Now we've learned all about networks and protocol, which would also be useful to my Web site for my new product. Web protocol is "http" or hypertext transfer protocol, which is what I'd use for my product's Web site. With this Web protocol, there's a 4-step process between the client and Web server, which goes as follows:
1-the browser connects to the server
2-the client/browser makes a request
3-there's a response (file sent)
4-close the connection.
This process would be important to me because it would allow for easier access to the Web site for my customers. For example, it's important for the connection to close at the end of the process because this increases the amount of traffic I would get on my Web site.
I also learned about IP addresses and domain names. Going along with my invention, my product's Web site would be constantly broadcasting an IP address, that people would go to, given its easy-to-remember domain name. For instance, my domain name might be MusicEarmuffs.com if that name isn't already taken. That domain name is just an alias to my 4-number IP address. What's important to remember with all this, is to make sure to pick a name for my Web site that would not conflict with anyone else. I wouldn't be able to choose someone else's name or something that would demonstrate "bad faith" to someone else. I learned in class that some people use famous names to get more money because more users will click on that Web address. I would obviously be very careful when choosing my Web site's name!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Privacy
How are customers suppose to get my music earmuffs? Well, I don't have time to run a store where people can go to so I'd definitely have my own website where people can order the product online. I mean, I'd get so many more customers if I just had a Web site where they could go to to find this amazing product :) So, with my Web site I'd definitely have to adhere to some privacy standards, especially if I'll be dealing with people's personal information. I would have to follow the Fair Information Practices, which include "notice, choice, access and security."
Once people come to my Web site and decide they need to have these music earmuffs, they'll have to enter their billing information and order into my Web site for me to send them their product. On the site, I'd have to tell them what information I'm collecting, how I'm collecting it, how it's going to be used and whether the information is shared with third parties. This all has to do with the "notice" part of the Fair Information Practices. So, with my site, I'd collect people's names, addresses, billing information and product orders by having them fill in this information on my site and I'd use this to send them their earmuffs.
Going along with the privacy standards, my customers would have a choice to reveal any personal information, but certain info would be necessary for me to get in order to send them their earmuffs (like their address and billing info). All customers would have reasonable access to the information I collected on them, and finally I would take reasonable steps to ensure security of my customers' personal information on my Web site.
Once people come to my Web site and decide they need to have these music earmuffs, they'll have to enter their billing information and order into my Web site for me to send them their product. On the site, I'd have to tell them what information I'm collecting, how I'm collecting it, how it's going to be used and whether the information is shared with third parties. This all has to do with the "notice" part of the Fair Information Practices. So, with my site, I'd collect people's names, addresses, billing information and product orders by having them fill in this information on my site and I'd use this to send them their earmuffs.
Going along with the privacy standards, my customers would have a choice to reveal any personal information, but certain info would be necessary for me to get in order to send them their earmuffs (like their address and billing info). All customers would have reasonable access to the information I collected on them, and finally I would take reasonable steps to ensure security of my customers' personal information on my Web site.
Databases!
This week I learned all about databases, and although they seem confusing to handle, they seem essential to understand when conducting a business for selling a new product. Databases manage vast amounts of information, perform quick queries, and make quick decisions about information. Databases are like the new and improved file cabinets for storing great amounts of informations, except they're so much quicker in retrieving information. The only problem with databases is the issue of data redundancy that could confuse your system.
For my earmuffs product, I would definitely use a database to store all of my customers' information, as well as any other business-related information that is important to my sales. I could have a database of my customers' orders, including billing information, sales, support and marketing.
In databases, you create tables to organize information, and each table can relate to other tables so that it's easier to retrieve information. For example, I could have a table with my customers' names and addresses and phone numbers which could connect to a table with their billing information and credit card numbers and orders of purchase. Each table needs a primary key, which is something unique within the table that allows it to relate to the other information in other tables that have to do with the same subject, or person. To relate the information between tables, you need a foreign key that connects a person's information, say, to more information in their "file" that could be found on another table.
I would definitely store all of my customers' information in a database so that if I ever needed to look up someone's address or billing info or phone number, it'd be easy to find, especially if someone has a problem with their product. This is a great way to keep track of all the assets in a business.
