BitDepth+
Dell goes retail
30/04/12 22:22
After more than a decade of supplying computers via a successful online ordering service, Dell is going retail in the region and has appointed a number of local technology companies as their retail agents.
Comments
Notes from the Think symposium
21/02/11 21:49
Extended reporter's notes from the Think Symposium on Carnival and Multiculturalism. Read More...
Interview with Saucy Diva
14/02/11 21:06
The full interview with Saucy Diva of TrinidadCarnivalDiary.com.
BitDepth#769, the column I wrote based on it is posted here... Read More...
BitDepth#769, the column I wrote based on it is posted here... Read More...
Notes from BDC's E-Commerce Seminar
31/01/11 21:13
Notes from the Business Development Company seminar on e-commerce, 13-01-11
Mr. Bernard Campbell, Managing Director-Intelligent Business Advantage.
Business people will have to choose among different options for accepting payments, online banking, wire transfers, real world check and bank payments as well as card not present payments
There’s a big difference in establishing these systems when businesses have prior experience with each other and have already established a level of mutual trust.
“The Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones, the bronze age didn't end because they ran out of bronze. Technology made the older systems obsolete.”
There’s a real need to participate in social media, particularly with a focus on Facebook. “You need to monitor your presence on Facebook and respond to comments.”
Kama Maharaj, founder of Sacha Cosmetics.
On commonsense business practices online.
“Don't ask for anything from the customer that you don't need. Don't ask for a surname if you only need the first name.”
“Build credibility, trust and deliver customer service. It’s better to sell a few things to many people than to sell many things to a few people online.”
Kevin Khelawan, Teleios
Mobile Commerce covers any transaction of value conducted on a mobile phone.
Transaction models: Operator centric, bank centric, collaboration model (via trusted third party, using banks - most likely to dominate), peer to peer
Examples: Amazon's TextPayMe, PayPal via mobile, Obopay, Zong (gaming)
M-PESA, Kenya evolved from a micropayments system to a branchless banking service, now has more than 13 million users and transfers US$1.5 million per day, used for school fees, bars and pubs, bus and taxi transportation - high mobile penetration rate and low banking penetration rate with high demand for financial services.
Sharlene Maharaj, discussing the Caribbean Airlines/BWIA experience.
The company had some issues that were in common with Sacha, because we started early in the game. Caribbean Airlines entered the space because their competition was there.
E-Commerce cuts out the middle man and makes it self-service, moving the transaction directly to the customer. E-commerce makes the process low cost but creates a market driven by cost-sensitive customers.
Credit card sales represent less than 10 percent of total sales in the Caribbean. There’s a need for alternative form of payment, perhaps a promotion of debit cards to online sales capabilities.
Credit card fraud is real. CA built a percentage of bad debt into the business plan.
There’s an infrastructural need for structured street addresses to verify that they exist, equivalent to zip codes.
Websites available in multiple languages must be supported when end users engage the business, via e-mail and phone calls, in that language.
Need for clarity and clear lines of accountability in contracts and service level agreements with vendors and suppliers.
Mr. Bernard Campbell, Managing Director-Intelligent Business Advantage.
Business people will have to choose among different options for accepting payments, online banking, wire transfers, real world check and bank payments as well as card not present payments
There’s a big difference in establishing these systems when businesses have prior experience with each other and have already established a level of mutual trust.
“The Stone Age didn't end because they ran out of stones, the bronze age didn't end because they ran out of bronze. Technology made the older systems obsolete.”
There’s a real need to participate in social media, particularly with a focus on Facebook. “You need to monitor your presence on Facebook and respond to comments.”
Kama Maharaj, founder of Sacha Cosmetics.
On commonsense business practices online.
“Don't ask for anything from the customer that you don't need. Don't ask for a surname if you only need the first name.”
“Build credibility, trust and deliver customer service. It’s better to sell a few things to many people than to sell many things to a few people online.”
