Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com If there is one thing brick and mortar retail has over online shopping it is the hands-on, trial-run experience of being able to try something out before making a purchase. You can try on an outfit, listen to a whole album and rent a film or videogame before you purchase it. Online shopping has never really had an answer to the test run. For electronic media such as movies and music, it’s an easy transaction that delivers immediate enjoyment. But for tangible products, there is a lot of risk. You buy a shirt online, it gets delivered, but it is the wrong size, the color wasn’t what you were expecting, and now you are faced with the zero-fun task of returning an online purchase. While in-person shopping definitely still holds this advantage, it seems some online retailers have come up with a suitable workaround. What if instead of purchasing physical goods online, you could have a trial period? Such is the case with the rising ...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com There are two things that launch upstart social networks from nothing to necessities: a feature that isn’t offered anywhere else, and being cool. While coming up with an original social network feature seems nearly impossible, being cool and maintaining can be much harder. Friendster, MySpace, and even America Online — the original social network — all brought something to the table the Web hadn’t seen before only to eventually lose their user appeal. For Friendster it was the lack of interaction, for Myspace it was an ugly interface and oversaturation of ads, and for America Online it was the ’90s software mentality that never translated to the browser-based Internet that took over around the turn of the century. Are Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, YouTube, Quora, LinkedIn, Instagram, Vine and Snapchat all cool? Yes; some definitely more than others. But each has its fervent audience. It seems that, with regard to the Internet...

This article was first published by dmcityview.com How many social networks can one person use? Facebook? Of course. Twitter? Sure. Pinterest? Sounds fun. Google Plus? Maybe. Pheed? What now?               For those not following the trends in social networking, it appears tweens and celebrities are refashioning where it’s cool to share every second of your life. Now, only 4 months old, the social website and app Pheed.com has rocketed to the top of Apple’s Free Apps chart last week and, by all accounts, now has millions of users posting status updates, photos, music, videos and more. What sets Pheed apart from its social predecessors is the ability for users to profit from their content.               For years the business concern about social startups was, how will they make money? MySpace sunk itself by cluttering its site with too many advertisements. Facebook is just now starting to publicly report profit...