Gaming the System by moco (M.S.)

The article I read was about a social online game called Wellness Partners. It was designed by Marientina Gotsis and Maryalice Hordan-Marsh at USC Games for Health. The game awards virtual "energy points" for real-world physical activity.

I think this is going to have a neutral effect on the economy for awhile because not many know about it. In a few years it will have a good affect on the economy when more people know about it.

The Bean Queens--M.C

In my opinion McDonald's is pretty much in every average person's vocabulary. Most every town you drive through, even the smallest of towns usually has a McDonald's. Think for a moment, what first comes to mind when you say the word McDonald's? If you answered a Big Mac, Whopper, ice cream, hamburgers or even chicken nuggets that's pretty much what most people think of, but not Danielle Paris and Sofia Therios.

Paris and Therios are not your everyday woman, at the ages of 45 and 49 they are part of the fantastic team that made McCafΘ possible. For years McDonald's offered hot coffee at breakfast but they never had an option of coffee during the day, Paris and Therios as well as the rest of the team were determined to make that happen. When early taste testing took place, many people didn't quite know what a latte or even a cappuccino was. To Paris and Therios it didn't matter if their customers knew the names of the drinks or even how to order them, all they really cared about was a healthy relationship with customers so no matter how old or how young they would feel comfortable with something new.

In some ways, you could say introducing the McCafe to McDonald's all over the world was a good thing. For instance many coffee lovers were thrilled when they realized they could get coffee 24/7 at McDonald's but do people really need the extra calories when the obesity rates are already at a high rate all over the world? Introducing McCafe to McDonald's was a positive event for some people, and a negative on others, and even to people who never took a sip of coffee in their lifetime, this matter didn't have a negative or a positive impact on their daily lives.

Hot Topic's Music Business Model - E.H.

This article is about how Hot Topic has decided to now sell CDs, posters, apparel, accessories, and much more, This is also about how this has impacted them in the resulting profit. It is positive for Hot Topic because when someone comes in to buy a CD or apparel they see everything that Hot Topic has to offer so they might end up buying someting that is in the store even though they didn't even originally come to buy. But, on the flip side this is negative for other businesses such as American Eagle, Hollister, and Aeropostale because the merchandise that they have some might say is on the expensive side so when someone sees something at Hot Topic they might think wow this is a lot cheaper than those other stores. This is why Hot Topic is getting so much business lately.

Taking Health to the Streets - C.V.D.H.

The article I read was called, Take Health to the Streets. It was talking about when adults take their car to work when it is only five miles away, and they could take their pedal bikes to work instead of driving their car. If your car was only five miles away and you biked you would loose an average of thirteen pounds within a year.
I think it is very economic, because they would use less gas and there would be less pollution in the air. So they wouldn’t have to buy as much gas and they could use the money on other things.

Google's High Cost of Free - N.A.

the search company plans to give the software to computer makers to amplify its rivaly against Microsoft.Google's way, everything it makes is free to users. What business gives away its product? Free is the new normal, every business that deals in intellectual property feels the no-cost push. The software is likely to sell at 20.00 or so less than the price of comparable windows machine. Because free costs too much, weighed dows with hassles that you will happly pay a little to do without. That is why peolpe buy bottled water and cable TV. People can read first stories for free through google, but people who want the full newspaper experience pay 103.00 a year.

Googles free cell-phone operating system has had a tough time competing with with apple's iphone.Apple makes an enormus profit on each iphone; google, meanwhile, will make money only incidentally.Some companies have been making a paying business out of FREE. Giants generations significant revenue selling consulting services and support for Linux and other free software to business. Even google is starting to learn this lesson.You can run gmail for free. Companiess of all kinds can gain by embracing goodness.

Implantable Defibs -- S.V.

USC School of Medicine has come up with a potential advancement in technology and health- care; an implantable defibrillator that costs $20,000. The only flaw in this plan is everyone has to agree on this idea, including the patient, the hospital and doctors, and also the insurance company. The patients have been surveyed and they say they would pay $30 to $50 per month (which will be added on their phone bill) to have this information and their safety in case of a heart attack. This implantable defibrillator has a chip that can track the heart functions of the patient. The information will then be tracked at the hospital.

This device has the potential to benefit the overall economy. It will improve the patient's quality of life. It will increase the use and importance of cell phones. It also has the potential to make the doctor's job easier.

Outrageous Pet Products! -- P.B.

