Final Blog

“Are Customers who Purchase iPhones Getting their Money's Worth or is it Overpriced?”

My argument is that the iPhone is overpriced and consumers are overpaying when they purchase it.

                

New Platforms

First off, I have used Prezi before. My Early Childhood teacher from my senior year praised this presentation tool. She wouldn't even allow other platforms. I never cared for it; it seem too confusing. The paths and journey was a little too much. Even more, with me being a slight perfectionist, I always find myself tweaking it too much or trying to perfect it. I have used Wix in the far past. It was very easy and didnt take much to figure out how to use. I actually had to use this in a class over the course of a semester. If I had a second choice of platform, I would choose this one. My ideal presentation tool and the one I will be using is Microsoft PowerPoint. I'm very experienced with it which means it's easy to use. I think it's best for me to stick with this tool because Im most comfortable with it.

Plagiarism

The Web and the Internet is not only hurting students by offering an easy access of information, but it also provides easy ways for students to plagiarize. For example, students may not know much about what they're writing on, so they may choose just to copy and paste information and use it as if it were theirs. On the other hand, they may try to play it smart and switch around words or use synonyms to not be tracked. Many students are not aware of this, but this is also a type of plagiarism. In addition to this, students use the famous online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Most are not aware that this site is a compilation of information from other sources that Wikipedia cites at the bottom of every information page. Other students get confused when they want to use a source but there is no author specified. They use the information without citing anyone, which results in plagiarism. Both MLA and APA formats offer ways to cite sources with unknown authors.

Two Key Sources

"Are Customers who Purchase iPhones Getting their Money's Worth or is it Overpriced?"

Online Newspaper Article:

Greene, Jay. “Riots, Suicides, and Other Issues in Foxconn's iPhone Factories.” Cnet.  

          25 Sept. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

Book:

Lashinsky, Adam. "Inside Apple: How America's Most Admired- and Secretive-  

                Company Really Works." New York: Business Plus, 2012. Print.

New Database

So far in my research process, I have already used the databases: Consumer Information (Business and Economics), Company Information (Company and Industry Information) and Psychology (Social Sciences.) For this assignment, I chose a new subject database, Computer Science (Science and Technology.) Under this subject, I found many helpful sources such as academic journals and reports. One source described the amount of iPhone sales in the U.S. This will definitely aid me in my research paper because my topic concerns the reasons why people buy iPhones, even more, over other smartphones. My topic also covers why iPhones are so expensive over other competing smartphones. With this notion, I would need to discover what materials make up the iPhone itself. Luckily, using this database, I was able to find an article that is closely related to this idea. Another useful article I found was about the iPhone components. The text described and closely examined the manufacturing and materials used to make iPhones.

Social Research

With already being a user, I decided to use Twitter and Facebook. I like these two sites because they allow me to interact socially with people all the time. This can be from family, friends to old classmates. Although these are social networks, people also use them as a marketing tool. While conducting research for my topic, I was able to find both informative and opinionated information. There were several articles that were based on iPhone production, the Apple company and the marketing and management of the company. It's Twitter so it mostly contains opinionated and personal thoughts. With that being said, most information was about the craze and the frenzy about new iPhone releases and upgrades. People "tweeted" about their personal purchases, the features and their excitement about being new iPhone customers. This is all pertaining to marketing. Similar to Twitter, I found almost the exact kind of articles and posts on Facebook. I wanted to experiment on all of the other provided tools instead of just focusing on one. StumbleUpon and Delicious gave me a hard time as they left me asking "what the heck is this?" However, Reddit was the best. It allowed me to break down iPhone into categories that will best fit my research project. Tech news to programming were all available using this site. Newsvine was also helpful because it let me browse articles on just about anything related to an iPhone.

Article

"February is American Heart Month" -
https://twitter.com/search?q=heart%20disease%20month&src=typd
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HeartMonth/index.html?s_cid=tw_cdc2106

This article by the CDC is bringing awareness to Heart Disease Month which is this month. The article also includes weekly tips, which include a plan for prevention and the symptoms of a heart attack,  that can help prevent heart disease. It then reads the bold-print fact, "Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women, but heart disease is preventable and controllable." About 715,000 Americans have a heart attack every year. In the United States alone, about 600,000 people die from heart disease every year, which is one out of every four deaths. Even more, heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. 

The author of this article is using facts based on statistics. However, whomever wrote this article is stressing a better lifestyle by encouraging us to exercise more and eat more healthier. Other strategies are included in the "plan for prevention" section.

