Week 9_Finale

So I cannot believe its about to be April nor that this project went by so fast. Throughout the passing week my original idea has been slightly tweeked and reworked to become what I think could be a really great app. If this is your first time reading my blog then I'll re-describe my idea.

I created the idea for an app where if you went into certain boutiques in New York City, probably the East Village or Soho, and couldn't find a matching item to a piece you liked, the app would show you compliments based on other boutiques in the area. The barcode would contain an RFID to be able to track where it is and where the surrounding matches are. On the app the compliment would appear with the price showing as well. There will also be direction from one store to the next as well. Discussing my idea with other I thought about maybe expanding and adding how you'd look in the garment without trying it on but I'm not exactly sure if I like that idea becasue it could still look unappealling once you try it on forever.

Overall I learned from this project is that there are many elements to creating a new technological idea but its not impossible. With the world becoming more technology based each day its important to know the basic elememts of the things we are constantly using.

For my peer comments I commented on:

http://jackiegarbuio.blogspot.com/

http://rolandsbrightidea.blogspot.com/

http://soshalize.blogspot.com/

Week 8_ Review

As you all know technology is not my favorite thing to discuss so finding a blog about technology, I simply knew would be a disaster. I assumed it would be full of jargon I didn't understand and wouldn't come across as an "easy read". Astonishing to me though, I found a great blog with an even greater blogger. ( Much thanks to Wall Street Journal who had an article featuring its top 15 bloggers who write about technology)

The blog I read is called Kevin Kelly's live stream. One thing that caught my attention right away from this blog is the blogger himself, Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly is the co-founder and  previous editor of Wired magazine which I adore. Being a magazine journalism major is it good to be familiar with magazine outside your comfort range and Wired is a great technological based magazine which features amazing articles.

Kelly's blog features a mixture of personal experiences, recent technology and helpful advice. One posting I thought was very informative was a piece about Mars500. He discussed how six men are contained in a tubular building in Moscow for 250 days simulating the length of time it would take for a spacecraft to get to Mars. The men go through daily jobs they would do if they were truly flying to Mars and the European Space Agency can test and see if the length of time confined will have a psychological affect on the men. Here he showed videos the men posted on Youtube and some detailed information about the experiment. I enjoyed the post because I've never heard of anything like this happening and it was an interesting bit of information.

If you want to read more of his blog posts or visit his website cool tools it all accessible through this website:
http://kk.org/

week6_bit & bytes

Although I can't believe the weeks have gone by so fast my idea has been getting major feedback. I am a magazine journalism major and want to work in the beauty/fashion portion of some major magazines. Of course if you couldn't already tell my entrepreneurial idea reflects this love for fashion. One thing I did take for granted was how although I'd work heavily on the idea aspects/ fashion side I should be knowledgeable in the technological aspects as well.
This week we have one lecture of bit & bytes. Entering class I had no idea what either was & I'm still no expert in it. One thing I did take from it was the idea that having a certain number of bites will be important for the display of how my images are displayed on my app. Saving these images with certain programs will give it certain limitations of colors options due to its bit size. Although this doesn't seem to important the color quality is vital for the app because certain tones go with certain colors and vice versa.
Discussing the idea with other peers I got some good feedback of adding an option of possibly seeing yourself in the clothes, suggestions of make-up & hair ideas, or even possibly seeing the clothes in different tones/colors.

Week5_input&output

Yesterday we had a meeting discussing our entrepreneurial ideas and I got fantastic feedback on mine. One thing that I wanted to touch up about the product is that the electronic device you use, (blackberry, droid, or apple product) you'd need to scan the barcode, once in the app then it would launch you to your options. I'd also like the price to be listed and possibly directions to the store. Most of the stores would be in walking distance within Manhattan/SoHo area to begin with but once expanded you'd be able to select your city. I'd like it to stay to niche boutiques though because there are more jems in these store, which makes it harder to find other unique complements. This hopefully will get more necessity for the app.
I believe one component I could use that was discussed in lecture are RFID chips. If you're not aware of what this is, its a radio frequency identification chip. I could use these for the barcode on the clothing. This would help to transfer easily the directions required to get from one boutique to the next. It will also hopefully keep a very exact number of inventory so customers won't end up walking to a store and the item isn't there. The one issue with this is RFID chips are a very new product so there are some glitches. I would also need to stay alway from an metal pieces because it can effect the efficiency in the chips.
During the lab we used Photoshop and I'm sure for the app I will be using many Adobe products to create the graphical layout of the app. The presentation of the app is very important to the overall success of the idea. I will most likely use Photoshop to make all the products look nicely on the app, by first taking photographs of each then using Photoshop to brush them up a little.

