Blackberry and Iphone competition is pretty interesting

The concept of smartphone was introduced just when I started highschool. The years that teenagers keep bragging about their phones and always buy the newest versions. I was never that kind of a person, but I used both a blackberry and an Iphone. (I only had one of each though but still..) I remember when people went crazy about Iphone 3. Although I personally didn’t know about Blackberry that time, the chart above shows that Blackberry had a bigger demand than Iphone until 2008, the year Iphone 3G was introduced.

After that, for a short period, everybody around me had an Iphone. They started calling their phones Iphones instead of phone or cellphones. (For example when they took a picture they were saying “I took this through my iphone”) Although Iphone was a much qualified phone in my opinion, for most of the teenagers, free and unlimited texting was more important and this desired was satisfied by “BBM” the Blackberry Messenger.

A Blackberry Mania started at the end of 2009, and all of my friends switched to Blackberries. We were able to text freely all the time and it was like a heaven for all teenagers, including me.

In 2008, when I went out with my friends, I noticed that the tables were full of Iphone’s. In the year 2010, the tables were more welcoming to blackberries, and the people with Iphone’s were being made fun of.

This shows that RIM noticed the needs of teenagers and produced exactly what they wanted, but the years later brought whinings and complaints about blackberries. They kept freezing for no reason and the introduction of new apple product iphone 4G and then 4S, put Aplle in the leading position again.

Now it is really hard to see people buying blackberries, especially after the Iphone 5. I’ve been hearing that 5 was a dissapointment, so maybe Blackbery can again make a move and take the bigger pie out of the cake. But ops! What about Samsung(!)

I think we migh have a new winner soon…

Images taken from:

http://www.ceprobot.com/android-cep-uygulamalari/android-sistem-modifikasyon-ve-romlar/3041-samsung-galaxy-s-plus-deger-paketi-guncellemesi-nceleme.html

iPhone vs BlackBerry

http://www.arasindakifarklar.com/2012/01/iphone-ve-blackberry-arasindaki-farklar/

How significant is your mother’s surname before marriage?

Seth Godin’s blog about customer service is a very elaborate explanation of what people expect from a customer service respresentative. These days, most of the customer services keep asking irrelevant questions until they answer your one very simple question. This always frustrates the customer and a company would never want that.

In our comm101 class, we talked about this issue and listened to a customer and a representative’s conversation. The customer just asked how to turn his computer off and it took more than 5 or 6 minutes for him to get an answer, and the answer was “hold the shut down button for 8 seconds”

Why do they have to ask your mother’s surname before marriage to answer a simple question like this? Or is it really important for them to know your adrees and postal code? If you want to cancel your credit card, the answer is yes but the answer is a big NO if the question is “How am I going to turn this pc off?”

If you want to make your customer happy be fast, be concise, and ask significant questions related to the consumer’s problems. You don’t want your customers to look like this;

Link to Seth Godin’s Blog: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2012/10/the-only-purpose-of-customer-service.html

Image taken from:

http://www.news.com.au/business/telecommunications-regulator-tackles-telcos-over-poor-service/story-e6frfm1i-1225914576084

Technology is being developed for the enviroment, but do consumers always care about the enviroment rather than money?

Hybrid cars are basically cars that work with two types of engines at the same time, one electrical and one with gasoline. Hybrid cars also differentiate between them, but in the long run all of them aim to pollute the air less. The first models of hybrid cars were not as succesfull, but it was a good beginning. Toyota Prius, the model that led hybrid car technology for a long time, was designed with a normal engine and an electrical engine assisting it, so it wasn’t as efficient as the modern ones but clearly a leading model for the newest technologies.

New Honda Civic’s price is about $ 16.000

New Honda Civic Hybrid’s price is around $ 24.000

Now the hybrid cars can add up to 20-30 miles per gallon, but the prices are significantly expensive due to the high costs of production. Since these cars are aiming to help the enviroment, government should subsidize these car companies in some way, for example taxes, and help them to decrease the prices so that the consumers will have more reasons to choose a hybrid car. It is not fair to charge consumers more to help the enviroment since most people would care more about their savings rather than the air pollution.

It is true that in “some” models, the gasoline consumption is significantly less so in the long run it is an advantage for the consumer, but if a person spends $250 for gasoline monthly and if hybrid cars make them save up to $100 per month, covering $8000 will take almost 5 years, so it is not an attractive deal always.

Bibliography:

“Hibrid Otomobil Nedir Nasil Calisir Avantajlari Nedir | TeknoSeyir.” TeknoSeyir. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.teknoseyir.com/31887/hibrid-otomobil-nedir-nasil-calisir-avantajlari-nedir/>.

Alkan, Hakki, Mr. “Toyota Prius Hybrid O–zellikleri, Fiyati, Resimleri.” ShiftDelete.Net. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://shiftdelete.net/toyota-prius-hybrid-ozellikleri-fiyati-resimleri-24923.html>.

Nice, Karim, Mr, and Julia Layton, Ms. “How Hybrid Cars Work.” HowStuffWorks. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car.htm>.

Image taken from:

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=53482

Have you ever thought why people pay thousands of dollars for a single purse?

The purse you see above is “Les Extraordinaires Corcodile”. The price is 33.000 dollars. Do you know why?

