Will that be debit or credit?

Have you ever been at the checkout point of a store when all of a sudden the computers crash? The eyes of all cashiers immediately bulge as they begin to frantically look around at each other. The customers in the line behind you let out an audible groan as they realize more time has been added onto their wait in the line. And usually all sales come to a halt, because how can anyone possibly complete a checkout without the use of the computerized register? Back in the old days, cash and checks were the main forms of payment. I even remember when my mother would write out checks at the grocery store and it was considered "normal". Now, check cards are all the rage, and if you don't have any money handy in the bank, then credit cards are your plastic savior. Yet despite advancements in technology both in form of payment and in registers that receive the payment, there seems to be the glitch of when computers freeze and registers just stop working. Computers can crash anytime, leaving cashiers vulnerable to the impatience of difficult customers and leaving customers with an uncertain time period of waiting. There's no doubt that cash registers are a convenience that is essential to any business. But should there be some other form of back up for when the register computers crash or freeze up, or is it okay to be fully dependent on this piece of technology?

A similar scenario is brought up in an article I found in the Journal of Leadership Studies, which I was able to access through the Wiley InterScience Database thanks to the FSU Library page. In the article, the author relays an experience in which a power outage brought business to a complete halt, stating: "not because of anything hindering the physical exchange of goods...but because...without an electronic calculator, no one in the store knew how to make change" (Miller 74). The article discusses the dependence we have on technology and the fact that institutions of higher education continue training students to rely more on technology, rather than encouraging students to think critically and with a "greater emphasis on intentional development of technology-independent thinking skills." (Miller 74).

If you're interested in reading more about the topic, Miller's article is worth a read!

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Miller, George P, and Caroline Molina-Ray. "Beyond Technology Dependence."  Journal of Leadership Studies4.1 (2010): 74-77. Web. 8 Jul 2010.

Insert Credit Card Number Here.

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Since it is the beginning of the month, I'd like to talk about the technology available for making bill payments, since I recently had to make a rent payment. I recall as a child my mother would always have a stack of bills and a checkbook from which she would write out and tear several checks in order to pay the bills. If she waited too close to the deadline of the bill to send it in, we would get a phone call to the house asking where the payment was and stating that the company would wait a week or so before taking action against an "unpaid" bill. I remember thinking what a hassle it was to have to send a check overnight, just so that it would arrive at the company on time. Most of the time, as long as the check was postmarked for the due date, the payment would not be considered late, even if it arrived a couple of days after the due date.

I can imagine the frustration of companies having to constantly deal with snail mail in order to receive payments from customers, even moreso, I think it was much easier for customers to evade making payments by simply blaming the post office for losing payments. These days most payments seem to be made online. Just recently it came to my attention that I can even make payments to the phone company using my cell phone!

The technology available for online payment has become something I am fully dependent on because of the absolute convenience. Every month, I pay my rent online. Within the first week of the month, I receive my utilities bill in my e-mail inbox and with just 3 click I can pay that bill, from my very own e-mail. I use my mother's account information to pay the cellphone bill from my actual phone.

Even more exciting is ONLINE SHOPPING =D I remember when I was younger being upset when I would be in a store because they no longer had the item I had fallen in love with in my size. With online shopping that is no longer the case. You can fall helplessly in love with an item online and order it from home. Personally, I am not a very avid online shopper, I tend to prefer seeing things in person. But the convenience of online shopping has definitely made events such as holiday shopping a little less stressful.

Here's an interesting study that was done to determine the demographics that are most likely to use online payment services as well as various other online payment service statistics. It's interesting to not that education and marital status have an effect on whether or not someone is willing to shop or make payments online.

Hope everyone has a great 4th!

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Hogarth, Jeanne M. "Consumer payment choices: paper, plastic, orelectrons?." Int. J. Electronic Banking 1.1 (2008): 16-35. Web. 04 Jul 2010.

Facebook: Where people can pay for you to "Like" them

As a marketing intern for a cosmetics company, I can't help but talk about Marketing on the site. It's funny how a site meant to keep people connected has turned into an advertising and marketing goldmine. The amount of businesses advertised on Facebook has grown immensely, and with more lenient privacy presets and more personal information being added to the the site, Facebook has become every advertisers dream come true. With personal preferences just a click away, companies can hone in on the exact market segment they want to capitalize on and spend thousands to get Facebook users to "Like" them.

