Karen's Blog

One of the companies I consider to be entrepreneurial is SynCardia. SynCardia Systems, Inc. is a private company that was founded to sell the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart (TAH). The TAH provides a bridge to heart transplant, allowing the wait time for patients to be extended as it allows a regular flow of blood to vital organs.

Innovation is one of SynCardia’s most obvious traits. To Take this further, they are now researching what they call the Freedom® Driver System (FDS). In the past, the TAH and all its 418 pounds kept patients confined to the hospital. However, the FDS is lightweight and can safely be used by patients at home.

Previously, the market for artificial hearts barely existed, as the human heart was too important and complex an organ to replace. However, as results show, SynCardia is able to provide a substitute. Of course, there was risk entering this market. The reliability of this invention cannot be seen and would have faced skeptical criticism. It is also costly to produce and buy, but as it basically provides a choice between life and death, SynCardia has received high revenue. Collectively, these characteristics depict SynCardia as a very entrepreneurial company.

The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart

Image credits: SynCardia logo, TAH

For the past few months, demonstrations have been taking place around the world. It all started on September 17th, 2011, as protestors started announcing their discontent with the distribution of wealth, global financial system and about a million other things. As the numbers of protesters grew, so did their list of problems. Along the way, many spectators started asking themselves what this whole thing is actually about.

Taking it to Vancouver, Occupy Vancouver is being held in front of the Downtown Art Gallery. Today a woman died in her tent during the protest. She was discovered by another protester to be unresponsive, then later declared dead at the hospital.

I am beginning to get tired of hearing about these protests. After realizing that nothing is being done to correct the wrongs they have voiced, I think a different approach should be taken. It seems to be a waste of hard work and resources can be used more efficiently. I truly think all this should end before things get out of hand. This death is only the beginning of worse things to come. Their heart is in the right place but their efforts lack results.

Link to article.
Image credits: Image 1, Image 2, Image 3, Image 4

Video: Simple questions stumps protestors. So why are you here?

The Nintendo Gameboy

Being a 90s kid, growing up would not have felt complete without my purple Gameboy. I saw this notion mirrored by many others around my age, as we all seem to have played on this device at some point of our lives, then moving on to purchase many other Nintendo electronic devices.

Finding out that Nintendo will be making their first ever loss this financial year stunned me. However, as the article points out, it is tough in a world where everything can be done on smartphones and tablets. The need for a portable gaming device or home gaming consoles is diminishing. Who would have thought that phones would eventually take over the gaming industry?

In order for Nintendo to survive, they must adapt and change with the times. However, through this blog, I have seen and learned that this is certainly easier said than done. Seeing this historical company starting to fall, I hope that they will find a way to push themselves back up! Perhaps integrate aspects of the new smartphones into their devices and push back against the competition? Or will a smartphone company looking to increase their points of difference eventually swallow them up?

Link to article.
Image credits: Gameboy 

Space: The Final Frontier

How many of us have wanted to be an astronaut, exploring the mysteries of space? Well, it seems like the wait is over. Bigelow Aerospace is intent on building space habitats. However, their plans have been pushed back due to the delayed development of American space taxis.

Space habitats from Bigelow

At the moment, the only countries that has the ability to fly people into orbit is China and Russia. Russia has been charging USD$50 million per person for a ride. This is not only hindering the Bigelow’s developments, but also NASA’s: they are paying $450 million per year to fly their astronauts to space.

So what should the Americans do? Their government is hesitant to grant NASA the $850 million necessary to build the taxis by 2016. They argue that this is all they will need and if it is not attained, money will have to be paid to the Russians anyway. As Alan Boyle’s blog post suggests, this is not entirely true. Costs for developments as well as crew are projected to rise, so money necessary will also rise. However, in the long run, the money spent will be compensated. It is definitely a race against time to finish their space taxis.

Link to articles: Bigelow’s space habitats; NASA’s costs
Image credits: Space view; Bigelow space habitat 

Before and after extraction of oil in Alberta.

What comes to mind when thinking about Northern Alberta? For many activists and companies, it is home to the infamous tar sands. Lately, the European Union has been taking steps towards targeting the tar sands as a part of their plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

However, Canada has not given up hope yet. They believe that they can persuade the EU to understand that oil can be extracted in a socially responsible way.

Of course, persuasion alone will not be enough. That is where the other investors come in. Tens and billions of dollars have been invested in these oil sands and investors will not be happy if something that can affect output occurs. This is why Britain and the Netherlands have been supporting Canadian interests to allow normal operations at the oil sands.

The oil sands have killed wildlife habitats around the area and permanent changes to the ecosystem have occurred. To combat this problem, I see lessening developments of the oil sands to be the natural next step. It is undeniable however that the whole world wants to satisfy their want for these resources, as well as money, and thus, the environment must be sacrificed.

Link to article.
Link to info on impact of tar sands.

