This article argues Facebook may perhaps be fading from the mainstream or is going through a ‘midlife crisis’.  S. Shyam Sundar, a director of the Media Effects Research Lab at Pennsylvania State University claims the social media site has turned into a ‘community scrapbook’ where only major life events are documented and the majority of its services are ignored. It was also described as the mall, as people wander around in it and occasionally poke into other people’s lives. The fear is that Facebook has reached its climax and other social media websites are replacing it such as Twitter and Snap chat.

Personally I find it hard to argue that the giant Facebook could be falling so soon, but I do agree that some revolution needs to take place within the website as its remained stagnant for years. The post by Phoenix Wong about Innovation relates quite well to this Facebook dilemma. Facebook seems to have turned more into an advertising platform and this post suggests companies must make innovation a part of the job rather. U.S companies are falling behind on innovation and I feel Facebook is a good example, once innovators, now struggling to stay interesting.

https://blogs.ubc.ca/phoenixwong/2013/11/17/innovation/

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/16/still-on-facebook-but-finding-less-to-like/?ref=business

The video below is about the recent Kale craze in nutrition enthusiasts, some journalists from the New York Times travel to Boulder, Colorado to find out why Broccoli has never been ‘the cool new vegetable’ despite its health benefits. Kale has recently been popularized and is coming into the mainstream as a cool new vegetable. The video talks about how and when every vegetable has been through a phase of being the next best thing. The only vegetable that hadn’t been on that list was broccoli and health enthusiasts were blaming it on the media’s portrayal of broccoli tasting bad.

To combat Kale, a pseudo marketing team was formed to re-brand broccoli and find way to advertise it as the next best vegetable. It was quite interesting seeing the various meetings and exercises the marketing team did. The creativity evolving from the conversations was quite inspiring. They had come up with the idea to make broquets, which is a broccoli bouquet that you can give to your bros. The team was designing billboards and t-shirts that resemble early 1900 boxing match posters which Kale and Broccoli as the opponents. The video is a little long but definitely worth a watch http://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/100000002528048/creating-the-broccoli-craze.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131102

A new start up, Superpedestrian is a company that has attempted to revolutionize the bicycle wheel to a wheel that works the same way a hybrid car does. The wheel has a small electric engine inside of small shell and it looks very normal. The engine is connected to an app which monitors everything from speed to effort while cycling. The bicycle wheel knows when the cyclist is struggling and the engine automatically kicks in. The battery recharges from braking down hills and generates power when the cyclist pedals in reverse.

The idea is no doubt an attractive one for the everyday metropolitan cyclist, and it seems the invention has been executed well. It will be interesting to see what Superpedestrian does for business decisions. With the increase in renting city bikes in many large cities this wheel would be an appealing buy for cities who are developing the rental city bikes. There are many skeptics to this bicycle and the company may try and argue the skeptics. But better yet, let the product speak for its self. The idea is definitely different and perhaps may revolutionize urban cycling but what is next? What can super pedestrian do to make this better many times over?

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/21/start-up-literally-reinvents-the-bicycle-wheel/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131022&_r=0

http://superpedestrian.com/

Apple has recently hired Angela Ahrendts, former CEO of Burberry, the British luxury clothing company. Her role in Apple is to fill to role of retail chief, which has been empty for over a year. In her time at Burberry she was able to bring the company out of a slump and bring consistent growth for about seven years. She was able to reinvent the trademark look of Burberry, as the traditional plaid was growing old. Apple’s hopes is that she can bring a fresh new design to their products. Their fear is that their electronics are losing their competitive edge in their clean design and small size. As many other phones and electronics have similar looks. Its as if Apple is trying to fill the void of revolutionary looks and ideas  for products that Steve Jobs had.

Angela Ahrendts was no doubt impressive at Burberry and very capable. However this begs the question, can Angela’s knowledge of luxury clothing apply to a remodel of Apple? It seems an odd fit, clothing to electronics. The only obvious match is that both products are somewhat luxury goods, however Apple’s trademark has always been, simple, and monochromatic. Clothing tends not to be monochromatic for the most part, it will be interesting to see if Apple changes their looks in attempts to change popular design again.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304561004579136642448489128

Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is trying to secure deals with television networks over seas. Ten networks in eight countries is what he wants to offer data about the amount of likes and comments television shows receive to aid the advertisers. This will allow advertisers to see not only a very precise number of the network fans, but the demographics which can really help networks and advertisers maximize their airtime and dial in their most effective adverts. The battle over these networks is ongoing over Twitter, but Facebook is already supplying their data to networks in the U.S.

