Posts Tagged ‘internet’

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Collaborative Consumption

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

collaborative-home.png
(image credit: Collaborative Consumption)

But isn’t that like, communism, man?

Not exactly – people still own things and are making a profit from them, and that’s sort of the point.

Technology (i.e. the internet) is allowing regular people like you and me to share their skills, stuff or space with the world – for profit. New websites and services like TaskRabbit, SkillShare and Airbnb (and even old stuff like eBay and Craigslist) allow people to take advantage of stuff they own or stuff they can do by lowering barriers-to-entry.

But, wait, if, like, everyone can easily buy and sell stuff, isn’t that at least, like, socialism, man?

Not exactly.

Fund Scientific Research at 3AM

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

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(photo credit: Mark Ramsay)

Heard of Kickstarter? That new site where anyone with an idea and a plan to make it happen can raise money from the unwashed masses? Well until now it’s mostly been used to help bands record their breakout albums, help designers raise capital to manufacture life-improving products, and help slightly off do-gooders pay for various swing-installation projects.

But now scientists are getting in on the action. From the Kickstarter-funded Mexican quail research expedition to the new academics-only crowdfunding site Open Genius, the doors are open for promising researchers to avoid the pain of securing traditional government and foundation funding.

Which means that you have a unique opportunity to directly impact research you care about. It’s one thing to donate to a cancer research fund (which is a totally awesome thing to do, by the way), but it’s another thing entirely to choose the lab you want to support.

This is also a great opportunity to exercise your advocacy muscles. With just a little prodding and a link to a well-designed website, you can double, triple, or quadruple your donation by talking to friends or posting your pitch online.

Never underestimate the power of peer pressure and one-click donations.

Making it Work: Internet Shopping Entrepreneurs Talk Shop

Monday, June 27th, 2011

Carla Holtze and Kimberly Skelton used business school as an excuse to do what they already wanted to do: create a social website that roughly imitates the experience of having your best friend give you the thumbs-up or thumbs-down in the dressing room. Thus was born WingTipIt.com.

But starting a company isn’t easy – especially when it involves learning new technology in a relatively new industry. Watch them talk about what’s worked and what hasn’t:

>> TILE brings you exclusive opinions, explanations, and interviews from experts in every industry. Have a burning question or an expert you’d like to see interviewed? Just Ask TILE!

What to Do When Your Business Model Depends Entirely on Google’s Search Results

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

“In a recent e-mail to employees, company founder and CEO Jason Calacanis and Mahalo President Jason Rapp said the start-up trimmed a tenth of its workforce due to a reduction in traffic caused by Google’s change to its search algorithm, according to the blog CenterNetworks.

The Google changes were meant to push down low-quality sites in search results, but some unexpected websites such as Mahalo lost their ranking as well, the report said. With less traffic visiting Mahalo, revenue took a hit, the e-mail said, according to CenterNetworks.”

What do you think?

How can online businesses protect themselves against rapid changes in the technology industry? Does this news make you think twice about investing in web-based companies?

Gilt Free Luxury: Gilt Groupe’s Co-Founder Talks with TILE

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Alexandra Wilkis Wilson took her 5th Avenue fashion sense to the world wide web, and the result – members-only designer discount site Gilt Groupe – is changing the way luxury retail is done. She sat down with TILE to talk about the online sample sale phenomenon, and to share some advice about buying designer.

Modern Giving: Why Internet Freedom Is A Good Cause

Friday, February 25th, 2011

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(photo credit: Tim Yang)

It turns out the Internet is about way more than pictures of cats and x-rated websites.

  • It’s safe to say that the Internet surprised us all with the way it changed the world. It certainly surprised the despotic leaders that have been threatened and overthrown by citizens organizing themselves through Twitter and Facebook.
  • The Ford Foundation recently made a plea to the philanthropy community (at the Wired for Change conference) to recognize that the Internet is now an essential tool for empowering people and spreading democracy throughout the world.
  • The Foundation hopes that other organizations will increase funding and grantmaking for initiatives that protect online freedom of speech.

