Final Post

Over the course of this project, I have come up with a new product line called "Heat it Up" and made decisions regarding its technical aspects. "Heat It Up" is a line of winter apparel including coats, ski pants, scarves, hats and gloves that are lined with heaters to provide warmth on cold winter days.  The user only needs to charge the apparel for 15 minutes before going out and it's effective for 12 hours.  Through a control pad located on each piece of clothing, the user can select the desired temperature, ranging from 65 degrees to 85 degrees, in 5-degree increments, as well as turn the heating system on or off.    I chose Excel as the software program to help me run the business and the Linux Operating system to manage its hardware and software.  In addition, the computer chips in each piece of clothing will contain binary information to carry out all the functions. When I look back over the past several weeks, all of my blogs together form a great technology business plan for "Heat It Up".

When I first came up with my product line I had no idea all the various technical aspects that would need to be determined to implement it. The hardest part for me was coming up with the original idea.  I went through several ideas before I came up with one that would be technically feasible. During subsequent weeks, my blogs were relatively easy to create once I had learned the information in each weekly class. Most of the choices each week were clear since my product lent itself to only one option.   From a technical standpoint, I feel I could go ahead and carry out the launch of this product. With the addition of the business /financial side of it, "Heat It Up" can be a very successful apparel line.

Now at the end of this whole process, it is very rewarding to see how I completed an entire technical plan including software, hardware, etc. This project was very worthwhile. I learned so many skills including how to create, use and interact with blogs, and the many technical components that need to be determined to successfully implement a new product. It was also interesting to view others entrepreneurship ideas. The ones I commented on were: The sleeping Beauty, The Orange Blogger and ProcrastiTermination. Overall this project taught me a lot about blogging and entrepreneurship ideas. 

Techcrunch

 In 2005, Michael Arrington developed TechCrunch, a technology blog which has become one of the most influential news websites throughout the entire technology industry.  Because of this blogging site, he is considered one of the most powerful people on the internet. Arrington, who majored in economics and received a law degree from Stanford University, practiced corporate and security law and was involved in several startup companies during the Internet gold rush. 

TechCrunch is a blogging website which provides news and analysis on the technology industry as well as information on startup technology companies, products and websites.  It is the largest of the many technology-based blogs out there. TechCrunch is often more arguable than its competitors which is due to its editor, Arrington’s, relationships with the media and his conflict of interest as an investor.

TechCrunch’s influence has gained it interviews with influential people such as Barak Obama and John McCain. TechCrunch has grown so much since its inception that it is now associated with several other websites known as The TechCrunch Network.  The link for this blog is http://techcrunch.com/

week6-operating systems

‘Heat It Up’ will use the Linux Operating System to manage its hardware and software resources. Linux is a great choice for this product line because it is an open source.  Linux source code is widely available online for free.   So I can communicate with the online community, ask questions and copy and or modify the information I need to develop the software programs that work best for my product.

I do not want my customers to have to rely on iPhones (Mobile Market Operating Systems) when out and about.  There will be a hardware module sewn into each article of clothing.  Therefore the clothing is self-sufficient, not needing any external connections other than the charger for the power supply.  (The product should be powered up prior to going out.)

The Linux operating systems will manage the software programs for charging the clothing, turning the product on and off, and adjusting the temperature.  In addition, programs will be needed to create a display on the hardware screen indicating when the product is fully charged, whether the product is on or off, and the temperature that is requested.  These are the functions that the hardware can carry out through the direction of the software programs. Some of these tasks, such as adjusting temperature and displaying the temperature on the screen will happen simultaneously so cooperating multitasking is required.