Kevin Khelawan, Teleios
Mobile Commerce covers any transaction of value conducted on a mobile phone.
Transaction models: Operator centric, bank centric, collaboration model (via trusted third party, using banks - most likely to dominate), peer to peer
Examples: Amazon's TextPayMe, PayPal via mobile, Obopay, Zong (gaming)
M-PESA, Kenya evolved from a micropayments system to a branchless banking service, now has more than 13 million users and transfers US$1.5 million per day, used for school fees, bars and pubs, bus and taxi transportation - high mobile penetration rate and low banking penetration rate with high demand for financial services.
Sharlene Maharaj, discussing the Caribbean Airlines/BWIA experience.
The company had some issues that were in common with Sacha, because we started early in the game. Caribbean Airlines entered the space because their competition was there.
E-Commerce cuts out the middle man and makes it self-service, moving the transaction directly to the customer. E-commerce makes the process low cost but creates a market driven by cost-sensitive customers.
Credit card sales represent less than 10 percent of total sales in the Caribbean. There’s a need for alternative form of payment, perhaps a promotion of debit cards to online sales capabilities.
Credit card fraud is real. CA built a percentage of bad debt into the business plan.
There’s an infrastructural need for structured street addresses to verify that they exist, equivalent to zip codes.
Websites available in multiple languages must be supported when end users engage the business, via e-mail and phone calls, in that language.
Need for clarity and clear lines of accountability in contracts and service level agreements with vendors and suppliers.
More on Snow Leopard
22/09/09 09:26
You'll find four new fonts in your word processor's menus, but only one, Menlo is of any real use. That's the one that's supposed to crash Photoshop if you try to use it in that program.
Most of Apple's software in Snow Leopard runs in 64 bit mode by default, causing problems for users who add plug-ins (to Safari, for instance) that won't run in that mode. The solution is to select the icon of the application, select Get Info from the File menu and in the resulting info pane, click the "Open in 32 bit mode" checkbox.
Some mission-critical plug-ins are still AWOL for Mac OS 10.6, despite the aggressive updates being pushed out by most programmers. Widemail, which enables Outlook view in Apple's Mail is still out for the count, though Aaron Harnly has stepped back up to the plate with Letterbox, the original pane re-organiser for people who can't stand the way that Mail organises information. The current beta version works with Mail in 64 bit mode.
Software that's endangered for casual users...
Little Snapper, Snapz Pro and anything previously used to capture the screen as stills or as a movie. It was always possible to do a screen snap with Shift-Command 3 and 4, but the Finder now helpfully names these screen captures with a date and time and Quicktime Player can record directly off the screen.
Similarly, the new Services menu (which I can't get to stop "building" and display its contents yet) contains a number of useful tools that make text handling tools like TextSoap and SpellCatcher redundant for all but the most serious users.
Text substitution is basic, but probably offers enough power for casual users. Serious keystroke savers will stick with tools like TextExpander.
Hardcore screen recorders will update their software and ignore the built in tools, but users who just want to capture a quick demonstration video will find their needs satisfied by the built in solution.
Terminal users will welcome the ability to split the terminal console window, and serious "presenters" will welcome the OS support for HDTV connections via HDMI. After all, that's just what we need when connecting our Macbooks to a high def television to run "PowerPoint," don't we.
Related...
BitDepth 697
BitDepth 698
Most of Apple's software in Snow Leopard runs in 64 bit mode by default, causing problems for users who add plug-ins (to Safari, for instance) that won't run in that mode. The solution is to select the icon of the application, select Get Info from the File menu and in the resulting info pane, click the "Open in 32 bit mode" checkbox.
Some mission-critical plug-ins are still AWOL for Mac OS 10.6, despite the aggressive updates being pushed out by most programmers. Widemail, which enables Outlook view in Apple's Mail is still out for the count, though Aaron Harnly has stepped back up to the plate with Letterbox, the original pane re-organiser for people who can't stand the way that Mail organises information. The current beta version works with Mail in 64 bit mode.
