6A – Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends


1  An Algorithm That Grants Freedom, or Takes It Away
A) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/technology/predictive-algorithms-crime.html
B) The article explains the case of a 30 year old man who had deemed as a “high risk” after he got released from jail in 2018. The reason he is a high risk is because a computer algorithm gave him that status 
C) The costumers are the people that get classified by that algorithms, wether it’s fair or not
D) This is very difficult because the decisions are made by a computer, not a psychologist who sees them in person. I think a computer can’t decide who is a high risk or low risk for the society, based on the system predicted. 

2 Uber Posts Faster Growth, but Loses $1.1 Billion
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/06/technology/uber-growth-losses.html
  2. The article reveals some of the numbers Uber made this year compared to last year. They grew a lot more, but made less profit.
  3. The costumers are definitely all the Uber users. They can prepare for higher prices, since they made less profit this year than last year. 
  4. The opportunity is easy to exploit because Uber made a lot of special offers and coupons in order to grow faster. Now since they grew a lot, they will cut back with the special offers.

3 Amazon Powers Ahead With Robust Profit
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/30/technology/amazon-earningts.html
  2. Amazon revealed their numbers this quarter, and they are way higher than experts expected. Amazon just has the best prices with the best conditions, like prime shipping within 2 days, overnight shipping, and many more. Through the good prices, Amazon pressures other sale-houses to lower their prices, what is not possible sometimes. That’s why their profit increases and increases
  3. The costumers are all the Amazon costumers. Amazon provides them the best service, the best prices, and the fastest shipping. There is no reason for them not to buy something from Amazon
  4. The opportunity is easy for Amazon because they control the market. When they go down with their prices, other sale-houses need to go down too or costumers won’t buy anything because they always want the cheapest product. Amazon has just so much power on the market that they can do whatever they want.

4 A Case for Paying With Your Phone
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/travel/contactless-payments-phone.html
  2. The article describes how contactless payments with your card, watch, or phone work and how useful it is
  3. The people you are able to pay without their wallet, any cash, or without swiping or inserting their card. They safe time and effort, so is the store where they buy something with a contactless payment. But is it safe? Could someone rob you and without knowing anything about your passcodes buy anything contactless?
  4. The opportunity is really easy because the contactless payment is just super easy to handle, and often you don’t even have to open your phone. Just holding it clone enough to the scanner is enough. Contactless payment is fast and the future. Everyone likes things that are smarter, easier, and faster.              The question is if it is also safe enough. As good and nice as it is, I’m pretty sure you can easily get robbed and then someone just uses that card. And because it’s contactless, the person doesn’t need your passcode. 


I think I see a lot of these opportunities because I look on things twice. As good and nice as they seem in the first moment, there is not everything positive and nice. Everything has its shadow side. I’m very rational with that and try to focus on the facts. I like to form my own opinion, even if people say that something is good or bad before.

Comments

  1. Carsons ENT blogFebruary 10, 2020 at 11:35 AM

    Eric,
    The first trend where the robot rather than a person pretty much diagnosis a person seems quite unfair. Secondly it's very interesting how a company like uber could lose so much money while expanding so fast. So many people use it rather than a taxi because its easier and faster. I can see how Amazon is making so much money because they are the most popular internet brand out there and have proved how to quickly ship for holidays or any gift.

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