btrax blog

台灣一直以來都用宅男宅女來稱呼喜歡待在家不愛出門的人, 也有人用宅來形容人, 意思就是你這個人整天都喜歡窩在家裡. 在這裡就不追究它的起源了, 不過我想應該是從日本傳過來的吧.

在現在不景氣的大環境下,  隨著與日俱增的失業率和在學率, 越來越多人寧願多待在家裡而不願出門因為這樣可以省下很多不必要的開支.

但待在家裡並不代表他們不花費, 相反地, 他們有更多的時間在網路上消費, 所以反而間接的刺激了電子商務也就是俗稱的網路購物.

近年來電子商務的崛起也包括使用網路的人口直線上升, 再加上網路的便利, 越來越多人選擇用網路購物. 這個現象不只適用於亞洲也同樣適用於美洲. 美國的Amazon, 大陸的阿里巴巴,  台灣的奇摩購物都在一片不景氣下開出紅盤, 也使得越來越多商家想要來搶奪這一塊大餅.

雖然宅人的經濟能力可能沒有那麼穩定, 但是也都有一定的程度才可以支持他們待在家裡,  所以他們的消費金額可能不高, 但消費次數卻很頻繁.

不過, 這些宅人的生意並不比一般人好做, 因為他們有比一般消費者更多的時間在網路上去比較他們喜歡的物品和價格, 所以他們是屬於不衝動的消費者, 所以想要吸引他們, 一定要先了解他們的特性和喜好. 例如, 你的電子商務要能把你的特點展現出來, 再加上抓到現在的潮流或創造屬於你的流行, 只要對症下藥, 你就可以創立商機.

Photo by alles-schlumpf

For mobile applications geared to narrow niche audiences, Sushi Guru is a good case study of what to focus on and avoid in creating an iPhone app.

Slick User Experience
SushiGuru nailed the most important thing – a great user interface. The design is professional and the navigation is simple – basic items that more than a few apps get horribly wrong. People should be able to understand and use all your app features without a user’s manual in a few seconds. Especially when they are paying for it – in this case $1.99.

Know Your Niche
SushiGuru’s creator Ben Trotter didn’t try to make the Swiss Army knife of apps – staying focused on relevant features. The best one allows you to take notes on each sushi – useful for remembering your favorites at a particular sushi bar. The audio clip of the fish name in Japanese and ranking a fish’s eco-friendliness are also solid features.

Partner Up
This leads us to an area where most apps could be more powerful: not reinventing the wheel. Smart tech businesses favor strategic partnerships and third-party integration. Sushi Guru combines information from the Monterrey Aquarium’s established, well-researched seafood guide along with data from the FDA. The cred that lends, however, is not mentioned on SushiGuru’s website or App Store blurb.

The challenge in this case is that the Monterrey Aquarium’s has its own Seafood Guide iPhone app. Although the Aquarium’s app is free and has more specific regional info, it doesn’t have comparable cultural features or design.

Location, Location, Location
Neither Sushi Guru or the Seafood Guide, however, take the next step – integrating with the iPhone’s Google Map app for directions to my favorite sushi bar . Or taps Yelp to provide location-aware listings of nearby sushi restaurants or customer rankings.

For some sushi fans, that’s a deal breaker. But Trotter promises more advanced features when the iPhone’s software is updated this summer, enabling push notifications.

Facebook users were greeted this week upon log-in with an simple, but significant message: “We’ve revised the two new documents we proposed to govern the site, the Facebook Principles and the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, based on your feedback. Now, we want you to vote for the system of governance you think is best.”

Privacy and portability of data are big friction points for the social network. This open sourcing of their policies is a fairly radical departure from Facebook’s previous “unilaterally change and then reverse after public outcry” approach in a few key areas:

Content Copyright & Usage
Fearing Facebook could legally sell their work under the site’s current copyright policy, photographers, artists and others have demanded they clarify for content uploaded. The proposed document drops the highly inflammatory clause granting Facebook an “irrevocable or perpetual” license to use and specifically states their usage will end when a user deletes their content or account.

Rejection of Creative Commons
Many user content driven sites now employ flexible Creative Commons licenses to allow users to set their own level of protection vs. sharing. Facebook says that using Creative Commons is “feasible in a system with more than 175 million active registered users.” But this seems a cop out given the tough engineering challenges Facebook has surmounted and the fact that Flickr users have licensed 100+ million photos out of 3+ billion photos this way.

Facebook’s solution? Privacy Settings so that only your friends can see a photo and “bright-line rule” banning nudity in all forms, including artwork.

Limits on Social Ads
Facebook has many users and not many customers to keep their servers running. At the same time Mr.Zuckerberg is sitting on a arguably the most detailed database of people in the world – gender, age, political leanings, religion, hobbies, etc. The potential money to be gained from this massive collection of personal information is vast and naturally concerns groups like Center for Digital Democracy.

As you would expect, Facebook is still leaving open its options in this potentially lucrative area. Sharing info with Social Ad buyers remains opt-out by default, rather than opt-in. More worryingly, the proposed document states their belief that the commercial nature of content will always be apparent (tricky marketers? never!) and don’t see the need to “label it as sponsored or commercial.”

Ever thought about offsetting the CO2 created by flying or other lifestyle choices? (hummer racing anyone?)

I admit to being a travel addict – although I’m not fond of cramming my 6′2 frame into an airplane seat. Several times I’ve thought about carbon offsetting, but I never followed through. Things recently aligned to prod me to actually research the options and put it in action.

In the spirit of saving you some time and perhaps prompt you to try offsetting, I thought I’d share what I found.

First the bad news: a single long-haul flight can contribute a year’s worth of carbon footprint in CO2 emissions per passenger. Flying is a significant contributor to global warming beyond raw emissions due to chemical reactions, contrails and higher flights.

The good news? Offsetting is easy, certification standards have improved and the cost is relatively cheap. One ton of CO2 averages $10-15 – I calculated the round trip flight miles from SFO to Auckland and paid $84 to offset 13,000 miles through Native Energy.

The reductions were achieved through 50% efficiency (replacing equipment, technology that reduces energy consumption) and 50% biomass (tree planting, methane capture, etc.), which in turn provides jobs for the Native American community. Three birds with one stone – in less than two minutes.

There are many organizations and companies offering carbon offsetting now – but their approach can vary widely. Carbon Concierge puts out an annual ranking of companies providing offsets based on research from the Bainbridge Institute.

Don’t have the time to calculate before flying? My city of San Francisco is in luck – it will be the first airport in the world where you can offset at the airport via Carbon Kiosks.

Have your own carbon offset story or tips? Share it below in the comment section!

Photo by Tim Wagner