Wednesday, April 6, 2011

DEATH OF CONSUMERS

Nowadays, individuals are gravely re-evaluating their work, and their play, their needs and the way they live. People became more demanding on the things they need. People ask for more, they look for more creative and convenient products. They look for something that would make life easier. Because of the products of this generation people are given devices and machines that would make life easy. For instance our mobiles, presently we can contact and communicate with our friends anytime we want and can talk have long distance communications as fast as we wish to. Not like before messages can only be sent to distant receivers through snail messaging where in it would take days before it will arrive to its destination. The question isn’t only “What are you going to do with your time in today’s virtual world?” but also “What are your jobs and activities really worth?” Because of the fast growing environment more opportunities also arises and demands would take part as well. Today’s generation, business world and the way people live differ a lot from the past time. On the previous meeting with the techno class we had discussed about changes and trends and opportunities in convergence. Definitely change is inevitable. It is the only constant thing in the world. Change is a fundamental part of continuous quality improvement. Yes definitely to improve the quality of the products consumers are now replaced with prosumers to enhance the quality of products. 

As prosperity grows and spreads worldwide, many opportunities occur from lifestyle changes. So that’s why prosumers arise because of these changes but before we have acquired the fruit of the consumer to prosumer way of customers we had passed through different generations which also had different ways of living. Before our present era occurred our world had experience the time of agriculture where people has the living of producing, processing, marketing and use of foods, fibers and byproducts from plant crops and animals. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. In this era people are experiencing simple way of living. The agricultural revolution was a period of agricultural development between the 18th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw a massive and rapid increase in agricultural productivity and vast improvements in farm technology. After this kind of era comes the revolution of the Industrial industry where in innovations are starting to arise. It was a period where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Inventions were also created in this era such as plow and moldboard, seed drills and machines that harvest. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way. The first Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. The period of time covered by the Industrial Revolution varies with different historians. Eric Hobsbawm held that it 'broke out' in Britain in the 1780s and was not fully felt until the 1830s or 1840s, while T. S. Ashton held that it occurred roughly between 1760 and 1830. Most particularly, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. And finally today the world revolved into a high technology based environment where lots of modernization can be observed. 


Because of the new innovative world, questions like which things that I do feel truly satisfying and meaningful? would come out of our minds. Like the companies of today, they are very considerate on the needs of the people. They make it sure that what they produce must make meaning and would satisfy the taste of the prosumers. Death of Conusmers, what are my understanding regarding this matter. Well, as what I have learned from our discussion, it is the uprising existence of prosumers and the farewell of the consumers. It is where ordinary or casual customers are replaced by professional and demanding ones. It is the shift of consumers to prosumers or the change of paradigm. To understand more, let us define each. Let’s us take consumer first. Consumers are Everyday purchaser of a good or service in retail. They are the end-users. They are individuals who buy products or services for personal use and not for manufacture or resale. A consumer is someone who can make the decision whether or not to purchase an item at the store, and someone who can be influenced by marketing and advertisements. Any time someone goes to a store and purchases a toy, shirt, beverage, or anything else, they are making that decision as a consumer. On the other hand let us know what a prosumer is. Prosumer originated with Alvin Toffler, who first used the term in his 1980 book The Third Wave. Toffler defined the prosumer as someone who blurs the distinction between a “consumer” and a “producer.” The term has since come to mean a variety of things, but here we define it as someone who makes little distinction between his or her home and work lives. The prosumer engages in activities belonging to either sphere, regardless of time or location. Because of their complex lifestyle, which combines a demanding workload and an active family life, prosumers are eager adopters of Web 2.0 products and services a convergence of process innovation, global marketplaces, and advanced technologies that fundamentally changes the way consumers buy, retailers sell, and products are brought to market. Prosumers typically embrace Web 2.0 technologies such as social networking (Facebook, MySpace), blogging, video on demand (VoD), podcasting, VoDcasting, virtual realities (Second Life, There.com), mobile communications, and other Internet-based technologies and services that allow people to stay connected whenever and wherever they desire. We refer to this as “Connected Life,” and the prosumer is an enthusiastic and early adopter of the connected lifestyle. Not all prosumers use all these technologies, of course; they access whichever technology subset best suits their individual preferences and lifestyles. The concept of a prosumer is a late 20th century idea that combines some of the common characteristics of a professional and a consumer. The term is generally applied to situations where consumers are considered to have reached a level of sophistication that the professional-consumer can effectively dictate the perimeters for the production of goods and services in terms of quality and structure. The difference between the garden variety consumer and the prosumer is that the latter typically possesses such a strong working knowledge with the product that he or she can successfully determine and perhaps even design a better product offering. Prosumers are now common in many fields that were once the sole province of professionals. One of the areas where the prosumer has gained a high degree of visibility is in the home improvement industry. A number of household tasks, such as the installation of ductwork, plumbing, wallpaper hanging, and installing major appliances, are now done by many homeowners. In times past, these were all functions that were considered to be the work of professionals, with only the occasional amateur attempting this sort of high profile work. 

