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10 Ways Technology Has Changed the Way We Do Everyday Functions During the Past Decade

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Work

With Internet speeds becoming faster, anyone with a laptop can create a business and sell a service or product. The number of home-based jobs has been on the rise in the last decade because companies have found that to be cheaper and more profitable than having a physical location for all workers.
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Shopping

Events like Black Friday have become less meaningful because the Internet has made shopping easy. From your phone or laptop, you can get anything you want. Many sites like Amazon offer free shipping; so stores seem like they could become a thing of the past.

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eBay Buyers Handing Over Thousands for Limited Edition iPod Classics

Many people thought some eBay shoppers were crazy for paying up to $20,000 for limited edition PlayStation 4s that were made to look like the older version, but there are actually some consumers who are forking over thousands to get their hands on actual iPod Classics that were released a decade ago.

Sellers have taken to eBay to get rid of their iPod Classics, but it turns out there is a pool of consumers who truly see one man’s trash as another man’s treasure.

A rare version of the classic iPod sold for $90,000 but the hefty price probably came from the famous autographs on the back rather than the device itself.

The iPod was a factory-sealed UK model of the U2 iPod, which was originally sold back in 2004.

The special edition iPod is black rather than the typical white design and has all four of the U2 members’ autographs engraved into the back of it.

Other U2 edition iPods that are not still factory-sealed are being sold for roughly $4,000 on Amazon although it isn’t clear how responsive buyers have been to the hefty price tag.

While the $90,000 iPod is the most expensive iPod Classic to be sold on eBay, some sellers are looking for much more for the dated device.

One seller placed a $180,000 price tag on his iPod Classic although it hasn’t found a home just yet—and it’s very likely that it won’t find one until the price is significantly reduced.

Buyers who are desperately trying to get their hands on the older iPods need to make sure they are buying it for nostalgia purposes and aren’t concerned about the devices functionality because there is a good chance that the batteries in these classic iPods don’t even work anymore.

Those that do will likely not perform as well as they did back in 2004 and repairing the device would be another challenge of its own.

After the iPod Classic was discontinued, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained that even he “couldn’t get the parts anymore, not anywhere on Earth,” according to Mashable.com.

If the device is still fully functional, however, buyers can expect up to 12 hours of battery life and will have 20 GB of storage.

For those who are still eager to get their hands on an older version of the iPod, Amazon sellers are offering up standard devices for roughly $500 and many users have already left comments claiming to have found even better deals elsewhere on the web.

 

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Your Data Science Idea is Great, But Is the Market Ready? Why Marketing is Key to Data Science Success

Collecting data

In the digital age, two seriously conflicting interests are rapidly growing – the desire to push technology to its limits and create a world filled with innovative devices and programs and the fear of consumers who are worried about the dangers of a world overrun with advanced technology.

For this very reason, President and CEO of Excellent Management Systems Inc. John Weathington reminded tech entrepreneurs, especially those in the data science field, to make sure the market is actually ready for their ideas before they launch them.

Some consumers fear that crazy sci-fi movies may not be as far fetched as they once seemed and others hate the idea of their favorite apps, games, search engines and devices secretly keeping tabs on their every digital move.

Whatever the reason, data science leaves many consumers feeling spooked and uncomfortable.

For example, Facebook users subjected the tech giant to serious backlash after discovering that the site was manipulating thousands of news feeds and user behavior in order to collect data for a study.

As Weathington pointed out, this certainly isn’t something new, but Facebook was still made out to be a monster for taking part in a practice that is much older than the website’s existence.

“To data scientists, it may seem perfectly normal to mine through digital behavior to understand and ultimately influence future behavior,” Weathington wrote on TechRepublic.com. “Marketing groups have been formally and publicly influencing behavior for decades, so why are Facebook’s data scientists any different?”

It’s simply a different method and a different market—that’s the key.

Even the greatest of technological advances will flop if the market simply isn’t ready for or comfortable with it just yet.

“Innovation with data science is exciting, but it can be risky if your market isn’t ready for your next great idea,” Weathington added. “Work closely with your marketing department to understand not only if, but when your next brilliant analytic offering will be a big hit.”

Marketing specialists are able to conduct thorough research and see if the market’s current consumers would be open to your latest technological innovation. The problem is that some data scientists forget just how important the marketing team really is.

Opting out of bringing marketing specialists on the team is a huge mistake that many data scientists tend to make.

Instead, some tech savvy CEOs will assign the marketing tasks to their product engineers.

The problem with the reassigning of roles is the fact that a product engineer will never be able to objectively look at something they have spent countless hours developing and view it as if they are just a random consumer.

Data scientists should also be open to introducing a much smaller concept to the market before eventually growing it under the watchful eye of consumers.

It’s a lot less threatening to watch something grow over time, something that has already been a part of your daily life and has revealed its many advantages, than to have a big, scary new way of collecting data forcefully thrust onto the market and scaring off people who are still feeling a little uncomfortable with technology’s rapid growth.

 

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Sony’s Incredibly Rare 20th Anniversary PlayStation 4 Separates Game Lovers from the Game-Obsessed

Sony's 20th Anniversary PS4

Sony released a special, incredibly rare limited edition version of the PlayStation 4 in honor of the console’s 20th anniversary less than a week ago and while some avid gamers are in love with the design that pays homage to the original PlayStation, others are struggling to understand what all the hype is about.

