Starting in August, these will be empty on Saturdays In half a year, there will be a change in the delivery of mail that is perhaps not dramatic, but is nonetheless significant as it suggests a megatrend that is reflective of the modern electronic age. Free mail delivery, including Saturday service, started 150 years ago. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was President and he had then just issued the Emancipation Proclamation, an historical event recently commemorated with the release of a new Forever stamp. Thomas Edison was a teenager, still about a decade away from gaining fame for his invention of the phonograph, followed by decades of other major inventions. One can only assume that Edison would have been thrilled to see smartphones and tablets being the modern-day result of many of his efforts. The big change from the U.S. Postal Service is that starting in August, there will no longer be Saturday delivery of first-class mail, although packages will continue to be delivered and post offices already open on Saturdays will remain so. The USPS reports that over the last five years, there has been a 37% decline in the volume of first-class mail, in large part due to the prominence of e-mail and social networking. The decline in revenue plus the cost of retiree health benefits has resulted in major cost-reductions. The post office is looking to trim just under 200,000 workers from its payroll without resorting to layoffs. While first-class letters have been in decline, the rise of e-commerce has meant an increase in package deliveries by 14% over the last two years, according to the USPS. So for the foreseeable future, expect to see more deliveries by the USPS, not to mention Fedex, UPS, and others. Mobile smartphones and tablets are making online purchases easier than ever before. Convenience to the consumer should not be underestimated.
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Disks and built-in cameras impact film. The digital age has necessitated a transformation for institutions of all types. In the corporate world, venerable companies such as Kodak have faced the challenge of their main product (film) giving way to disks and built-in cameras on computers, smartphones, and tablets. In Kodak's case, it hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by mid-year 2013. On the community side, the public library is one place that many thought was in jeopardy with the growth of technology, particularly as it reached down to the individual level. What has happened in many cases, however, is that libraries have reinvented themselves. Many features are available online at library websites, not to mention hardware and software available in your local neighborhood facility. The Pew Research Center just released an interesting study that targeted preferences among library visitors, especially on the technology side. Pew found that individuals were either somewhat or very likely to use the following features, among others:
It's interesting to note that those with lower incomes and less education were the most interested in accessing the various technology features. Technology, however, is viewed as one element within a library that still must work in tandem with printed material. The full report, Library Services in the Digital Age, is posted on the Pew Research website. Could this be the weather at the 2014 Super Bowl? Next week's Super Bowl will take place in New Orleans in the Superdome, an indoor stadium in a location where the temperatures are generally pleasant this time of year. Fast forward to February 2, 2014, where the NFC and AFC champions will square off in Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Is this crazy or a wonderful idea? As a long-time New Jersey resident, I think it's a little of both. If you search online, you will find numerous references to the 1958 NFL championship game as the greatest game ever played. It was held at Yankee Stadium, with the Baltimore Colts defeating the New York Giants in overtime. There were numerous future Hall of Famers playing in the game or on the sidelines. The Giants' coaching staff included Offensive Coordinator Vince Lombardi and Defensive Coordinator Tom Landry. Winters in the metropolitan New York City area are predictably unpredictable. In late October 2011, we had a major snowstorm, but that was followed by a relatively dry Winter with moderate temperatures. Exactly a year later in 2012, Hurricane Sandy destroyed many coastal communities in New Jersey and New York, most of which are still trying to recover. There hasn't been much snow in early 2013, but this week has seen the coldest temperatures in years. Rumor has it that the AFC team will practice in the Jets' training facility a few miles from home. The NFC team will practice in the Giants' facility, a few more miles away, but in a different direction. For a couple of weeks, some of New Jersey's great cultural institutions and restaurants probably will see some of their busiest days. Hotels assuredly will be booked and overpriced. Within a short driving distance of next year's site are some wonderful places to visit: New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, Eagle Rock Reservation (also in West Orange, it has an incredible panoramic view of New York City and also has a beautiful 9/11 memorial), the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City (near which you can hop aboard a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island), the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center in Little Falls, the Great Swamp in Chatham, George Washington's Headquarters at the Ford Mansion in Morristown, and so much more. Despite what you might have heard, New Jersey is not just refineries and "which exit". Our State's diverse population (not to mention restaurants) truly reflects the melting pot ideal