Apple Inc, frustrated with Google Android phones imitating their IPhones, have dropped Google Maps as the default mapping program.  Apple Inc. has decided to make design their own.  This seems like a great idea to decrease dependency on Google.  In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, Apple’s new mapping service has several major errors.  The Eiffel tower looked like a pancake, the Statue of Liberty was missing and there were many other glitches.  This is a big change for consumers as they are used to IPhones having dependable maps. Trout and Ries would argue that Apple will never have a number one mapping system because they were not the first.  However, they would also argue that Android phones were also not the first and in that sense they cannot beat Apple.  The question is, how will IPhone users that make frequent use of the mapping functions react to this change? Evidently It isn’t a huge deterrence as this video shows.  This video shows that Apple, being the first to create the product, is still doing exceptionally well even when flaws are found.  When people think of touch-screen, smart phones they still think the IPhone.

The company Groupon Inc, has started up a mobile payment business.  This new sector is much like companies like Square Inc.  These companies were set up to swipe cards like  Visa, MasterCard and American Express online. People associate accessibility with Visa, family values with Mastercard and status with American Express.  But what do people think of when they think of Groupon? Generally Groupon has been used by consumers to save money through daily deals.  Now this is being heavily encouraged by Groupon’s new plan to charge restaurants and other businesses less if they use Groupon deals. Groupon is attempting to define their points of parity with Square Inc.  The article about Groupon  tells us that it is offering lower prices to swipe credit cards.  This is something that is easy for Square Inc. just to copy again, so it isn’t a great value proposition, but because it charges different rates for each credit card company, it might influence the credit card companies demand. In this way, Groupon is indirectly advertising benefits for having one card over another.  Groupon charges 1.8% plus 15 cents for Mastercard and Visa, but for American Express it charges 3% plus 15 cents.  I think that this could have a significant effect on those who are looking into credit card companies or to change companies.  

The article found on this website: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/09/11/edmonton-oilsands-pollution-acid-rain-limits.html deals with the ethical issue of how oilsands are used in extracting oil and gas. The debate lies in the question of whether or not it is better to produce oil and gas cheaply, allowing more people access, or to develop means, more expensively, to protect the environment.  Oil companies want to make the most money possible and to do that, they will try to obtain oil with minimal cost possible.  This makes the product a cheaper price to sell to consumers. However, this poses huge environmental threats to many animals and their ecosystems. The above article mentions that the provincial government of Alberta implemented new laws for oilsands to minimize their pollution levels in an effort to protect the environment.  However, oil companies, acting in their own interests seem to be disregarding these new laws.  It is no more than two weeks since these pollution laws came into effect and the acceptable levels of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide outlined in the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan are predicted to be crossed if all goes according to plan.  Cheaper gas to fuel a car is not worth compromising the planet we live on.

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