Final Post-Summary

Throughout the process of blogging about my entrepreneurial idea I learned just how great of a role that technology plays in all facets of the idea. Furthermore, blogging in conjunction with the IST195 class has allowed me to implement the abstract ideas learned in class and make them applicable to the real wold situations as proposed in my entrepreneurial idea. I have also benefited from consistently blogging which has inspired me to become a more avid blogger in other subjects and consumer of other blogs which has allowed me to become a more well-rounded student.


When I started this blog I thought that my idea was far fetched and perhaps unachievable. I was unsure how anything learned in lecture would actually be applicable to my idea. Nevertheless, as each week progressed I learned just how integral even the most basic concepts in IST195 would be influential in shaping my idea and making it possible.


The blogs that I commented on I found were of particular interest to me and really had solid grasps on how exactly they would be integrating technology concepts into their different ideas.

http://ist195lookalike.blogspot.com

http://atasteofsweetsonthego.blogspot.com

http://krissieoja.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed that this project was both abstract and practical and that it allowed me to think about how technology is actually used in getting an idea off the ground. I also thoroughly enjoyed blogging about such interesting topics! Furthermore, I found that getting comments on my posts was a great way to step back and look at my idea through fresh eyes and see the project in a new way. 

Review Post

As fashion and technology get more integrated with one another, there are a number of blogs popping up about the fusion of these two opposite worlds. As the New York Times blog, Bits, points out: " It is, perhaps, unsurprising that it took big tech companies so long to venture into fashion. Tech types are not necessarily known for their fashion sense..." The Bits blog adds that while some buyers might still prefer traditional shopping, there is a large market of online shoppers that would be receptive to technology woven into the fashion industry. 

The blog also taught me that large tech companies like Google are seeing the value of tapping the fashion world and are starting to introduce new and innovative ways to shop online. Google's boutique.com was launched last year and features items picked by designers and celebrities. Boutique.com features search, image recognition, and filtering to enhance shopping by bringing a more technical aspect to online shopping. Ebay and Amazon are also working to venture into high fashion in different ways. 

Also mentioned in Bits was the website, gotryiton.com that allows people to post pictures of themselves in clothes that they intend to purchase so that they may get opinions from others. Similar to my idea, this website combines technology, social media, and fashion to revamp today's shopping experience for many. 

Overall, I was intrigued to read about other things happening in the fusion between fashion and technology and the efforts being made to combine the two industries. I believe that the fashion world will be greatly transformed by innovations such as these in the near future. 

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/tech-companies-venture-into-fashion/

Week 6- Operating Systems

This week in class we discussed the operating systems of computers and the differences between them. Because the operating system is what manages hardware and software resources, it will be important for my technology to have a good operating system that will most easily accommodate the tasks of the mirror. The GUI will have to be one that is user friendly as it will be used by customers and the technology will be dependent on interaction with the customers. The OS will also manage the process and memory in the mirror which will be vital to its function.

While I recently just switched from a pc to a mac, I feel that a pc would probably be more familiar to the masses and therefore a better OS to use for the mirror. In addition, due to similar technologies in the Microsoft Surface, I would feel comfortable with the windows OS being capable of handling the technology of the mirror.

I do not think that there would be much market for a mobile OS for the mirror which would mean that there would need to be no considerations made to accommodate smartphones. 

Week 5- Bits and Bytes

This week we had an exam in class. While I will not be giving customers an exam on their knowledge of the mirror, it would be a good idea to test the mirror itself to make sure that it is working properly. System tests to maintain functionality would be important to the operation of the mirror. Testing often would prevent errors from inhibiting the mirror from operation for too long. It would also be important that testing would be completely inclusive in the technology to make sure that no small error goes unnoticed. Testing would be especially necessary in the beginning stages of development and before production but would need to remain a part of the maintenance program as well.

In lecture, we talked about bits and bytes this week. Bits and bytes are the most fundamental aspects of the computer's language which allows it to operate. Knowledge of how big a bit and byte are and how information needed to be stored in the mirror will help me determine how much hard disk space and RAM will be necessary to keep the mirror running quickly. In addition, the mirror will need to utilize ASCII and Unicode so that the mirror will recognize more than just the english language. It will also be important that the mirror has 16 bit color because anything lower would not provide the desired clarity in the image and would make the product less marketable.

All that we learned this week will help me get more detailed about the production of my mirror and help me to make the product better in the end. In addition, it is always good to know the fundamentals of any project and the computer that will run the mirror is based on bits and bytes so it is necessary to have knowledge of these aspects of the technology.

Week 4- Input/Output

This week’s lecture is particularly pertinent to my project idea because my product will have to make use of input and output for it to work. I think that the way the mirror would identify what a shopper has brought into a dressing room would be through RFID tags. This would be more efficient than barcode scanning items and would require less work on the part of the customer. The RFID tags could be passive tags, as they would not need to work more than a few meters away from the mirror that would house the antenna, which would be reading the data on the RFID tags.

The mirror would most likely be touch screen to utilize the social media functions of the product. As such, it would be necessary to include a touchpad in the design. The touch pad would incorporate the detection of capacitance to allow the user to interact with the mirror.

Finally, during the designing process, there would need to be special attention paid to the resolution of the image being projected on the mirror. Fuzzy images due to a small number of megapixels in the captured image would be unacceptable. The optimal shopping experience would incorporate the best quality images possible to ensure the customer feels that they are getting the a shopping experience closest to that of the real experience of trying clothes on, without the hassle.