I read a Vet article, yes as in dogs and cats and well all pets. It is interesting on how you can get a tracking device on your dog about the size of a business card. This is $250 plus $20 a month; though it seems a lot, when your pampered pet leaves a designated area you will get a text saying how to get to your pooch! And a funny part is they have a nick name for it called PAW. There is also a pet Stem-cell therapy where the vet takes cells from your dog/cat's fat and it heals itself but has a hefty price of $2,500! Palladia is a cancer medicine for dogs, it's FDA approved and even tested! This may be a great product for your pet if he/she has cancer. DogTread treadmill this is a treadmill for dogs, as the name implies but for $500 to $900 dollars you can have this and make sure your dog doesn't go overweight like the other 40 percent of dogs in America are. And that is only a couple things on the article I read, it's a neat and creative way to take care of your dog.

Lemonade Stand Find Raising -- H.M.

The article I read was about a child named Alexandra who had cancer and created a lemonade stand called "Alex's Lemonade Stand". She made this lemonade stand for cancer research. Sadly, Alex lost her battle in 2004 at the age of eight. Her friends, family, elementary school classes, and volunteers across the country have joined in this cause. The lemonade stand has raised more than $25 million for cancer research. This cause helps a child named Elijah. Elijah has a rare form of cancer called neuroblastoma. His family can't afford to pay for his treatment so this also helps his family to pay. Volvo raised $200,000 in "virtual lemonade" money. This year it is said that $7.5 million will be raised for this cause. Millions of people around the world have set up their own stands.
I think this is going to have a positive impact on people with cancer. It would make a positive impact on me also because a relative of mine has cancer and if $7.5 million is donated, she along with every other person suffering from cancer will be treated and hopefully be cured. This is a great cause in my opinion because its helping another person. If you can, try thinking about donating to this cause.

CO2 Pedometer -- S.F.

The article I had to read for my economics class was an article about how Kerstin Hanson created a CO2 pedometer in your cell phone as an application. This application would help you see how much of a carbon foot print you have and use in your life each day. Hanson’s test group altered its behavior and reduced its carbon footprint by 30%. This application wants to promote efficient transport solutions, like public transportation is the right option, which helps free up the roads. With this application you can make a conscious choice by visualizing the consequences of their driving habits. They hope people suddenly start to think: maybe we don’t need to take the car today. If people can feel a sense of accomplishment in reducing their CO2 emissions, maybe they can even compete with colleagues to see who can reduce the most.
The way I think this will impact the US economy and their consumers is that pedometer application will help save consumers that buy gas by not using that much gas and their gas bill will go down. But I also think that there is a down side of this. If people do start using this application on their cell phone and start using less gas, I think the gas companies will raise the price on gas costumers that don’t use the application. So if you’re not using the application I think you could be losing a lot of money. So I think the only way for this pedometer to work is if everyone gets one or some people might get ripped off. But if people do use it I think they will save a lot of money in this tough economical time.

Bikestations: making eco-friendly transport more convenient! - Patches Fiesta (aka L.H.)

My article was about a woman in Long Beach, CA named Andrea White-Kjoss who has started up full service cycling centers in big cities. Over a dozen have opened in several different states. At these Bikestations, bike security is offered, as well as shower rooms and changing facilities. Also, you can take biking classes and buy equipment. This makes things like biking to work easier because you don't have to worry about showing up looking gross and sweaty, or having your bike stolen.
I think Bikestations will be good for the US economy because it saves room (you can park many bikes in the space needed to park a car), money (it costs a lot to replace a stolen bike, not to mention less gas money) and at the same time you are preserving the earth by not driving your car to work everyday.
So hop on your bike to help our planet, and your wallet!

Body Computing -- S.C.

The Innovation for my product is Body Computing. Body Computing is a data storage system. It is used for allowing patients to monitor their health on their computer instead of having to wait to go to the doctor’s office to see their file. By looking at their records online, patients can monitor any health situations as well as the medicine they are taking. It will affect the U.S. economy by streamlining the doctor’s visits and so you don’t have to go as often, do not have to spend as much money on healthcare, and ultimately have more money to spend on other parts of healthcare.

Transformers -- the Green Kind -- C.T.