For my earmuffs product, I would definitely use a database to store all of my customers' information, as well as any other business-related information that is important to my sales. I could have a database of my customers' orders, including billing information, sales, support and marketing.
In databases, you create tables to organize information, and each table can relate to other tables so that it's easier to retrieve information. For example, I could have a table with my customers' names and addresses and phone numbers which could connect to a table with their billing information and credit card numbers and orders of purchase. Each table needs a primary key, which is something unique within the table that allows it to relate to the other information in other tables that have to do with the same subject, or person. To relate the information between tables, you need a foreign key that connects a person's information, say, to more information in their "file" that could be found on another table.
I would definitely store all of my customers' information in a database so that if I ever needed to look up someone's address or billing info or phone number, it'd be easy to find, especially if someone has a problem with their product. This is a great way to keep track of all the assets in a business.
Desktop Publishing!
This week I learned how to use Excel.. I know it's pretty sad I've never used it before, but hey, that's why I took this course- to become a little more tech-savvy. Microsoft Excel is a great program to use when compiling lots of data. This application allows you to piece together any type of data, whether it's numerical or not. Using Excel, I could organize all the information I have about the sales I'm making for my product. Each time a person buys my music earmuffs, I could make charts that tell me how much I'm making each month, while also taking into account the money I'm spending on production. This way I could easily calculate the profit of this new invention and whether it's worth continuing its sales. If I get lots of customers who buy my product, I could use pivot tables in Excel to help me analyze the large amount of data of the money coming in and going out in lists in tables. Using separate tables, I could see how much I spend on each piece of the product, how much I pay my employees who help make the product, how much I'm spending on production, and how much I'm making in sales. All of this information is key to being successful with a new product, and programs like Excel would be great to use to keep all of this organized.
"Week 3"- Operating Systems/SW
So it's difficult to relate all the lecture material to my invention but I'll try to piece it together. My earmuffs would need to come with a software that customers would have to get in order to install its program on their PC's. The software could be purchased on a CD-ROM disc that, when properly installed, people could just attach their music earmuffs to the computer through a USB (like an ipod) and update their audio files regularly onto their earmuffs. If the earmuffs cannot hold too many files, people will want to change their playlists or music selections that are stored on their earmuffs. People will easily be able to change which songs are on their earmuffs by connecting the earmuffs to the computer, after the software is installed.
This week we discussed operating systems. My software would be compatible with all operating systems, so anyone could purchase my product. The operating system would manage all processes of the music earmuff program installed on a person's computer. Hopefully whoever gets this software for the earmuffs will have a pre-emptive mult-tasking operating system so that they can update their earmuffs while also doing other thing on their computers. With this type of tasking strategy, the operating system kernel guarantees each process some operating time at the same time.
This week we discussed operating systems. My software would be compatible with all operating systems, so anyone could purchase my product. The operating system would manage all processes of the music earmuff program installed on a person's computer. Hopefully whoever gets this software for the earmuffs will have a pre-emptive mult-tasking operating system so that they can update their earmuffs while also doing other thing on their computers. With this type of tasking strategy, the operating system kernel guarantees each process some operating time at the same time.
Week 2- Hardware
Thinking a little bit more about my invention, I came up with another idea. The earmuffs could connect to a person's MP3 player and play music while also keeping the person's ears warm. Or I could make it so that the person only listens to music through the earmuffs and not necessarily need to connect to their ipod. After learning about hardware basics this week, I thought of how I could install a tiny MP3-like piece into the actual earmuffs, on one of the sides, with streaming wires on the interior, which connect to headphones that can be heard through the warm material of the earmuffs. I would have to create a tiny PDA-type piece that could hold all the audio a person would like to listen to on their walk to class. This piece would be inserted on the inside of the earmuffs, so no wires would be involved. The MP3 would have to be able to hold a certain amount of memory, maybe a gigabyte, in order to hold lots of the person's audio.