Serving prosumers is composite. Their needs cannot be defined by location, application, time of day, or device alone. In fact, that is what makes them prosumers. They seek to be connected and serviced no matter where they are, what they are trying to do, or when they are trying to do it. Although prosumers are heavy technology users, they want solutions to be simple. In particular, application user interfaces must be easily accessible for both work and their personal life, raising some issues relating to overlap between the two. For example, loading Connected Life applications onto company-owned phones is a concern to employers because of security and liability, and to mployees because of privacy and ethical concerns. When work and personal lives overlap and blend so seamlessly, billing for things like mobile phones and application software also becomes blurred. So, serving the presume to the satisfaction of the prosumer and his or her employer is far from easy. Early prosumer offerings have fallen short of what these individuals really need. Mobile mail is an example of this. When it is provided by the employer, it works well for business purposes. But personal mobile mail requires yet another application from a provider such as Google or Yahoo! The only way to handle this situation is to maintain one phone for personal mail and another phone for business mail an equally awkward solution. Effectively serving this segment requires delivering value that works for both the prosumer and the enterprise. A few discerning industries are already aware of prosumers and their lifestyles, and have developed programs and products to serve them. The hospitality and airline industries know that when people travel for business or pleasure, they tend to select providers that offer them benefits. As a result, when someone earns extra miles flying with Airline X for business, that person will choose Airline X for leisure travel because the frequent flier miles help pay for the vacation.The financial services industry has begun cross-selling products such as insurance and banking services, especially to small- and medium-sized business owners (prime prosumer targets), recognizing that when someone starts a business, that person is more inclined to select a financial services institution with which he or she is already doing personal business.Higher-education institutions position their services to alumni as they enter the workforce, because alumni often seek corporate sponsorship for more costly graduate work.Most industries, however, have not yet instituted formal business models to pursue prosumers as a target segment. Capturing the emerging prosumer category requires a deliberate and systematic approach, with full understanding of what makes these complex individuals tick.The service provider industry (telecommunications, IP services) is absolutely essential to the prosumer’s connected lifestyle, yet these companies have done little to court this segment. Providers need to invest in network infrastructure to deliver seamless, ubiquitous, and secure prosumer experiences across personal and work requirements. Because these industries have so much to gain from prosumers, it makes a great deal of sense to start with the design of user interfaces that are blended, yet provide sufficient separation between work and personal content to avoid conflict with corporate policy.It also behooves the service provider industries to figure out a way to provide services and billing methodologies that keep the prosumer connected, yet allow for separation of work and personal activities. For instance, there should be a simple, nonintrusive method for keeping mobile phone charges separate. And there should be a way for prosumers to integrate their home and work calendars and address books without providing employer visibility into personal information and vice versa.

To sum up about the prosumers. We can say that the prosumer segment may be small, but its influence is growing rapidly. As we can witness the enormous popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPod, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook. It’s time to start thinking about the underserved prosumer market and how to address it better. There are several known areas of focus for prosumers, which includes; They need to be connected to work and family anytime, anywhere; they want simple-to-use, seamless solutions; they are interested in entertainment, and spend more than the average consumer in this category; they want to access files at home as easily as they do at work; they are mobile, and usually own several devices such as a mobile phone, iPod,and laptop computer; they are frequent, intensive users of the Internet and mobile technologies at work and home. Prosumers are not hard to find or identify. But capturing this desirable segment requires a systematic program of research, development, and testing of prosumeroriented offerings—plus education of prosumers about the value of your product or service. The following are steps you can take today to take advantage of the lucrative prosumer opportunity.


To differentiate the two, let us say consumer is one that consumes, one that acquires goods or services for direct use or ownership. This only focuses on the sale. They don’t consider the person or the people. It is all about the sale, which cares about the person. It is like a selfish way of business. Now a prosumer is one who is converse to the consumer, denoting an active role as the individual gets more involved in the process. That is right, we are interested in others 1st, sharing, giving, and earning their trust. This tells that customers have their feelings. They can react and demand. They are not just mindless organisms who just consume matter. The end our view of our customers is serious. They are changing, they have choices and demands. They can get poor service anywhere. Life is stressful, anxiety is growing in our neighbors lives, procrastination is up 40%, and rage and rudeness are increasing across the board amongst ‘service’ providers.


