Change(v.) for Change(n.)

Article of the New Dollar

Four score and many years ago, to be more specifically 1979 and 2000, our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new coin. The one dollar coin to be precisely but it just didn’t catch on the way it should have. Efforts were put forth to be rid of one dollar bills and integrate one dollar coins with the famous faces of Susan B Anthony and even Sacagewea but to no avail, all these coins were laid to rest along with their American heroes. Coins, as used in many countries is a wonderful currency for smaller bills because it allows the circulation to last longer. Countries like Canada, China, Europe, and many more all use smaller dollar increment coins to conserve. However, this being American we have already included the dollar bill into our culture and simple plans set by the government just might not be enough.

The new coin will take much longer to catch on. Americans have taken upon themselves mentally that coins are known as worthless change. While this idea stays in our heads, it is hard to get the one dollar coin into use. Moreover, we find that carrying change is heavier in comparison with a bill. Wallets are built to carry bills and especially in most male wallet, there is just no compartment for even carrying change. Finally, what will we do when the dollar coin has rippled its impact on our businesses? Stripper clubs that are built on the foundation of dollar bills tucked into clothing will prove quite negatively when attempted with coins. In years pass, there have been attempts with magnetic clothing but that has proved to go ghastly wrong. Machines of all types have to change too—including gaming, vending, and service providing—and these are not cheap details to do so. The government maybe considering changing the way we deal with money but it doesn’t realize that we are also changing the way American citizen think. So by trying to offer President’s heads on 37 coins over the next 9 years won’t be as effective as offering 50 states on quarters. One point being: We already use the quarter.

Whatever happened to Asian Media?

This topic might be a little off from the usual business article but I'll still proceed since I feel this is important and relevant.

Tonight, as I was washing dishes, I saw a glimpse of the new season of the popular reality show, American Idol. I had heard recently about a Saratoga native who made it into the show, Paul Kim. However, the shock that came to me was that he was Korean-American. This might cause one to wonder why I was in shock and here is my reasoning:

There is no support from the Asian community so why bother auditioning?

His audition performance received praise from all the judges and one in particular mentioned that Kim has one of the best male vocals he has heard this season (Wikipedia). But in contrast, Kim barely made it to the final 24. It made me think, why wouldn’t he make it? Out of all the seasons of American Idol, there has only been one male singer to ever come out of it with partial fame and that is William Hung, or otherwise known to me as the single man who brought shame upon anything Asian. When it all boils down, Asians just can’t seem to cut it. The reason’s a little different than you might think. It’s not that we don’t have talent, because there’s plenty, and not because we don’t have the look, that’s proved with Ziyi Zhang, it’s because we don’t care.

Reality shows cost timed investment, possibly time that Asian-Americans are not providing. As I can say, my own parents watch the show when there is nothing else on, and even they don’t care enough to vote. Even when a performance is outstanding, there isn’t a reach for the phone. It makes it hard for me to imagine any other Asian family sitting down to watch a bunch of singer wannabes, critics, and Ryan Seacrest. It’s the underdog that gets rooted for but when there isn’t an audience for that underdog, well, the dog just gets put to sleep. Kim is just another victim of this awful tragedy but he doesn’t stand alone. Over the years, Asian immigrants have come to this great free land of America to fulfill their hopes and dreams but these dreams don’t include show business. Maybe the occasional success but overall we’re trapped in a mold that says if we can’t do martial arts, we might not be cut out for acting. So Asian parents tell these stories to their young about how each of them should grow up to have responsible jobs—these are lawyers, doctors, market analysts—and not thinking impractically. The response is great, we have successfully entered all of those fields but now our art has died. We have killed our own image in proving that we don’t shine as much as the rest and our names hardly go up in lights. It’s been long since an Asian actor has had achieved fame without being tied anything martial arts. And the few that do make it without a kick? They suffer because now no one cares enough to watch them give their award worthy performances. Instead, we have embarrassments like Hung who paraded himself with humiliation for the price of fame. Where was his dignity? People weren’t laughing with him, they were laughing at him! So now, without the support, we’re just left with a few “Hai-ya”s and Hung. It makes me pity how much we have lost when trying to achieve so much.

Does your shoe know where you are?

Article of the GPS SHOES

I read this article today and I can't say that I was too surprised. Technology has advanced so far as to use GPS for public tracking. I'm torn as to whether this is a good idea or a bad one considering that it can be a benefit for both. On the good side, parents can now rest assured that in case of emergencies, they can find their children. However, if this becomes wildly popular, I'm am quite sure that child kidnappers will throw away the shoes before proceeding anywhere with the kid. It is a must have for Alzheimer partients as stated in the article. It could save lives of those who have Alzheimers from hurting themselves or others.

The negatives of this product is the violation of privacy. What if these devices were used to track the wearer's whereabouts. It can be an invasion of privacy. As for the fine that is imposed if a report was made that was not an emergency, let us hypothetically say that the shoe is expensive, it would most likely be purchased by consumers with money. If these consumers already have the money, what is stoping them from paying the fine if they want to use it for spying purposes such as keeping track of a spouse who may be cheating, or where a teen is "actually" going. Usages like that defeat the main purpose of such a tracker.

I'm also a little weary about the niche for this kind of product. At the current time, consumers are not always willing to dish out $320-350 for a GPS and pay $19.95 a month for service fees. It seems a little extravagant for the average person. But who knows, maybe this could be the right time if people find that the new technology is so irresitable that they must get their hands on it.