Track-It-All has evolved over the course of this project from an idea to a useful invention with a viable business plan. Because of the content that I learned from IST 195, I have fully understood the impact that technology can have on a startup technological company like Track-it-All.


Social media can be an important launchpad, providing a medium to advertise and inform. For example, Track-it-All can use Facebook to show company information and progression of the product, while using Twitter to advertise limited time coupons.


Excel is an important program that helps Track-it-All deal with its business aspect. It can use conditional formatting to highlight any department that is losing money, for example. Most small businesses rely on Excel to keep their balances in check, and Track-it-All is no different.


Knowing about a computer is also useful. After all, Excel and Facebook can only be used if there's a computer that supports it. Whether it be the CPU, the amount of RAM, or the OS it is important to know the components of a computer.


Finally, IST 195 has progressed the Track-It Key itself. Now, the Track-It Key uses a combination of a GPS signal, a Wi-Fi chip and a RFID tag to accurately track the location of the key at all times. If the key is lost out of the house, the GPS chip and Wi-Fi chip could be used to track the relative location of the key. If it is lost in the house, an RFID tag would be used to find the exact location of the chip. The Track-It Key uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery to supply battery for the GPS chip and Wi-Fi chip, and uses induction charging to easily charge the battery. The Track-It Key will come in a variety of shapes and colors, and will be charged $30 for two Keys, the charging Pad, and the RFID transponder. Just buying a replacement key will be $10.


The project was a very fun way to recap what I learned in the past week's lecture. It has also taught me more about blogging, which I did not know prior to the project. I liked the amount of work the project required and would definitely recommend it to future classes.


The links to my comments are as follow:


http://entrepreneurship11.blogspot.com/2011/09/week-3-hardware.html?showComment=1319499419890#c1564862480786981882

http://corkchain.blogspot.com/2011/09/what-is-corkchain.html?showComment=1319499733309#c4104514862898526785

http://joeycreighton.blogspot.com/2011/09/post-1-entrepreneurial-idea.html?showComment=1319500047755#c1387636199578305685

Blog Review

The blog that I chose to review is published by the New York Times. Entitled Bits, the blog focuses on topics in technology that goes largely unnoticed by mainstream media. One specific post that caught my eye was a discussion on the future of Google+ at the Web 2.0 conference. Written by Clair Cain Miller on October 20, 2011, the post discusses how Google plans to expand Google+, as well as the new features that they plan to bring to the fledging social media website. Of course, Google made a few negative comments on its competitors, such as Facebook and Twitter:


He also took a swipe at Facebook’s recent efforts to promote automatic sharing of things like songs people are listening to. “We do not believe in over-sharing,” he said. “There is a reason why every thought in your head does not come out of your mouth. We think a core attribute to be human is to curate, in how others perceive you and what you say.” 


From the quote, it can be deduced that Google+ will less about sharing mindless pieces of information than Facebook and Twitter. 


Some features that Google has promised to implement into Google+ include using pseudonyms instead of real names, custom profile addresses, and brand pages. The features are hardly revolutionary and are already on Facebook but should provide more incentive for some disgruntled Facebook users to switch. The article was written in a cohesive, informative manner and Miller should be commended on her post.


Link: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/google-will-get-new-features-and-new-users-executive-says/#more-77331

It doesn't matter whether a company is multi-national or just a small business; all companies need a website. To many companies, this is the storefront, this is the place where people do the shopping; there isn't a physical store. Some examples include amazon.com and zappos.com. This is the approach that Track-It-All would like to take. By not establishing a physical store, Track-It-All will be able to reduce costs, such as rent and utilities. But by ignoring a physical store, this puts more pressure on the website. trackitall.com will have to be a visually beautiful, easy to navigate and fast.

To do this, Track-it-All will need some basic knowledge on how the internet works. Information is sent through the internet in packets, which are small amounts of data that when all the packets are added up together present a coherent website. This means that in order for the website to be fast, it should use as little data as possible so that less packets will have to be sent across the internet. However, the website also has to be visually beautiful. This creates a dilemma for the website developer. He has to find the perfect balance between speed and looks.

After Track-it-All has a website established, the next step is to create an email account for all the employees. Track-It-All will establish an IMAP email account so that the employees will be able to see their emails on whichever device. This will reduce confusion and ensure that information is sent to everyone.

Operating systems (OS) plays such an integral part in a company's success that most entrepreneurs forget its importance. An OS can be compared to a computer's soul. How efficiently the computer operates, how it manages its space, RAM, and processing power, and how it executes programs are entirely dependent on an OS. So a knowledge of OS's is important for any company to be successful. Track-It-All will use multiple operating systems in order to succeed.

For example, Track-It-All will use Mac OSX for its computers because OSX is better with video and image processing than Linux and Windows is. Track-It-All will use a lot of video processing and image processing programs for advertising, and commercials, so OSX will be a good match for Track-It-All.

It will also use Xcode on OSX to code a mobile application for use on the App Store. The App Store services the iOS, a mobile operating system for Apple iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. The application will allow the owner of a Track-It-All key to find their lost keys. It will also allow the owner to track multiple keys, and order additional keys if they need.

In conclusion, a knowledge of operating systems is an important component to a company's success. This is no different, if not more important for Track-It-All.

Knowledge of basic computing values is important for any technology-based company that wants to succeed. This is undoubtedly true for Track-It-All as well. At Track-It-All, website and application developers for the company need to know the difference between a kilobit and a megabit. Not knowing can cause mayhem. For example, a 100 kilobit image is very different from a 100 megabit image.