“Reinterpreted with a flap and in precious crocodile with a vintage, whitewashed patina, the Crocodile Old Speedy Flap is also the first of the season’s two Les Extraordinaires, available in a strictly limited, numbered edition.” (http://www.ilvoelv.com/2012/01/louis-vuitton-springsummer-2012-bag-names-and-prices.html)

This quotation explains it all. “Precious, the first, strictly limited, numbered edition.” and as you can understand “extraordinaires”. There comes the concepts of satisfaction, social statue, arrogance and greed. Having this precious and rare purse makes people feel so special that they are willing to pay 33.000 dollars which they can only put their sunglasses and phone.

As it is explained in microeconomics, these kind of goods are called “veblen goods” and their demand increases as price increases. Rolex watches, prada wallets etc. are all veblen goods which are overpriced and demanded more because of their high prices. These huge companies managed to affect people, be the best in their industry, and advertise their goods so well that they deserve to earn those big amounts. Not for the product, but for the effort they put in, and to be able to sell a purse for 30.000 dollars. Well what can we say, it is business…

Lastly, a little interesting fact that most of us know, but try to deny.

This little crocodile costs 50 dollars more

Images taken from:

http://www.ilvoelv.com/2012/01/louis-vuitton-springsummer-2012-bag-names-and-prices.html

http://www.mediabistro.com/unbeige/crocodile-dentists-win-lacoste-logo-legal-battle_b4457

Bibliography:

“Monogram Transparence.” Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2012 Bag Names and Prices Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ilvoelv.com/2012/01/louis-vuitton-springsummer-2012-bag-names-and-prices.html>.

Can you define football as a business, as an industry?

“Businesses are driven by the need to make money and trumpet their profits to their investors or owners. But all football teams care about is winning for the fans.” (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1898854.stm) So football teams can not be defined as proper businesses according to the definition.

But still, no one can deny that football is an industry that advertises companies, that gives millions of job opportunuties, that increases touristic incomes, that triggers nationalism, and something that psychologically brings people together. It gives job opportunuties to people with low educational level or high educational level. During a game, there is no difference between the richest and the poorest. When your team wins a game, there is nothing that can make you happier in that particular moment. While watching a national game, people forget about wars, economical crises, global warming and any kind of problems. It brings togetherness.

Everyone can say football is a vicious circle, earning money and spending more to grow, but the fact that they produce happiness and togetherness can not be ignored. It is the biggest profit and it is what people need, even more than money. The amount that players earn is not even worth talking about, they deserve every penny of it.

Image taken from: http://www.usfamanagement.com/suivi-et-gestion-de-carriere/departement-recrutement/prestations-de-servicesprestations-de-services/attachment/soccer-football-business/

Bibliography:

“The Business of Football.” BBC News. BBC, 28 Mar. 2002. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1898854.stm>.

Competition is a bit different in Turkey

Two fast food restaurants, two huge brands. McDonalds and Burger King. Statistics shows that McDonalds is much bigger than Burger King, but this situation is different in Turkey.

In 1986, McDonalds opened the first foreign fast food restaurant in Turkey and started the first franchising system. Burger King opened it’s first restaurant in the year 1995 and it’s not wrong to say that Burger King is more popular in Turkey at the moment.

In the year 2000, McDonalds had 131 restaurants in 25 cities, and Burger King had 100 restaurant in 22 cities. With these numbers, Burger King Turkey managed to be the fastest growing franchising company in the world.

Burger King kept the progress, McDonalds couldn’t use the advantage of being first. Burger King, opened their 300th restaurant in 2010 and Turkey was the second country after USA with 314 restaurants. Although McDondals entered Turkish Market 9 years before and although they are more popular than Burger King in most of the world, they still have about 180 stores in Turkey and they are far behind of Burger King.

As a Turkish citizen, I prefer Burger King. Why? Burgers are bigger, meat is tastier (they use grills which Turkish people love) and at the moment, it’s easier to reach Burger King since they have more restaurants.

If you ever go to Turkey, especialy Istanbul, just ask people’s preferences about Burger King and McDonalds. Here is the exact answer you will hear.

“Burger King’s Hamburgers, McDonalds’ fries”

Images taken from :

http://insomnium-blog.blogspot.ca/2011/12/mcdonalds-vs-burguer-king.html

http://fastfoodfasttimes.tumblr.com/post/1346663579/all-about-the-grill-marks

Bibliography:

“Burger King 300’uncu Restorani Acti, Turkiye’yi ‘dünya Lideri’ Yapacak.” Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/ekonomi/14363301.asp>.

Turkiye’de McDonald’s.  Web. 08 Oct. 2012.<http://www.mcdonalds.com.tr/turkiyede-mcdonalds_1_7>.

Ceylan, Emre, Mr. “Burger Savasi Kizisti.”  Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://arsiv.ntvmsnbc.com/news/33946.asp>.

How can ethical values affect individuals’ career?

Ethics are “moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conducting of an activity” (http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ethics.) As it can be seen on the diagram above, it can be analysed in different categories. Personal ethics can be contradictary to most of the daily life events, but how can it affect a person’s business life? Can ethics be the barrier in front of someone’s career? Do you sometimes have to forget about all your moral&ethical values and just do what your boss tells you to?

Business life is greedy, merciless and callous. In order to survive, you have to be straightforward and strict. Holding on to your ethical values will just pull you back, and prevent success. It sounds cruel and wrong, but sometimes, someone has to do the wrong to achieve success, which is the fact of today’s business life.

Just a small advice, personal life and business life should be kept seperately. Whatever you do for your job can’t determine who you are. At the end of the day, forget about everything and enjoy your life. Life is too short to care more about others than you.

Image taken from:

http://graphicleftovers.com/graphic/ethics-types-business-diagram-7/

Bibliography:

Definition of Ethics. Web. 08 Oct. 2012. <http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/ethics>