Platos Philosophical Significance (in Regards to Metaphysics, and Ethics Essay Example for Free

Platos Philosophical Significance (in Regards to Metaphysics, and Ethics Essay Philosophy spans the reaches of the human mind in countless topics, but is often divided into three main branches: metaphysics, the study of the nature of existence; epistemology, the study of knowledge and truth; and ethics, the study of morals. One of the first philosophers to look at these fields is Plato (427BCE-347BCE), whose writings are incredibly influential. Plato’s work lays the fundament for philosophy because of his cohesive contributions to the fields of metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. Firstly, Plato’s work with Forms greatly influences metaphysics. He contributes the idea of the Forms which exist as â€Å"eternal and perfect ideals that exist in an unchanging, perfect heaven (via Velasquez, 2002, p. 84). [2] The Forms contrast with worldly matter; this contrast leads to Plato’s next contribution to metaphysics, his concept of â€Å"Two Worlds. † Plato divides reality into the worlds of senses and forms, the latter of which he considers to be true reality and where the soul resides. Finally, Plato’s description of the tripartite human soul greatly influences St. Augustine’s religious work on Christianity 800 years later. Therefore, Plato’s Forms helped shape metaphysics. Secondly, Plato’s Forms and myths built the foundation for epistemology. Plato argues that due to the souls unchanging nature, the process of â€Å"learning† is the soul’s recollection of knowledge. He also provides two myths, both closely related to his metaphysical works. In the first, the Chariot Allegory, Plato describes a charioteer en route to heaven, in which there exists â€Å"true reality [the forms] with which real knowledge is concerned (as cited by Velasquez, p. 84). The journey is impeded by an unruly horse that represents ignobility. The concept of the journey’s difficulty is mirrored, finally, in the Allegory of the Cave, which discusses ignorance and the escape thereof. Thus, Plato’s myths form the basis of epistemology. Finally, Plato’s work in ethics regarding justice is among the first and most influential. Firstly, he defines justice as the balance between the three parts of the tripartite soul. Thus, his justice theory states that justice in both the state and the individual is defined by â€Å"harmony between the various parts for the good of the whole† (Velasquez, 2002, p. 630). This justice theory shows cohesiveness with Plato’s tripartite theory of the soul. Finally, Plato associates justice with merit: individuals are treated proportionally to their talents and accomplishments. Hence, Platos philosophies regarding justice form the starting point for the field of ethics. In conclusion, Plato’s writings act as a basis and connection for the three main branches of philosophy: metaphysics, through his Forms; epistemology, through his myths; and ethics, through his justice theory. His influence on philosophy and society is expansive and, as such, Plato is one of the most significant philosophers. That his ideas are still being taught to modern day shows the true nature of philosophy: to pose questions so profound that they cannot be answered 2500 years later.

Antenna Technology Wireless

Antenna Technology Wireless Definition Antenna is an electronic device mostly known as transducer that is designed to receive and transmit electromagnetic waves and can be very effective in the telecommunication systems. It was the most neglected section of all the personal communication systems. But with the rapid evolution of the technology, communication is expected to be transmitted and received quickly and with fewer errors whether it is through wireless networks or otherwise, thus antennas can solve this problem. Actually it is not the Antennas which are smart but the smart system that makes it work are smart. Smart antennas consists of many other antennas which when combine together would produce or receive signals faster and more efficient. Normally this set of antennas is called MIMO which means multiple inputs -multiple outputs. . Beamforming is a technique where signals are processed and send to the direction of the receiver or vice-versa. The signal is either a fix pattern or adaptive pattern that is modified to make maximum usage of signal. Background Smart Antennas can be referred as a new technology which is used with the mobile communication, but in fact the first Smart Antennas were introduced to use by the government in the military application in 1960s. The transmission of the signal used directed beams to avoid environmental interferences such as noise and at the same time hiding transmitted data from enemies. During those days the antennas structure was very large and it was time-consuming to calculate the exact transmission rate and correctness of the signal. In 1987, the concept of wireless communication has been invented by Marconi and since then there has been an extensive and continuing increase in the use of mobile communication. Newer technologies and approach were explored and deployed and when the latest one that is the Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) has been emerged it brings a promising future to the wireless communication. SDMA is based on the use of Smart Antennas and researchers have worked on this technology to apply it on personal communication. Types of Smart Antennas There are two main types of Smart Antennas Switched beam is the simplest structure of Smart Antennas; it forms fixed multiples beams to serve users in a predefined way. The signal gives its best performance by switching from one beam to another when the user of the mobile moves through their cell. The table below shows how this approach works: But the problem with this beam occurs is the user is not in the middle of the main beam. The other type is the Adaptive Array Antennas. It is the most advanced approach of the Smart Antenna System as it automatically adjusts the beam with the condition of environmental factor that is the movement of the user and any interferers. Furthermore it also identifies, track and reduce any interfering signals and it maximize the signal radiation in the