E-Commerce vs. Brick & Mortar

Shayla T. Sibley
Collaborative Technologies
ISYS 203U
Due 10/4/08 E-Commerce vs. Brick & Mortar

I was very surprised with the differences I found when shopping in a physical store (brick and mortar) versus online. Personally, I love shopping. It is very therapeutic for me, I enjoy getting an opportunity to explore the merchandise and the exciting new products.
The store I decided to use for my research was Target. Target is one of my favorite stores because it is always clean and well organized. Wal-mart could be categorized with Target, but in my opinion they are worlds apart in many ways. I truly enjoy my shopping experience whenever I shop at Target.

When you are deciding to purchase products and merchandise from the store or online, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself: 1.) What do I want to pay for this product? 2.) How long can I wait? 3.) Do I need help from a Customer Service Sales Associate with specific knowledge to help with selecting this product?

Target.com advertises online discount prices and clearance items that the physical store will not honor. However, when you shop using the website you have an enormous amount of convenience. You avoid lines, holiday shopping frenzies and you can shop and purchase items 24 hours a day. Who wouldn’t like to shop for items in their pajamas and slippers? I have a busy life just like the next person, but it’s something about the personal touch to shopping in the brick and mortar store I love. If I have questions about the warranty of a product on when it’s going to be discontinued, it’s great to have sales associates as a resource to answer your questions. Also, another difference between the physical store and online is when items are being purchased online there is a fee for shipping and handling and you have to wait for your product. Those are just a few examples of the differences between the two different shopping experiences.

The boldest similarity is the products and merchandise, for the most part you can find the same products in store and online. In many cases, the website has a larger selection and more inventory than the brick and mortar can provide to customers due to space issues. I usually use online as a back-up tool to get a must have product that is sold-out of the store.

In the end, sometimes shoppers based their purchases on price, while others on convenience. Sometimes, shopping in the physical department store is the least expensive method of shopping. Other times, online shopping at the store’s website is the least expensive method. It all depends on type of item(s) needed, cost of the item, and whether or not the item is seasonal or not. With proper research, comparison-shopping, and weekend flexibility, shoppers’ dollars can go far; be it online or in-store. Happy shopping! http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/221369/online_shopping_vs_department_store.html?page=2&cat=46

Wireless Networks

Wireless Networks
Shayla Sibley
ISYS 203U
Collaborative Technologies
Due 9/27/08

I love the convenience of having the option to get online with your laptop when you are out in about. Some of the most popular restaurants and coffee shops are offering this great service and it’s called Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi allows LANs (Local Area Networks) to be deployed without cabling for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. In most spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi

A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, game console, mobile phone, MP3 player or PDA can connect when within range of an wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more interconnected access points — called a hotspot — can comprise an area as small as a single room with wireless-opaque walls or as large as many square miles covered by overlapping access points.

The two Wi-Fi capable public places that are newest to my home are Starbucks and Panera Bread. You have the option of using this great service at both locations for free.
You can get a great cup of coffee or enjoy one Panera’s signature baked goods and sandwiches all while checking you email and surfing the web. What the owners are trying to achieve is providing customers a huge convenience when they come in to purchase their goods. There are currently more than 1230 Panera Bread bakery-cafes offering free Wi-Fi from coast to coast. http://www.panerabread.com/cafes/wifi.php
Starbucks knows people want to stay connected to their world 24/7, and Wi-Fi hot spots, broadband and wireless make that mobility possible,” said Rick Welday, AT&T chief marketing officer “Laptops and Smartphones give us the online mobility we crave, and now millions of AT&T and Starbucks customers will get Internet access free from the comfort of their neighborhood Starbucks.” http://gizmodo.com/354961/att-bringing-free-wi+fi-to-starbucks-finally

Many customers feel this service has definitely been a success I have researched a few customer experiences and here’s what they had to say about Wi-Fi capability at Starbucks:
“I work from home and sometimes it is hard for me to concentrate in the house…I get a lot done in Starbucks using my T-Mobile HotSpot account. It is also faster to download stuff with the service than at home via my dialup service.”
Patricia (Marketing Consultant)

“The Starbucks locations with T-Mobile HotSpot enable me to be more productive at work. I can get online when I’m in between clients, or even work there for a couple of hours. It’s great for consultants who are always in the field.”
David (IT Consultant)

Overall I feel that this very useful service is a great idea. I believe in the near future
wireless networking may become so widespread that you can access the Internet just about anywhere at any time, without using wires. We have truly come along way in technology.

The “Mojave Experiment”

 

Check out this video from YouTube to experience “Mojave”.

 

  

 

Shayla Sibley                                                   

 Due Date 9/20/08

Collaborative Technologies

ISYS 203 U 

Windows Vista Logo                                                  

 

                                             

   The Mojave Experiment

 

When I reviewed the topics provided to us to research this week focusing on software, I was pleasantly surprised. I was very enthusiastic to research The Mojave Experiment. I saw the commercial by Windows a few times, however I wasn’t very clear about the background of the experiment. I used google.com to search “Mojave Experiment” and I found out at www.MojaveExperiment.com that it was a very interesting marketing and advertising campaign launched by Microsoft. It was designed to give the Windows Vista OS a codename “Mojave” to give consumers an objective opinion about the product by not using the brand name “Vista” to see if the product was a success. Windows Vista had several negative comments made about the performance by consumers during the initial launch. This experiment is similar to doing a blind taste test, instead of removing the branding they gave the product a different name.

 

When you are creating and releasing new software many things should be taken into consideration. When you have a new version of a successful product that is relatively new to the marketplace it will be most likely scrutinized for glitches and kinks.