Death of Consumers, this is what our present generation shows. I also found some points that would help the businessmen or the providers for the prosumers. So here are just a few helpful suggestions, to see things from the Prosumer’s perspective that may help us tweak our operation and get us on the right path without having to do a lot of heavy lifting:
First is that you have to understand we each other providers to prosumers. Like the saying no man is an island, so we need to cooperate in order to succeed. Every business is in a similar situation. They are all struggling trying to catch up to the social behavior shift which has left there showrooms empty. Face it, we have created a monster. Our poor customers are left to fend for themselves, our culture of treating them like customers has left them feeling suspicious, distrustful, with no inherent loyalty, and only focused on price and convenience, and feel defensive, suspicious and that we are the adversary as soon as they walk into our business. I do. That means whatever your price is; I’m looking on the web to find it cheaper. What’s the result? Well we all lose, business profits dwindle in our community, jobs lost. We have to understand it is what it is, and IT doesn’t work anymore. We have to lift our heads out of our computers and look around, realize the situation, and do something about it.


The second thing is that consider and set objectives. It is vital to see goals. It will guide you in your business. Our goal is simple, sustainable profits and growth right? The only way, let me repeat that, the only way for that to ppen in your business in today’s climate is to build customer equity equals trust, confidence in us, we re, no hype, no infomercial techniques, those are dead. Our customers or should we say Prosumers, need to realize and see manifested in our business model that we don’t have a hidden agenda, help them to learn from their experience with us that they can trust us. And finally, they should pick up from their interaction with us that when they deal with us, it’s not about ’selling them something’, it about their experience and making it the most enjoyable that we can

Lastly, shift the paradigm. Let us make change. Most businesses still operate in the adversarial consumer arena and use traditional media to advertize their sales. This does not work anymore in fact, most companies that remain in the status quo are finding they are paying a trust tax, a transaction (soon to be reaction) costs which can be up to 70% of the item, which destroys profit margin and will force companies into extinction if they remain unchanged in their methods. We must make the shift from ’selling things’ to noticing people! We need to build a desire with our Prosumers, cultivate relationships, and create a sense of comfortable community for them. Let us be reminded with these things, thoughts not just for the product but also for the people or cusromers. Feelings for others and stop being selfish and lastly actions of course. Now, this is a two edged sword, but one that if used right, and all the focus is on the Prosumer’s experience when we get an opportunity, that we are going to dazzle them with service, since we are all human, of course if customers will trust your product and has the desire for it then they will probably purchase it, and continued experience results in loyalty and brand encouragement. It will probably work most of the time. So let us now consider customers as prosumers and not consumers.

Death of Consumer, the shift of paradigm. Customers have now the power to demand and be followed. It is a kind of change that would result from standard to outstanding. Let us not stick to the old way. Just like in some stores we can now demand for customization of our products. We have the power to insist. Let us jump the curves and should adopt the new way. Finally, as technology persists to develop, there is no uncertainty that thje prosumer occurrence will keep on growing. Let us all be prosumers and let us make some meaning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
http://inventors.about.com/od/indrevolution/a/AgriculturalRev.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosumer

Trends and Opportunities in Convergence

What are the Trends and Opportunities in Convergence? To be honest the term convergence gives no definition in my mind. I heard of the term but I have no idea as to what its meaning is. But just recently we discussed about convergence on our techno class. Our instructor gave some inputs for us to understand more about the trends and opportunities in convergence. What convergence describes? Convergence is the occurrence of two or more things coming together. It is the merging of such technologies to give innovation and convenience in the present world. Convergence change the way we lived. Convergence brings meaning and development. Convergence is such a cool word, with lots of marketing value attached to it. It looks good in commercials and sounds remarkable in tag lines. Network, terminal end, telecom, data communication, broadcasting, IT, data, video, voice, computer telephony and more, there are as many definitions as there are stakeholders. Without going into the specifics like what should be included and what should not, we give a definition here which is quite broad, all embracing, and so naturally not very helpful for those who want to jump to examples. Convergence refers to the blurring of dividing lines among traditionally distinct products and services, technologies, markets, industries, and regulatory structures.

There are lots of changes convergence has brought which include new innovations, new services, new technologies, new business models, and less severe regulations. Convergence has brought change not only in the way we live, but also in the way we think. But then, not everything about convergence is pleasant. The fact, however is, the challenges are along the way. There is no run-away option. We have to surpass these struggles before we can get the taste of convergence. Convergence can bring the effects of changing the way we write, we work, and how we do our business.