direction of the mobile user. The adjustment is attained the incoming signal is multiplied with complex weights and then summing them together to obtain the desired radiation pattern. Categories of Smart Antennas The Smart Antennas fall into three categories SIMO, MISO, and MIMO. Single-Input and Multiple-Output (SIMO) uses a single antenna for transmission to be received by multiple antennas in wireless communication. A benefit of this category is that the antennas are combined to reduce errors and improve the transmission distance but in some cases this gives rise to problem with multipath effect. As discussed in SearchMobileComputing, 2005 website when an electromagnetic field (EM field) is met with obstructions such as hills, canyons, buildings, and utility wires, the wavefronts are scattered, and thus they take many paths to reach the destination. The late arrival of scattered portions of the signal causes problems such as fading, cut-out (cliff effect), and intermittent reception (picket fencing). In digital communications systems such as wireless Internet, it can cause a reduction in data speed and an increase in the number of errors. Thus two or more antennas as transmitted can solve this problem. Multiple-Input, Single-Output (MISO) means that there are multiple antennas to transmit but a single antenna to receive. This has practically the same benefits and limitations as that of SIMO, but this technology has widespread application in Digital TeleVision (DTV), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) and mobile communications. Multiple-Input, Single-Output (MIMO) used multiples antennas for transmitters and as well as receiver for wireless communication. Antennas which were not a great subject of discussion recently become the most important category in wireless communication. Especially when Researchers finally proved that with MIMO antennas system there are lots of advantages such as greater receiver gain, increased data rates, larger network throughput, and improved reliability through antenna diversity. IEEE 802.11n wireless standard which is expected in 2009 uses MIMO to increase maximum speed to 100 Mbps and beyond, double the 802.11a and 11g wireless standards. This article was extracted from Techworld.com which clearly shows the use of MIMO system in wireless communication. Cox, 2008 says that â€Å"MIMO has made its way into chipsets and could be in WLAN devices by year-end. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project, a collaboration of telecom standards groups, is also evaluating MIMO techniques for use in cellular networks. MIMO doubles the spectral efficiency compared with that of current WLANs. So far, the only company with MIMO chipsets is Airgo Networks, which launched its products in August 2003. MIMO is unique because it multiplies bandwidth by essentially providing multiple channels between devices, says Ben Manny, director of the radio communications laboratory in Intels corporate technology group.† MIMO can be classified into three categories Precoding, Spatial Multiplexing and Diversity Coding. Precoding is multi-layer beamforming to support MIMO radio system. It is used for single-user MIMO or multiple-user MIMO in a linear or non-linear algorithm. Spatial multiplexing is a way to transmit and separate high rate signal into multiple lower rate streams and each stream is transmitted from a different transmit antenna in the same frequency channel. Diversity methods is a single stream (unlike spatial multiplexing) to transmit data and is coded using techniques called space-time coding. Overview Architectures of Smart Antenna (MIMO) One of the biggest problems in wireless telecommunication is fading and inter-symbol interferences as shown in the diagram, below. Fading refers to the distortion of intensity over certain propagation media and Inter-symbol interference (ISI) occurs when there is reflection caused by other remote objects. The transmitted signal, at the receiver end are overlapped and delayed. To overcome this problem we use MIMO architecture, Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation and Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) coding. MIMO operate in two modes diversity mode and spatial multiplexing mode to solve the problem. Diversity Mode The use of two or more antennas that are spaced sufficiently apart such that they can receive signals from independent signal paths are involve in a Simple Receive Diversity. A basic way to select an optimal receive antenna from an array of antennas is Selection Combining, whereby the receiver switches to another antenna whenever it detects weak signals or a high noise level from the current receiving antenna. More sophisticated techniques such as Maximum Ratio Combining (MRC) receive on multiple antennas simultaneously and apply advanced signal processing algorithms to combine the different versions of the received signals to maximize SNR and minimize receive errors. Selection Combining and MRC can be implemented on just the receive side of the link as shown in the figure below. (Video54, 2008, p3) Spatial Multiplexing Mode In rich multipath environments with multiple uncorrelated signal paths as figure 5, Spatial Multiplexing (SM) allows the sender to transmit different portions of the user data on multiple paths in parallel to increase capacity. The target receiver must implement a corresponding de-multiplexing algorithm to recover the original information stream from multiple antennas. In an ideal multipath environment, SM can increase the capacity of a single frequency channel linearly with the number of transmit antennas used. (Video54, 2008, p4) Figure 5: Spatial diversity (Video54, 2008, p4) Spatial Multiplexing requires the same multiplexing algorithm on both sides of a communications link. Therefore it is not interoperable with existing 802.11a/b/g devices. Until 802.11n is defined, only SM client and SM network devices from the same vendor can communicate with each other. (Video54, 2008, p4) In contrast, Selection Combining and Maximum Ratio Combining are diversity techniques that can be implemented on just one side of a communications link; therefore they can benefit all existing 802.11a/b/g devices even when diversity is only implemented on