Track-It-All also needs to learn about UNICODE, which is the universal character set that is widely accepted in creating universal software programs. If an app developer has no knowledge of UNICODE, the developer would be unable to code the application. Conversely, if the developer only had knowledge in coding in ASCII, the developer would not be very useful because he'd only be able to code in English.

Track-It-All also uses an alarm to make it easier for a lost owner to find it. This sound will be in a mp3 file instead of a wav file. mp3 files are much better than wav files because they are smaller in size, which allows me to put in less memory, reducing my overall cost.

RFID technology is an important component of my product. For this product the consumer would need to buy two components: the product, and the tag reader. The tag reader would be a handheld device similar in size to a bar code scanner. When the consumer loses his keys in his house with a track-it-all keychain attached to it, the consumer could use the tag reader to track the location of the keys. The use of RFID technology will only be limited though, because a RFID tag can only transmit up to 15 feet. However, since most people lose their keys in a place where they spend a lot of time in, it will help in many situations.

An RFID chip has many advantages. It costs less than a nickel to produce and is the size of a grain of sand. It is highly portable and does not need an energy source to work. It does, however, pose many disadvantages as well. The reader costs considerably more than the tag, and the tag can only be identified up to 15 feet away from the reader. This technology will only be used in homes. If the consumer loses his keys outside of the home, he'd need other technologies to find it, particularly GPS and wi-fi.

Since Track It All is a company that relies heavily on websites such as Facebook and Twitter to promote, programs such as Microsoft Excel and Word to quantify and compute data, and photo-publishing programs such as Photoshop to show create advertisements and promotions,   it will need to invest in a powerful computer to run smoothly. 

There are many computers available in the market today, and most fill a specific niche. Picking a gaming laptop will provide me with components that the company would not need. (Like an improved sound card, graphics card, etc.) Through research, I have discovered that the company would need a desktop workstation. The specific desktop I found was the Dell Studio XPS 9100. Its specifications are as follow:

CPU- Intel Core i7-930 Processor with 8MB L2 Cache, clocked at 2.80GHz. This powerful CPU will provide me with adequate performance for anything from crunching data into Microsoft Excel to processing an advertisement through Photoshop.

OS-Windows 7 Professional. Though Mac OSX is a more refined and easier-to-use OS, Windows 7 provides many benefits for the business user. It is safer, providing file encryption, and automatic backups. It can easily connect to a wireless network and a printer. And finally it has more programs that are compatible with it.

RAM- 12GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MGz- 3DIMMs. 6GB RAM will be sufficient for my workstation since I'll be running some memory-intensive applications such as Photoshop.

Video Card- Nvidia Geforce G405. This is the stock video card that comes with the desktop. The company does not need an advanced video card because the desktop will not be used for watching movies or playing games, hopefully.

Hard Drive- 1TB- 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s. This is the stock hard drive that comes with the desktop. 1TB is more than enough to store a few advertisements and documents.

In total, the price for the company's business computer is $1,149.99. 

For any business, it is essential that all money distributed, collected, paid, or taken in, is organized in a efficient, concise, and centralized location. Most businesses, from small pop-and-mom shops, to large corporations, use Microsoft Excel for this task, and Track It All is no exception.

Microsoft Excel is a very powerful program, especially when operated by an advanced user. For my business, Track It All, I will use Microsoft Excel to create charts, and track my y-o-y business growth.

Charts are pretty. They are the eye candy of the business world. They allow boring, confusing numbers to be represented in a recognizable way. Thus, I will use charts, created from data that I input into Excel, in meetings with potential investors. The charts will show the revenue growth, and profit earned of Track It All.

Conditional formatting and functions are two very useful ways for me to track the growth of my company. Functions allow me to easily find the average, sum, max, and  min of my earnings. For example, I could use functions to see the average spending on R&D in my company for the last three months. Or I could find the maximum and minimum expenditure in my company the last six months. Conditional formatting is also very useful in Excel. For example, I could use conditional formatting to highlight any department that I may be losing money.

Excel is a very powerful program. It is responsible for running the business aspect of my startup. I will use it to track all my income, find and discover any department in my company where I am losing money, track my y-o-y growth, and also to create useful charts to show potential investors.  

Keys are horrible little objects that contain so much power if put in the wrong hands. When they are lost, it's unsurprising for people to have nervous breakdowns, wondering if the key was stolen or merely forgotten. Why should people be put under so much stress for such an insignificant trinket? Take the stress out of life by purchasing a Track It Key!

A Track It Key will revolutionize the key world, starting with how it's marketed.

Facebook boasts an audience of more than 600 million members worldwide. A majority access the site every day. This provides a great and cheap location to market the Track It Key. A comprehensive Track It Key Facebook fan page will be created, updated daily, with links to the Track It All website and contact information. Fans are able to provide input on the project, from testing, to development, to release. News that can wait (like project development) will be posted to Facebook, but instant news will be posted to Twitter.

Twitter boasts an audience of more than 200 million members. Like Facebook, a majority access the site everyday. But unlike Facebook, news on Twitter is short and instant. They are targeted for those who have short attention spans. Twitter is also not as popular as Facebook, and some people create Twitter accounts only to follow their favorite athlete or company. This is a great place for those avid fans of Track It Key. Track It Key will tweet the latest news, coupons, and sweepstakes from Twitter.

Track It Key will devote all it's marketing budget ($0) to social media because it represents a great and inexpensive advertising opportunity. Facebook is the homepage away from homepage for Track It Key, with contact information and development news, as a well as a forum for fans to give their personal input. Twitter is the site for those super fans who want the latest news, coupons and sweepstakes that Track It Key has to offer.