Thus before we have acquired the fruit of convergence we had passed through different generations which also had different ways of living. Before our present era occurred our world had experience the time of agriculture where people has the living of producing, processing, marketing and use of foods, fibers and byproducts from plant crops and animals. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and stratified societies. In this era people are experiencing simple way of living. After this kind of era comes the revolution of the Industrial industry where in innovations are starting to arise. It was a period where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way. Most particularly, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. And finally today the world revolved into a high technology based environment where lots of modernization can be observed. Convergence in this time exists.

Trends, what are the trends in convergence. Because of the fast changing technology we have today. We can observe trends of convergence in fields of internet, digital world, media and telecommunication. Convergence changes the paradigm shift. Media and telecoms convergence is still in the early stages of development. The internet has become truly mobile and there is a new way of thinking, the ‘paradigm shift’, which operators need to work through. Every market may not respond in the same way, so adopting a standard strategy is unlikely to work.




Let us consider the internet first. The internet was mainly used before for communication, for access and exchange of information. It was also used for Universities to have an easier and faster admission and such. It was also used by other institutions for simple reasons. Yet now the internet world is growing and growing. As we can observe changes take place every minute and even in a second. It is inevitable that internet is one of the world’s fast larging communities. Now, the people make use of internet in loads of different ways. We can use internet for us to chat with our friends and family. We have different chatting sites found in the web such as yahoomail, skype, EkkoTV, RandomDorm and the like. Before, the chatting sites possess only few applications but now most of these chatting sites offer live video chats, conferences, voice messaging and many more. As I can remember, it is just funny way back 6 years ago I usually go to internet cafes paying 35 pesos for just an hour just to look for friends over the internet via yahoo mail. It was some sort of an embarrassment for my part but I just can’t imagine the first reason why I was hook to the use of internet. Aside from educational purposes I usually go to the internet cafe for this irrational reason but still it made me familiar with the internet and some of its uses. As time goes by I learned how to search and look for assignments just by the use of internet. Because of the convergence the internet was then developed and can offer information that would correspond to a large library or should I say more. By just the use of internet I can browse and read some lessons. I can look for some data and ideas. Way back high school I really love to stay at the library and spend some time reading books, encyclopedias and the like but when I learned how to use the internet for searching I became fond of it and spends more time on internet cafe rather than on the library. Yes, the internet is not an ordinary network. It can make you look for new friends, communicate with others far from you and of course it is very helpful because it offers wide range information that can perhaps answer any of your question or query. Aside from mentioned, community sites are also spreading and one of the most prominent one is facebook.com. We can also use internet for networking of friends, for posting status or ideas, for updating one’s lives, for finding some people and for communication. Before, I was really a Friendster enthusiast. Even if we have assignments and projects I usually spend most of my time just for logging in the networking site Friendster. Busy on changing my background, visiting other profiles, and giving testimonials. The internet can also be a radio. Nowadays we can use internet for sound tripping, for downloading songs, also for gaming. Most teenagers are addicted to internet because of the online games. Online games which include Ran, Diablo, Star Craft and more are most played. In my high school days I can remember how my classmates were addicted on playing Ragnarok. Another use of internet for gaming is about Xbox. A video game console has as its primary purpose the playing of console games, but it is also able to play back video and music and to connect to the Internet. Internet nowadays is also capable for live streams. Others also use internet as television and radio. Also for business, eBay and ecommerce can be observed most. Internet can now offer markets online where in we can purchase some products by the use of credit card, PayPal, etc for paying purposes. Internet can also be a newspaper for us. It provides news online about the latest updates on the world of politics, economics and even show business. Advertisement can also be done through internet.

Another trend in convergence is messaging. Before, messaging can be sent through snail mails. Receivers would have to wait days before they can receive the messages intended for them. After years beepers came out and served as a medium on transmitting messages. It was way better than the snail mail way of sending messages. Text-to-landline services also exist, where subscribers can send text messages to any landline phone and are charged at standard rates. As the time goes by, mobile phones went out. As far as I had witness mobile phones before was very large. They are portable but still very large to bring on hand always. Innovations were made and then improvements went out. A new phone model was released which has the capability to text, call and play games at the same time. It is a simple example of the trending convergence during that generation. After months more applications were developed combinational services was then available such as MP3, Games, Internet browsing, Camera, Bluetooth and more are integrated and can be experienced in just one device. On present the phones are operated by just touching its screen.

Another is trend on digital world and the photography which also includes on the gadgets for music. Before, people use radios for listening music. As time goes by walkman was invented for listening music wherever you are. Then it involved into having the capability of inserting cds. Until finally mp3, mp4, ipod and more are developed. Earlier the cameras need films for it to operate but now digital cameras are used. Lately DSLR cameras are the latest device for best capturing images.