This partnership could be very effective for Facebook financially, as advertisers and networks would really value the data within Facebook’s users. This social technology is really creating a new era as it breaks down previous barriers that viewers had with networks. With these partnerships, television networks can supply to their majority consumers with great efficiency and effectiveness. For many smaller television shows that are not planned episodes ahead, this could allow producers to really customize the entertainment and really see who liked what when. This in turn could even help Netflix with what shows and networks they should focus on getting to their viewers.

http://www.businessweek.com/videos/2013-10-07/facebooks-zuckerberg-adds-overseas-tv-partners#r=nav-f-video

The recent popularization of E-Cigarettes has been increasing the decline of normal cigarettes. E-Cigarettes are a healthier alternative to normal tobacco however they are not completely safe. The European Parliament has voted on a proposal to regulate the distribution of theses cigarettes as if they were medical. The problem is the E-Cigarettes do help smoker to reduce their smoking and quit, however the regulation would give no control to E-Cigarettes of who their target market would be. Obviously the producers of these new vaporizers are upset at this potential regulation as projections by Bonnie Herzog of Wells Fargo bank predicts E-Cigarettes to surpass the popularity of normal cigarettes should regulators allow this.

The implementation of this regulation has its positive and negative outcomes. Without regulation, E-cigarettes could surpass the popularity of tobacco in turn reducing many health risks involved with normal tobacco cigarettes. These could also reduce the number of smokers as it would be easier for them to make the switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes at a local convenience store rather than going through the trouble of getting a prescription. The potential risks could be increase in overall smokers, as electronic cigarettes could use the same marketing techniques as tobacco companies when cigarettes were gaining popularity and make smoking look cool and safe. Either way electronic cigarette manufactures need to address the responsibility they owe their consumers that electronic cigarettes are not a completely safe alternative to tobacco.

http://www.economist.com/news/business/21586867-regulators-wrestle-e-smokes-tobacco-industry-changing-fast-kodak-moment

Tech City, a London based company that is a technology cluster working with companies like Google, Intel, Facebook, Vodafone and many more has recently opened a competition in which over 1000 start ups from 77 countries are attempting to create the next Facebook or Twitter. The price money is $1.6 Million as well as invaluable experience, the selection is rather complex using crowd sourcing, algorithms, and a jury evaluation. The question of Tech City is if all the money, time, and effort invested will pay off and a billion pound flotation will be created or a something that would sell to a big firm. The company, ‘King’, maker of popular online game “The Candy Crush Saga” has filed for flotation which is a positive sign that this competition is moving in the right direction and has potential to be very successful.

It is no doubt this goal is ambitious despite the large number of start ups involved, but to create a company as dominant and revolutionary as Facebook or Twitter is a risky project. The technology industry is highly competitive which is conducive to creativity as everyone wants to invent ‘the next big thing’ however for Tech City to have a finished product in mind that resembles Facebook or Twitter can be very limiting and even hinder creativity. Contestants could focus on the judging process with its algorithms and see it almost as guidelines or a rubric. Perhaps a contest with less limiting factors could more effective as some start up may  have the vision of the ‘next Facebook’ to be completely different from what is known today.

http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21587268-cluster-start-ups-east-london-thriving-all-they-need-now-big-success-start-me-up

Toyota had reports of sudden acceleration problems in their vehicles,but because they were unable to uncover the source of the sudden acceleration and could not replicate the problem they chose to ignore the issue all together and continue selling their faulty vehicles. The unethical decision of continuing to sell their cars has resulted in the death of a family of four who had crashed their car because of their sudden acceleration problem. Not only will this tragedy be on the conscious of those who decided to continue selling the vehicles but this story will stay with Toyota for a long time and put a strain on their business.

Toyota had to also issue 12 million recalls in 13 months and also had to pay a record $16.4 million fine for a delayed recall. Toyota is urgently denying allegations and fighting lawsuits that can tarnish their reputation, however they claimed to have reported the acceleration problem to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 3 times. Despite Toyota s efforts to redeem their reputation they appear to be a company that is not motivated by ethics or safety of their products but by the money made from their cars.