Posted on Aug 6, 2012 in Business
1.”Our customers are worn out.”
All that initial excitement over the first iPhone or iPad has quickly given way to what analysts are dubbing “upgrade fatigue” — with even Apple’s most loyal customers upset about the steady stream of newer models. In fact, when people buy Apple’s latest product, the company is usually already preparing its replacement, says technology consultant Patchen Barrs, who has owned 25 Apple products over the last 20 years. “Everything we buy from them is already out of date,” he says. Take a count: Since 2001, there have been six iPods, two iPod minis, six iPod Nanos, four iPod Shuffles and four editions of the iPod Touch. Apple has released five iPhone models since 2007 and has had three iPads since 2010.
Of course, newer models have their upsides: They’re usually slimmer, faster and have additional features like better cameras and improved screen quality. And Apple (AAPL: 624.83, 9.13, 1.48%), which declined to comment for this story, has said that such improvements more than justify the fast pace of their new additions. (In March, for example, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the latest iPad delivered a “stunning” screen display.) But that argument isn’t enough to appease some cash-strapped consumers. Almost 50% of consumers say they’re increasingly unwilling to buy new products for fear that they will be rendered outdated by even newer versions, according to a recent survey of 2,000 people by Marketing Magazine in the U.K.
It doesn’t stop with devices, say experts: Software upgrades also gently nudge people to buy new hardware. Last month, Apple launched a new version of its Airplay software, which virtually connects Apple gadgets and can beam video from computers to Apple TV. But the new Airplay is not compatible with iMacs and MacBook Air computers bought before mid-2011. Some Mac owners expressed their unhappiness online. One irate Mac customer wrote: “I don’t care how much you plan for obsolescence, there is no way that new software should not be backward compatible for at least a couple years.”
To read the entire article click on the link below
http://www.smartmoney.com/spend/technology/10-things-apple-wont-tell-you-1344031439347/?link=e2eyahoo#articleTabs
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Posted on Jun 28, 2012 in Business
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, is arguably one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. At just 24 years of age he became the world’s youngest billionaire, and his website has now reached over 900 million active users. Perhaps most impressively of all, he achieved all of his success through a project he started in his college dorm room.
Here is a breakdown with 7 reasons we believe, play a major part in Mark Zuckerberg’s Success.
1) He Truly Believed In What He Was Doing
It takes a lot of dedication to become successful, and not just during office hours. While Mark Zuckerberg‘s friends were out partying, he would stay in his dorm room and work on coding his website until early in the morning. It is very difficult to put in the hours and hours of hard work needed to build a company from the ground up, without truly believing in and enjoying what you are doing.
2) He’s Always Prepared To Take Criticism
In its rise to being the world’s most popular social network, Facebook has suffered its fair share of setbacks. Not only has it been the subject of law suits with former founders and legal battles over information confidentiality, it has even been banned intermittently in several countries. Through sheer determination and by having incredibly thick skin, Mark Zuckerberg and his team have remained strong in the face of adversity, being mindful of the hazards and hopeful of maneuvering around any challenge that comes their way.
To read entire article click on the link below
(Source) Addicted 2 Success
http://addicted2success.com/success-advice/7-reasons-why-mark-zuckerberg-is-super-successful/
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Posted on Jun 16, 2012 in Business
The 40/40 Club will open its new location in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, the new sports and entertainment venue and home to the Brooklyn Nets. The $1 billion arena will house the 9,000 square-foot restaurant slated to debut on the arena’s opening night when JAY Z performs in concert on September 28, 2012.
“There is no better home for another 40/40 Club location than the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn,” stated JAY Z. “The 40/40 Club has revolutionized restaurants in a way I anticipate Barclays Center to transform the arena watching experience.”
Located on the Barclays Brownstone Suite Level, The 40/40 Club will feature key materials and design concepts from its newly renovated New York City flagship location, including the custom illuminated amber resin bar top. The design for the space is by SHoP Architects with consultation from designer Jeffrey Beers to ensure a consistent look and feel with the flagship venue. The new location in Barclays Center will feature 36 TVs, including eight 80’’ TVs on the outside of the bar soffit, and will also offer great views of the basketball court.