Software that's endangered for casual users...
Little Snapper, Snapz Pro and anything previously used to capture the screen as stills or as a movie. It was always possible to do a screen snap with Shift-Command 3 and 4, but the Finder now helpfully names these screen captures with a date and time and Quicktime Player can record directly off the screen.
Similarly, the new Services menu (which I can't get to stop "building" and display its contents yet) contains a number of useful tools that make text handling tools like TextSoap and SpellCatcher redundant for all but the most serious users.
Text substitution is basic, but probably offers enough power for casual users. Serious keystroke savers will stick with tools like TextExpander.
Hardcore screen recorders will update their software and ignore the built in tools, but users who just want to capture a quick demonstration video will find their needs satisfied by the built in solution.
Terminal users will welcome the ability to split the terminal console window, and serious "presenters" will welcome the OS support for HDTV connections via HDMI. After all, that's just what we need when connecting our Macbooks to a high def television to run "PowerPoint," don't we.
Related...
BitDepth 697
BitDepth 698
Microsoft, Blackberry launches
11/05/09 10:48
Posted reports of launches of the new Blackberry Storm and Windows RC1 in Trinidad and Tobago to Other Writing...
Microsoft at the Summit
27/04/09 22:30
An Interview with Angela Camacho about Microsoft's hope to work for development in the region is posted here...
BSG's most important moments
30/03/09 23:25
• The appropriation of Richard Hatch and his anger about the remake into the show as Tom Zarek.
• The appearance of Battlestar Pegasus and the resulting powerplay.
• Starbuck’s capture of a Cylon raider and the discovery that the ship is organic.
• Season 3’s unflinching translation of the Iraq occupation to BSG’s universe as Cylons occupy New Caprica.
• Finding Earth. Nuff said.
• Anastasia “Dee” Dualla’s last day.
• Felix Gaeta’s rebellion and its ultimate consequences.
• Gaius Baltar, inspired villain. The lameness that is ultimate evil.
• The appearance of Battlestar Pegasus and the resulting powerplay.
• Starbuck’s capture of a Cylon raider and the discovery that the ship is organic.
• Season 3’s unflinching translation of the Iraq occupation to BSG’s universe as Cylons occupy New Caprica.
• Finding Earth. Nuff said.
• Anastasia “Dee” Dualla’s last day.
• Felix Gaeta’s rebellion and its ultimate consequences.
• Gaius Baltar, inspired villain. The lameness that is ultimate evil.
Notes from the Twitterverse
23/03/09 20:20
More on Free + Legal
19/01/09 21:25
The Free + Legal campaign jointly announced by Columbus Communication's Flow and TrinidadTunes.com marked a coming of age for the music download service.
As the team behind Riddums Music and Trinidad Music Store closed in on their first anniversary, Flow approached the music distributors looking for ideas on a meaningful collaboration.
Flow had first approached 3 Canal about doing a jingle, but the group doesn't do that kind of work, so the idea of Free + Legal was born, offering music for a limited time with a sponsor footing the cost.
As noted here in BitDepth, 3 Canal will be offering their new album Joy + Fire exclusively on TrinidadTunes.com until they release the CD later in the Carnival season.
The idea was stimulated by the October 2008 visit of Gerd Leonhard, a futurist thinker with a special interest in music and its distribution in the digital age.
"Flow has been amazing," said Lorraine O'Connor. "We thought that the phone companies would have jumped on this idea, but Flow didn't even want to limit it to their customers on their network."
3 Canal apparently left their meeting with Flow astonished at how open minded the company proved to be in their discussions.
TrinidadTunes hopes to start hosting music videos on the website before the end of the Carnival season.
"We're not philanthropists," said O'Connor.
