Case Study 3 - New To The Touch

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Case Study Questions:

1. What problems does multitouch technology solve?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a multitouch interface? How useful is it? Explain.

3. Describe three business applications that would benefit from a multitouch interface.

4. What management, organization, and technology issues must be addressed if you or your business was considering systems and computers with multitouch interfaces?

Answers:

1. - Helps people with disabilities - Helps autistic students to speak to and communicate with others.

   - Replace the use of mouse and keyboard - For users who cannot grasp a mouse and want the functionality of a PC. (e.g the Dell Latitude XT tablet.)

   - Minimize clutter with portable device - Such as the Android operating systems for smartphones has support for multi-touch. Users can manage emails, contacts, calendars and hold virtual meetings through a built-in webcam and microphone.

2. - Extremely good for object manipulations - Touch, drag, “pinch” to zoom in and out, slide finger up and down or sideways as if they were physical objects without moving a mouse, pressing buttons or striking keys. For example, Perceptive Pixel offers pressure-sensitive multi-touch displays that can sense an unlimited number of simultaneous touches with accuracy and precision. Their displays come bundled with the right software and have applications in broadcasting, medical imaging, data exploration, digital storyboarding, industrial design and more. 

  - More versatile than single-touch interfaces - as opposed to the single-touch screen, which recognizes only one touch point. Multitouch interface allows one or more fingers to perform gestures to manipulate objects.

Multi touch gestures are easier to remember than commands - Based on ingrained human movement that do not have to be learned. touch is ideal for consuming/presenting information. Because it is a more natural interface, it increases user productivity.

  - Collaborative use - before the multitouch technology was invented, even with computer display connected to an external projector and another mouse, it was impossible for more than one person to make edits when pulling together a PowerPoint presentation. There is now an operating system that would support a minimum of dual input for “group conversations” on a single workstation. Made editing easier as more than one person can make edits to a project or presentations at the same time.

There are some disadvantages for the multi touch that might be a problem to some and to others might be only a simple accommodation to new technology.

Eyes on

Touch screen interfaces are nearly all “eyes on”. You cannot type by touch while your eyes are occupied elsewhere like most cases of 12-17 year old kids than can text and type without looking. With an all touch-screen interface you generally cannot start, stop, or pause your MP3 player, for example, or close and answer your phone by reaching into your pocket, purse, or briefcase like you usually do since you don't have a one mechanical key to memorize it's location and operate eyes free. This risks serious accidents for example if someone tries to operate a multi touch car radio while driving.

Hands on

Handheld devices that rely on touch screens for input require two hands to operate: one to hold the device and the other to operate it. Thus, operating them generally requires both eyes and both hands. Unlike the usual phones that can be operated and held using one hand: one hand to hold the device and a finger of the same hand to operate it.

Fingers on

Your finger is not transparent: the smaller the touch screen, the more you obscure what is being pointed at. That is why a stylus or pointer should be used: it is very skinny and accurate in such a way that nothing on the screen gets obscured. There is a reason we don’t rely on finger painting: even on large surfaces, writing or drawing with the finger is generally not as effective as it is with a brush or stylus. And on small surfaces, it is even more ineffective to try and draw or write with a finger.


This is a disadvantage as for note taking and writing as well as for applications for drawing and design since it is ineffective, a stylus should be used instead to replace the keyboard on a multi touch surface.

Prices

Prices of such devices might be too high at the beginning as it is for every new emerging technology. That might be a disadvantage and people might refrain to buy it and be afraid to try new stuff but eventually prices will continually decrease year after year until the product reaches every customer it can in order to spread the new technology

sources:http://www.namahn.com/resources/documents/note-Touchscreens.pdf http://www.oreillynet.com/mac/blog/2007/01/the_future_of_multitouch.html

3. - Mobile applications

Tools for sales teams, technicians, medical staff, logistics tracking, banking, insurance, and teaching: professional mobile apps are popping up in all industry sectors, particularly for tablets. 

    - The long-neglected office-based workers

Touch-screen devices are huge at the moment: tablets enhance users’ image and are ideal for mobile staff and executives.The future will doubtless see an increase in interactive desks, i.e. touch-screen features but copied onto a physical desk, with all the advantages of interactive, paperless functions.

     e.g.- Microsoft and Samsung have already begun with the launch of Surface 2, a 40’’ multi-touch table that can be laid horizontal or mounted on to four legs and costing around €6,000. It can be used for anything from medical imaging to air patrol configuration and post-flight debriefing (as demonstrated by Dassault at this year’s Paris Air Show). Canadian company ExoPC is also working on a 40’’multi-touch interactive desk that is compatible with Windows 7 and can be hooked up to a monitor. ExoDesk will be on sale for around €1,000.