Opportunities in convergence, because of the fast improving convergence of trends lots of opportunities went out. As mentioned the internet world is getting bigger and bigger so with this occurrence, many people benefit to it due to the tons of job opportunities IT companies offer. I could still remember seeing people like crazy doing door to door looking for job vacancies and yet end up nothing. Due to the fast evolution of technology as what we say, jobs are being offered everywhere even on the internet. If you want to get a job, just surf the internet and you will find a lot of it. Also people who possess such great imaging and graphics designs skills can earn money up to $100 just for a single logo they make. You see, they can do such jobs even though they are already employed on a certain company or even they just stay at home doing freelancing jobs. As I could still remember, we were asked by Sir Randy about what we love and what we are best at, and I have observed that it is really possible to improve the quality of my life if I will use them.

The Convergence of the latest Trends and Opportunities

As I have discussed, technology is fast evolving with the latest trends people make. With these latest trends, people are able to make use of it for the betterment of their lifestyles and ways of living. Like for example, the latest Samsung Galaxy S with Android as its operating system, programmers are into making applications for that specific phone. After making an application, they sell it Android and the people who use Android phones buy it. That is one example of grabbing the opportunities by means of the latest trends. When it comes to imaging, editing photos using Photoshop, Corel Draw and 3d modeling with Maya or 3d Studio Max, artists make use of these latest trends to make their graphics and sell to huge companies who acts to be their clients.

As an Information Technology student and a soon to be graduate, it is really an advantage for me being aware of the latest trends and being aware of the opportunities that surround me. These things would greatly help me on improving my ways of living and I may be able to live the life that I wanted to.

Make Meaning

Make meaning, this is the main subject of my reflection. Last meeting in our IT Elective, Technopreneurship 2 course our facilitator showed us a short video that was pretty inspiring. As he entered the room and told us that he will show a video I was then excited since I was expecting of another movie just like we watched last semester which was the Pirates of the Silicon Valley but then he mentioned that what he will be showing is just a short video but still it was satisfying and magnificent. After then we wrote our brief reflections and learning that we have acquired by watching the video. To describe what we watch it was awesome. The video was about building companies and making meaning. Guy Kawasaki is really an inspiration just like other prominent people. What we viewed was one of Guy Kawasaki’s presentations for the Stanford Technology Ventures Program Educators Corner in the School of Engineering at Stanford University in October, 2004. It was one of his topics for his book “The Art of Starting”.

Let’s get into the serious stuff. On the short video the main point was to make meaning. I was struck with what Guy Kawasaki stressed out, to make meaning. For him the core or essence of technopreneurship is making meaning. As I think, “to make meaning” what does this really mean? As for the moment, as a student do I really make meaning? As I discern I couldn’t find the answer if I inspire others, if I did something that has brought a better change nor have I done something that made everyone proud of me or think of me as a person that could contribute a lot. I walked in the life of being an IT student with lots of confusion and difficulty. I wasn’t sure of taking up this course and if I could make it. They said this will really be a hard choice. Choosing the IT path and having an IT career wouldn’t be easy especially on my part possessing no special ability for computer matters. Well, I just remember this occurrence in my life before I decided to pursue where I am now. As I can keep in mind I was still in the first year level then when I told my best friend my complexities in indulging in this kind of field, I was expecting her to help increase my confidence and bring me up instead she disappointed me by saying that I better shift because she think that I can’t make it and I can’t survive with the kind of course I have. Her statement struck me, in my life in high school I was really hoping to do well in college and to make meaning, to change something. Yet it was disheartening hearing those words from a person that knows me a lot. She doesn’t see me as a person that could make significance to my environment. But instead of being upset I thought of showing to her that I can finish what I have started. To converse honestly, I chose the course Information Technology also because of the reason that graduating with the degree of BSIT can help me obtain a job that would offer a large amount of salary and also they said big opportunities can be found in this field. I regarded money as one of the reasons and from what I have seen from Guy Kawasaki’s video, having this kind of perception can’t make me on top instead it will bring me down. Just like what I can remember from the previous lessons that I learned I must not have this kind of mindset or thinking. I should imagine of a better reason. Just like in the video Sir Guy Kawasaki stressed out that in starting something to be more specific he mentioned that in opening a business you must think of making meaning. This is the essence or core of technopreneurship. Many companies nowadays start up something to make money. They are more motivated with the help of the cost that they will be gaining. Guy Kawasaki once worked with the Apple team and was responsible of marketing Macintosh and now a Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures. He uttered about most companies that he had worked with were fundamentally founded to change the world, to make the world a better place and to make meaning and most likely they are the companies that succeed. In starting up a business you shouldn’t just think of yourself and of gaining profits instead think of others and what better change can your business contribute to the environment. In building a business you must have the purpose not just for yourself but for everyone. Your business must inspire others and not just like other business that just consider of making money. For small business like what we call “manok - manok” business. This kind of business wouldn’t probably last longer. In making a business just like what I have learned you must discern well and should be unique. You must think of a business that would help improve something or that would change something not just like others that would set for a business that was just being copied from other’s ideas. He also has the belief that if you have the goal of making meaning then you can inspire others, you can be contented with what you have and at the same time you can also make money but if you would set a goal of starting a business to make money then you probably would not make meaning and at one fell swoop you wouldn’t make money at all. Those companies that think more of the amount that they will gain would probably end on something bad. Thus from what he have said I can say that objectives of your business could really affect its performance and success. Before I was contented of the idea of landing into a job as an employee or by simply by starting up a business that could help my family in financial matters. Maybe I shouldn’t settle for that kind of goal. I must be an employer someday. I must get pot of my shell and bring change to my environment.

