and constant self-hate … I liked myself based on how tight and toned my body was, how pretty my hair and makeup was, how hot the guy I was talking to was, how happy I looked in photos, how many people liked my photos … my whole idea of self-worth revolved around my appearance and my social media status.”

She decided to quit social media because she does not want to spend 50 hours online without experiencing the real world. She does not want to waste her life again on the fake world that is making her miserable and unbearable and wants to face the real self and what truly makes her happy.

Comments: I think Essena’s act is very inspiring, and I have watched her recent 20 mins Youtube video and I was very touched by her words and emotions. However, this also leads me to wonder if she is taking another route to get more fame by going against social media. Social media’s power has gone beyond imagination, which is why everyone who is involved with business or trying to make money are relying on social media to reach their objectives. These platforms are the quickest and easiest ways to reach people and gain attention. However, everything has both positive and negative sides, at the same time that we are gaining benefits from social media, many are also suffering from this “online world”. Relating this situation to Marketing, traditional marketing has evolved into E-Marketing — will this generation last?