With the realease of Windows 8, many of the Windows users were unsatisfied with the adjustments made to their operating systems. Many have claimed that the radical change in behavior needed for Windows 8 has caused them to revert back to over versions of Windows, it has reduced the market share of Windows by a small margin.  The main goal of Windows 8 was allow the operating system to be easily integrated between mobile devices as well as computers, however with this change it started to alienate PC users and therefore started reduced its market share by a little.  With the new operating system being announced recently, Microsoft has tried to step back from the radical redesign that alienated PC users as it may has disrupted many essential features in the old version of windows which was the easy to use interface and the comfort of having the same format for its Operating System.

I believe the move to quickly implement the new operating system for windows was a smart move by the company, it tries to fix its previous issues while trying to quickly maintain its brand image and value. The marketing strategy to skip Windows 9 and head straight for Windows 10 is a good idea,  it not only tries to fix the problem with the old Windows but also tries to create a sense of innovation and new generation with the implentation of the number 10 to repair its brand image and regain its market shares.

References:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/tech-news/microsoft-skips-a-number-to-unveil-windows-10/article20858320/

Amazon has just confirmed their purchase of the online streaming site, Twitch TV. TwitchTV to those who do not know is the largest streaming platform for games on the internet, people from all around the world stream from their computers so that other games can easily watch and learn games from the streamer. This 21st century phenomena has seen a large spike in its viewership over the past 5 years.  Large events such as the League of Legends World Championship, and the DOTA 2 World Championship has seen viewing numbers even higher then large sporting events such as the NBA Finals as well as the SuperBowl.  Some of the famous streamers have even confirmed to be making 6 digit salaries by simply streaming their games.

In my opinion, Amazon’s purchase of Twitch.TV for 1 billion dollars is a smart move towards future entertainment, companies such as Netflix have seen a rise in popularity over recent years. Especially with the newer generations focusing their time on computers and the internet, we can see how the younger generations gear themselves towards watching shows and games online rather then the TV at home. Amazon will not only be able to efficiently capture a large range of audiences but they have opened our many opportunities for the viewing platforms in the future as we see the entertainment industry slowly shift towards a more technology focused future.

Referenecs:

http://venturebeat.com/2014/07/24/googles-1b-purchase-of-twitch-confirmed-joins-youtube-for-new-video-empire/

Apple’s Business Ethics on certain products

One of the ethical problems i have seen with Apple in the past is the creation of planned obsolescence in their products.  Planned obsolescence in industrial design is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so it will become obsolete  or no longer functional after a certain period of time. We can see this in a few of Apple’s products. One of the examples is the iPhone series, when newer versions of the Apple iPhone comes out, we often get an update to the software and firmware, maybe even new features and app that can be very useful to us. At the same time of release for the new iPhones, owners of the previous versions of the iPhones started to become more sluggish and slow. Lots of other users also had similar problems, one of the reasons is because the newer operating system being pushed out to existing users was making older models unbearably slow. This caused the not only the battery to be drained faster but older versions of the phone slowing down. As people become annoyed by the sluggish speed of their phones, they start to turn towards upgrades. This is unethical in terms of the business towards consumers, because they are pushing a product which has a shortened product lifetime then it should be having.

Source: 

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