Week 4_Digital Video & Computer Hardware

Thinking over the idea for my entrepreneurial plan, I entered class Monday and Wednesday thinking about how this weeks lesson would help further extend my idea. To set up an app for my idea I wouldn't need to just computer hardware necessarily but it was important understanding how memory work. My app will take up a certain amount of RAM which is important to determine how it will drain certain electronics. To appear to more people it would be best that the least amount of memory needed would be used.
Another topic we spoke about was digital video. I was debating about using digital video to have tutorials on how to style certain items as well as showing the picture. The only problem with this idea is flash player, which is one of the best players but currently is not supported by Apple. Since apps are mostly sold on Apple products this would be a problem.
Overall I feel that using digital video can take my app even further but that could also push the memory size because it would probably need more to hold it. Looking further into this would be the next step for a successful idea.

Week3_Spreadsheet Apps & Digital Images

So throughout the week I've been discussing my ideas over with many friends and professors. Everyone seems to love the idea which is a very exciting factor for me. If you didn't read the first posting my entrepreneurial idea is to create an app for apple/blackberry/droid that while help better find accessories or matching pieces to certain articles of clothing they would like to purchase. Thinking over the idea I would have to narrow the idea down to which item, from which brands I would involve in the app. I think the best idea would be to do local thrift shops in NYC at first. These store would benefit from my idea because they are smaller store and need publication. This could be great for me because they will probably be more willing to want to be apart of my idea.

To deal with the financial aspects of this idea I would most likely use Excel to make a budget plan. From lecture on Monday I learned that excel is the perfect tool for this because it has formula aspects already built in. This will make it easier to see how much funds I need to start up the idea with cost of having all the clothes in the database, getting the idea out to the public etc. Also from the brief description about digital images we learned I know that for coding of my application I'd be using hexadecimal coding to design the layout and information of the app.

The functionality of the app would be semi-simple. Basically you see a dress you want and then click the app. It would ask you to take a picture of the selection item, it will load and then certain accessories such as shoes, purses, rings etc. to go. Since all the photos will be digital deciding whether or not to use RGB or CMYK will of course be a decision because my entire brand is based online. Future planning of the brand will be fun.

Week 2_ WWW

For my IST 195 class we were challenged with the idea of starting an entrepreneurial idea. At first this caught me at a complete standstill. I'm definitely not the most business savvy and an idea seemed as if it would never come. I began to think of all the things I wished was available that weren't. Of course I thought of devices such as a beeper when meter maids were near so you'd never get a ticket; radar when an attractive individual came in close proximities; a i-pod sensor that would make my i-pod turn off once I fell asleep. Then it came to me, what did I love almost as much as I loved food. (If you knew me you'd know I can eat ALL day) The answer was fashion.
Have you ever went into a store and found the perfect pair of jeans or a fabulous dress but couldn't find anything to go with it? I know the feeling. The pain of having the idea in your mind, but not being able to finish the outfit could be stressful, which brings me to the idea of an app that allows you to take picture of a pair of shoes, dress etc. and it would suggest items that would go perfectly with it. The app would be available for all smart phones such as the Blackberry, iPhone or Android.
This idea went perfectly with the lesson of the week, which was the evolution of the WWW. My idea goes perfectly with the advancement of the internet because it uses it directly. Social media is a way that everyone connects and communicates in the age of the smart phone. My app would be directly intertwined with all of that. Also I would use twitter to promote my new product by creating new trending topics all my followers could see.
Hopefully as the weeks go on my idea will advance further. Look out CUSE a new fashion app is on its way.