     

        - Reading digital material (e-books/ e-mail)

•      Supported with pinch zoom function
•      Easily to drag or double click
•      QWERTY onscreen keyboard that supported multi touch for 2 handed typing  

 

      4. Management : Cost, technology adoption, training, business objective

         Organization : Structure and capability

         Technology : Fast server, system ready for use, better serve, permanent hardware

Case Study 2 - Is The Ipad a Disruptive Technology?

   Tablet computers have come and gone several times before, but the iPad looks like it will be different. It has a gorgeous 10-inch color display, a persistent WiFi connection, potential use of high-speed cellular network, functionality from over 250,000 applications available on Apple’s App Store, and the ability to deliver  video, music, text, social networking applications, and video games. Its entry-level price is just $499. The challenge  for Apple is to convince potential users that they need a new, expensive gadget with the functionality that the iPad provides. This is the same challenge faced by the iPhone was a smashing success that decimated the sales of traditional cell phones throughout the world. Will the iPad do  likewise as a disruptive technology for the media and content industries? It looks like it is on its way.

   The iPad has some appeal to mobile business users, but most experts believe it will not supplant laptops or netbooks. It is in the publishing and media industries where its disruptive impact will first be felt.

   The iPad and similar devices (including the Kindle Reader) will force many existing media business to change their business models significantly. These companies may need to stop investing in their traditional delivery platform (like newsprint) and increase their investment in the new digital platform. The iPad will spur people to watch TV on the go, rather than their television set at home, and to read their books, newspapers, and magazines online rather than in print.

  Publishers are increasing interested in e-book as a way to revitalize stagnant sales and attract new readers. The success of Amazon’s Kindle has spurred growth in e-book sales to over $91 million wholesale in the first quarter of 2010. Eventually  e-books could account for 25 to 50 percent of all books sold. Amazon, the technology platform provider and the largest distributor of books in the world, has exercised its new power by forcing publisher to sell e-books at $9.95, a price too low for publisher to profit. Publisher are now refusing to supply new books to Amazon unless it raises prices,  and Amazon is starting to comply.

   The iPad entered this marketplace ready to compete with Amazon over e-book pricing and distribution. Amazon has committed itself to offering the lowest possible prices, but Apple has appealed to publisher by announcing its intention to offer tiered pricing system, giving publisher the opportunity to participate more actively in the pricing of their books. Apple has agreed with publisher charge $12 to $14 for e-book, and to act as an agent selling books (with 30% fee on all e-book sales) rather than a book distributor. Publishers like this arrangement, but worry about long term-pricing expectations. Hoping to avoid a scenario where readers come to expect $9.99 e-books as the standard.

   Textbook publisher are also eager to establish themselves on the iPad. Many of the largest textbook publishers have struck deals with software firms like Scrollmotion, Inc. to adapt their books for e-book readers. In fact, Apple CEO Steve Jobs designed the iPad with the use in schools in mind, and interest on the part of schools in the technology like the iPad has been strong. ScrollMotion already has experience using the Apple application platform for the iPhone, so the company is uniquely qualified to convert existing files provided by publishers into a format readable  by the iPad and to add additional features, like a dictionary, glossary, quizzes, page numbers, a search function, and high-quality images.

   Newspapers are also excited about the iPad, which represents a way for them to continue charging for all of the content that they have been forced to make available online. It the iPad becomes as popular as other hit products from Apple, consumers are more likely to pay for content using that device. The successes of the App Store on the iPhone and the iTunes music store attest to this. But the experience of the music industry with iTunes also gives all print media reason to worry. The iTunes music store changed the consumer perceptions of albums and music bundles. Music labels used to make more money selling 12 songs on a album than they did selling popular singles. Now consumers have drastically reduced their consumption of albums, preferring to purchase and download one song at a time. A similar fate may await print newspapers, which are bundles of news articles, many of which are unread.

   Apple has also approached TV networks and movie studios about offering access to some of their top shows and movies for monthly fee, but as of yet the bigger media companies have not responded to Apple’s overture. Of course, if the iPad becomes sufficiently popular, that will change, but currently media networks would prefer not to endanger their strong and lucrative partnerships with cable and satellite TV providers.