Facts & Figures

Internet freedom should not be taken for granted:

  • Web access was completely cut off for five days during the protests that eventually overthrew the Egyptian government
  • Access is limited and online content is censored for Internet users in China and Saudi Arabia
  • Even in the United States, there are fierce battles in Washington about “net neutrality,” or whether Internet providers can determine the amount of access each user has based on how much they pay or use

Best Quote

“We use the Internet and mobile technology to build society, and we take it for granted that the open Internet will always be in place.” – Brett Solomon, Executive Director of Access

What do you think?

Could the massive political upheavals in the Middle East have happened without the Internet? What can you do to support something like Internet freedom?

Get to it!

Do you know what *your* cause is yet? Take the Your Causes quiz to find out!

Jumo Picks Up Where Facebook’s “Causes” Left Off

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Jumo.com wants to “do what Yelp did for restaurants.” But do people want to connect with nonprofits as badly as they want to eat tasty food?

  • Chris Hughes, one of Facebook’s founding fathers (and if you watch the movie, they’re alllll fathers), has started a new kind of social networking site all about connecting people to the issues they care about.
  • Jumo indexes charities, projects, and causes to help users learn about them. It also gives charities big and small easier access to potential supporters.
  • Users sign up with their Facebook account, so sharing donation announcements and favorite causes/ organizations with friends is easy. The site also has some familiar Facebooky features – users can share and comment on pages, and see which organizations their friends like.

Facts & Figures

  • Hughes was the Chief Digital Organizer for Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008
  • Only 9% of the $300 billion in donations in 2009 were submitted online
  • Jumo launched with over 3,000 issues and organizations on the site

Best Quote

“It’s still not clear whether or not followers translate to volunteers and donors. But people that are more engaged with nonprofits are most likely to become a donor or support them in another way.” – Steve MacLaughlin, Director of Internet Solutions at BlackBaud, a tech consultancy serving nonprofits

Groupon Will Not Be Googled

Monday, December 6th, 2010

They can probably find a better deal anyway.

  • Google allegedly offered $6 billion for the popular online coupon company – the most expensive acquisition in Google history. The initial offer was between $3.5 – 4 billion.
  • Online coupons have never been more popular, and Google was eager to get a piece of the action. They think that advertising locally is about to become really, really big.
  • Groupon is currently owned by a private group of investors, but it may go for an initial public offering (IPO) in 2011.

Facts & Figures

  • Over 33 million people subscribe to Groupon’s daily emails
  • Google is currently sitting on $33 billion in cash and other assets
  • Groupon made $500 million in sales this year – it’s growing at a faster rate than Google or Amazon did

Hulu Prepares Public Option

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Hulu plans to introduce an initial public offering as early as this fall.

  • Although Hulu gets a lot of traffic, it has had difficulty turning its popularity into profit. It hopes to change things by making an initial public offering.
  • An IPO could have the additional benefits of increasing confidence in the company, possibly luring back content producers like Viacom, which recently removed popular shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report from Hulu.
  • However, with many other companies poised to go public and a lack of confidence in IPOs in general, going public may not solve Hulu’s problems.

Facts & Figures

  • The planned IPO could value the company at more than $2 billion.
  • Hulu reported that it made $100 million last year, but it is also on track to make that amount again in the first half of this year.
  • Hulu produced more than $566 million ads this past June – more than double YouTube’s amount.

Improving The Quality Of Internet Service

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Satellite companies attempt to improve their technology in order to provide better internet service to consumers, especially those  for whom satellite connection is the only option.

  • Two satellite companies, WildBlue and HughesNet, have big plans for the future of satellite and internet service.
  • These companies claim that their new satellites will allow them to provide consumers with internet service that rivals the speed of their broadband competitors’ but costs far less.
  • Terrestrial internet providers argue that fiber-optics are expensive to install but much easier to update as technology improves, an advantage satellites lack.

Facts & Figures

  • An estimated 14-24 million Americans currently live without broadband internet service.
  • WildBlue argues that a $28 million grant aimed at extending fiber optics to 420 schools in North Carolina could instead have supplied 70,000 residents in that area with satellite service.
  • The average lifespan of a satellite is 15 years–a statistic that helps explain why the industry has advanced so slowly to date.

Best Quote

“One advantage satellite has is ubiquity. The cost of reaching you with a satellite dish is independent of where you are. Fiber or cable is labor-intensive and dependent on distance.” –Arunas G. Slekys, Vice President, Hughes Network Systems

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