the Access Point. (Video54, 2008, p4) Thus the above explanation shows how MIMO which is being a category of Smart Antennas is designed. Benefits/Limitations of Smart Antennas Benefits Smart Antennas System, being one the latest technology in progress has brought lot of benefits. It serves as a dual purpose that is while enhancing the signal quality; it also increased the reuse of the frequency. The benefits are in more details below: As Smart Antennas receive signal from several antennas, this increase the power for higher gain of signal. The Antennas also focuses on the communication device which allows the range of operation and the service by the antennas to increase. Thus reducing the cost by lowering the amplifier costs, power consumption and result in a higher reliability. To be more precise, with Smart Antennas the network providers will not require as many antennas/base stations to provide coverage. (Lehne et al. 1999, p. 5) Furthermore, Smart Antennas provide the facility to reuse the frequencies which can increase the number of users. This also add to the factor of cost reduction, that is if more users are on the same frequency there will be less operating cost for purchasing the frequency space. Interference will also be suppressed with the introduction of the Antennas system. The transmission pattern will be generated directly as before it was radiated from all the direction and increases interferences. Thus the suppression will also increase the ability to reuse and achieve a better coverage. With Smart Antennas signal are transmitted while targeting the communication device which can also be used to determine the accurate geographic information of the device. This can allow network providers to offer new services to the devices for example guiding emergency services to the location or the locality information. This system also increases security, as radiation of the signal is direct and not as in the traditional way when it was omni-directional. If someone wants to intercept the transmissions they would need to be at the same location or between the two communicating devices. (Gadh et al. 2003) Moreover, with the frequency reuse there in an increase in the bandwidth as Smart Antennas provide diversity. The adaptive array utilize multi-path signal to reach a device and reduce the effective delay spread of the channel and allowing higher bit rates to be supported without an equalizer. And as Smart antennas are not a new protocol or standard, it can easily be integrated with existing non smart antennas and devices. Limitations As all other system, Smart Antennas also has some constraints. Lots of faults or problems can occur which can be very hard to diagnose as Smart Antenna is much more complicated than the traditional one (Lehne et al. 1999, p. 5). And also though there will be a reduction in the cost factor with the frequency reuse when the system is already implemented but while implementing this complex system, they are far more expensive than the traditional antenna. Furthermore due to the antenna arrays which are utilized by smart antenna systems, they are much larger in size than traditional systems. This can be a problem in a social context as antennas can be seen as ugly or unsightly. (Lehne et al. 1999, p.6) Smart Antennas need to have the best location to operate because of the direct radiation and not as the traditional one. For example in a road context, smart antennas are better situated away from the road, unlike normal antennas which are best situated along the road. (Lehne et al. 1999, p . 6) Need of Smart Antennas Smart Antennas has been required to accommodate with the future of mobile communication that is to significantly improve the performance of wireless performance and increase the number of users. So Spatial Division Multiple Access (SDMA) which is a satellite communication mode has exploited this technology to optimize the use of radio spectrum and minimized cost. SDMA also known as SDM (spatial-division multiplex) has also used Smart Antennas or adaptive array to adjust dynamically with the changing traffic and the user requirements by providing frequency reuse and antennas that are highly directional, unlike the previous wireless system like FDMA, TDMA or CDMA. Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) was the first generation of wireless networks communication. FDMA technique was a basic technology in analog that was used by the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) and was the most widely technology installed in mobile phone in North America. FDMA assigned each channel to only one user at a time and is also used in the Total Access Communication Systems (TACS). But The Digital-Advanced Mobile Phone Service (D-AMPS) which also uses FDMA adds TDMA to get three channels for each FDMA channel, tripling the number of calls that can be handled on a channel. (Sanchez, 2003) Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) was first used BY D-AMPS then Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) in 2G cellular system, and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC). Each of them implements TDMA differently and in incompatible way (Search Networking, 2006). TDMA is a channel access method to share medium network and used in digital mobile communication dividing signal into three time slots in order to increase the amount of data that can be carried. It also allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium while using only the part of its bandwidth they require. TDMA is used for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT) and also in the satellite system and combat-net radio. (Wikipedia, 2008) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) refers to the second generation (2G) and third generation (3G) wireless communication. It can be said to be an alternative to TDMA and FDMA, but CDMA has a much higher bandwidth than the data being communicated in contrast with TDMA which divides access by time and FDMA divides by frequency. CDMA is a form of multiplexing, which allows numerous signals to occupy a single transmission channel, optimizing the use of available bandwidth and also allows roaming (Search Telecom, 2007) but it does not guaranteed the future of mobile