In the video we saw Guy Kawasaki essentially stressed out the first thought which settled out with the phrase “make meaning”. Which should be the core why you start a company. He brought up 3 points that would make under the idea make meaning. Let me discuss the first one which went out to be the phrase increase the quality of life. In building a business it is important that your business would increase the quality of in life. In case of having the objective of making money then how will you increase the quality of life? When you say quality of life it would assess the common well-being of individuals and societies. Making money couldn’t be called as a common well-being of most. It is temporary and unfortunately money can encourage others to do something awful. As they say love of money is the root of all evil. For some who are deceived by money they will be ready to do anything just to gain it. Those companies wouldn’t last. To increase the quality of life you must think always. Discern properly for the decisions that you will be making. Don’t settle for the simple things you can reflect instead everyday must be a time to think well. You must always imagine things. You can also do serendipity walks to help you come up into an idea. You must always think in order for you improve your ways. Like I said don’t settle make everyday a time to think for improvements. Another thing is that you must get out of your shell. Make it a point to do something courageous every day. You must not remain in areas of your ease. Like they say step out of your comfort zone. Try to think beyond the box. Explore and get involve with the things out of your routine. By doing this you might discover some things that could help you generate good projects for your business. You may not know everything. You don’t know other’s needs. So it is helpful and important to look on the other aspects that you are not familiar with. Go outside and see better opportunities out of your own window. It is also important to stop broken thoughts. In starting up a business every little detail must be considered. Don’t stop broken thoughts. You must not fail to oversee small things and regard them as nothing while in fact they can affect your business or project if it wouldn’t be considered. Think of others, this is also important you must see what most people needs. In starting up a business you must also deem what the environment necessitates. Some business oriented people, do I really have to call them business oriented, well let’s just say some business minded wanabees creates business just for the sake of something unreasonable. In creating a business you must also look at what the environment needs in order to be productive and efficient in your business. As a summary of this point, in starting a business one should not be motivated by making money instead they should be encouraged in changing the world and making people more creative and productive, everyone must increase the quality of life. You must wake up in the morning thinking how to change people’s lives.

The next point was all about to “Right a wrong”. Your business must not be the same as some other companies that would operate even though some of their works wouldn’t favor the environment. Let’s say just like factories. Some factories can bring pollution to the environment such as water, Air or noise and such pollutions that could affect generally though not directly to the customer but to the environment. Right a wrong we must be keen on noticing mistakes and should not tolerate and follow such practices even if the business would somehow be successful. You must notice that wrong and fix it. Yes you may succeed with your business though it could harm others but sooner or later that business would be the reason why the world would turn into its worst situation. Guy wants to stress out that we must possess the attitude of looking for others sake, printing a good mark because of our achievements, generally creating the world a better place, make a meaning and not doing wrong. In starting up a business we must strive hard. We must fix and end the wrong.

Lastly, prevent the end of something good. If you have done something that worth much then give your best shot to keep that achievement and never let that opportunity of experiencing something excellent fade away. If you have good ideas then put it into action. If you possess responsible and effective team then lead it. If you are doing well in your job or business then don’t make any wrong move that would make that scene vanish. It is important also to take care of our environment. If we have improved the quality of life, if we did right a wrong then we must not forget to keep that situation still and prevent the end of it. We must value whatever we do and value the things and people around us.