For more on this story click on the link below
http://rocnation.com/jayz/
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Posted on Jun 12, 2012 in Business, Lifestyle
A crime scene investigation is underway to investigate a death. This is not an average death, this is the death of creative thinking. You see while IQ levels have been rising owing to enriched environments (the Flynn effect), creativity scores have actually been falling over time. After analyzing up to 300,000 Torrance scores from children and adults (the gold standard in creativity measurement), it has been discovered that although creativity scores rose along with IQ scores until 1990, creativity scores have since dropped significantly.
This decline is also evident across an individual’s lifespan. Research into the decline of creativity has led to some startling conclusions. In a sample of 1500 children aged 3–5, 98 percent ranked as “geniuses” in divergent thinking; in children aged 8–10 the figure fell to just 32 percent; and by age 13–15 it had declined further to a mere 10 percent. In other words, children become less creative as they grow older. Moreover, in a control test of 2000 adults (aged 25+), only 2 percent ranked as geniuses.
When, more than 50 years ago, American psychologist E. Paul Torrance began identifying the key elements in creative thinking and assessing individuals according to these criteria, he had no idea what these assessments would eventually reveal. Torrance and his colleague Garnet Millar, who followed individuals over time, found that the qualities they identified in young children were major predictors for creative professional success. By looking at the lifetime data Torrance and his associates collected, and reanalyzing it, it was found that the correlation to lifetime creative accomplishments is nearly three times stronger for childhood creativity than it is for childhood IQ.
It’s time to identify and deal with the creativity killers. Through our surveys of thousands of workshop participants from a range of backgrounds and experiences over more than 20 years, we have narrowed down the list of suspects to 7 key profiles. By recognizing and managing these effectively, we believe it will be possible to revive and nurture creative thinking. Allow us to take a creative approach to interrogating these murder suspects:
Creativity killer profile 1: the Control Crew
Also known as bully oppressors, the control killer profile tends to stifle creative thinking through suppressing the ability to think freely and independently. When systems are set up that restrict freedom of thought, and when individuals perpetuate those systems through controlling approaches and actions, creativity has no room to flourish. Like the real mafia, the control killers can operate through a coercion which instills fear, which can then itself become a killer.
To deal with this killer:
Recognize areas in your life that may have become suppressed, and identify why this has happened and how this can be dealt with.
Develop a mindset that is open to exploration.
Ask open-ended questions to challenge established beliefs and assumptions without expecting specific outcomes or solutions.
Creativity killer profile 2: the Fear Family
An often unsuspected killer that can intimidate the most intrepid, this highly prolific villain thrives on anxieties about trialling new ideas and the possibility of failure. A childlike ability to take risks and risk failure without fear is critical to creative thinking, but when anxiety intervenes the fear can be crippling. It’s not surprising that one of Apple’s guiding innovation principles is to “fail wisely.”
To deal with this killer:
Have the courage to face fears of possible failure and uncertainty. Learn to see them as an important part of the creative process.
Learn to accept and embrace apparently opposing ideas (ambiguity) to open up new possibilities.
Creativity killer profile 3: the Pressure Pack
This seductive assassin dispatches its victims by exercising a stranglehold of real or perceived expectations. The faster pace of life, a greater reliance on technology, and significantly increased communication speeds, have all contributed to its prevalence. Under pressure, the body’s instinctive response is “fight, flight or freeze.” The constant adrenaline need for the “fight” response can lead to dangerous physical and psychological symptoms and ultimately literally shut down the brain, and the “flight” and “freeze” responses can lead to an inability to face up to the pressure and deal with it effectively. By using up precious mental energy at the primitive brain stem simply for survival, thus limiting access to the pre-frontal cortex where real creative thinking can occur, this killer restricts the ability to be creative.
To deal with this killer:
Identify your own typical responses to pressure.
Stand up to pressure – recognize that you have the power to stay in control of the impact of external circumstances, and find specific ways to balance your time and energy more effectively.
Be proactive in designing your life to control pressure: e.g., try drawing up a fresh schedule for yourself that gives you the time and space to do the things you would like to do as well as fitting in the things you need to do.
Prepare a platform to unleash your imagination – trial “brain teaser” exercises designed to stretch your mind into exploring a range of possibilities.
http://www.fastcocreate.com/1680919/the-7-biggest-creativity-killers
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