traderjoe's Profile

This was a really well-written article on how JetBlue is using machine learning to improve its production and processes. The fact that JetBlue now offers customized offerings of ancillary products is a cool concept that I was completely unaware of. In addition, the improvements to real-time dynamic pricing are not insignificant and I can see more potential progress being made in that realm. In response to your question, the infrastructure and existing distribution channels should be revamped to support these efforts. As long as JetBlue continues to innovate in the realm of travel, it can bring change to the existing infrastructure by working along the chain to push through more innovative offerings based on their machine learning. Since this would bring positive value to add parties involved, I can’t see why this wouldn’t be successful.

This was a really well-written piece on applications of machine learning in the digital fitness space. I find the journey of MyFitnessPal fascinating as it has grown from a start up to one of the biggest players in the digital fitness space. In addition, its partnership with Watson is particularly interesting as it shows a clear interest in R&D in the machine learning arena. In response to your questions, I think that as long as there are appropriate measures taken when collecting user data to keep it anonymous and at the aggregate level, the data can be safely used for its predictive capabilities.

This is a really well-written article on how Nike is incorporating 3D printing into its processes and production. I think that there doesn’t seem to be a reason why additive manufacturing cannot be scaled enough to satisfy consumer demand for Nike, and so Nike should further invest in the technology so as to make progress against its strategy to grow as quickly as it lays out in its direct-to-consumer and customization initiative. I really like your idea of getting mainstream endorsers like famous soccer players to wear the 3D printed shoes to create buzz around the proudct – I think you could also combine social media to generate a lot of publicity and widespread knowledge.

I think that ICON has a great mission and is really making gains with their 3-D printing technology. Since they have cut costs of building houses so greatly by more than two times less, it seems like ICON actually does have the potential of solving the housing problems in the countries like Bangladesh, India, Philippines, etc. that you mentioned. In addition, I think that it has further potential to solve housing crises in urban areas like Hong Kong and Singapore and ameliorate the prohibitively high costs of housing for middle- and lower-class citizens living in those cities. It seems like ICON’s additive manufacturing technology, to your point, is easily scaled but not easily customized. However, I don’t think that matters as much, given that there can always be more expensive customized options that are available for those that are less constrained.

This article is really interesting and timely as the news just came out today that Juul has suspended sales of its flavored e-cigarette pods in retail stores and is discontinuing its social media promotions as teenagers are starting to get more addicted to e-cigiarette smoking. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/health/juul-ecigarettes-vaping-teenagers.html

I think in order for Juul to succeed long-term, it will need to seriously re-think its strategy and obtain a customer base that is older than its current one. Hopefully, it can continue to apply open innovation in its processes and re-position itself in the market.

This is a very interesting article on a very cool company. It is amazing how the growth of League of Legends has resulted in a popular game that may even rival traditional sports. You summarize well how Riot has used open innovation successfully to produce the game from its Blizzard roots. In the long term, I feel like Riot Games should apply its experience with open innovation into new game development and develop other games so that it can better diversify its portfolio of offerings and continue to be a strong competitor to Valve, Blizzard, and Epic Games in the long term. I am also very curious to see how League of Legends’ reliance on live streaming systems will develop and whether there is the opportunity for vertical integration for Riot in this respect.