Tag: technology

Facebook Folly

How many website do you subscribe to?

The say 800 million people have Facebook accounts. Those accounts are free. I am one of those subscribers and most likely so are you. I have never purchased anything as a result of having that account. I only go onto the account when I am bombarded by e-mail messages telling me that I have messages that require my response. Usually the messages are from people I do not know but want to be my friend. These are people who “maybe” did meet me somewhere but I can’t remember where and their faces are not familiar to me.

 I must agree with Betty White when she presented her monologue on SNL. “I really have to thank Facebook … I didn’t know what Facebook was, and now that I do know what it is, I have to say, it sounds like a huge waste of time. I would never say the people on it are losers, but that’s only because I’m polite. People say ‘But Betty, Facebook is a great way to connect with old friends.’ Well at my age, if I wanna connect with old friends, I need a Ouija Board. Needless to say, we didn’t have Facebook when I was growing up. We had phonebook, but you wouldn’t waste an afternoon with it.”

Betty White Monologue

Apparently Mark Zuckerberg convinced himself and millions of others that his free social media site could be a marketing tool. Betty White is correct. He is trying to sell access to the telephone book.

Buy a share of Facebook? Why? How many people will reach their purchasing decision based upon the things they see on that site. Facebook’s number three advertiser, General Motors, has discontinued their advertising on the site.

‘all robot’ Manufacturing

May 13, 2012 – LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — Japan’s Canon Inc. (JP:7751)(US:CAJ) plans to fully automate its digital-camera production by 2015, becoming the first camera maker to swap out all its workers in favor of robots, the Nikkei business daily reported Monday without citing sources. Canon, the world’s No. 1 digital-camera maker by virtue of an approximately 20% global market share, plans to keep employees displaced by the robots by engaging them in production-control jobs or at “new divisions in growth fields,” the report said. The plants involved in the first phase of the move are located within Japan, but if the fully automated lines are successful, Canon will duplicate the move at three overseas facilities, the report said.

This topic brings up the question of employing the world in an era of automation.  Automobiles were welded by hand held machines but today they are fully automated.


Cisco’s commercial on CNN shows a fully automated factory.  There are no humans to be seen.  One robot breaks down and another says “I can fix that.”  It does and all the machines resume functioning.

So what will people be doing in this new high tech world?  I have not read a solution to that question.

Should You Invest in Facebook on Day 1?

General Motors has announced that it will stop advertising on Facebook after determining that the ads on the social-media site are ineffective.

The hype over Facebook’s IPO really is extraordinary. While many younger people are fans of the social media giant, there really is no indication of the actual earning power of the company. I saw Your Money on CNN this past weekend and two of the three guests were totally positive that making an investment in this company would be a wise move. The third, Ned Riley (Riley Asset Management) said the shares will likely start at about $60 a share and go lower by this time next year.

Apple struggled for years before finding its strength. Google just kept building its strength from the start. Other social media web sites have struggled. Which retail web site comes in third place behind Amazon and E-Bay? I don’t know the answer.

For those people who are willing to gamble the investment is a wonderful opportunity. For those of us who want some real performance numbers this investment seems very suspect.

The Tech impact has Just Begun

When my son had his car stolen, my daughter called to say she learned about it on his Facebook page.

No one doubts that technology has impacted our way of life. Computers, television have morphed into computers, cell phones have become smart phones, tablet computers are replacing lap top computers, and music is now downloaded rather than played on CDs or records (what are records?).

Despite all the new stuff, electronic retail has seen a continuous downward trend over the last few years.  First it was Circuit City that once was the largest chain of electronic stores in the nation and now Best Buy seems to be following with the closing of 50 stores by the end of this year.  Six (revised to 7)in California, six in Illinois, and the balance in Minnesota (revised to 17 states and Puerto Rico).

This really is the impact of technology.  Borders Books is gone and Barnes and Noble is barely hanging on.  All these businesses are impacted by the internet.  It’s the place I made two purchases this month from Amazon.  One was a new camera (tech product) and the other was sugar bowl (that is a blow to all retail).  Banking? On line.

What is the message?  Retail will never be the same.

What about jobs?  Many of us will be working from home.

Betty White may be correct when she said, “Facebook is a big waste of time.”  Just don’t tell the millions of people who use it as a primary means of communication.