communication and this is where SDMA arise and become the solution. Conclusion Even though Smart Antennas has some limitations, it has proved that it is the latest technology to bring an excellent future to wireless communication. With the adaptive array system the communication would be clearer with better signal and also the frequency reuse is of great advantage to cost reduction. Furthermore, MIMO is one of the latest discussed and the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard is expected in 2009. So it can be concluded that Smart Antennas has a great future. References Web ProForum Tutorials Smart Antenna Systems http://www.iec.org/online/tutorials/acrobat/smart_ant.pdf Date accessed 15/04/08 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc (2008) Smart Antennas, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Antennas, Date accessed 18/04/08. TechTarget (2004) Smart Antenna http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci1026138,00.html Date accessed 18/04/08. Paulraj (2008) Smart Antenna Research Group http://www.stanford.edu/group/sarg/ Date accessed 20/04/08. CDMA Development Group (2008) Smart Antennas http://www.cdg.org/technology/cdma_technology/smart_antennas/index.asp Date accessed 24/04/08. Shetty, K.K (2004) Chapter 1 Introduction http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-04092004-143712/unrestricted/Ch_1introduction.pdf Date accessed 24/04/08. Cugnin, A (2008) Smart antennas http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/smart_antennas/ Date accessed 30/04/08. Georg zur B, Thomas C Smart antennas: A design alternative http://www.eetasia.com/ARTICLES/2005FEB/B/2005FEB16_RFD_TA.pdf?SOURCES=DOWNLOAD Date accessed 05/05/08. Kassner, M (2008) /a>Whats MiMo? http://wedothatradio.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/mimo-mike-kassner/ Date accessed 09/05/08. Cox, J (2008) Which smart antenna system will win? http://www.techworld.com/mobility/features/index.cfm?featureid=396 Date accessed 15/05/08. WTEC Hyper-Librarian(2000) Smart Antenna Advantages http://www.wtec.org/loyola/wireless/06_04.htm Date accessed 21/05/08. Hall, D (2007) Smart Antennas http://www.robotification.com/content/view/13/ Date accessed 22/05/08. Sanchez, R.W (2003) FDMA http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci213959,00.html Date accessed 24/05/08. TechTarget (2006) TDMA http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci214175,00.html Date accessed 24/05/08. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc (2008) Time division multiple access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Division_Multiple_Access Date accessed 24/05/08. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc (2008) Code division multiple access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA Date accessed 24/05/08. TechTarget (2007) CDMA http://searchtelecom.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid103_gci213842,00.html Date accessed 24/05/08. Intel Journal (2006) MIMO Architecture for Wireless Communication http://www.intel.com/technology/itj/2006/volume10issue02/art07_MIMO_Architecture/p06_mimo_systems_ofdm_ldpc.htm Date accessed 25/05/08. Video54 (2008) Mimo and Smart Antenna Techniques for 802.11a/b/g Networks http://www.edsl.com.au/ruckus/whitepapers/smart-antennas.pdf Date accessed 25/05/08.

Netflix And Blockbuster Battle For Market Leadership Marketing Essay

Netflix And Blockbuster Battle For Market Leadership Marketing Essay Movie retail industry includes such companies that rent DVDs, Blu-ray discs and even video games which are usable on home-based electronic equipment (Espedido Julian, 2010). Many companies are participants in this lucrative business and they include such companies as Wal-Mart, Netflix, Blockbuster, Intelliflix, Redbox and GameZnFlix among others. Both Netflix and Blockbuster companies are presently the leaders in the rental movie industry and therefore the major rivals in the rental movie industry. As to Blockbuster, it has a quite lengthy convention in the business. The Blockbuster has existed since the year 1985, even as Netflix entered its 12th anniversary this year. This gives Blockbuster an edge of existence over its close competitor Netflix. This paper intends to critically provide an in depth analysis for Arthur Thompsons case study entitled Competition in the Movie Rental Industry in 2008: Netflix and Blockbuster Battle for Market Leadership. It will comb thoroughly issues li ke the trends which affect either negatively or positively the movie rental industry with utmost reference to Netflix and Blockbuster in respect to their fight for the market headship, scrutinize in detail the competitive movie rental industry environment, and by extension give detailed discussion on the use of both the SWOT as well as reasonable scorecard to evaluate Netflixs battle strategy for market leadership on the whole. Dominant Business and Economic Characteristics of Movie Rental Industry: The video rental industry (formally known as home entertainment or leisure) is actually an economic segment duly involved with the development, marketing and sale of movie as well as other computer games. It includes such video games as consoles, game software, mobile games, handheld devices as well as online games. In recent years, the movie industry of has been experiencing exponential growth. The growth has been such that it is expected even to further leap-frog in the near and far future (Espedido Julian, 2010). According to Espedido Julian (2010), the industrys dominant economic features include 1) Market bulk and growth pace More than $35 billion was spent on video games consoles, game software etc. Industry is expected to have more than $51 billion sale by 2010. 2) Numbers of rivals The two main contenders are Netflix and Blockbuster. 3) The extent of competitive challenge Global presence with regional focus is required for companys competitive long term success. 4) Numbers of buyers around 250 to 300 million people globally did watch movies and nearly the same number did play video games in the year 2007. There is for instance, an estimated average age of those actively involved in the video games. The estimated age has actually jumped to 33 years in 2005, and about 25 percent of video gamers were in excess of age 50. 