In the article that I received, I read of a new eco-friendly company called Transformers. What this company does is it turns every day wasted materials that will all eventually end up polluting the environment and turns them into something practical and useful. For example recycling old pen caps and turning them into eating utensils. Another example would be a greeting card that after being used can be planted and flowers will grow from its remains.
I believe that this will impact the U.S. economy in a positive way. I believe this because as the environment around us get polluted more people will go green attracting new customers and old ones that are already part of the eco-friendly world.

Turbocopters -- G.F.

My article is on a new technology called the Turbocopter. The company building these, Sikorsky, hopes the new helicopter will travel twice as fast as a regular helicopter. A regular helicopter flies at 150 mph. They also hope to have the new Turbocopter will have low vibration, low pilot workload (most processes are animated), and low noise. The turbo comes from the back high speed prop that pushes the helicopter to help it accelerate faster. This is a great innovation because it is a big advantage for time critical missions such as medical evacuations and military operations. The helicopter will be able to hover, maneuver, and go around 300 mph.
This will help the economic situation because it will create many new jobs to make the helicopter. This is good for the war during medical emergencies. These would be great but it will be 10 years before we see these choppers in the sky.

Panera's Corner of the Food Market -- by Fungible Whisk (S.M.)

My article was about how Panera Bread is thriving by selling real food and a gathering space. Panera opened 102 bakery-cafes in 2008 and is on schedule to launch 70 more in 2009. Panera is a bakery-cafe that sells fresh food and warm bread, and encourages their customers to stay and linger. Panera also has free Wi-Fi. Financially, Panera has been on a roll. It has become as much community gathering space as a bustling lunch spot.
As the dominant player in the market - add up the sales for the next four biggest bakery-cafe chains and they'd still have less than half of Panera's sales - it's in the best position to capitalize on the potential of baker-cafes in the broader restaurant business. That means there is plenty for Panera to eat up - including its competitor’s lunch.
I think that the idea of Panera going out and spreading even more than it is will be neutral to the US economic situation. I think it will be neutral because Panera can't break or make anything. It may help some people out financially by Panera having free WI-Fi and a nice place to stay and eat healthy good priced food. But it could also not help people out much financially because if they don't need Wi-Fi for anything and they don't care much about how healthy they eat they could go to a fast food place like McDonald's for lunch and pay much less for a full meal. Also there are a lot more fast food places like McDonald's around town and close to many places, whereas Panera doesn't have as many different locations around town so you would have to drive much farther to get to a Panera rather than a McDonald's.

Zazzle Creates Fast -- M.S.

Zazzle is a company that wants to take customization to a new level. On zazzle.com, you can buy post cards, t-shirts, mouse pads, mugs, shoes and more. The manufacturing speed of Zazzle is surprisingly fast. They can manufacture on average 100,000 products a day. I think that Zazzle will help the U.S. consumers by giving them an easy way to get practically exactly what they want. Zazzle is also a must for promotional advertisement. Overall Zazzle is a fantastic innovative idea, and will benefit buyers and sellers.

Patagonia Going Green -- Z.A.

The founder of the Patagonia clothing company, Yvon Chouinard is going green. He is donating at least one percent of its sales to environmental charities. They make all of their clothes out of one hundred percent recycled polyester. They are also switching all of their nylon clothing to something called nylon 6, which can be recycled infinitely. Car companies have also asked Yvon if they can use his materials in their cars and he said yes because they will also donate one percent of their sales to environmental charities.
I think that this will affect the consumers of the Patagonia products a lot. I think that more people will buy Patagonia products because they are going green. This will affect other stores by having the stores want to have the Patagonia products because everyone likes to buy clothing that is good for the environment.

Wearable Fitness Sensors -- K.O.

A man named John” Ivo” Stivoric invented wearable fitness sensors for clinical patients. These fitness sensors are like a dashboard for your body. It keeps track of your exercise so you can see how much you have improved. It provides “concrete” numbers. This device is good for athletes and everyday people alike. These fitness sensors are also good for people who really want to work to stay fit. This device has helped to fight obesity, heart disease, and other illnesses.
I think this will help the consumer and the economy. I think it will help the consumer because lots of people these days are conscious about their weight. People want to be healthy and strong. Fitness sensors will help them reach their goals. This device will help the economy because there are so many people that want to stay fit or become fit. Because of the need to stay fit, many people will be buying this product and it will be going fast.

The Multimedia Bed -- J.P.

