Non-Internet Media May Simply be a Thing of the Past

After reading the latest post at E-Marketing for Sensible Folk, I came to the conclusion that the more time goes on, the less relevance non-internet media will have in our society. Newsweek, a magazine that had been around since 1933, was apparently given away after facing huge losses in 2009. The new owner, Sidney Harman, agreed to only taking over the companies financial liabilities from the previous owner, The Washington Post. Check out this link for more info. Newsweek, like many other media companies, had a business model that didn't support the explosion of digital media and it is obvious from the huge losses that they faced.

From my own experience, I have seen the impact that digital media has had on the people around me. For example, my mom is a big-time reader and let's just say she isn't the most tech-savvy person.  I always saw her reading different novels, magazines and newspapers throughout the years. Nowadays, she reads on a Kindle, which updates her with new subscriptions for certain magazines and newspapers. It also allows her to read e-books and has a very user-friendly interface. Websites like Flickr and Photobucket are used by massive amounts of people to upload and share photographs.

I have been browsing the internet and using many of its features since it first starting gaining popularity. I remember starting with a 28Kbps dial-up modem. Since the introduction of web browsing, I can honestly say that a very large portion of the reading I have done has been behind the computer screen. Nowadays, even some of my textbooks are only available in digital format. All of us here are taking an online class, a concept that 20 or 30 years ago would have probably been laughed at.

The fact that so many magazines and newspapers are going out of business is a significant factor in the debate of non-internet media but that only scratches the surface. Just think about how far we have come in the amount of data that can be transferred with internet capabilities. Nowadays, with fiber optic technology, we can stream high definition movies from YouTube. There are websites where you can stream live TV and services like Netflix are now compatible with the internet to make watching movies online hassle-free.

I made the big switch to digital media a long time ago and I think it is happening for a large portion of the population. I've probably owned about 3 VHS tapes so far in my lifetime, so I'll be looking for something else to put on eBay. :)

-Max Princiotta

Social Media Works Wonders in Web 2.0 Society

According to Professor Miyazaki's latest Post on E-Marketing for Sensible Folk, apparently an 8-year old boy sent his drawing of what he thought was to be Boeing's next airplane and asked them if they would develop it into an actual airplane. Boeing is the one of the world's largest manufacturers of commercial jetliners. For some interesting facts about Boeing please see this link: http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/brief.html

Boeing informed the 8-year old Harry that they didn't accept unsolicited ideas. His dad was upset about the response and he was also an ad agency CEO so he decided to use the internet to let his voice be heard.

Although, I probably wouldn't want to be in a plane in which an 8-year old did the initial drawings, I do agree that the response that Boeing gave him was a little cold. In regards to whether it was the online world putting the corporation in line or a chance to get Harry's dad a little publicity, a good answer would be a little of both.

In my opinion, this is just the direction that things are headed in our society. Web 2.0 is gaining huge popularity because it allows all sorts of people to interact online through the use social networking websites, such as Twitter, and it makes things like blogging easy for anyone. Crowdsourcing is a method to contract out work which has become popular with Web 2.0 features and it is another method which brings people together on a social network, who are willing to perform projects collaboratively. These are very new methods of marketing and outsourcing, so they will definitely attract some controversy.

Despite the cold response, it will still not keep me from flying on Boeing's jetliners. I would much rather fly on one of their current models then Harry's prototype. Not bad I guess...

Finally, I see the huge potential for targeted marketing with the use of social media and Web 2.0 features in today's competitive workplace and since a lot of these methods get the job done cheaper than traditional methods of marketing, it seems like a win-win to me.

-Max P.