Day: October 7, 2013

Link to article: AT&T, it’s too soon for a 9/11- themed ad

In memory of 9/11, AT&T posted an ad on the 12th anniversary of the attack. Even though the purpose of the as was to pay respect to the ones affected by the tragedy, the ad shows a smartphone held against the New York skyline, taking a photo of the memorial at ground zero, where the twin towers used to stand.

Both twitter users and Facebook users immediately responded to the ad and called the inappropriate product placement “tacky,” “terrible,” and “gross” among other criticisms. AT&T took down the ad and apologized on twitter. People have expressed that it is still too soon for a 9/11-themed ad. This as shows a lack of corporate social responsibility, by comparison, may damage a firm’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. AT&T is such a big company and should know better.

Link to article: Dreamliner

Today, Japan Airlines signed a historic contract with Airbus, the rival of their current aircraft manufacture Boeing.

The order is for the purchase of 31 aircrafts of type A350 at a price of $ 9,5 billion dollars including 25 long-distance aircrafts to replace its aging Boeing 777 from 2020.

This is the first contract Japan Airlines has made with the  European aircraft manufacturer, and it is considered a breakthrough for Airbus, in a markets dominated by the American rival,  the Seattle -based Boeing .

” This is a significant blow for Boeing and 787, and reinforces our view that the A350 will be a” game changer . ” I expect the ANA will be tempted to choose the A350 aircraft and maybe some A380 aircraft ,” said analyst Shukor Yusof.

Dreamliner trouble
The agreement with Airbus comes after Boeing’s Dreamliner , where a third of the aircraft built in Japan , was delayed by more than three years and initially were grounded after problems with the aircraft’s battery system. Japan Airlines already operates nine Dreamliner in a fleet of 214 aircraft. In January this year , a Dreamliner associated with ANA was forced to make an emergency landing in Japan because of smoke in the cockpit.

The delays and the technical trouble has definitely harmed Boeing’s reputation and many airline companies has been effected by this in the stock market.

Link to article: Blackberry

A BlackBerry shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the struggling handset maker and two of its executives.

The company is accused of releasing misleading information about the financial health and sales-prospects of the BlackBerry 10. According to the plaintiff , BlackBerry told  the investors that the smartphone BlackBerry 10 had been well-received in the market, something they apparently have all wrong.

During the past year , the company lost money, and several analysts have predicted that the company only has, in best case, eighteen months to go, until they will be bank-ruped, writes Phone Arena who is in great company. The Technology newspaper writes that analysts expect BlackBerry to lose around 7 million consumers over the next year.

Potential buyers have recently expressed interest in the company , including Fairfax Financial’s and Cerberus Capital , have announced that they will bid .
” The company was not on the road to recovery, or trying to win more market share. In reality, BlackBerry 10 well received by the market and the company has to make a depreciation of nearly $ 1 billion. The company was also forced to get go of 4 500 employees, which is about 40 percent of the workforce , ” said the lawsuit according to Cnet .

BlackBerry has not  respond to inquiries from the American media today. (oct 7th 2013)

Link to article

Comfort Care Services thought it had made great technological strides by issuing laptops to about 200 of its mobile workers last year. The firm which provides housing and rehabilitation services for adults with mental illness and other special needs, thought it would improve the efficiency of their employees.

Some employees didn’t want to go through the multi-step logon process. Others worried that pulling out a big, black piece of hardware would upset their more anxious patients. Therefore, about 30% of the laptops deployed were barely touched.What the administration thought would be convenient for the employees, turned out to be a hassle when it came to patient visits, and was not beneficial for the patients.

Technological devices are to be found everywhere inn our society. Most businesses find the technology helpful to keep up with the rest of the world. But technology also means that a lot of sensitive information is out on the world wide web. In cases like this, where the company deals with adult and people with mental illness, it is important to protect the information and help protect their personal data. To combat such issues, some companies try to ban all on-the-job use of personal devices. But given their pervasiveness, that’s not always realistic.