Last batch of presentations

Well this is the last week of presentations and next week it's all about our blogs. I hope that mine is sufficient and will earn me a good mark.

The first (or second last) presentation depending on how you look at it was by Karen. She talked about You Tube and concentrated on the social aspect of it. It is a place to upload and share your videos. Most of the company's revenue comes from advertising. A vast majority of video uploads are by everyday people. I thought it was good that uploaded videos are in categories such as vehicles (which I thought was a little odd), comedy, sports, music, films, games and blogs. It's good that there is a search bar that makes it easy to find songs and videos. Anyone can view videos but you have to register to upload. The concept of tags is a really good idea and it makes it easier for people to find songs and videos on You Tube. I didn't know that You Tube was known for it's good compatibility standards. I found it interesting that you could collect videos you've viewed and save them to your favourites folder. Karen mentioned the term "channel" and I found it odd but interesting. I think a better word could have been used to describe your personal space but I suppose now that so many people use You Tube that it doens't really matter to them. I didn't know that you could invite friends on You Tube but it's a good idea. It's similar to Friendster in that way. It was good that Karen covered the social impact however, I found the presentation to have too much text on screen and I think it could have been more effective with just some short dot points. She made a good point though that people can be more expressive online rather than face to face and I think that this is so true.

The last presentation for this subject this term and possibly for ever is by Melissa. It was good that she started off with an introduction and briefly summarised what she was going to talk about including a history, overview, what it is, what it's used for. Ebay was started in the US by a man called Pierre. He became fascinated with selling goods on the net and the idea of auctions. It's not like normal shopping because individual people choose what they want to sell and at what price. I never thought about the no. of people behind ebay who keep it running. I thought it was good that there was a place to receive community feedback and it was good that Melissa went through the main links. I found it odd that they made a distinction between a member and a seller. I understand that a member is just someone who buys off ebay but doesn't sell any products but it was a little confusing. You have to be over 18 to register. I found the feedback star glossary a really interesting concept with all the coloured stars. It's good that you can ask questions, comments and that it keeps people up to date. Overall, a good presentation.