Category: Personal Finance

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Killer Apps Explained – History, Examples, Impacts & Future


 
Can you imagine a future where computers monitor humans from birth, predict sickness, and help us heal faster? Or a time when chronically ill or elderly persons can live at home and be monitored by instruments that a home nurse or caregiver can use?
 
Judith Donath, a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, predicts that individual healthy diets based on each person’s unique genetics, locations, and activities are going to be common in the future, while drugstores will have booths that function as remote examining, treatment, and simple surgery rooms. In 1950, few could imagine the impact computers would have on everyday life in the year 2000. Today, everyone has a mobile phone, email has replaced physical letters, and online markets are challenging the economics of brick-and-mortar retailers.

The Emergence of Killer Applications (Apps)

Merriam-Webster defines “killer app” as “a computer application of such great value or popularity that it assures the success of the technology with which it is associated.” PC Magazine calls it “the first of a new breed.” To a layman, a killer app is a computer application that saves money, time, or energy, makes the user safer, or enhances the experiences of the user to the degree that it must be acquired and used.
 
The 1979 appearance of the first killer app, VisiCalc, ignited widespread business and personal use by consumers – use that couldn’t have been conceived of in the early 1940s when computers were first developed. According to the Computer History Museum, computer use in its initial stages was limited to research laboratories, large companies, and the Federal Government.
 
Personal computers (PCs) appeared in the early 1970s with the introduction of the microprocessor, integrated circuit boards, and solid state memory. The first commercially accepted PCs (Apple II, PET 2000, and TRS-80) were introduced in 1977 but remained niche products for the scientific community and hobbyists. According to a 1983 article in InfoWorld, only a half-million microcomputers were in place in 1980, and they were primarily used to play simple electronic games.
 
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9 Easy Ways to Make Housing More Affordable


Shelter is one of our basic human needs. A home protects us from the elements and predators, provides a sense of well-being and intimacy, and secures our social status in the community. In many ways, a house or shelter represents and defines the quality of life we experience.
 
Unfortunately, housing costs are the single greatest expense for an average family, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In 2015, housing costs represented 19.1% of total household expenditures in 2015. That figure doesn’t even include related expenses including property taxes, insurance, or utilities.
 
For generations, purchasing a home was considered almost risk-free, the value of the home certain to grow over time. Many Americans discovered in the 2008-2009 recession that home prices could decline. According to the National Center of Policy Analysis, more American families lost their homes in 2008 (10 million) than in the 1930s Depression and Dust Bowl.
 
Affordability should be the primary factor in determining the place and size of your home. Here are some actionable tips to help keep your costs down.

Reducing Your Major Housing Costs

Controlling your housing costs is essential if you want to live within your means. The following tips will help you manage the expense.
 
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10 Ways to Minimize Your Transportation Costs and Save Money


Whatever your beliefs, owning and operating an automobile is expensive. For those who might be thinking about giving up their vehicles entirely, consider the pros and cons of living without a car. Cutting the strings of ownership is easier if you live in one of the ten best cities to live without a car.
 
For most Americans, transportation costs are a significant part of everyone’s budget. Few people are fortunate enough to live within walking distance to work, shops, schools, and churches. According to the BLS, transportation costs run between 15% to 20% of a household budget. But there are a few tricks you can use to cut down on transportation expenses.

How to Save on Your Transportation Costs

1. Walk When Possible


Someone once said a pedestrian is a person who just parked their car. It is, unfortunately, true that Americans are more likely to drive a car than walk, even for short distances. Research from the University of Glasgow suggests most people of all ages prefer to drive any distance greater than would be covered by a 15-minute walk, especially if they own an automobile and parking is readily available. According to a National Household Travel Survey, the majority of trips under a mile are in an automobile.
 
Walking is available to everyone in most environments. In addition to saving money on automobile trips, walking is one of the easiest and most inexpensive methods to achieve good health. Tom Hodgkinson, a British writer and journalist, claims the biggest benefit of walking is the freedom to think: “When walking, you see things that you miss in a motor car or on the train. You give your mind space to ponder.”
 
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How Warren Buffett Makes Decisions – The Secret to His Investing Success

Warren Buffett is considered by many to be the most successful stock investor ever. Despite the occasional mistake, Buffett’s investing strategies are unrivaled. In 1956, at age 26, his net worth was estimated at $140,000. MarketWatch estimated his net worth at the end of 2016 to be $73.1 billion, an astounding compound annual growth rate of 24.5%. By contrast, the S&P 500 has grown at an average rate of 6.79% and most mutual funds have failed to equal the annual S&P 500 return consistently.

Buffett has achieved these returns while most of his competition failed. According to John Bogle, one of the founders and former Chairman of The Vanguard Group, “The evidence is compelling that equity fund returns lag the stock market by a substantial amount, largely accounted for by cost, and that fund investor returns lag fund returns by a substantial amount, largely accounted for by counterproductive market timing and fund selection.”

Since the evidence shows that Buffet has been an exceptional investor, market observers and psychologists have searched for an explanation to his success. Why has Warren Buffett achieved extraordinary gains compared to his peers? What is his secret?

A Long-Term Perspective

Do you know anyone who has owned the same stock for 20 years? Warren Buffett has held three stocks —Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, and American Express—for more than 20 years. He has owned one stock—Moody’s—for 15 years, and three other stocks—Proctor & Gamble, Wal-Mart, and U.S. Bancorp—for over a decade.

To be sure, Mr. Buffett’s 50-year track record is not perfect, as he has pointed out from time to time:
 
Berkshire Hathaway: Pique at CEO Seabird Stanton motivated his takeover of the failing textile company. Buffett later admitted the purchase was “the dumbest stock I ever bought.”
 
Energy Future Holding: Buffett lost a billion dollars in bonds of the bankrupt Texas electric utility. He admitted he made a huge mistake not consulting his long-term business partner Charlie Munger before closing the purchase: “I would be unwilling to share the credit for my decision to invest with anyone else. That was just a mistake – a significant mistake.”
 
Wal-Mart: At the 2003 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Buffet admitted his attempt to time the market had backfired: “We bought a little, and it moved up a little, and I thought maybe it would come back. That thumb-sucking has cost us in the current area of $10 billion.”
 
Even with these mistakes, Buffett has focused on making big bets that he intends to hold for decades to come. A longer time horizon has allowed him to take advantage of opportunities few others have the patience for. But how has he been able to make these successful bets in the first place?
 
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