The article I had was the multimedia bed. It is very high tech that I’m sure none of us really need. It is a luxury. It includes built in wi-fi, LED lighting, a retractable video screen, a docking station, and a five point audio system. It’s all controlled by a 17 inch panel on each side of the bed. It also gives you a personalized experience that is set to your own standards and limitations. This new product will be out by 2010 and may be in some hotels as well as hospitals.
This new innovation of course will bring us a better, easier, and more luxurious time using the bed. But is it necessary? I think it will have a neutral impact on the US economy because I’m sure not that many people will be using it that often. This bed may be the future of beds but may not impact the economy that much. It is an intelligent invention, but it is only a better and more enjoyable experience for probably only a short time -- unless you want to pay the full price.

The Aerialist -- A.C.

The article I read was The Aerialist. The Aerialist is a new trapeze-based fitness routine with Cirque du Soleil called Jukari Fit to Fly. It was recently launched this past spring along with two other new related apparel lines in fourteen cities around the world. Many women hate to work out but they know they have to, to stay healthy. To make working out a more enjoyable task, Reebok's Katrin Ley thought of different ways to work out. In the end, they mainly focused on aerial performance, which allowed them to get an unexpected piece of equipment that could easily be used in the gym and you could use for the rest of your life. The Aerialist debuted in the Equinox gym and Reebok is is pushing to have gyms buy sets of these to offer in their classes.
I believe that the US economic impact of this product is positive; the positive effects of this product are that it will bring in many new customers or it will retain many old customers because this product has potential to help many Americans stay healthy or lose weight that they desperately want or need to lose.

It's Cooler in Mass Transit -- H.W.

I read the article Create a Cooler Alternative. In this article, the Los Angles residents are trying to innovate the public transportation system known as The Metro Rail’s Gold Line. They are trying to expand and redesign the system so it runs from LA to Pasadena and make it appealing to ride public transportation. They plan to do this by giving herb samples to regular costumers, making the tickets appealing colors with hints to help you go green, and they want to design merchandise, such as shirts, to promote this idea.
I think this idea could help the economic situation because it would provide cheap transportation alternative for those who need to save during this time of hardship. It would also provide more jobs for drivers needed and jobs might be needed in ticket production and sales. I think this is a good idea because it saves on gas since people will not be driving separate cars. It’s also a good idea because it will help families earn or save just a little each day in LA.

Pedestrians only in NYC - K.S.

In this article, the innovation is cutting the amount of New York City streets available to vehicles, and instead, having streets available to pedestrians. By doing this, we will cut down on air pollution, improve the flow of the city, and keep everyone healthy. This will make it harder for drivers when they have to go around all of the pedestrian designated areas, but could save lives with people not getting hit by cars and not dying of pollution-induced disease.
The economies of NYC and the U.S.A. will become more attractive, because the economies will benefit from these changes. These changes will benefit the economies, because they do help the environment as well as people living in NYC with their health and their traffic jams. Stores in the pedestrian designated areas will also benefit, because with more people sitting/walking in one area, they may be more likely to buy something if they see it and are able to go into the store without having to pay for parking or wait for a parking stall. Having pedestrian designated areas will also help these economies, because it will give some people jobs of cleaning and maintaining these areas.

The Soap Scoop -- C.J.M.

The article Selling Soap (Literally) talks about ad agencies creating their own brands of products instead of advertising other people’s products.
Because the economy today is going up and down, companies are trying to save money by cutting ad spending. In order for ad agencies to protect themselves from this, they are making their own products. The goal here is to have their products do well and then sell the brands for lots of money to larger companies.
I think that if other agencies do this, they will help the economy because they’re protecting themselves form going bankrupt.

the Brammo Bike -- M.W.

The Brammo Enertia electric bike is a new innovative way to travel. Like a motorcycle, it has 2 wheels in a line but this new bike travels on 100% electricity. On top of that it only costs $12,000 and, as described by Rick Rommel, the Senior Vice President of Emerging Business and Best Buy, has a computer and a battery on wheels. This sounds like a very green product.
This may all sound good to you but maybe it won't be that great after all. First of all, many people don't like the idea of traveling on a motorcycle. They feel it is dangerous or out of their comfort zone. Second of all, to power a motorcycle like Brammo Bike it would take a lot electricity. You might not have to pay for gas but your electric bill could make up for that. All these reasons, along with the fact that it probably won't get good charge mileage, lead me into believing that this will not make a great difference in the economy or consumer.

Walk into the Future with FitBit -- E.L.

