iPad system in a small plane.

Apple’s iPad is known for being useful in numerous things, but it is now available to use in the cockpits of planes. According to Rachael King’s blog post, the Federal Aviation Association approved the iPad to be used in the cockpits, which represents the reliability of the iPad.

The portable tablet has been found efficient in many businesses. Some restaurants also replaced their menus with iPads. The iPad is a great tool for businesses, improving the efficiency of the employees. It is not illogical to expect the iPad to have a greater contribution on businesses in the near future. Because of the apps that are created for the tablet, it can fit in almost any sector of work.

The iPad may seem very useful in the work place, they are also very costly. Although for piloting it may seem beneficial to have an iPad, for other occupation the cost may outweigh the benefits.

When someone considers online payment, they consider using PayPal to safely purchase something. But now a new serious competitor has entered this market, which has significant barriers to entry. Patrick Pascal’s blog post states that Dwolla is in the market and is capable of competing with PayPal.

In Iowa, a man named Ben Milne started Dwolla under serious legal constrictions. What enabled his company to become successful in the market is the different transaction cost system. This was the key distinct feature that allowed Dwolla to strive. Dwolla has the potential to become a direct substitute to PayPal.

PayPal's fees compared to Dwolla's fees. The Dwolla fees are significantly lower compared to PayPal's.

John Ouyang’s blog post really attracted my attention. The role of mobile phones on people’s life today is much greater than in the past. Phones now are able to do significantly more than 5 years ago.

With wireless internet available with most smart phones, information is now more accessible than ever. Google has made it extremely easy to surf the web using a mobile phone. Phones can now store more memory and have better cameras, which makes carrying a flash drive and a camera almost impractical.

A new industry has risen from this massive new phone trend; mobile apps are now more common than ever, specifically on the Iphone. Google Earth’s mobile app now gives an accurate location on where you are and provides routes to go to a given area, including public transit timings.

High capability smart phones are more common than ever.

Although these major technological advancements may seem all beneficial, other markets has suffered from it. Portable GPSs and alarm clocks are now uncommon due to the replacement by phones.

Google Earth phone application giving precise directions

The possibilities and innovations of the mobile phone is endless and it is interesting to imagine the future accomplishments this market will have.

Large tobacco companies differentiate their product by the look of the packaging. Australia, however, passed a law that states that all tobacco products must be sold in plain packs by December 2012.

This is a serious problem for the tobacco companies. Philip Morris is, according to this article, suing the Australian government on world trade charges.

The packaging of the cigarettes is a very affective strategy to differentiate the cigarettes from each other. This would allow each cigarette to seem falsely unique. The law will prevent this false differentiation, making the cigarette packs identical.

The firms could no longer differentiate their products through their packaging, thus making each product seem the same.

The uniqueness of each firm will diminish and demand will fall.

If the law succeeds in reducing the amount of smokers in the country, plain cigarette packaging may spread to other countries, which is a big fear for tobacco companies.

Not only is this negatively impacting tobacco companies, it will also harm tobacco exporting countries, such as Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and Ukraine. It is logical for Philip Morris to sue the Australian government, if this law successfully passes then they would lose a significant amount of profit.

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Tracking the efficiency of employees is not an easy task. Microsoft, however, could make an HR’s job much easier. They have a patent to an idea of constant surveillance technology, which will be able to analyzing human behavior, that will enable the employers to track what their employees are doing at all times in the work place. This, however, is unlike any other technology of its kind, it allows the employer to

The thought of being watched at all times could lead to the employee feeling uncomfortable in the work environment.

specify what is good and bad work habits and creates a point system under that criteria.

Since the technology would analyze behavior based on the employer’s idea of good work ethic, it may pose a problem to those employees who share different ideas of what a good work ethic is. Those who share different views may be misrepresented as having bad work ethic by this technology.

It may seem, with this technology, that the employees suffer privacy loss and are under more pressure to do their work. However, the point system allows the employees to compare and contrast their work habits to those of their colleagues. This would create an incentive for workers to be more efficient in their working hours.

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The tablet market has one obvious dominating product, Apple’s Ipad. However, by summer of 2012, they will have a new competitor; Nokia will be releasing a new tablet running Windows 8 operating system, which is yet to be released. It is to early to predict whether or not this yet to be named tablet will be a strong competitor to the Ipad, however it is safe to say that Nokia has the potential to create a great product.

Partnering up with Microsoft is a great idea for Nokia; not only does it provide Nokia with the ability to use a powerful and innovative operating systen, but it also allows them to attract the consumers loyal to Microsoft.

Nokia’s main concerns should be the differentiation of the product and their marketing strategy. They should build a unique product in an innovative way to compete with large success of the Ipad, operating in a way that the Ipad wont be able to.

The only problem with this release is the delay. The Ipad was release mid 2010. This gives the Ipad a 2 year lead in the market. Nevertheless, Nokia entering this market will influence the competition for the best tablet.

Apple vs Windows 8

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Primark is a well known clothing brand in the United Kingdom. It has over 200 shops in the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, and Belgium.

Possibly one of the worst business ethical issues, child labor is still taking place. In June 16, 2008, BBC posted an article on Primark’s move to a more ethical business, firing 3 Indian suppliers for using child labor. 41.6% of India is predicted to be below the international poverty line, which is at 1.25$ per day; thus cheap labor would be easy to find in the country. Primark, however, does not support such harassment of children.

“The sub-contracting involved home working and in some intances children were also found to be working at home” Primark explains and continues to say that “we take this lapse in standards very seriously indeed.”

Firing the three suppliers only affected 0.04% of the garments world wide. Although there was a loss of supply, this movement has possibly benefited Primark, giving them a reputation of an ethical company which “consumers are increasingly demanding” according to BBC. Therefore, the seemingly beneficial unethical shortcut of having cheap child labor in poverty stricken countries such as India may not be as beneficial as companies may believe.

Nike, which had a well known past of having suppliers who used child labor in the 1990s, is now posting records of there suppliers to acquire the reputation of an ethical firm, which is with time becoming more important and an expectation.

According to www.childlabor.in, 73 million children between the ages of 10 and 14 are being employed all over the world. Hopefully with time and the increasing expectation of ethical business, many other businesses will follow Primark’s example and significantly lower the number.

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