What comes to mind when you want to relax at home and watch something on your phone or TV? Do you immediately turn to cable channels or do you turn to your “go-to” streaming service? Netflix is one of the major online streaming businesses of the 21st century. Next, to Hulu, Prime Videos (Amazon), and on-demand mediums like HBO Go, Netflix is arguably the most popular among customers. According to their recent numbers, they attracted an additional six million paid members in the past three months. Despite their growing success and appeal to customers, shareholders and analyst are growing concerned with the increasing debt Netflix adds to their bill.

Jeff Sommer from the New York Times addresses this concern in his article, claiming that the streaming service is getting itself into more debt than their profiting. “[Netflix]…cash-flow statement indicates that in the 12 months…spent $11.7 billion on new content. But its…total revenues were $14.9 billion, leaving it only about $3.2 billion to pay for marketing and the rest of its operations.” These numbers aren’t reassuring to shareholders. Even with their $3.2 billion left for operations, Netflix’s ambitious customer-centered strategy is expected to raise their already high expenses. However, the company is expected to provide a premium streaming service from customers which only encourages Netflix to continually spend more. In the long run, their excessive costs would mean the end of the company. A New York University finance professor, Aswath Damodaran, who closely examined Netflix’s profits and expenses, stated, “I don’t see how it is going to work out.”

As a customer and daily user of Netflix, I personally don’t mind the customer-centered culture they present. I’m usually excited to see the new title releases each month in their promotional videos. I’ve even taken interest in exploring their own “Netflix Originals.” However, after reading the risks that Netflix is taking, I’m concerned about the company’s well-being as well. Aside from the article, I personally know that Netflix recently decided to terminate their Netflix Marvel Heroes. Moreover, Disney is planning on creating their own digital streaming service in 2019 which will take all Walt Disney content such as Disney original movies and shows, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios movies from Netflix. The Disney content was a form of customer appeal for customers to join the streaming service. I think that Netflix can slow down on releasing self-created content and focus more on the time being on third party shows and movies to reduce their company costs.

Since the last the post is regarded the new Facebook scandal, this post will continue in analyzing past and present technology-based company scandals. At the end of September, the cab-like transportation company, Uber, officially ended 2016 violated data laws with a settlement in late September of 2018. The 2016 hack caused controversy as Uber waited a year to disclose the hack to the general public resulting in the names, email addresses, and phone numbers of 57 million people to be leaked. Additionally, Uber paid the hackers $100,000 to keep the incident from becoming public. After a month of the cover-up, an Uber chief executive opened an investigation.

After the opening of the investigation, Uber became embroiled in a company-wide scandal. This led to the nearly two-year courtroom battle which eventually ended in a settlement of $148 million dollars. In addition to the settlement, Uber is being forced to change their company culture to promote more ethical practices. A program will be available for employees to flag or file any suspicious activity. In addition, the company is will undergo regular audits in their security practices by a third party auditor.

I didn’t know about the Uber scandal in 2016 until I found this article discussing the settlement for the two-year-old cover-up. I assume that I didn’t use Uber, Lyft, or anything similar until this year. Even as an occasional user, I was disturbed to find that Uber attempted to cover-up their privacy hacks for as long as they did. I found it even more troubling that they tried paying off their own hackers so that they could avoid a legal and public embarrassment. It’s shocking to see that more and more companies that are used frequently in our society becoming victims of privacy or data hacks. All the while trying to cover up the leaks which stir even more controversy. However, it’s a great reminder for all users of any system in which their personal information is attached to be cautious of the content they push or companies they support.

Privacy is an important aspect of feeling secure. Blinds, specific screen protectors, and passwords were developed to protect people’s daily lives or personal information. In an age which personal information is stored online and posting consistently on social networking sites is the norm, it’s becoming more demanding from users that their information is protected. Unfortunately, Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, has been under the scrutiny of the media and by the law in early 2018. The “Facebook – Cambridge Analytica Scandal” concerned Facebook users as up to 87 million people’s data, including someone’s hometown, sex, and name, was inappropriately shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. Zuckerberg testified before the US House Commerce Committee.

Now, Facebook is under the public eye again in late September in the wake of a breach of data from hackers. According to an article, written by the New York Times, 50 million users’ data is under threat of their information being exposed. “The breach, which was discovered this week, was the largest in the company’s 14-year history.” The article warns the ill-timing of the hack since Facebook was just under attack from the public early in the year, and the company image. In addition to Facebook, people’s information and accounts with Spotify and Instagram are at risk. The supposed three weak links within Facebook’s software that allowed the hack since then has been secured. Facebook is now under investigation again. New York Times calls into attention the lack news covered regarding the investigation on Facebook’s newsfeed, despite other social media outlets such as Twitter and Snapchat commenting on the situation.

In knowing about the original scandal, I decided not to think too much into it. I usually wait on reading upon company scandals into great detail, unless the scandal is of an immediate threat to me, until well after the countless news reports and articles. But in a brief look in the news in recent technology articles, I couldn’t ignore the articles investigating the company. It’s unfortunate to think that a company that connects 2 billion users was hacked that shared people’s data. It’s concerning as I personally use the social networking platform to maintain contact with my distanced family. Despite the encourage fixed weak links in their software, the article and myself would agree to check their accounts and report suspicious activity.

While phones and other devices come out with cutting-edge technology every year such as facial recognition, biometric scanners, and sharper displays, they face the inevitable problem of needing to be charged again. That doesn’t stop companies such as Samsung, Apple, and LG to develop a faster form of charging. Samsung released their “Fast Charging” capabilities in conjunction with the release of their Samsung Galaxy S6 in 2015, which Samsung claimed a 10-minute charging session would last 4 hours of usage. Then in 2017, Samsung a wireless charger with the “fast charge” functionality. Despite, being slightly beneficial as phone don’t have to be manually plugged in a night and the phone can just be set down, the wireless charging is limited. A cord still has to be connected to the wireless base for any charging to take place. Emerging technology, however, is projecting that truly wireless charging will soon become reality.

Wi-Charge Technology is the newest development in wireless charging that is accurately wireless. According to Jim McGregor, who investigated the progress of charging technology in his article, charging can be done through an IR beam attached to the ceiling (similar to the connection between a remote control and a tv) up to three meters within a room. Up to three devices within the range will charge as if the device is charged with a traditional wire. There is another limitation Wi-Charge warns. Anything that can obstruct the beam from the device will stop and charging from happening. However, having the beam in a neutral room with little obstacles would be a major step in forward-thinking technology. It’ better, McGregor claims, than wireless charging today which still needs to be attached to a wire and is most efficient when the phone is placed in a specific way. Wi-Charge’s idea of wireless charging has been officially approved by the FDA in the United States as well as several countries compliance with Safety Standard compliance and are continually developing this concept.

If Wi-Charge’s is able to effectively develop this technology and make it usable for all consumers will be a great step in advanced products. I found myself interested in the idea of not having to plug in my phone every night and just setting it on a designated base can get tedious. I would rather change my phone and my laptop just by walking in a room and not having to think about having wires and outlets available. This technology can be especially helpful in a college setting, where students heavily rely on the use of their laptops and phones to successfully complete their coursework. Despite the company self-producing their own standard wireless chargers we’re familiar with, they have the motivation as a relatively unknown business to change how we charge our devices. I thought that this kind of innovative thinking was still further away from our reality, it’s exciting to see that a company is striving to achieve that level of technology is inspiring.