New Gadgets For The Holiday Season

Holiday season is right around the corner and people are already coming up with their mile-long Christmas lists. New, innovated gadgets are what everyone is after these days, so people are trying to get their hands on the most popular, in demand electronics. Manufacturers know people will be willing to spend a little more money on their purchases due to the holiday season. So coming out with and marketing their newest products before the holiday season is a smart decision because people are going to be waiting in lines in order to get a hold of these gadgets. Retailers also try to make these products fairly affordable in order to make as many sales as possible. Products like the Kodak Playsport, which is a pocket-sized digital mini camcorder that sells for $150, or the Roku 2 XS, a box media center that streams movies from Netflix for $60, are going to be definite hits this holiday season.


My View:
There is no doubt in my mind that people will go crazy for new gadgets this season. From the iPhone 4s to the Kindle Fire, people are going to go the extra mile in order to acquire these products for their loved ones or themselves. Companies that carry and manufacture these items will definitely see an increase in their incoming profits from sales. People are going to be spending money left and right and some people won't look at prices. All they will care about is making sure they will be able to find these products and purchase them as soon as possible. 


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Most-InDemand-Gadgets-This-minyanville-1049531615.html?x=0&.v=1

Facebook Makes Its Next Moves To The North Pole

Facebook has decided on its next move, and that it taking its company to the North Pole. The social networking site decided to build a server farm 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Lulea, Sweden. Despite the cold temperatures, the location holds a population of 45,000 people and it will be the first server farm outside the U.S. The reason for choosing this location is because Facebook's computers that store billions of photos and updates need to be kept cool. The new server site will allow for faster service  to European users.
My View:
I think Facebook's move will attract more users due to faster and better service. People are always complaining on how slow and inefficient some sites' services are. So now Facebook will now be able to provide people with faster access to their accounts, especially people in Europe. Perhaps Facebook is trying to appeal to its European users and gain a good reputation for its site there.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/facebook-heads-arctic-heinz-shakes-world-ketchup-155046619.html

PETA Fights Againist Captivity of Orcas

Animal-rights activist, PETA, is suing Sea World for treating and holding several killer whales as "slaves." Jeff Kerr, PETA's general counsel, had stated, "By any definition, these orcas are slaves - kidnapped from their homes, kept confined, denied everything that's natural to them and forced to perform tricks for SeaWorld's profit." PETA feels that being held in large swimming pools is not a suitable and healthy environment for these immense creatures. The group feels that these animals should be set free and be able to thrive and grow in their natural environment. PETA also is fighting against the way these animals reproduce. Apparently the male's sperm is collected in order for the females to be artificially inseminated. Once the offspring is born, they are either kept away from their parents or shipped away immediately. PETA feels these type of actions show no care or concern for the well-being of the orcas and they are simply being treated in an inhumane way.


My View:
With this controversy surrounding SeaWorld, the park could face a significant decrease in revenues. When people start to read more and more articles about what is happening within the walls of SeaWorld, they will eventually stop paying visits to the park. All along, people thought they were seeing happy and fulfilled animals performing live shows for them. Little did they know what these animals were actually going through and how they were being treated like slaves instead of creatures with feelings and needs. SeaWorld could expect to see a decline in the number of audience members watching their shows. Unless SeaWorld reaches out to its customers and explains itself in a way that proves these allegations are false, people may decide to stop coming to SeaWorld all together.


http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/seaworld-killer-whales-are-slaves-peta/story-e6frf7lf-1226177640551

Rise In Prices Causes Netflix's Stocks To Plummet

Ever since Netflix thought it'd be a good idea to raise its prices, people have started to turn away from the company because they feel that it's unfair that the company felt it was better to raise prices. This price raise backlashed on the company, causing it to lose many customers. Now Netflix has another problem to face, which is the decrease of its shares that went down 40% on Tuesday. Now the company is rethinking its strategies, especially raising prices and trying to divide its online and DVD services into two different companies. Now Netflix is saying it will lower its DVD subscriptions but people who pay for its online streaming service will be charged slightly more. Although Netflix has enjoyed its success with its online and delivery services, people might start to shift towards its competitors, Amazon and Google's Youtube, which offer similar services.