I interned at an ad agency in Tallahassee this past spring semester and it amazed me that the bulk of their creative development meetings were based around what kind of apps could be created to advertise companies on Facebook. The company being advertised was spending over $25,000 in Facebook applications, advertisements and contests, and thats only the amount they spent as the grand prize for one of the contests.

Facebook users are averaged at spending around 7 hours a month on the site. 7 hours is more than enough time for advertisers to capture their target audiences attention and draw them into a product using Facebook apps and games so users will be convinced into playing the game and ultimately learning more about the company.

My marketing ventures on Facebook and Twitter aren't funded so I mainly rely on creative posts that will catch the attention of Facebook fans and Twitter followers. I also don't have the proper software for graphic design, nor do I have significant experience with it so it was a little difficult creating the background for the Twitter page and the default for the Facebook page. Check my pages out and let me know what you think!

Honeycat Cosmetics Facebook Fan Page

Honeycat Tweets Twitter Page

Here's an article about online interactive marketing that is worth taking a look at for a little more insight into how marketing has changed through the evolution of technology.

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Varadarajan, Rajan. "Marketing Strategy in an Internet-Enabled Environment: A Retrospective on the First Ten Years of JIM and a Prospective on the Next Ten Years."Journal of Interactive Marketing 23. (2009): 11-22. Web. 25 Jun 2010.

Stay where I can See You

Over the past few years, video chatting on computers has seen a rapid increase in popularity. How can we possibly resist the opportunity see and talk to friends and family without having to use a phone or be in the same place?

I have a Macbook and the ability to video chat on it is one of my favorite characteristics about it. Keeping in touch with friends and family is so much easier and fun with ichat. Although, I also tend to spend hours at a time on ichat, which probably isn't the best way to be spending time. Shouldn't I be spending more time with people that are physically nearby? Is there a difference in the quality of interaction if one form is done through a computer screen and the other is in person?

Another popular trend is Chatroulette. A site that allows users to video chat with complete strangers. I'm curious as to what everyone's thoughts are regarding this concept. Personally, I haven't used the website, but I know several people that have and it is mostly people fooling around rather than looking for a real conversation.

Here's a video posted on Youtube with an interesting usage of the site Chatroulette. Be forewarned there is mild swearing.

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Jenny Preece , Diane Maloney-Krichmar, Online communities: focusing on sociability and usability, The human-computer interaction handbook: fundamentals, evolving technologies and emerging applications, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah, NJ, 2002

Electrical Attachments

It is interesting to consider the dependency that people have acquired on their cell phones, myself included. During my most recent phone shopping experience I recall having been very frustrated at the selection of phones my carrier had available. I simply wanted a phone that would be able to have a basic media package that would allow me to occasionally check my Facebook (Facebook being an issue to be discussed in a later blog post). Instead of a simple phone, the only phones that seemed worth looking at were smartphones and pda's, all which came with more features than I was interested in.

Whatever happened to the days when cell phones were about convenience and functional size? To this date, I still think the Motorola Razr is the best phone that was ever created. The sturdy design allowed for multiple falls without major damage. The smartphones being created today may have more features, but the iphone glass shatters with falls and my plastic Blackberry is so scratched and damaged it looks like I threw it in a blender - something I would love to do upon replacing it, considering it has been one of the worst phones I have ever owned.

My point in this random rant is that upon finally deciding on a smartphone, I have acquired a new dependency on my phone, and its a little frightening. Just a few years back, if I was feeling friendly, I might strike up a conversation with someone sitting next to me in a waiting room. Now, whenever I find myself having to wait somewhere, I instantly whip out the rattled Blackberry. I'll check for missed text messages and phone calls, go through both of my e-mail accounts, check Facebook already knowing that there won't be any new updates since I last checked, and when I run out of things to look at, I'll think of more. The worst part being I never notice the people around me, never even think about talking to them, and if they talk to me, I'll usually get a little annoyed because I'm trying to do something on my phone.

New technology is designed to keep us connected, but at what point does it start to interfere with our connection to reality?

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Downes, Edward J, and Kumiko Aoki. "An Analysis of Young People's Use of and Attitudes Toward Cell Phones." Telematics and Informatics. 20.4 (2003): 349. Print.