Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com It seems in the tech world, if you are not an immediate hit, you are destined to be a failure. However, there are those who hang on and wait for the world to realize the utility of their service. For Skype, it has been an extremely rocky 11 years, but it is officially time to announce it as the premiere video chatting software. When Skype was first released in 2003, the value of a video conferencing service was immediately recognizable. Video conferencing existed, but it required a very fast Internet connection and expensive hardware from companies such as Cisco. Skype allowed anyone with a computer, a web cam and a microphone to talk face to face over the Internet, and in many situations, for free. While everyone recognized the utility, few people actually used the service, and of its small user base, few were paying customers. This lack of revenue lead to a long, near fatal road for the company. Seen as a hot commodity, Sk...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com When you run down the reasons for being on different social networks, so many are clear as day; Facebook connects you with friends and family, Twitter gives us insight into public discourse, and Pinterest illuminates the creative works of the world. For these and a handful of others, the utility of their site is obvious. However, for every thriving network, there are half a dozen useless sites. Topping the list of trivial online communities is LinkedIn Before you get indignant, I freely admit that I — like 300 million others — have a profile that I occasionally update on LinkedIn. At first blush, the utility of the site makes sense: a network for job seekers and business professionals allowing them to network (in the way your dad and college career counselor champion). Thousands of companies use the site to promote their brand and allow job seekers to follow their career opportunities. The problem is, outside of providing a ...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com As cool as Justin Timberlake is, what’s the first thing you think of when you hear his name? He’s a singer, right? Nevermind that for the  last decade J.T. has been trying desperately to be taken seriously as an actor. Shifting public perception is hard — for entertainers, politicians, companies, even websites. No one is learning that lesson harder than the once-popular location-based application Foursquare. In 2009, at the South By Southwest Interactive technology conference, or SXSWi, Foursquare dominated the hearts and minds of the tech world. Foursquare provided a social network for smartphone users to check in online to locations and share with their friends where parties were, what restaurants were exciting, and basically any location that was happening at that moment. The cherry on top of the GPS cake was Foursquare’s scoreboard for user check-ins, “Mayorships” for users who checked in the most at specific locatio...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com The parallels between tech companies and historical empires that have risen to soaring heights only to one day crumble to ruins is disturbingly similar. While Microsoft, Apple and IBM have somehow thrived for decades, they’ve marched by the graves of giants such as BlackBerry, Polaroid and Zenith. Similar to those fallen nations, the fall of those companies was a long, painful process that many saw coming. Such is the current story of Sony. Few companies have squandered their multifaceted fortune such as Sony. From the 1970s to the 1990s Sony was one of the top dogs in home entertainment systems, audio and video recording, disk storage and more. Today the Japanese multinational conglomerate has expanded to include cinematic cameras, video game systems, computers and least well-known here in the States, insurance. The problem with all of these separate endeavors is none of them own a respective market, and altogether, none of...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com The tablet is a quandary; it’s a stretched out smartphone that supposedly offers a computing environment similar to a laptop or desktop. Its size allows for easier reading, and its mobility offers the ability to work practically anywhere imaginable. Even with these advantages over smartphones and stationary computing systems, tablets are not tech necessities. In fact, as sales are starting to show, owning a tablet is most definitely a luxury. Even prior to its initial release in 2010, Apple’s iPad was a hot commodity. Everyone had fallen in love with the iPhone and thought a tablet version not only made sense but would revolutionize computing. Four years later, the iPad is still cool, but the revolution never came to pass. Altogether 195 million tablets were sold in 2013. But what a difference a year makes. Whereas the iPhone continues to see growth in sales, the iPad has actually seen a 10 percent sales dip over the last ni...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com Everyone has that one gadget in the house that runs perfectly for years and then unexpectedly falls apart. It might be the disc tray on your Blu-ray player or the ceiling fan that pops a screw. For me it was a waffle iron that snapped its hinge in the middle of breakfast. The industrious among us might head to the hardware store and replace the broken part, but more often than not it seems those adventures are exercises in futility. Thankfully, there is an advancement in manufacturing that promises to end these nightmares: the 3D printer. As if taken straight from Star Trek, 3D printers take digital three-dimensional models of real-world objects and physically produce them using epoxy resins and malleable plastics. First actualized in the mid 1980s, 3D printers have only recently become fiscally and technologically feasible to be used as a means of parts production. As with many new technologies, 3D printers run the gamut of...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com The list of things couples should avoid to ensure a happy marriage is long and treacherous. Topping the list are the common hotspots of long-distance relationships, airing dirty laundry in public and, of course, working together. One of the more stressful shared work experiences a couple can endure is the monumental task of producing a film, a venture that requires a creative mindset, technical know–how, business acumen and unending patience. Even with all the potential pitfalls that come with filmmaking, Des Moines couple Nick Wilson and Sarah Noll Wilson have been successfully producing short films together for seven years as participants of the 48 Hour Film Project, as the leaders of Team Team (a redundant name they never expected to stick). While it isn’t the marathon task of producing a multi-million-dollar feature film, the 48 Hour Film Project is a stress-filled weekend that puts local producers’ storytelling prowess t...