5) The extent of product discrimination The bigger the extent of differentiation, the further the competitive advantage. 6) Product innovation merchandise innovation plays noteworthy role in capturing the market share and to take competitive advantage in the market. And finally, pace of technological advancement Newly sophisticated technology advancement does plays a crucial role in entertainment industry particularly with due regard to movie rental industry. The emergence for instance of internet services have made it quite easier for Netflixs founder, Reed Hastings who did become aware of the demand for online renting of movies way back in the year 1997. Without hesitation, he began the vibrant online movie rental business indeed to a large scale. Netflix became successful, and it did not take long before he began to bring in the reimbursements of someone elses idea. Competition: In the movie rental industry, there has been an intense competition between two major business rivals; Netflix and Blockbuster. The competition in the movie rental industry has been so frighteningly fierce for the precedent few years that it has been termed by many opinion leaders as unhealthy business wise. Netflix and Blockbuster are actually the current leaders in the booming rental movie industry and by extension and to that effect the major rivals. The Blockbuster has been in the business for long, in fact, since 1985 on the other hand, Netflix only entered its 12th existence year this year. Actually the founder, Reed Hastings did establish Netflix in the year 1997. Nevertheless, at the moment, Netflix appears to lead the market in terms of market acquisition. Netflix which is largely viewed as a newcomer does have around 9.6 million online customers who have subscribed to their services. In comparison, Blockbuster has just slightly more than 3 million online subscribers despite its longer years of existence. In the United States of America, there are other online movie rental companies which include companies such as Intelliflix, Redbox and GameZnFlix. However, GameZnFlix and Redbox do not serve the locals most of the time. Instead they more often than not target Asian markets. Additionally, Wal-Mart also did attempt to spawn profits in the movie rental industry but sooner was outrun in the business by Netflix. These days Wal-Mart merely possesses an advertising contract with Netflix in the industry. Online Service General Idea: Both the Netflix and Blockbuster entire right of entry are online movie rental services. This implies that one can look through their records and place movies or even a favorite program in ones queue. A customer or a member is permitted to maintain a DVD so long as she/he so wants and there also exist no outstanding dates or even late charges. The operation is such that once a movie had been seen it is wrapped in an envelope and immediately sent back to either Netflix or Blockbuster. So responsive are the movie rental companies such that as soon as a movie sent back is received, the next movie to be sent in the stand in line will duly be sent to the customer or member. Indeed, Both Netflix and Blockbuster do have many different strategies from which to choose. The possible options are two-fold and they include limited rentals and unlimited rentals. In its infinite DVD rental option, Netflix does offer eight (8) strategies. The costs normally vary from about $10 for a movie at a parti cular time to around $50 for 8 movies. On the other hand, Blockbuster has four (4) different schemes which fall between $10 and $24. As regards limited rentals, Netflix normally offer two (2) DVDs per month for about $6 or four (4) DVDs for a period of one month for about $12.however, with reference to limited rentals, a Blockbuster member is able to get two (2) DVDs for the equivalent value as their market challengers or four (4) DVDs for about $8 only. Netflix has more continuous entertainment flow merits. Netflix utilizes technological advancement than no other company. For example if an individual is a member of Netflix, it is highly possible movies are watched from the individuals website at the same time as the person is waiting to obtain the subsequent movies from the list. This benefit is only to be had to Netflix customers. Nonetheless, Blockbuster also has certain incentives to their customers. It normally let a rental customer to turn back a watched movie physically. On f urther advancement to outdo each other, Netflix more often than not sends a new show within a day, whereas it takes Blockbuster around two to three days to deliver a new movie. Netflix is really sophisticated in this business. It does offer a wider assortment of movies as compared to its biggest competitors and even a rare expediency of watching shows online. Further still, they are also faster on matters shipping. With regard to technological use, Blockbuster only lets a member arrange and order movies online. Their movies are also largely obtainable in their stores. As a result, they lack online movie watching services. However, Blockbuster does give a rare chance to its customers to acquire as much as double shows given that their in store rental services is free with a Total Access Pass. The Forces Driving Movie Rental Industry: Several forces do propel the movie rental industry especially with regard to the performance of one of the market leaders, the Netflix, and they include such forces as i) Market Features-The industry was in actual market maturity stage previous to the application and utilization of the Internet technology as a medium of distribution. Netflix did capitalize and subsequently utilized the Internet sophistication to gain huge market share by offering customers and members with direct movie download accessibility and undeviating shipments to their home. Â   As earlier stated, Netflix was and for that matter still remain a market leader that realized the first potential of the market which did exist for Internet movie rentals. Â  According to Espedido Julian (2010) they did make the product less complex for the consumer to acquire by eliminating unnecessary hassle that existed before and in lieu provided accelerated delivery. ii) Profit Margins of the Industry- the