Human Interaction with Technology and Information

In this episode they discuss how amazing the Amiga 3000 is. Going over all of its many functions (mostly video editing). However a few interesting things popped up. The first was the visual programming language where you could create programs in a matter of minutes by expressing commands as icons and then later editing the parameters.

The second, and really more interesting thing, was their Toaster card that allowed for video editing and processing. A 15,000 dollar card that rivaled (according to them) 50,000 dollar computer sets. They showed it in action and it did seem effective, but, not knowing what other video processing sets were like back then I can’t really comment.

The ending news dealt with laptops, primarily TI’s new laptop and how small it was getting.

Description of the Data:

A comprehensive analysis of what types of products are being shipped to locations all over the United States. The data could be grouped by any kind of location: State, county, or zip code to just name a few.

Why this data is interesting: 

To see what types of products are going where in the country would be a great guide for businesses. For instance, if there was a trend of home theatre electronics being delivered to a certain zip code in Ohio, it might be divined that someone could make a killing by opening up a home theatre store. A benefit to both the consumers, who now have a nearby location to purchase such things, and the business, that is now reaping the rewards.

 How we can obtain the data: 

Realistically, we can’t. However if some of the larger sites were willing to sell information based around the type of product sold and the zip code that it was shipped to, it would be possible to analyze the data in many meaningful ways.

Some might find it a breach of their privacy to have large corporations selling their private data of what they were buying. I’m certain these people will soon be quieted once they are witness to the fantastic savings and convenience that will come of it.

I wouldn’t think you’d have to worry about many companies signing on. If they would agree sites like buy.com and amazon.com would cover a good portion of the online shopping world. Meanwhile, digital version of real stores (target.com, bestbuy.com, etc…) would probably be happy to lend the data if it could be compiled with other sites that would then help them plan where to put their next store.

What specific questions can the data answer:

• What types of things are popular where?
• What part of the country buys the most of what?
• Where the best places would be for new specialty stores?