Only 12,300 of the limited edition consoles exist and anyone who didn’t place their order by December 6 will have to make their way online to sites like eBay where the consoles have been sold for roughly $20,000. Yes, four zeroes—no typo there.

But is it really worth it?

The limited edition console has the same sleek design as the PlayStation 4 but comes in gray, the same color that the original console was in.

PlayStation 4 pays homage to original console

It also boasts the original PlayStation logo with gray controllers and even a matching camera, an addition that doesn’t come in your typical PlayStation 4 bundle.

The console also features a plate that lets buyers know exactly which console they received out of the 12,300 that are available and has small Xs, squares, triangles and Os engraved all over it.

For those who don’t know, those are symbols on the buttons of the PlayStation controller.

So is the gray PlayStation 4 really worth thousands of extra dollars?

For some gamers, the gray paint job isn’t enough to get excited about.

“As nice as it is, my initial hype dropped very quickly,” said one Engadget reader. “It’s a grey PS4… that’s it. Yes it’s rare and limited and all that, but what can it do than [sic] any other PS4 can’t?”

The reader went on to slam consumers as “total idiots” for dishing out so much extra cash for what some see as nothing more than a change in color.

Others just simply didn’t like the gray color at all and wished the limited edition console would have went a little outside the box with color choices.

For some gamers, however, the emotional attachment to that gray paintjob was well worth the extra money.

There is something about seeing the color of the original PlayStation slapped across the latest generation of the console that melts the hearts of those who are openly and honestly game-obsessed.

The gray color isn’t just about a difference in appearance in this case.

It’s about bringing up the pixelated memories of the early Street Fighter and Final Fantasy games, having a newfound respect for earthworms after playing Worms Armageddon, the nights spent tormented as a child after playing way too many hours of Silent Hill and Resident Evil and the time you nearly broke your television because you just couldn’t get past the second level of PaRappa the Rapper.

For those gamers, the limited edition console isn’t just painted gray, it’s honoring the emotional attachment that some have formed with the PlayStation brand as a whole.

“I love the nostalgia design-wise, our generation and those a bit before us can appreciate that,” said Marlon Tiller, an avid 22-year-old gamer who grew up with not only the latest PlayStation consoles but also the latest consoles from Xbox and Nintendo. “New kids are going to miss out. They’re definitely not gonna get it. For me, when I saw [the 20th anniversary edition console] I could hear the old PlayStation startup screen sound in my head.”

Of course, for those who are not nearly as attached to the console and never attempted to deliver a high kick to the back of their best friend’s head after playing Tekken, white and black PlayStation 4’s will still be sold at their usual price of roughly $400.

 

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Tired of Cracking Your iPhone Screen? Apple May Have Plans for Simpler, Sturdier Materials

The one criticism that has plagued the iPhone for years was the fact that it typically has reigned supreme in the land of incredibly fragile devices. While the latest model has emerged with studier materials to address that issue, it seems like Apple had a much more complex way to solve this problem a few years ago.

A phone screen can’t crack if the phone never lands on the screen, right?

That’s essentially the idea behind Apple’s idea for a cat-like iPhone design, which the company has already obtained a patent for.

The drawings in the unpublicized patent were discovered and released by Appleinsider and revealed a design that would allow the iPhone to detect when it was falling and then adjust its trajectory in order to make sure it doesn’t land on the most fragile part of the device – the screen.

Through the use of different sensors on the phone, it would detect which part of the phone is in imminent danger and likely to have a potentially catastrophic impact.

The phone will then use vibrations to adjust the phone in mid-air.

Of course, there will be times when a vibration won’t be enough to prevent a shattered screen, so the designs also include gas canisters that would “deploy the compressed gas outside of the device to change its orientation.”

The only catch is that some tech lovers believe Apple may have already ditched these plans for now.

The patent was filed back in 2011 and features a drawing of what seems to be an iPhone 4.

That means roughly three years have gone by without the “cat phone” coming to fruition.

Some see that as a sign that the company simply decided to create a more sturdy, seemingly unbreakable phone rather than focusing on how to keep a fragile device from having a tragic fall.

Others, however, believe it just means that the patented system will be a part of the iPhone’s design later down the road.

If that is the case, Apple will truly have a rather indestructible device on its hand that is not only sturdy but also able to defend itself against a clumsy owner.

The materials used to create the iPhone 6 have already earned the device the title of “least breakable phone ever” by SquareTrade.

Combining these materials with the patented cat-like technology, users would be able to keep their iPhones safe and functional for years.

Not all consumers are thrilled by the patent, however, with some arguing that the idea lacks any real creativity.

“Apple shouldn’t be allowed to own this patent,” said one RT.com reader. “It is very simple in Theory. You just add or subtract weight on different locations of back cover or side of the phone and heavier side will hit the floor first if drops. There is no creativity in making a fool out of general public.”

 

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3 Self Driving Cars That Are Propelling Us Towards A New Future

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Autonomous Cars

“As we move from struggling with today’s inefficient relationship between cars and infrastructure to one empowered by automobility, new capacities and better use of our existing resources will emerge. Daily commutes will improve in ways that allow us to accomplish so much more, making the slow seem fast,” says IDEO.

Your car of the future has a proximity sensor. As soon as you’re 200 feet away it begins prepping for your drive, pulling in info from your suite of connected devices. Based on email, calendar and text messages, it knows where you need to go and when you need to be there. Your favorite Spotify radio station is queued up, at your preferred volume. You’re ready to drive…rather, your car is ready to drive, according to Wired.

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