As final words, In starting up a business one should obtain the motivations that were mentioned above. These things are the key to start a great organization as what Guy Kawasaki said. To end this up, i will leave these words from the famous Steve Jobs. “People with passion can change the world for the better”. Passion is still very important if you love what you are doing then you might probably do well and make meaning instead of looking forward for the money. 

serendipity walks

To walk around somewhere and discover ideas or serendipity walks as they say. This is what our instructor told us to do. Serendipity means letting you wander with empty mind. Serendipity means roving around without thinking any problem, agendas and preplans and sees what happens and where you end up. In this kind of walk you should let go of constraints for a moment and then see where serendipity takes you. This kind of walk is something that would help you take your brain a rest and let your instinct and imagination direct you. 

Serendipity walks is a process that we have to try on in order to create or discover a good techno idea since serendipity is the act of making a discovery by accident. In discover a good techno business creativity should also be considered and creativity demands serendipitying. 
Let me state some famous discoveries because of the help of serendipity. Probably the most prominent example is the discovery of penicillin. Alexander Fleming returned from a vacation to find penicillin molds had killed bacteria that Fleming had neglected to disinfect. Charles Goodyear worked out how to get Rubber from an awkward material that melted in warm weather, when he accidentally dropped a piece on a stove. And thus began an age in which natural substances could be altered through industrial processes. Continuing the rubber theme, the artificial rubber. Neoprene was also a serendipitous find made when a lab assistant left a chemical impurity in a test-tube over a weekend. A week and half later, in the same laboratory, the first artificial fiber was created, also by accident by the scientist in charge, Wallace Carrothers a development that lead to Nylon. These discoveries are great things that would give best examples of what could serendipity brings.

In my case, let me tell you some story (hahaha). Days ago I texted my uncle who usually sends us part of the money from the land that we were able to sell at Masbate. I was asking him to send us enough amount as allotment for the month of December and I while ago I have already received his text message noticing us that he already have sent the amount we wished for. So immediately I dressed up and went to Agdao Public Market where the nearest Cebuano Lhuillier branch can be found. Upon arriving to the shop, pawnshop, or whatever they call it, I have observed numbers of clients that were inside the shop. It was very busy since they have to accommodate people that have the intentions of sending something, some also have different purpose and by this it would take longer time to accommodate all of the customers. Well that was just my observation. After receiving the money I immediately went out and to my surprise I saw a many customers queued at the pharmacy near Cebuana Lhuillier. To mention the drug store it is the Sta. Ana Pharmacy and as always they really have most number of customers among all the drug stores located at Agdao Public Market. Well why I should be bothered with those stuffs that in fact I already know how crowded stores and shop within a market. After which I just walked heading home but in a while I have realized something, that time I can consider it already as serendipity by thinking nothing yet I remember something and that thing is to have my serendipity walk. So instead of heading home immediately, I decided to walk anywhere at Agdao, anywhere my feet would direct me to. As I can remember I passed through stores, shops, bakery, lottery, vendors, newspaper stands, food chains and more. After 20 minutes of wandering and imagining things like winning the jackpot price lotto and many more, suddenly someone texted me, I opened the message and it was my mother and the message was “Asa na man ka? Kadugay ba nimo. Mawagtang gani ng kawrta, daghan bayag tao dira makawatan na sad ka. Uli na!” then I came back to mind and recognized that I was about to arrive at another area. I immediately went back to where the pedicabs usually go by and on my way I have created some technopreneurship ideas that can help on some of the areas I went through upon my serendipitying. The things that I have imagined could help on the pharmacy, the Cebuana Lhuillier shop and the lottery booth that I have passed through. 

An electronic way of sending orders that was what I have imagined when I saw many people at Sta. Ana pharmacy. In the pharmacy, instead of waiting for the pharmacists to go near and went back to the counter and walk around to get the orders I have imagined of a counter where there would be built in touch screen LCDS or it could be any gadget that would serve as a device to list the orders of the customers. In case of medicines that would require prescriptions the prescription should be scanned through the LCD monitor to verify orders. The machine also has the database of the medicines available and medicine’s description. For example you have no idea as to what medicine to buy if you have coughs then you simply type in medicine for cough and lists of appropriate medicine will be showed with age brackets for those who can take the medicines according to the proper prescription. The device would also hold database for records of products sold. In this way inventory and checking of products sold would be easier. The device would not just help the customers but also the owner and the pharmacists to have a more convenient work. On the pharmacists part they need not to walk around time by time to get orders and such. They will only look for their computers and check for the customer’s orders and will only go to the counter for the payment and delivery of demand. In the case of payment there would be possible ways to make it also be included in the gadget that will be made but as for now I have no idea on how to make it happen. I suppose selling this kind of gadget maybe in the near future this will be a good business.
Another is about the teller machine. As what I have mentioned above I have been at Cebuana Lhuillier shop. On my period being there I have imagined of something that would work like a bank. Since Cebuana Lhuillier offers pera padala it would be better and high tech if the customers that will claim the money would not go to the counter anymore but instead will just have a machine that works like teller machines on backs. In claiming the money that was sent to you just have to claim the money using a machine that would function like a bank teller machine. Each Cebuana Lhuillier customers should have registered simply by getting their personal info. To check their identity they will be verified through a thumbmark recognition system. Every time they claim money sent for them they will use the machine and just fill up some important info like your name, password, the control number, the sender’s name and the amount of expected cash. Finally you have to stick your thumb to the monitor to check one’s genuine identity. By having this kind of machine, it would be more techy and convenient than on human resource system.