gross profit of Netfli x did shoot up from $8 million in the year 2000 to around $419.6 million in the year 2007. Â  it was an indication that Netflix was proficient and capable of capitalizing on the existing market trends which affect the entire movie rental industry. Netflix market entrance was quite successful and this contributed to their fast growth and expansive market share acquisition. iii) Competition Intensity- when Netflix was entering movie retail industry, the industry then was operating as an oligopoly as Blockbuster did control a major market share. Â   Netflix was amazingly able to compete against the then well established Blockbuster by effectively and efficiently using the Internet technology and the policy of one day delivery distribution channels were its central competitive advantage over Blockbuster and other allied companies in the market that was largely oligopoly. iv) Variations in Demand-Movie demand appears to be somewhat consistent. Â   Nevertheless, more and more customers seem to be too conventional. They are reminiscent of the idea of requesting for the DVDs off the Internet. v) Capital and Technological Requirements- A huge amount of initial capital is duly required to start the business of movie rentals and in turn obtain any momentous share of the market since fees that must be paid is quite exorbitant. Compare Netflix and Blockbusters competitive strategies: Both Netflix and Blockbuster have employed diverse strategies, plans and schemes to gain more market share as well as revenues as they can. They have before engaged in business tussles. Both the companies have actually been involved in price battle, each lowering its operation cost compared to the cost charged by their rival (Thompson, et al. 2010). This strategy however, popular with many competing companies does work advantageously to consumers since the consumers get the same kind of services for a smaller amount of money they pay. The CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings strategies is to reach about 20 million customers by the year 2012. Netflix therefore puts a great deal of anxiety on Blockbuster compelling them to change something in their strategy and future plans. In fact, up till about two years ago, Blockbuster was charging for their services late fees for failure to return on time DVDs back (Thompson, et al. 2010). The company henceforth changed their strategy and no longer char ge late fees any more. Netflix has very aggressive strategies. They have been purchasing privileges to autonomous films. This plan will permit Netflix to rent or even sell DVDs or movies in the theatres. In so doing, Netflix gambles and attempts to make more cash on movies which Hollywood never considers. It duly works in their favor since only 30 percent of Netflixs rentals are new releases (Thompson, et al. 2010). Advantages/Disadvantages of Two Rivals Advantages of Netflix: Netflix provides more advantages to its customers. According to Roth, Daniel (2009) their customers do watch more than 7000 movies online as a member. Their website also makes recommendations based on your previous ratings. Further, their website keeps track of movies rented. Moreover, they have a large selection of special interest DVDs. Finally, they avail to their customers a 2 week free trial. Disadvantages of Netflix: Netflix have numerous merits. However, they also have few demerits. For instance, they show poor customer service. Their services subject customers into a long wait for new releases. Advantages of Blockbuster Total Access: Blockbuster as a market rival to Netflix has merits too. They offer 2 free video/game in store monthly rentals to their members. Their members also enjoy privilege to return online order to any local Blockbuster store and this is very convenient to customers (Roth, Daniel, 2009). In addition, their customers pay a paltry $9.99 for the first month of subscription. Disadvantages of Blockbuster Total Access: Nevertheless, Blockbuster also has disadvantages. For that case, their customers are barred from returning rented Movies by mail. Finally, their consumers are conditioned to have 2 separate accounts in order to rent in store and online (Blockbuster, 2008). A Complete SWOT for Netflix: The founders of Netflix were Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. This was way back in the year 1997. They both viewed the business as a blend of customary video store as well as a subscription or payment cable TV services. Since April 1998, Netflix has been offering DVD owners an expedient as well as a cost effectual alternative to rent movies. Netflix has been operating as an internet based rental movie subscription services provider particularly for formatted movies of digital video disc (DVD). Its website provided its members to not only surf its catalogue of shows without difficulties, but also offered clips of movies which customers could afford to rent. Its prime mission is to offer versatile services which can help its members pick and obtain rental movies with an absolute gratification. Netflixs founders were very intelligent. They were able to foresee the positive potential of technological trend of the digital video disc player market jointly with the fast growth of internet access. Netflix as a result placed itself immediately in the internet DVD rental business. Their main focus was on those Americans who love movies, can access the internet, owns a DVD player or possess PCs or have DVD-ROM. Unsatisfied customers with the rule of the game of the other local movie rental companies preferred the online stores which was offered principally by Netflix. The online stores did cover scores of demographics. Summary From the point of view of the user, there is bound to occur varied preferences towards one service. It mostly relies on individual needs of a service member. For instance, versed with technological advancement will more likely favor Netflix, whilst a family living at home and is close to a Blockbuster store would prefer its services. Relying on the observation above, it is adequate to say that Netflix is more than able to be steps ahead of Blockbuster because they do not incur overbearing overhead cost of possessing its stores as well as storing all DVDs.