that defines the United States. So whatever the weather may be next year, it should be a very exciting time for New Jersey to welcome the world - a crazy, wonderful idea to host Super Bowl XLVIII. Mobile internet soaring like NYC skyscrapers Within the past year or two, there were various predictions that internet access via mobile devices would exceed PC-based usage in a few years, generally by 2015. As it turns out, this transformation is occurring even faster than expected. According to the latest data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the use of portable devices for accessing information on the internet shows no sign of slowing down. A January 8, 2013 news release reports that tablet sales in 2013 are expected to soar 45% over 2012, from 80 million to 116 million tablets. Undoubtedly, this has been fueled by the success of the iPad and Android devices. While smartphone growth is more modest, from 111 million last year to 130 million in 2013, it is still substantial. According to a Gartner, Inc. news release, consumers will access information more on their smartphones than on a PC starting this year. Gartner identifies this as a key technology trend for 2013. Pew Research reports that access of the internet via a mobile device doubled between 2009 and 2012. Tablets and smartphone are simply much more convenient than PCs for accessing information. They are extremely portable, lightweight devices. Back in the 1990s, IT department support for anything other than Windows operating systems was rare. Today, Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems are all around us. IT departments have had to adjust to support these devices. Gartner calls the trend a "Nexus of Forces," impacting cloud, social, mobile, and information trends. It will be interesting to follow these trends in the months and years ahead. Computers at libraries popular, despite mobile bookshelves Technological change often presents both a threat and an opportunity. On the retail side, Blockbuster was once a very popular neighborhood video rental store. Many of its locations have closed and the remaining locations are part of the Dish Network. Movie downloads via iTunes, Netflix, and other channels have made it much more convenient to rent movies from the comfort of your own home or on the go. A trip to Borders to find books, music, and movies is no longer possible since it shut its doors for good. One would think that non-profit and public institutions would suffer a similar fate, but in many cases, the opposite is proving true. While e-readers and tablets are very popular, the presence of internet access in public libraries is enabling millions of people to be connected regardless of financial circumstances. In the mid-1990's, only about three in ten libraries had internet access. Today it is nearly universal. According to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), about one-third of the American population age 14+ accessed the internet at a public library during the recent recession. The IMLS attributes this popularity to the unique role of libraries as a resource that can address both the computing and information needs of a community. According to the Pew Research Center, more than three-quarters of those surveyed consider web access very important. This importance was particularly high among among women, as well as in the Black and Hispanic population groups. Many individuals access job hunting, benefits, healthcare, financial, and other information this way. In fact, many libraries cannot keep up with the demand for access. While growing numbers of people are now accessing library tools with smartphones and tablets, it will be interesting to see if pricing of these devices has any impact on the use of public libraries. Overall, contrary to what one might have assumed in the digital age, libraries appear to be growing in importance rather than being in decline and the answer to a recent New York Times debate on whether we still need libraries would be a resounding YES. 12/20/2012 0 Comments SEASON'S GREETINGS!!12/12/2012 0 Comments 12-12-12Jersey City view of rebuilding of World Trade Center, which will rise 1,776 feet. 1,728. If you mentioned this number to most people, they will not realize that it is the same as 12 cubed (or 12x12x12). Of course, today is the 12th day of the 12th month of 2012, a rare quirk of the calendar that we cannot help but have top of our minds today. For those of us in New Jersey and New York, 12-12-12 also is the spectacular benefit concert set to take place this evening at Madison Square Garden. Featuring some of the biggest acts of all time, it is following in the footsteps of the benefit concert following the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks. Perhaps fitting, today is the day that a spire is starting to be added to the new One World Trade Center building. When completed, it will be 1,776 feet tall, which coincidentally is also a multiple of 12 (that is 148x12). Most of us will probably be watching some or all of the concert tonight - past 12:00 midnight, of course. Regardless of who your favorite performers are, it should be a very special evening to help the devastated communities get back on their feet. So whether you are in a New York State of Mind, or are Born to Run on a Long and Winding Road in New Jersey, a big thank you to the performers and the countless people around the world who have demonstrated their compassion and caring for the citizens of my native (NY) and home (NJ) states. 