 CNN Money and Fortune Magazine explains the many developmental problems Windows Vista experienced in a recent article. Vista was originally scheduled for release Christmas 2006. The software finally debuted after a highly publicized delay and billions of dollars in research and development. The Vista operating system is a descendant of the OS/2 architecture, but is widely criticized for its poor performance and its failure to work with other software programs.

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0806/gallery.msft_hits_misses.fortune/11.html

 

Microsoft proved that if consumers could view a product without comparison, the consumers could judge based only on performance and decide for themselves. Prior to the experiment Vista had an average rating of 4.4 out of 10. After the experiment the rating jumped to 8.5 out of 10. The official goal of the Mojave Experiment was to get consumers to “decide for themselves” and as you observed from the video the consumers did just that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_experiment

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Day in the Life of Shayla

            Shayla T. Sibley                                                                   

            Due Date 09/12/08

            Collaborative Technologies

            ISYS 203 U

            Professor Kimberly Davis

 

A Day in the Life of Shayla Sibley

 

 

8:30a -Log On to PC to check my personal e-mail.

Finding: I use Verizon for my personal email and it’s very easy to use and navigate to retrieve and send e-mail to friends and classmates. I feel that Verizon has a great storage capacity and is very reliable.

 

10:00a -Log On to iTunes to download a few songs onto my iPod for my morning work-out. Finding: I love using this software tool to download songs to my MP3 player, it gives me a variety of options and it’s inexpensive. It’s .99 cents to download on song and $9.99 for an entire CD. I also have the option of downloading any of my CD for free.

 

11:00a – Call my banks automated system to check the balance on my checking account. Finding: I call the 1-800 number to access my checking account enter my pin and customer access number to prevent fraudulent access. This adds to my piece of mind knowing that Bank of America is doing their part to protect their customers from identity theft.

 

12:00p-Log On to YouTube to listen to an interview by Barack Obama.

Finding: YouTube in my opinion is one the best ways to hear new music. People can make their own videos and upload anything from interviews to funny embarrassing antics. I love it. I use this at least twice a day.

 

12:30p- Grab lunch at Ukrop’s and use the self-checkout kiosk.

  Finding: I love the opportunity to use this tool to check-out at the grocery store in a timely manner. It provides you with many options from weighing vegetables and fruit to using coupons. You can use any method to pay such as cash, credit & debit cards, or checks.

 

1:30p – Make a withdrawal at ATM from Bank of America

Finding: This is not an extremely new change in modern banking technology, however it speaks volumes in convenience. I can go to my bank to deposit or withdraw funds, check account balance and receive a printout of account activity at anytime of day. Bank of America has also gone as far as eliminating deposit slips completely at the ATM. You can deposit cash or checks directly into the machine. Also, if you are making the deposit before 8pm it will post to the account the same day.

 

2:30p – Log On to University of Richmond’s Blackboard to do homework assignment. Finding: The first time I signed up for an online class, I was a little apprehensive about using the computer to interact with my classmates, teacher and complete all necessary assignments. However, I have come to love the ease and convenience of the online courses. This is my 3^rd online class and I truly love it. Discussion Boards are great and it helps you get a feel for your classmates and sometimes clarification of the assignment.

 

4:00p – Log On to Fandango.com to purchase tickets for movie. Finding: I love using this tool to purchase tickets online. It takes away from the standing and waiting in line at the theatre. You can select any theatre, time and use any method of payment you choose. When you arrive at the theatre you tickets are waiting for you to pick up.

 

5:30p – Pick up tickets at Kiosk for 6 pm movie. Finding: The kiosk is used to do two things. It allows customers to pick up tickets they have pre-order over the phone or online, and it allows you to purchase tickets without waiting at the box office. This is a great time saving tool, because I’m always running late for the movies.

 

Computer hardware is something that we all come into contact with on a daily basis. When you arrive at work in the morning you, the first thing you do is boot up your PC.  Your mouse, wireless router, printer and keyboard are all examples of computer hardware.  We all need these pieces of technology to get our jobs done.

I have always used a Windows PC and of course I have seen and researched the Mac operating systems, and I think they are very interesting although it seems easier to use Windows. It is definitely more user-friendly for elderly people and students learning in school.  However, most Windows users have experienced the poor stability that comes with Windows. Many users have to restart their computer at least once a day. Also, when a program locks up, the entire computer usually quits functioning (requiring another restart). This is often due to the fact that all of Windows’ software components are connected to each other. For example, if Internet Explorer quits working, the rest of the computer usually quits working too.

Mac OS X doesn’t work anything like Windows. Instead, it separates most programs from each other, and from the operating system itself. What this means is that if one program quits working, the rest of the computer keeps working. In fact, you can use a feature in OS X called, “Force Quit” that will immediately close the offending program without affecting any other programs that you’re running. You can also restart the program that you closed, and it should work as if there was never a problem to begin with.

Computers helped make some of the ways we do doing business a lot easier as far as paying bills online and gathering information from the internet, completing transactions in retail, etc. However, the advancement in technology has given way to a new set of problems that people are experiencing heavily called identity theft and fraud.  

 

Whenever there is something with great results and provides a great service, there will always be drawbacks and problems.  In some ways the world has become very dependent on computers, doing some of the most common everyday things now is a process on the computer.  The dependency we have on computers is one major complication because it could have some detrimental effect on society if we were victims of a terrorist attack on our nation’s infrastructure.

 

 

 

 

All things Chic!

Hello All:

This is Shayla, I want to welcome you to my one-stop shop for entertainment info, fashion updates, make-up tips and music. I love all these expressions of art and I plan to keep you abreast of All THINGS CHIC!