Image credits: Before and after

Blackberry App World-- the app store for Blackberry users

To put it lightly, Research In Motion has not been doing well lately. However, they are still doing what they can and holding on to hopes for their future devices. Bringing in QNX, their new operating system, to their upcoming Blackberry devices, RIM has to convince developers to create apps for this system.

The idea is simple, but the actual convincing will be difficult. RIM has made developers’ lives complicated due to difficulty of making apps that will work across their devices. For example, apps must be resized for different devices and some must adapt to touch screens.

I agree that RIM’s main focus in the near future is to attract more developers to increase their apps. No longer can they use their technical reliability and security to lure customers. To fight their competition, they must at least reach points of parity shown by competitors. Through apps, they can widen uses and services of their devices. They should learn from their PlayBook, which was a hopeful device, but what could customers do with it? It gave no big incentives for consumers to move away from the trusty iPad, as well as the other tablets out there.

Link to article. 
Image Credits: Blackberry App World

Swiffer battling cancer.

Breast Cancer: The fear of millions of women around the world. The fight to end this beast has not gone unnoticed. An estimated $6 billion a year is raised towards research.

It is October and as many know, it is Breast Cancer awareness month. Filling shelves and storefronts are pink merchandise, all claiming to have their proceeds donated to breast cancer research. Many are swayed to contribute to this effort and the end results are amazing. With this much help, one would think that the cure has made significant progress. Figures show that in the U.S in 1991, 119 women died of breast cancer daily. Nowadays, the number has dropped—to 110.

Sony joining the fight.

Although medical progress has not been phenomenal, money making has. Asides from charities that turn out to be a scam, there is the problem of simply branding a product as a step closer to the cure. After all, it is not hard making your products pink and promising to donate 20% of proceeds towards the cause*. These simple words can cause people to become more willing to pull out their wallets. It definitely is a winner at boosting sales. Ethically, I believe it is definitely questionable.

*Example of products
Link to article.
Image credits: Swiffer, Sony 

Amazon Kindle Fire

IPad to face competition? That is what people expect the Amazon Fire to bring to the worldwide best selling tablet. I am very skeptical of this claim as I sit here typing on my iPad. However, it does seem that if there was a product in the near future who can come close to competing, it will be the Fire.

The Kindle Fire is more than just an e-reader, with access to Amazon’s vast amounts of android apps as well as a much lower price tag than the iPad. Along with this comes features such web browsing and the compatibility and ability to subscribe to Amazon Prime for shows and movies. For $200, customers can own this tablet.

As Melissa’s blog points out, the war is fierce among touch pads. It is true that other companies are constantly trying to place themselves in the minds of consumers, but the dominance of the iPad is unwavering in the market. It is evident that Amazon is upping their game. However, is the Fire trying to do too much? Being formerly known as only an e-reader, is it taking too big a leap with the Fire?

Link to article.

Image credits: Kindle Fire

Original Kodak camera.

Eastman Kodak has had no trouble positioning themselves in their customer’s mind– in the past that is. They were known as the number one company for all things film and photography related. However, since having only one year of profit since 2004, they are considering options including filing for bankruptcy.

As Broadcastberry points out, Kodak was too late in catching up to the innovative world around them. I agree with this blog’s view that Kodak needs to reinvent its image in order to save itself. They started off slow on the road to digital photography, and this move has shown itself to be the root of many of Kodak’s problems. Their image has lost much of its former glories.

Kodak Playtouch Digital Video Camera--one of Kodak's latest products.

To get back into the modern economy will be difficult. But it seems that Kodak is giving up on claiming back their position as the leader in the industry. By selling their patents, it is a good way to increase revenue, but it will only cause stakeholders to lose even more confidence in them. This is a great lesson on how a company has to act fast and keep moving forward. Only time will tell what is in store for Kodak.

Link to article.
Image credits: Original kodak camera, Kodak Playtouch
 

Target has made their motives on expanding to Canada clear early this year. Their plans will begin with buying out Zellers, the Canadian retail chain. Now, Target, the second largest discount retailer in the US, aims to play a big role in Canada’s grocery market. They have made plans with Sobeys, Canada’s second largest food retailer, for their supplies.

It is no surprise that Target wants to continue their involvement in the grocery scene as they did in America, but they are taking risks. Canadians have many other choices of supermarkets, so Target can expect competition. With increased operation expenses in Canada, will they fare well in this new market?

A smart move they made was to get their supply from Sobeys. By pairing up with a well-known local produce supplier, they are further helping to stimulate the Canadian market. With all facts considered, Target will probably have a relatively smooth road paved for their entry to Canada. However, it will definitely pose a threat to other Canadian retail stores as Akaash Bali’s blog explores. Target offers lower prices that many stores cannot compete with. Their arrival may bring good news to consumers, but to businesses, it means tough competition.

Link to article

Image credits: Fake Target logo