My View:
It seems that Netflix is in dangerous waters right now and they must be very cautious with their next move, which could potentially cause the company to come crashing down. Many of Netflix's customers have already turned away from the company and are choosing other alternatives over Netflix's services. The company made a bad move by increasing its prices and ever since then, Netflix has had its share of bad luck. Even when the company tried to create two different services, one that's online and one that deals with DVD serivces, it didn't prosper from the move like it hoped it would. Seeing how the chain of events panned out for Netflix, there's no doubt in my mind that the company has to do more research and really dig deep when making its next move.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/nflx-netflix-stock-plummets_n_1030335.html

Hunt Begins After Shark Who Killed An American In Australia

An American man was killed while diving off a boat into the Australian waters this past Saturday. This has been the third, fatal human attack in recent weeks. Now shark hunters are gathering together to catch the shark or sharks that have been causing these attacks. Marine experts doubt that a shark caused all three attacks. Amy Wilkes, a marine biologist, has said, "The idea that a shark, once it has tasted human blood, would continue to attack is just completely false. That's not that way it would work." Others say the attacks happened due to people being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Still, people have been refusing to go swimming in those waters since the attacks. Now the Western Australia state government is taking the matter into their own hands and they're using tuna-baited hooks to catch these predators. Others are against this action saying that great whites are already endangered and we should work to preserve their existence, instead of pushing it towards extinction.
My View:
Seeing the chain of actions, I can see why the government is taking such drastic measures. They know that is tourists are scared enough, they won't come to the beaches and thus, the state won't make as much money off of tourism. I still don't agree with them going after these endangered animals because people have been working for many years in order to keep these animals reproducing and safe. Killing sharks who may or may not be the attackers in simply ridiculous. Not only is this depopulating the great white population, it also proves that people are starting to care less and less about the environment and more about keeping revenue up.


http://gma.yahoo.com/texas-man-george-thomas-wainwright-killed-great-white-025609558.html

McRib Comes Back Once Again

McDonalds is coming back with the McRib sandwich which contains boneless barbecue pork. It has not always been available in stores but it will be sold in all McDonalds through November 14. The McRib sandwich  first came out in 1982 and last November, sales showed that this sandwich was in high demand. So  McDonalds made the it available for about three weeks, which led the chain to decide to bring it back this year. Although there are no specific numbers to show how it is doing for McDonald's sales, people have shown high interest and liking for this sandwich. People on social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have voiced their demand for the return of this sandwich. So if people like it so much, why not add the McRib to the menu for good?  Marta Fearon, McDonald's U.S. marketing director, has said, "Bringing it back every so often adds to the excitement." The name itself also has some irony to it because the sandwich is called "McRib" even though it doesn't contains any bones. Marta Fearon also commented on that saying, "That gives it this quirky sense of humor."
My View:
The strategy is see is adding a new product to an existing market and it's quite different than any other strategies I have seen. The company claims that people love this sandwich and are eager to buy but they are holding back from adding it to their menu. Perhaps they want to build people's demand for the product so when they do finally decide to put it on their menu, sales will sky rocket because people will be so excited to have this sandwich available whenever they want it. Also, the name of the sandwich is ironic but it does add some humor to it and humor always grabs people's attention. So in a way the name was designed in order to grab people's attention, thus bringing in more consumers.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-McRib-makes-a-apf-3131095863.html?x=0&.v=3

Prices Of Whole Foods Goes Up

Although the price increase hasn't affected people yet, consumers of whole foods should expect to pay more for their goods in the near future. Since producer prices have increased significantly, it has caused wholesale prices to increase as well. This has been the biggest rise since June 2009. U.S. wholesale prices increased all over the nation due to the rise in energy costs and in everyday products such as grain and coffee. Prices of vegetable increased by 10% and beef and veal prices rose by 5.4%. Analysts are saying that consumers won't feel the increase right away and that supermarkets will include the increase into their prices slowly. Even though food prices have been growing higher this year, grocery stores have decided to wait on the price increases because "they don't want to scare price-sensitive customers." Michael Keara, an equity analyst for Morningstar, said "...expect to see supermarket prices edging up in six to nine months."

My View: 

With people having so little money to spend these days, rising prices of essential food items might just make matters worse. Unless the price increase doesn't affect people dramatically, consumers might start to abandon their usual supermarkets and look for cheaper deals on the foods they buy most. Everyone knows the economy is in a fragile state right now and increasing prices is the last thing people want to hear about right now. I think when people find out that there are prices increases on certain items, they will refuse to pay that much for something they have been paying for a lot less. Unless the price increases a fair amount, supermarkets can expect to see a decline of shoppers in the near future.

http://financiallyfit.yahoo.com/finance/article-113688-11401-3-supermarkets-may-sneak-in-price-increases?hp=true?ywaad=ad0035&nc