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3 tech inventions that never really took off

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3 tech inventions that never really took off

Only a select few products or inventions go on to have great success on the market. Despite their perceived utility and quality, some products never take off, for whatever reason. Others are just impractical or expensive, making them unviable for many customers. Here are some of the wackiest inventions to have hit the shelves in recent years, only to fade into obscurity.

The radio newspaper

In 1939, excitement grew when news arose that households could have their newspapers transmitted to them. The premise was simple – the radio device would receive the information from a central transmitter, which could then be printed onto a 9-foot piece of paper. Each page took 15 minutes to print and then had to be cut and folded. Those days, 15 minutes was considered rapid; however, the premise never gained traction. The device, however, was instrumental in the development of an office gem – the fax machine.

Wink glasses

Masunaga, a Japanese tech manufacturer, developed a “revolutionary” pair of glasses that monitor how often your eyes blink. With people spending hours staring at screens (whether it be for work or recreation), eye health has become a significant concern for health professionals. The glasses would fog if you weren’t blinking enough, encouraging the wearer to blink at a quicker rate. Why didn’t it work? Well, the price was insane, and users complained of the device being impractical and annoying.

Boiled egg squarer

Who would have thought that this would exist? If boiling your eggs normally isn’t quite up to your speed, then check out the boiled egg squarer. Who doesn’t love a cube-shaped egg for breakfast? It’s easier to cut, won’t roll around on your plate and you can even line up the egg slices against the corners of your toast We still can’t fathom the value of this.

I cover fintech, cryptocurrencies, blockchain and investing at Metic Press. I’ve also written frequently about leadership, corporate diversity and entrepreneurs. Before Metic Press, I worked for ten years at MMS, covering topics ranging from client consulting to talent management. I’m a graduate of Middlebury College and Columbia Journalism School. Have a tip, question or comment? Please let me know.

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4 youngest, most innovative entrepreneurs revitalising the tech industry

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Joe Jonas

When it comes to mainstream success, age is no barrier. Some of the most successful contributors to the tech space are under the age of 30. Millennials are making millions, sometimes billions before turning 25. The way the contemporary market operates means individuals can now capitalise off the back of great ideas in a matter of months. The following list outlines some of the youngest, most successful entrepreneurs in the tech field.

Alastair Aiken (25)

Alastair Aiken is the mastermind behind Fortnite commentaries, one of the most popular online games of all time. The game is played by celebs like Joe Jonas and Finn Wolfhard. He is better known by his social media name, Ali-A, where he uploads content day by day. His main YouTube page has over 17 million subscribers and almost 5 billion views. He is one of the world’s most successful YouTubers, and virtually all his wealth is accumulated via gaming.

Henry Hu (25)

Henry Hu is the founder of Café X, a tech start-up that manufactures one of the most innovative, detailed robotic café systems in the world. Hu’s robotic coffee bar can serve up to 40 café beverages in a matter of seconds, using a complex system of AI and robotics. The tech is expected to revolutionise the foodservice industry, and Hu has been able to raise $12 million in the process.

Amelia Friedman (27)

Amelia Friedman is the co-founder of a software system called HatchApps. The purpose of her team’s work is to develop a fully integrated app without the need for code. Since it was established in 2015, the company has raised over $2 million.

Liam J.E. Gerada (19)

Closing off our list is Liam Gerada, who is also the youngest person to make the list. He is the co-founder of Krepling, which is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce platforms in the world.

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Do you need online marketing for your business?

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Do you need online marketing for your business

Before the internet became the main way for customers to find products or services, it was common to open up the Whitepages to find a business to meet your needs. Nowadays if you need something your go-to is probably a search engine, and that’s where SEO services come in!

If you’re wondering why it’s essential for today’s modern businesses, then the simple answer is that SEO services help to ensure that your business is found, by the right customers.

The goal is to ensure that the right people find you when they need to.

What’s involved?

Most SEO services usually involve a few different components to achieve good results and ensure that your website and business is being found by the right customers.

These components include:

Keyword research

The first stage of effectively optimizing your website and ensuring it can be found is making sure the right keywords are on your website. Why? Because if your website uses the right keywords it makes it easier for search engines to know what your website or business is about and ensure that customers can find you. If you don’t use the right key phrases then search engines won’t be able to tell what you’re website is all about, and people won’t be able to find you. SEO services often start with finding the right keyword strategy to optimise your business. Implementing these correctly will help your business rank higher on the search engine results.

Website optimisation

SEO services also often involve ensure that your website is properly optimised for search engines. Search engines will crawl your website looking for information on what your website is about, it there are technical issues, or limited meta data then your website is likely to rank lower, or not at all. Search engines want to ensure the quality of information they are providing to searchers and if there are problems with your website, it may be penalised –  this could mean your site drops of the search results altogether, making it almost impossible for people to find your site.

Knowledgeable experts will do an audit of your website to find and fix any current issues and to ensure that meta titles and descriptions are properly optimised to tell search engines exactly what your website it about.

Improving user experience

Another common task you can expect is for agencies or providers of SEO services to identify possible opportunities to improve the user experience or UX design of your website. They will monitor data over time to see what is, or isn’t working. High bounce rates on some pages might for instance indicate that people who are clicking into the page aren’t finding the information they need, those with experience in search behaviour will be able to offer recommendations on how to improve the page to ensure that people are reading through, and hopefully converting to use your products or services.

Link building

Search engines will rank websites that are trusted, or provide the most relevant, valuable information higher. A common way that they determine this is by looking at the number of links connected to your website. If lots of trustworthy sites are linking to your website, this in turn tells the search engine that your website it trustworthy, that is why link building strategies are often an important component of SEO services.

Content creation

The content on your website serves a number of purposes; it’s important to your customers as it shows them what your business is about and helps to answer their questions, and it’s important in search because it helps the search engine understand what your business is about.

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A beginner’s guide on the pros and cons of virtual reality

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virtual reality

For ardent gamers and tech-lovers, virtual reality (VR) represents one of the most exciting new developments in the tech world. However, the uses of VR are far-reaching, since the technology can be applied to a variety of sectors like gaming, education, entertainment, engineering, design, media and even medicine. Palmer Luckey, the founder of the Oculus Rift, is credited with reviving the industry. So, what are some of the pros and cons of this new technology? Read on to find out.

Pros

Starting with the pros, there’s no doubt that there are many. Firstly, owners of VR systems say that the experience is unparalleled. It’s immersive, fun and totally worth it. The level of detail is sublime, and for gamers, in particular, VR provides them with an experience that cannot be matched.

Furthermore, VR can be a social medium. It can connect you to thousands of people across the world and encourages teamwork and collaboration. You can play online poker with others, link up with a squad in a modern warzone or build your own spacecraft and explore alternate, virtual galaxies. And that’s just the gaming side of it – VR his proven to have many benefits when applied to other sectors.

Cons

As is the case with all great things, there are drawbacks. For VR, the most significant disadvantage is the cost. Because it’s still working its way into mainstream circles (in some countries and sectors it’s already there), the costs associated with purchasing a new VR system can be quite high. In Australia, an Oculus will set you back around $800, while the HTC VIVE will take $1300 off your bank balance.

Also, it can become incredibly addictive, causing users to detach themselves from their local environment. It’s also not as easy as it sounds – some people need proper, fully-fledged training in VR uses to get the most out of it. So, if you’re new to VR, be patient and take your time.

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