This week we learned all about hardware parts that could be useful to this invention. For example, I would give customers USB wires with their earmuffs so that they could directly connect their earmuffs to their PC's to download all their desired audio right onto their earmuffs. Through the USB cord, audio files would transfer over to the MP3-like piece on the inside of the earmuffs. After the download is complete, people would have portable music within their earmuffs, no wires necessary!
This week we learned all about hardware parts that could be useful to this invention. For example, I would give customers USB wires with their earmuffs so that they could directly connect their earmuffs to their PC's to download all their desired audio right onto their earmuffs. Through the USB cord, audio files would transfer over to the MP3-like piece on the inside of the earmuffs. After the download is complete, people would have portable music within their earmuffs, no wires necessary!
Creating MP3's (week 1)
In our second lecture of our first week of class, we discussed creating MP3's, which is of great use to my invention. MP3's are compressed so that the frequencies of the sound are better heard by the human ear. WAV files are larger files with raw material, or uncompressed audio. The human brain cannot even hear all the different sounds of a WAV file. People can hear between 20Hz and 20kHz, so converting audio files from WAV files to MP3's is a great idea.
For my invention of the music earmuffs, I would have an MP3 player or ipod connected to the earmuffs. Customers could use their own MP3 device with their personal music and just connect it to the earmuffs. The earmuffs would only have MP3 sound because it's best for listening. CD's contain uncompressed audio, which is a waste since people can't hear all the extra frequencies in such sound, so it'd be of people's best interest to get these earmuffs and listen to MP3 players instead.
For my invention of the music earmuffs, I would have an MP3 player or ipod connected to the earmuffs. Customers could use their own MP3 device with their personal music and just connect it to the earmuffs. The earmuffs would only have MP3 sound because it's best for listening. CD's contain uncompressed audio, which is a waste since people can't hear all the extra frequencies in such sound, so it'd be of people's best interest to get these earmuffs and listen to MP3 players instead.
Friday, January 16, 2009
first post-invention idea
After walking around campus this week in the frigid cold weather, I thought about how quiet and boring it is to walk without listening to my favorite playlist. Many of my friends walk to and from class with their ipods on- a necessity to get through the day. But with cold temperatures like zero below I've been wearing my earmuffs instead of my headphones. A lot of my friends have been subsituting earmuffs and warm hats for headphones because of the painfully cold weather. It's also not good to use your headphones in such cold temperatures. So, how about making warm earmuffs, with possible heat and headphones built into them? This way you can walk in this cold weather listening to your favorite playlist while keeping warm and not damaging your headphones.
Possible competitors would be any brands that make regular earmuffs. Earmuffs with music would be more appealing to SU students, or anyone who lives in freezing temperatures and enjoys getting through the day with their favorite music. Another competitor would be Apple, or any other company that makes headphones. This wouldn't be too much of a problem for headphone companies because people would still need a pair of regular headphones for warmer temperatures or indoor use. This product would be exclusively for cold outdoor temperatures.
Music can play a major role in people's lives. Music can easily change a person's mood- make a person happier during a stressful day. When the freezing temperatures come around people get frustrated and annoyed. But with the music earmuffs, they'll stay warmer and happier with their favorite music all day. This product is geared towards college students or anyone who walks a lot during the winter. People who continue to go for runs in these freezing temperatures would greatly appreciate this product as well.
-Stiliani Pappas
Possible competitors would be any brands that make regular earmuffs. Earmuffs with music would be more appealing to SU students, or anyone who lives in freezing temperatures and enjoys getting through the day with their favorite music. Another competitor would be Apple, or any other company that makes headphones. This wouldn't be too much of a problem for headphone companies because people would still need a pair of regular headphones for warmer temperatures or indoor use. This product would be exclusively for cold outdoor temperatures.
Music can play a major role in people's lives. Music can easily change a person's mood- make a person happier during a stressful day. When the freezing temperatures come around people get frustrated and annoyed. But with the music earmuffs, they'll stay warmer and happier with their favorite music all day. This product is geared towards college students or anyone who walks a lot during the winter. People who continue to go for runs in these freezing temperatures would greatly appreciate this product as well.
-Stiliani Pappas
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