Definition Essay - The Evolved Definition of Community -- Definition E

Definition Essay- The Evolved Definition of Community The definition provided in The American College Dictionary from 1964 says â€Å"a group of men or women leading a common life according to a rule.† I never really viewed community in this manner. Many of us think of the word â€Å"community† as a group of people who live near each other. We forget that a community is actually just a group of people with common interests or characteristics who often happen to live near each other. Communities can be bound by race, religion, economic standings, political standings, and most commonly, location. Frequently, communities fall into more than one of these categories. The definition of community has obviously changed over the years. If we look at one of the first definitions of the word in 1874, we can see that the word started out describing a certain type of group; â€Å"a communistic or socialistic society.† (A Dictionary of American English) The word has still retained its original idea of a special group of people, only now the definition has broadened too many different types of people and...

Creating Letterheads with Microsoft Word :: Businesses Sales Letterheads Essays

Creating Letterheads with Microsoft Word What you will write under this heading is the equivalent of the feasibility study which looks at the existing business practice and the problems associated with it. You should describe in general terms what the new system should achieve and consider whether the existing system can be modified. Estimate the time scale for completing the project. Who is the "real" user? Graham Richardson owns a garage and is opening two more branches his letter headed paper is out of date so he needs to create a new letterhead with Microsoft word What is the current problem? You are about to open 2 more braches. The owners need new headed letters showing the details of all branches. The letters are also rather out of date so this is a perfect opportunity to update their image. I must include company name, logo, new addresses, telephone/fax umbers(s) and E-mail address. Why has this problem arisen? The problem has arisen because he has two more new branches opening and they are using old letter heads and thier images are old were they don't use computers much. What is the objective or user requirement for this project? They will need new letter heads and maybe some business cards. What are the different ways this problem could be solved? Send it to a printer or use desktop publishing What is the best way to solve the problem and why? The best way to solve the problem is by using Microsoft Word. Microsoft Word is the best word processor to use for letter heads. The disadvantage is the use of the paper. so to save money print one off and photocopy the rest. The advantages is you can save you work and edit the work without starting again and money so that you don't have to send it to the printer. What is your estimated time scale for implementation? 4 weeks ======= Objectives? =========== Ø Save 70% of storage space by saving documents on a hard-drive and not having to photocopy everything and file it away. =================================================================== Ø Start sacking people because you won't need them anymore. =========================================================== Ø To start using E-mail because it is quicker and you can add documents and pictures and it's a lot more reliable. This will save money as well. Ø ANALYSE ========= The purpose of this stage is to break the problem down into small parts and to plan each part in detail so you have all the information you need ready to move on to the design stage. What information do I need to gather and where will it come from? I will need to gather contact details, to design a logo and make an

Interpersonal Communications: Concept Analysis Paper

Katie Latimer November 1st, 2012 COMM 218 Concept Application Paper Communication takes place in any and all locations, intentionally and unintentionally, and it can be positive or negative. Many of our personal traits and character qualities can affect how we communicate with other people, and how they communicate with us. Recently, I had an experience that further proved this point to me in a very real and tangible way. Growing up, I have been known as levelheaded and optimistic. I don’t let a lot of distractions or emotions change or affect the way I act around others.As an athlete, my coaches always knew that if they called me into a game I would handle the pressure and play to the best of my ability, so I decided to change that about myself for a day. The night before my â€Å"experiment†, I somehow ended up in a fight with my parents, (not purposefully, of course) which really set the stage. The next morning I woke up with a negative outlook on the day, the though ts of our fight playing over in my head. I went to school, and no one talked to me, which hasn’t happened since my first day of classes, and even then I felt like people were more convivial with me.I think that because I woke up thinking that it was going to be an awful day, I made choices and acted in ways that made that idea come to fruition. This is called â€Å"self-fulfilling prophecy†. According to Alder, Rosenfeld & Proctor (2013), â€Å"A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a person’s expectations of an event, and her or his subsequent behavior based on those expectations, make the outcome more likely to occur than would otherwise have been true. (p. 74)† At school, because of my sour disposition and gloomy temperament, I was ignored.Not one person talked to me throughout my three classes that day. It was really quite discouraging. I believe this is because in our culture, we learn (or at least I did) that someone who doesn’t look like the y want to be talked to, doesn’t want to be talked to. Throughout the day I found myself looking around at the pretty, smiling girls and feeling very inadequate. I realize now, what I was feeling was a result of social comparison. According to Alder, Rosenfeld & Proctor (2013), social comparison is â€Å"†¦evaluating ourselves in terms of how we compare with others.We decide whether we are superior or inferior and similar or different by comparing ourselves to what social scientists call reference groups†¦ † (p. 69). Social comparison, in this instance, brought upon feelings of inferiority, as I was displaying undesirable qualities. After a very disheartening day at class, I went home. By