Presearch Process

The presearch process helped out a lot with choosing my topic. To my surprise, I didn't get much feedback from my other topic, students addiction to social networks, so I decided to stick with my topic concerning iPhones.  I believe I want to stick with my proposal to do my research project on:

iPhones:
       The Production of iPhones
                       Materials
                       Cost of Production
                       Where Are They Produced
                       Who Produces Them
                                   Working Conditions
        Why People Buy Them vs. other smartphones
                        Is it Marketing or just the Apple Brand
        What is the Big Deal with iPhones

After conclusive research in the library catalog, I decided to check out the book, "Inside Apple : How America's Most Admired-and Secretive-Company Really Works." This book seems very resourceful as it provides information on Apple's strategies on how they market and draw consumers into buying their products. It also provides a lot of information regarding tactics on Apple's production as well. Its call number is "HD9696.2.U64 A6737 2012"         

Research Update

     So far, the research processes and techniques we've learned in class have proven to be more efficient than the methods I have used for previous assignments. During my research I ran across several sites that weren't to be trusted that I'm sure I would've used in the past. A few of them had various sites on the sides and were written by non credible authors. Many of my findings were blogs which are mostly based off opinion. However, many of my resources, especially articles, were written by real reporters and revised by official editors.
   I have still yet to use our library or any of its online features for this project. As I stated in one of our previous blogs, I had a hard time finding solutions for my topic because it is fairly new. The newest iPhone was launched just late last year so it is hard finding recent resources that will help.

Finalized Topic

         At this point in research, I have decided to choose the topic of iPhones. I want to know why they are  so expensive and what makes society so intrigued and apt to buying them. I want to explore if customers are really getting their money's worth. Is Apple just a trademark brand that people just want to buy because of the "name?" How much does it take for Apple to make an iPhone, where do they make it, how do they make it and what is the morale of the workers that are making it? What are the components that make up an iPhone; are those to blame for the high cost?
         While using the GIL Catalog, I entered "apple company" and I received useful results. "The Apple way [12 management lessons from the world's most innovative company]" and "Inside Apple : how America's most admired-and secretive-company really works" would be ideally utilized.

Information Sources

    In order to complete this project, I will need to utilize various sources. I have chosen to drop my second topic of students and their addiction to social networks and stick with the production of iPhones. I believe that using resources such as, the internet which provide articles, journals, and interviews, will be useful. Other resources that can be perhaps found in our very own library can be used. Since my topic concerns the production of iPhones, I believe science and technology will be appropriate disciplines to include. My topic also covers how iPhones are made so manufacturing, production and working conditions may be used as well. We also spend a lot of money, most of the time unnecessarily, on these phones. We, as in society, are apt to buying popular brands, such as Apple. Psychology, economics, ethics, and morals are all disciplines that are related. I believe that consumers as well as producers (factory workers) will help influence my paper in the end.

Digging Deeper on Topic

         While constructing research, I discovered several topics that can better my project overall. One of my topics was on the production of iPhones and the question as to why they are so expensive. I believe that exploring the cost of retail as well as what components make up an iPhone can help me get a better understanding of what I plan to argue in my project. Along with those ideas, I decided to also research the factories and the working conditions of the workers. Even more, I believe including a comparison to another smartphone, other than the iPhone, will be vital to this project.
         My second topic was on students and the addiction to social networks. Even though this is a secondary topic and its still in the air if I want to complete it, I have also gathered ideas for it as well. As a psychology student, I have planned to construct an experiment amongst my peers and perhaps classmates, which also correlates with my psychology class. Furthermore, I plan to investigate the affects of social media on the brain.

Chosen Topics

--I chose two technology based topics.

              First off, I've always wondered why iPhones cost so much. In my opinion, the iPhone is
 overpriced. Even as an iPhone owner, I honestly don't see the big deal. It makes phone calls, sends text messages, has internet capability and a few impressive apps. These gadgets start at $199 with upgrade eligibility and have a retail price of $649. I wonder why they are so expensive and if customers are really getting their money's worth.
              Secondly, I have noticed that the majority of my peers are addicted to social networks. Especially in college, students cant focus on schoolwork such as, homework and studying because they are too busy constantly posting a status or sending a tweet. I'm curious to find out why students put schoolwork aside for a status on how they feel or what they are doing. I find myself also procrastinating about doing work in which I rather hop on Twitter or Facebook.