The article that I read was about the new and improved pedometer called Fitbit Tracker. This is a new technology that allows you to monitor your own health day by day. James Park was the Co-Founder of the Fitbit. He wanted to measure the same data but present it in a different way. They are focused on numeric achievement and it looks like an electronic gear. To use the Fitbit, you place it into a person’s clothing, whether that’s an evening gown during the night or a running shoe during the day. You carry this pedometer 24/7 by either a male or female. It is a button that lets you cycle through the functions, including a digital flower that blossoms as you get closer to reaching your daily goals.
The Fitbit will have a positive impact because it helps people reach their goals in a day, week, or even month while doing numerous activities. The Fitbit will be helpful to any age group of people all over the world, therefore many people should keep their eyes out for the new and improved pedometer called Fitbit.

OnLive: the next IT product in Gaming -- C.Z.

I read an article about an invention created by Steve Perlman. Steve invented OnLive, an internet-wide gaming system that you can access right from your computer. OnLive provides users access to high end, streaming video games over the internet that are as responsive as those played on a console. I think this will affect other gaming company’s negatively because there is only a $5 a month subscription fee and if the subscribers don’t like it they can just cancel their subscription. There won’t necessarily be a scarcity for this product because it is readily accessible from your computer and available anytime. I believe it will be very popular when it comes out and I think OnLive is the next “it” product in the face of gaming.

Redbox: The Convenient Option -- D.B.

My article was about the Redbox kiosks outside local supermarkets. Reed Hastings, the founder of Netflix says that this might be one of his most threatening rivals. There about 15,000 kiosks and the Coinstar company wants to increase the number to 20,000 kiosks. This is a great innovation because it is very convenient and it’s cheap. Redbox is probably the next-best thing to on demand because it’s in way more places than Blockbuster and faster than Netflix. The kiosks are also in a very good spot because most of the movies rented from Redbox are rented between 4PM and 9PM. Food is also bought at this time and since the kiosks are by supermarkets, there are more movies rented. Renting movies from Redbox is not a problem because they are really cheap… only $1 a night!
I think that the Redbox idea will be good for the US economic situation. It gives people jobs like checking and refilling the inventory of the machine. It will help not letting people waste gas driving to Blockbuster or something because it is right by a local supermarket. The Redbox machines are also cheaper for everyone else to buy. So if you lost your job and you don’t have a lot of money, but you really want some entertainment, then you can go and get a Redbox movie. There’s really nothing special about it. This can’t play Blu-ray or stream anything into your house, but it’s very convenient. So get a Redbox movie! It’s fast, cheap, and convenient!

Facebook Loops and the Money to be Made - C.D.

 The article I read is about how Facebook and other social networking sites make money off of you using ads.  Ads and popups themselves weren’t doing the job because people just ignored them so they formed new programs. Lotame is a program basing the ad’s success on how much time a person spends engaging with it.  The program uses a person’s basic data gained from the social network site to send out cookies to monitor their behavior online.  Facebook developed Beacon, which connects businesses to users.  So if a user bought a book on Amazon.com,  Facbook could tell which of the users friends would also be interested in the book from their personal information. Amazon would then pay Facebook to an ad to all of the  friend’s news feeds.  Adam L. Penenberg created a viral loop that allows a user to find the dollar amount of what they are worth to social network sites. It takes your activity and the activity of your friends but mostly on your ability to persuade others to download the widget as well.

    The innovation present is allowing social networks to make money off the users and for the users to see how much their worth.  I think that Beacon will help the U.S. economic situation because it will allow businesses to get their name out, but I don’t think Lotame will help anything because no one really reads ads in the first place.

Article Analysis blogs

Students this past week were given an article from a magazine -- Time, People, Fast & Company, and Maximum PC, etc. Examples ranged from technological advancements like video games that promote wellness to the usefulness of the Redbox video rentals to the McCafe line at McDonalds. For their first blog assignment, each student was asked to write a short entry on the article itself and to give their opinion on the innovation described, and whether or not they thought it would have a postitive, negative, or neutral impact on the U.S. economy and why.
The answers given were impressive, and over the next week, they will appear here.
Do not believe the pundits when they say that children this age to not pay attention!

WELCOME!

Welcome to the SJMS Economics class blog! Here you will find brilliant student ideas on the world's economic issues, article reviews, project updates, and general info for your reading pleasure. Be sure to check back to see what we are up to!