the time my mom came home, my attitude had worsened. First she asked me â€Å"What happened? †. I responded by saying, â€Å"Nothing, I’m fine. † Which she took literally, by the content of my words, when I was hoping that she would take them in a relatio nal sense and see that I wasn’t really â€Å"fine†.In this instance, my mother was hearing my words in a contextual form, so when I said, â€Å"I’m fine. †, she heard me saying that I was okay and nothing was wrong. If she had realized that I was communicating with her relationally, she could have been able to tell by the tone of my voice and my non-verbal communications that I was not really â€Å"fine†. At the end of this very long day, I saw my boyfriend. While I am more open with him than I am with other people, I know that he still sees me as a smiling, level-headed person.Somehow he immediately knew that something was wrong. I decided to self-disclose to him, and tell him what was wrong. I told him about the fight between my parents and I, and I believe that my self-disclosure in this instance was more beneficial than risky. He also encouraged me to change my attitude and be more positive, and I believe his words had a more profound effect on me because he is literally a â€Å"significant other†. In every relationship, we can choose what to reveal about ourselves to other people.This is called â€Å"self-disclosure† and it is described as â€Å"The process of deliberately revealing information about oneself that is significant and that would normally not be known by others. (p. G-11)† In this instance, my boyfriend would not have known why I was upset, he would only have known that I was upset. When self-disclosing, honesty is of the utmost importance. If you aren’t honest in your communication, then you aren’t truly communicating. I learned a lot about communication, and I realized that I actually changed my self-concept unintentionally for 24 hours.On that day, I walked around campus feeling as if not one person wanted to converse with me, which was incredibly hard. I also learned that you could never be sure why some people are unfriendly; they may just be having a bad day. I believ e that on that day I relinquished some of the power of my identity management. Never before had I let myself be seen as shy or unfriendly, my presenting self was always approachable and helpful. The presenting self is â€Å"†¦the way we want to appear to others. In most cases the presenting self we seek to create is a socially approved image: diligent student, loyal friend, loving partner, and so on. p. 78)†. I believe that it was a good experience; I let go of my presenting or public self and was able to see more clearly how it changed my communication methods and the way others communicated with me. I also believe that it left me with the knowledge of how to better communicate with people that appear unfriendly or closed off, because you never know, they may just be having â€Å"one of those days†. References Adler, R. B. , Rosenfeld, L. B. , & Proctor, R. F. (2004). Interplay: The process of interpersonal communication. New York: Oxford University Press.

A critical analysis of a magazine article Essay

Gail Porter is a popular British female celebrity. She has recently made it public knowledge that she has been diagnosed with alopecia. Alopecia is a condition that affects men and women, resulting in drastic hair loss. The magazine the article was taken from is called â€Å"Closer†. This magazine has a wide target audience of British women of many ages. The article is presented as a personal description of her condition and its effects by Porter herself. The writer has appealed to the target audience in a good way, because the article is aimed at different audiences. It could firstly be aimed at women who have an interest in Gail Porter, due to the fact that she is a famous TV presenter, secondly it could be aimed at readers who have suffered from alopecia themselves, or know someone who has suffered from the condition. Thirdly the article could be aimed at young women, who are interested in celebrity gossip. The purpose of the text is that the writer is trying to inform readers about Porter’s condition, and also to entertain the audience, because the article could be known as celebrity gossip. There is a good use of pragmatics throughout the text. See more: how to write a good critical analysis essay Pragmatics is the social context of communication. Some readers may think the article is subtle, while others may disagree and think it has a hidden agenda. For example Gail has suffered from a terrible condition, if she were to inform readers about her trauma, she would not say, â€Å"Before I went out – to the launch of my new programme, Dead Famous Live†, this implies the article does have a hidden agenda because she is secretly trying to promote her new programme. The article is in first person; therefore the audience is influenced into reading it straight away, because they feel they are reading the words of Gail herself. Pronouns have been used, which is very effective because this technique draws the reader into the article further. Emotive language has also been used, making the reader feel pity for her. This terminology draws readers into the text further, because they want to know more about how Gail is coping, therefore they will also take in the facts that Gail has launched an launched a new programme, has been to America, has recently had a baby, gone through a divorce and also has a new boyfriend. All of these facts appeal to different audiences, which is what, makes the article so effective. The structure of the text appeals to the target audience very well. In bold writing and quotations, it reads, â€Å"I was scared I’d be judged†. This appeals to the audiences emotions drawing them into the article. It also reads on the top of the page â€Å"Up close and personal†; this involves women because they feel they are actually getting up close and personal with Porter. The side story also appeals to the target audience because Carly Morrell is 22 years of age, therefore the side story appeals to a younger audience. I think overall the article is very appealing; women who read this article can be influenced into feeling pity for the TV presenter. This is easily done as the article comes across as subtle, however if readers were to read in between the lines they will realize the article in fact has a hidden agenda. If I were to read this article generally, therefore not analyzing it, I think I would also have been influenced by it and what it says.