The last thing is in regards with the lottery. These days the lotto jackpot prize was so large and was really talked about by most. I usually do imagine about winning and investing the money on some beneficial purposes. A jackpot price of 741M I think it was, but fortunately for someone, the price was already won by a citizen coming from Luzon. Hopefully he/she will spend the money properly. Well anyways what I had thought was about having an online lotto ticketing office. With this kind of ticketing scheme, some people would not anymore go to lotto booths, all they need is to have the internet and do pick their number online and will pay with the use of credit card, paypals and such. I know the target clients for this kind of system would just be limited to those we call from middle classes to upper ones. In today’s generation though I can say 70% of those who stake for lotto doesn’t have credit cards and internet yet there would still be 30% of them that can avail with this kind of ticketing system. Well it would just be a proposal. It was just a result of having serendipity walks. 

Ahmm! Another thing before I forget. Last day, I think it was last Saturday while on the way home I walked just a short distance at Bajada before riding a jeepney. I was not on my mind that time and having daydreams. Maybe that can be considered as another serendipity walk. I passed through a dance school. I do love dancing and with this kind of passion I have imagine something that I can make to incorporate the field of my studies and my hobby. Like before I imagined of having an online dance school. Putting this kind of business proposal into action is quite difficult so I think of just integrating this idea to a dance school that is already operating or has been established. I can propose a website that offers different services that will coordinate their way of teaching dances. Since they already has their students it will not be that hard to advertise their online site or online tutorial class/school where students that have no time to enroll and go to a dance school can still have a chance to learn different dances and to develop their talent on dancing. It will also be more convenient to some individuals who don't have access to dance classes in their town. It will be more affordable for those who are not accessible to the dance schools. This could also be effective on those who have passion on dancing or we can say they want dancing as their second course. Since they don’t have enough time to enroll on a normal dance school due to let’s say time, they will be not worrying anymore given that they can learn dances anytime they want by simply accessing internet and going to this online school site. Every school has their mission and vision on educating and imparting their knowledge on their students. As well as this kind of school, This online dance school will provides opportunities, enjoyment and also methodology for community youth or the students to extend their dance experience and nurture their passion for dancing through the exploration of various dance genres and dance-related education as far as they wish their training to take them through the medium of internet and a website. This online dance school envisions the following:

• A fostering and safe online based dance school, enabling students to find the trust needed to explore different styles of dance.
• Faculty committed to the acknowledgment of the unique learning style of each student, helping each student to improve to the best of their ability.
• An eclectic way of teaching designed to give students a broad range of dance and dance-related educational experiences.
• Instruction that is directed at only at videos but also promotes the joy and mental and physical well-being that dance can provide. 
• A way of enjoying student’s hobby at the same time by learning and becoming efficient graduates.
• To deveop confidence, healthier life style and positive attitude towards things.
• To promote camaraderie and share faculties with others.

Thus our vision is to get students to level where they are encouraged to continue a career in dance and to have a level of enjoyment that will continue that the desire through online tutorials and videos.
These 4 things are just the results of my serendipity. It may help or not but the thing is that I have to believe in my ideas and be more creative and possess the characteristics of a good technopreneur. Also as what I have learned this phrase from an idol Steve. "People with Passion Can Change the World for the Better" You just have to look for what exactly do you desire and love and everything else will come out successful. You just have to believe on yourself, have a great amount of confidence, believe on your capabilities and chances of running a successful business and reaching your goals will be a big YES! Passion is really a very prevailing factor that will assist you on your existence. You just have to know the things that give you interest and the things that will make you contented doing it because these things can help a lot on making a change. Just also keep your faith in the Lord and let him guide you on the right path. You must also recognize how to distribute your knowledge to others and don’t be gluttonous and self-centered because this might bring you down. 


Reference: http://www.scribd.com/doc/8774972/Serendipity-and-Science