12/5/2012 Solar FlairNature can be powerful and amazing. This past summer, while in Florida, I experienced a flash of lightning and clap of thunder that were much too close for comfort, probably about the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound in baseball. Nature can be destructive, too, as we saw last year with the flooding of Hurricane Irene and, more recently, with the catastrophic damage to many coastal communities in New Jersey and New York. Today's focus, however, is on harnessing the strength of nature for our current and future energy needs. Driving around northern New Jersey, there seems to be a growing trend toward creating fields of solar panels. One of our favorite places to take our kids is the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City. In the shadows of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, this museum is converting its open parking lot into a semi-covered area for 250+ cars. According to its website, the solar panels will generate nearly 700,000 kilowatt hours of energy each year and, for good measure, will allow electric cars to recharge. The museum is not the only place going this route. In northern New Jersey, one can also find a public skating arena, a community college, and various office parks doing the same thing. Perhaps it has been the high gas prices and energy bills in recent years, but it seems that there is a push to incorporate solar energy into more and more facilities. And it is not just solar power making inroads in our largest metropolitan area. A few miles down the road from the Science Center, there is now a gigantic windmill near the Bayonne, New Jersey waterfront. Are these panels and the windmill eyesores or a smart use of our natural resources? I will leave that for others to judge. In the meantime, however, it would appear that our urban and suburban landscapes are changing. Following up the Black Friday note below, the results of Cyber Monday are in and retailers would appear to be quite pleased with the results. According to real-time data collected for the Cyber Monday Report 2012: IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, online sales skyrocketed 30.3% over the same day in 2011. Some 18% of consumers used a mobile device to view a retailer's website, and mobile sales represented about 13% of all sales. While these numbers in and of themselves might not seem high, both figures are up very significantly over 2011. At 11:25 a.m. (ET) on Cyber Monday, sales reached their peak for the day, but there were strong sales as well after commuting hours. According to IBM, consumers used a "multiscreen" shopping technique, simultaneously finding the best bargains in store, online, and/or on a mobile device. As with Black Friday, iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) led the way for mobile shoppers. The message here would appear to be that any consumer-facing company - whether in retail, financial services, manufacturing, or some other area - should focus on giving the customers what they want in the format they prefer. Paying attention to consumer preferences appears to pay off with increased sales. With many more consumers looking to purchase smartphones and tablets for the foreseeable future, it is important for businesses to take note of this trend. 11/26/2012 0 Comments Not a Cyber Monday SaleHAPPY THANKSGIVING!! If you check your Inbox today, it probably seems that every other e-mail is from a retailer advertising its Cyber Monday sale items. This followed last week's frenzy for Black Friday. There was even a new promotion added this year - Small Business Saturday. If all of these events help to get our economy back on track, that should be a good thing, although it shouldn't be at the cost of near-riots as people line up to get into stores in the middle of the night. Why do we even have Cyber Monday? The answer to that probably lies in the ways most people are now connected. Although there has been a decline in personal computer usage, mobile devices - particularly smartphones and tablets - continue to reach new heights. You can shop in the comfort of your own home at any time of the day or night. You can shop while commuting on a train (if you have a decent signal). You don't have to deal with traffic and hazardous weather conditions. It is probably safer to securely transmit your credit card information than to have someone standing behind you in a crowded store. The impact of Cyber Monday should become apparent in the next day or two as retailers report on their sales results. Just looking at Black Friday, as well as the stores that opened on Thanksgiving Day itself, we see the tremendous impact mobile shopping is having already. According to Black Friday Report 2012: IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark, online sales on Thanksgiving Day were up 17.4% over 2011, while Black Friday sales were up 20.7%. Use of a mobile device to view a retailer's website jumped from 14.3% in 2011 to 24% in 2012. Mobile sales increased from 9.8% to 16%. The iPad was the preferred mobile device for online shopping (10%), followed by the iPhone (8.7%) and Android (5.5%). For those using tablets, the iPad accounted for nearly 90% of online shopping traffic. Without a doubt, iPads (including the new iPad Mini), iPhones, Kindle Fires, and Nooks, among others, will be popular gifts this holiday season. It would seem highly probable that these trends will continue to gain momentum for the foreseeable future. |
Blog Author - Ken FelsherWith over 25 years of writing, editing, and research experience. I enjoy sharing with my readers my love of working with content on a variety of subjects. CategoriesAll 9-11 Airline Apollo 11 Apple Baseball Black Friday Boston Cable Cambridge Ceo Cooperstown Cyber Monday Cyber-Monday Delta Derek Football Freedom Tower Hall Of Fame Harvard Hawaiian HBO Hulu Hurricane Sandy Ipad IPhone IWatch Jeter Marissa Mayer Megatrend MIT Mobile Netflix New-jersey One World Trade Center Personal Computer Qantas Schlep Factor September 11 Smartphone Social Media Tablet Twin Towers United World Trade Center Yahoo Yankees Archives
January 2016
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