   And what about Apple’s own business model? Apple previously believed content was less important than popularity of its devices.  Now, Apple understands that it needs high-quality content from all the types of media it offers on its devices to be truly successful. The company’s new goal is to make deals with each media industry to contribute the content that users want to watch at a price agreed to by the content owners and the platform owners (Apple). The old attitudes of Apple (“Rip, burn, distribute”), which were designed to sell devices are a thing of the past. In this case of disruption technology, even the disruptors have been forced to change their behaviors.

Case Study Questions:
1. Evaluate the impact of the iPad using Porter’s competitive forces model.

2. What makes the iPad a disruptive technology? Who are likely to be the winners and losers if the iPad becomes a hit? Why?
3. Describe the effects that the iPad is likely to have on the business models of Apple, content creators, and distributors?

Answers; 

1. a) Traditional competitors include television, printed media, radio, movie  distributors, cell phone makers and carriers, and even other Web sites.

    b) New market entrants, including e‐book readers like Amazon's Kindle and Sony's E‐book reader, are flooding the marketplace with an inevitable shake‐out coming in the future.

    c) As a substitute product and service the iPad will not supplant laptops or netbooks immediately but may take sales away from these two devices in the future. The immediate impact of substitution will be on the publishing and media industries.

    d) Customers have a new outlet in which to watch television on the go and read content online rather than in traditional print modes.

    e) Suppliers from the publishing and media content industries will have to stop investing in traditional delivery platforms and increase investments in new platforms. Apple's pricing policies are more in tune with the needs and wants of authors and publishers than with customers ‐ an interesting twist.

2.  The iPad is disruptive because it causes many traditional companies ‐ content suppliers and carriers ‐ to revise their traditional business models. That causes a ripple effect ‐ changing from printed books to e‐books affects paper suppliers, printing companies, even shipping companies. Even college campus book stores will have to re‐think their business models if students choose e‐books instead of traditional print textbooks.

   Apple has been the "second‐mover" with the current wave of tablets; Amazon can claim "first‐mover" status since its Kindle Reader hit the market just before the iPad. Even though tablets and e‐book readers have been tried before back in the 1990's, none of them contained as much functionality and available content as the current wave of devices.

Winners and losers include:

• Newspapers: If newspapers effectively change their business model, they can be winners by increasing the number of subscribers thereby increasing advertising revenue. Potential losers extend to delivery persons and printing companies.

• Television: Content producers are potential winners if they readily adapt their content to easily downloadable files and increase viewership. They are losers if they don't give people what they want, when and where they want it.

• PC makers: Hardware producers like Dell and HP, and software producers like Microsoft, are potential losers because the iPad will draw people away from traditional products like desktops, netbooks, and laptops.

• Cable and satellite providers: These industries are potential losers because they are no longer necessary conduits for providing content to viewers. The iPad uses wireless transmissions to directly beam content to iPad owners.

3.  Organizational environments rapidly change for all types of content creators and  distributors. These companies will be forced to use more task force‐networked organizations as they come together to work out initial specifications for structural changes to content. For instance, if newspaper articles were created to fit a specific format that worked well for the printing company, task forces may have to make changes that work well for the tablet.

    Textbook publishers will have to work more closely with specialty software firms to adapt books for e‐book readers. ScrollMotion software company identified in the case study could be labeled a new market entrant that is disrupting the business model of companies that have had a close relationship with the textbook printing companies. Those companies must now examine their business model to decide how they will adapt to the new disruptive technology and make up for lost business.

   Apple already changed some of its business model by willingly acting as an agent selling books rather than just a book distributor. Apple also realized that its old business model of believing that content was less important than the device itself was unsustainable. Regardless of how beautiful the device design is, if there's no content to go along with it, people won't buy the product. The company is now willing to make deals with each media industry to distribute many different types of content at a price agreed upon by the content and platform owners.

Case Study 1 - ROCKETTHEME: THRIVING ON THE WEB

  When it comes to doing global digital business, RocketTheme sells digital products in the form of templates and extensions that are used with the open source content management system (CMS) Joomla. The Joomla CMS allows anyone with at least a limited knowledge pf Website construction or internet technologies to start a Web site. Joomla essentially puts advanced Web technology at the fingertips of ‘newbies’. Current estimates suggest that Joomla is being used on 1.5 to 2 million Web sites globally.

