iPad-“What the heck were they thinking?”

We live in a digital age where technology is evolving all around is.  Now a days everyone seems to have an iPad or a tablet of some kind.  Many companies see this as a trend with future possibilities to grow by introducing a variety of accessories to go along with these tablets.  This article introduces some new iPad and tablet accessories that seem absurd and gets one questioning “What the heck were they thinking?”

One of the wacky accessories that the article highlighted is an iPad Commodity Caddy,  which is exclusively apart of the Hammacher Schlemmer brand.  (Product is shown below.)

iPad commode caddy stand bathroom toilet paper roll holder

And not to mention this stand sells for $100!  It’s purpose is to be to save space and to make it easier for people to “do their business” while playing games or watching online shows/ movies.  I not only think it is gross and a way to spread germs on one’s iPad, but is someone really in the bathroom that long where you have to bring your iPad in with you while you are going to the bathroom?

 

 

 

 

 

Another accessory that was mentioned was the iMaxi (as shown below).

We all know when the iPad first came out, we all had that thought of a feminine healthcare product.  You can take this idea literally and purchase this maxi pad covering for $30 from Hip Handmaids.

 

 

 

 

 

The ideas in the article get even crazier such as a shirt with an iPad slot to feature interaction with other random people, a potty training toilet to help teach kids potty training while watching other kids going to the bathroom on the iPad stand, and many more products that seem too crazy to be true.  You can take a deeper look at them in the article listed below.

I still have a hard time believing that any of these products are real.  This got me thinking to the paper airplane activity done in class which main purpose was about customer requirements and what the customer’s want.  I have a really hard time believing that customers out there really want these products.  Then taking a deeper look into the dimensions of quality and how customers evaluate quality differently.  These dimensions include performance, features, conformance, reliability  durability, serviceability, response, aesthetics, and perception.  These products can definitely identify with the individual dimensions of quality.

Even though I think all these ideas are absurd, the product strategy was to be different and it worked.  The operations management may have believed that people out there may find quality within these products and buy them.

 

What do you think about these tablet accessories?

Would you ever buy one of these?

Why do you even think companies would make these kind of products?

 

Source:  http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/worst-ipad-accessories-ever-191158571.html

Picture Source: http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digital-crave/worst-ipad-accessories-ever-191158571.html

Google- Future and Change

Over the past year Google has been on a shaky path.  Google’s mobile sector did horribly compared to Apple.  Major competitors were constantly outperforming Google’s productivity and sales.  Despite the threats Google has faced, the company is not worried about their competitors.  According to the article, Google’s shares rose 26% over the past year while their major competitor’s (Apple) shares fell 36% from the previous year.  Google is very optimistic about the future.

 

Google C.E.O., Mr. Page, still holds his head up and says “As C.E.O., it’s also super important to keep focused on the future,” Mr. Page said. “Companies can tend to get comfortable doing what they’ve always done, with a few minor tweaks. It’s only natural to want to work on things you know. But incremental improvement is guaranteed to make you obsolete over time, especially in tech.” (New York Times)

 

I definitely think this is the right attitude to have.  Many companies think of great ideas but then after time they lose the innovation that drives customers wanting more.  Especially since technology is constantly changing, it is so important to keep pivoting ideas.  Google is currently focusing on different strategies and future technology products to help Google gain the creative edge against competitors.  Major projects that Google is thinking about launching are cars that drive themselves and glasses that connect to the internet also known as Google Glass. (Talk about a major headache).  But these ideas are what keep people talking and coming back to see what is going on.  Companies need to keep changing their ideas in order to be successful.

Also the C.E.O. of Google knows that introducing new products  and sales are very important to the business, but that is not the only thing to focus on.  He is a firm believer in control.  He states that the “its core business is being run more efficiently”.  Controlling staff, spending, quality will all impact the company as a whole.  By focusing on efficiency, that will improve the overall quality of the company like we discussed in class during the red bean experiment.

According to the article it seems that the C.E.O. of Google is very proactive which is a good management and leadership skill to have.  He knows that the main focus is quality, which is an important aspect to a company.  He consistently works very hard at improving quality and puts an emphasis on change.  Whenever Google faces a problem or a potential threat, Google responds actively in order to fix the problems.  They focus on the issues head on in order to reduce the possibility of any future threats towards the company.

 

Hopefully Google will really follow through with their future products and have a better year than last year.  I cannot wait to have a car that drives itself!

 

Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/19/technology/googles-earnings-beat-expections-but-revenue-does-not.html?ref=technology