"But we see that it's to the long term benefit of both our businesses to build interest in legal downloads," her business partner Roses Hezekiah continued.
"The most astonishing thing is that Flow's team is just bright, bright women and the meetings just blaze on," said O'Connor, "Rhea (Yawching, Flow's Communications chief) will just hold up her hands and bawl, 'no more ideas, no more, I have no budget left'."
As the team behind Riddums Music and Trinidad Music Store closed in on their first anniversary, Flow approached the music distributors looking for ideas on a meaningful collaboration.
Flow had first approached 3 Canal about doing a jingle, but the group doesn't do that kind of work, so the idea of Free + Legal was born, offering music for a limited time with a sponsor footing the cost.
As noted here in BitDepth, 3 Canal will be offering their new album Joy + Fire exclusively on TrinidadTunes.com until they release the CD later in the Carnival season.
The idea was stimulated by the October 2008 visit of Gerd Leonhard, a futurist thinker with a special interest in music and its distribution in the digital age.
"Flow has been amazing," said Lorraine O'Connor. "We thought that the phone companies would have jumped on this idea, but Flow didn't even want to limit it to their customers on their network."
3 Canal apparently left their meeting with Flow astonished at how open minded the company proved to be in their discussions.
TrinidadTunes hopes to start hosting music videos on the website before the end of the Carnival season.
"We're not philanthropists," said O'Connor.
"But we see that it's to the long term benefit of both our businesses to build interest in legal downloads," her business partner Roses Hezekiah continued.
"The most astonishing thing is that Flow's team is just bright, bright women and the meetings just blaze on," said O'Connor, "Rhea (Yawching, Flow's Communications chief) will just hold up her hands and bawl, 'no more ideas, no more, I have no budget left'."
Notes on Hyper-V
06/01/09 14:22
More notes from a presentation on Microsoft's new Hyper-V server technology.
Read the BitDepth story on the event here... Read More...
Read the BitDepth story on the event here... Read More...
Notes on the 2008 ICT Symposium
25/11/08 00:19
Additional reporting on the ICT Symposium, direct from my notebook...
Related: BitDepth 655... Read More...
Related: BitDepth 655... Read More...
Blogging the show floor
22/10/08 16:48
The next installment of BitDepth (October 28) will be a report on highlights from this year's PhotoPlus Expo, but from Thursday evening, I'll be blogging my findings and notes from the show floor of the PhotoPlus Expo 2008 at the Jacob Javits Centre in New York for the duration of the three days of the show.
You'll find that coverage posted on my photoblog here...
You'll find that coverage posted on my photoblog here...
Future talk
13/10/08 10:50
BitDepth 648 posted
03/10/08 13:32
More on Vista adoption...
26/05/08 21:06
TSTT response to "Broadband Problems"
18/02/08 22:06
Having issues with TSTT or Flow?
10/02/08 21:16
I'm working on a piece that aggregates information from customers about their experiences with broadband upgrades, new installations or problems with Internet speeds and the support responses they have experienced with these providers.
The Frenchman and the downloads
08/01/08 00:53
My marketing plan for TSTT
18/12/07 00:03
TSTT's marketing of its Blink broadband service is very pretty, but at its core, I think it's rotten. Here's an alternative. Read More...
Quitting HSIA
18/12/07 00:03
I finally chose. But quitting TSTT's HSIA service proved to be an adventure as well. Read More...
Tribe tech
03/12/07 20:44
Crash
19/11/07 21:09
Four things you should do with a new Mac or one you're upgrading
15/11/07 22:05
More on Leopard
15/11/07 21:36
Tapes on RAW
22/10/07 21:47
Eyes wide open
14/10/07 23:16
If you're coming here from BitDepth in print or on the Guardian's website, welcome. If you're a regular, this continues on from this column. Read More...
A bend in the Amazon
14/10/07 23:03
Internet Campaigning
25/09/07 00:35
More e-mail advice
19/06/07 10:28