  Andy Miller, a former member of the core developer group of the award winning Joomla CMS, started the RocketTheme template club with the goal of making professional-looking Web sites available to the average Internet user. Competition in the industry is fierce. However, RocketTheme attempts to differentiate itself from other template clubs through originally, a user-oriented focus, and flexibility of design. Currently, it is branching out into other different CMS markets, providing templates for other open source CMS solutions, such as Drupal, WordPress, and phpBB3.

  RocketTheme sells its products directly to its customers through a membership system. Growth of the club is mainly organic. For each type of membership, RocketTheme charges a different fee. Members are differentiate by whether they are light or heavy users (e.g., regular members vs. developer members), which is visible through the pricing schedule. Marketing efforts are targeted at the online community. To attract new customers, RocketTheme uses an affiliate system and makes use of Google ads.

  The RocketTheme template club was launched in 2006 and has experience exponential growth. According to Miller, “ I started the RocketTheme Template Club with a whopping three templates in the inventory. Membership has steadily grown since that time probably due to the increase in number of available templates. It’s been a relatively consistent ride and I think a huge part of that is just due to how great, Joomla is and how it’s popularity has risen. Sure, some templates are more popular that others, that is just the way these things work. I try to ensure that we provide a very well-rounded selection of designs, not just the same old “business” templates every month.”

  How did the club get its start? Miller says, “ I have been involved in Web development  since my days in University, back in the early 90s, when hypertext was a new concept  and gopher was the most common method of sharing information across networks. I was computer engineering major and quickly got caught up in the excitement around the internet. Anyway, long story short. I’ve been doing web development ever since.”

  RocketTheme is privately owned, Miller is the sole partner of the RocketTheme Limited Liability Corporation (LLC). As much, he is also the day-to-day operational manager. Miller focuses on energizing his staff and creating a common goal for his employees-the success of the RocketTheme template club. The organization can be characterized as flat and nonbereaucratic. It has full time staff of 12 and has 14 support staff. The support staff consists mainly of subcontractors and several volunteers. New staff are  attracted straight from the RocketTheme community or from online advertisement. Thus, the organizational structure is fluid and flexible. The organization retains specialists from different parts of the world, highly skilled in their respective fields.

  RocketTheme presently has a user base of well over 40,000 registered members. It stands out because of its international orientation and collaboration. The team responsible for support and development of new templates and extensions is an international team consisting of members from around the globe- the United States, England, Italy, Holland, Germany, India, Canada, Poland, Greece and Japan-from different backgrounds and different age groups. All communication and information exchange between the employees of RocketTheme and between RocketTheme and its customers performed using the electronic superhighway. RocketTheme attracts its customers from all over the globe; like its team; its customers come from different backgrounds, different age groups, and different countries. The target group of customers is, in essence, anyone who wishes to run a Web site using the Joomla CMS.

  RocketTheme focuses mainly on development of templates for the different content management systems to which it caters. Other services provided are mainly in the area of support. Customer support is provided through an online forum in which RocketTheme club members can post their template and extension-related questions and general problems with Joomla. The online community at RocketTheme.com and its collaborative atmosphere is representative of open source ideals. It is one of the pillars of RocketTheme's success.

Reference : Management Information System, Jane P. Laudon, Kenneth C. Laudon, Pearson Custom Pub, 2004

Case Study Questions :

1. What are RocketTheme's business processes, and what information systems can be used to support these processes?

2. How can these systems improve RocketTheme's business performance?

3. What is RocketTheme's business-critical information system?

4. What information system could possibly improve RocketTheme's business performance?

Answers :

1. Business processes of RocketTheme is its sells digital products in the form  of templates and extensions that are used with open source content management system (CMS) Joomla. They also sells its products directly to its customers through membership system.

2. These systems improve RocktTheme's business performance by attempts to differentiate itself from other template clubs through originally, a user-oriented focus, and flexibility of design. Currently, it is branching out into other different CMS markets, providing templates for other open source CMS solutions, such as Drupal, WordPress, and phpBB3.

3. RocketThemes's business-critical information system is through a membership system with a difference charge of fees. Besides that, the members are also differentiated by whether they are light (regular) or heavy (developer) users, which is visible through the pricing schedule. Moreover, the club members can post their template and extension-related questions and general problems with Joomla.

4. RocketTheme's business performance can be improve by all communication and information exchange between the employees of RocketTheme and between RocketTheme and its customers is performed using the electronic superhighway.