Newspapers / Elon University Student Newspaper / Nov. 11, 2009, edition 1 / Page 15
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THE PENDULUM STYLE connecting PEOPLE to PRODUCTS Inventor of USB flash drive and business professor shares his story ALEX TRICE | Photographer Shimon Shmueli, an adjunct business administration professor at Elon, invented the USB flash drive 10 years ago. Rebecca Smith Senior Reporter For college students, the USB flash drive is a way of life. For Shimon Shmueli, it is a product of his life. Ten years ago, Shmueli invented the USB flash drive. But he is much more than an inventor. He is also a marketer, designer, manager, storyteller, thinker, strategist and adjunct business administration professor at Elon University. When he first moved to the United States, he worked as a service manager for a small medical company. While the job paid well, Shmueli said it was “lousy.” He found a new job at IBM research labs and worked there for three years, but said he wasn’t happy because something was missing. “Professional success is a combination of two things: personality and attitude,” Shmueli said. “I did not have the personality for the job. I am more of an extrovert, so 1 went to school to get my MBA in marketing.” Afterward he started working for marketing at IBM, as the worldwide product manager for the ThinkPad line of consumer notebooks. Responsible for consumer products, he had to figure out what people needed and what people looked for in a product. This job allowed him to interact with people because of his knowledge of technology. “I was at Borders bookstore and saw someone using the ThinkPad," Shmueli said. “There is nothing like the satisfaction from seeing someone using something that you made.” While at IBM, Shmueli created the USB flash drive. The patent was filed in September 2009. While the history of the product is unclear, an IBM invention disclosure by Shmueli is the earliest document to describe only the USB flash drive. IBM's DiskOnKey, originating from Shumeli’s idea, was the first of its kind to sell in late 2000. Shmueli thought USB flash drives should be more than just storage space. He tried to persuade IBM of this idea, but ultimately he found KeyNetica, where he worked further with the USB flash drive. WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 11. 2009 // PAGE 15 It took the average consumer three >ears to start using and understanding flash drives. .At first, consumers did not appreciate the convenience of the drive, he said. “Sometimes people just don’t understand," Shmueli said. “You can have the greatest product, but it could be slow to gain popularity because of human interest or the lack thereof. For example, when the camera phone came out, I did not understand why anyone would want that. But now I realize it is very useful.” Shmueli gradually became a professor. Professors at different schools would ask him to come speak to their classes and he was energized by the curiosity of the students. “I consider myself always a teacher and always a student,” Shmueli said. “1 enjoy sharing my stories and my knowledge, and I love being around people that I can learn from. I think the best way to learn a lot is to teach.” He uses the stories of his innovations in class to teach students about product development. Shumueli said he tries to help students understand marketing is all about humans. For example, in one of his classes, students are marketing scooters and he challenged them to truly understand the intended consumer. His class said humans see cars as a status symbol, and they have an emotional attachment to cars. “I tell my students to study humans and to listen,” Shmueli said. “You need to try and understand humanity in a deep way. Everything else can be learned. The difference between good marketing and not-so-good marketing is the ability to understand people in a visceral and emotional way. Most products fail not because of the technology or the engineer, but because it doesn’t address real human needs." This fall was the lOth anniversary of the USB flash drive, and as a way to celebrate, Shmueli co-designed a new flash drive he said is “the best one yet.” He will not divulge what new characteristics this product entails, but he said he hopes consumers will not take three years to appreciate the latest version of his work. [I free iPhone Apps] Elon explores student support groups to help with transition to college Kassondra Cloos Reporter Even though student support groups that help students adjust to college have been established at other universities for decades — some, such as Harvard, hosting as many as 18 groups — this is the first year for such groups at Elon. “When I taught Elon 101,1 found a lot of students having trouble facilitating to college life,” Sctid Christine Gainey, Elon’s group facilitator. Although she said Elon 101 does an excellent job of helping new freshmen transition to college, sometimes students need more. Unlike the “family" Elon 101 creates, Gainey said groups will offer “a little more of what counselors do — in-depth support.” Most of the difficulty students have with transitioning, she said, has to do with letting go of the past, especially letting go of how they thought college would be. “I tried to make a list of all the changes that students undergo when transitioning to college, but I found that it could go on for pages and pages,” Gainey said. A new student transition group has met three times this semester to discuss the challenges of roommates, friendsandnewareas,but continuation of the meetings will be contingent upon student need, as there has not yet been an overwhelming response. "The groups are still in the early stages,” Gainey said. “Probably three to four dozen students know that they exist." She said marketing and publicizing the groups are currently' the greatest challenge, and she said she hopes to soon have a list of group sessions available on Counseling Services’ Web site. Gainey said she is particularly e.xcited about a new group regarding relationships. I tried to make a list of all the changes that students undergo when transitioning to college, but I found that it could go on for pages and pages. - Christine Gainey GROUP FACILITATOR “The No. 1 thing that brings students in (to Counseling Services) is when they’re having problems with relationships," Gainey said. “This group will focus on skill building, preventing problems before they start and romantic involvement, including when to say yes and setting boundaries.” Gainey said many students are often scared or embarrassed to ask for help when they need it, but she advises students to realize that “most people could use a little bit of help now and then.” She also said students “should take the risk of trying things out, even more than once.” There has already been an informational session for students who would like to learn how to support friends with eating disorders, and Gainey said she hopes to hold more sessions like that in the near future. In the meantime, Gainey welcomes any questions or suggestions that can help Counseling Services better meet student needs. The group meets are at 8:30 p.m. on Mondays in Oaks 203. For more information, call Counseling Services at (336) 278-7280. Lauren Townsend Reporter Apple offers 100,000 different applications in 20 categories for the iPhone and iPod touch. The Pendulum has narrowed down the best free ones to download: 10. Use Your Handwriting — This application is a to-do list that allows iPhone users to replicate their own handwriting using their index finger as a pen. Users can easily switch between lists by shaking the phone or make an item on the list high priority with the touch of a finger. They can also cross out an item by striking through it. This application is easy to use and great for those who like to use their own handwriting instead of typeface. There is no space limit, and it allows several different categories of lists. 9. Eventful — Eventful takes a user’s location, and with a quick registration and preference process, compiles a list of events and venues in the area. While it recognizes big events around Greensboro, it doesn’t allowusers to enter their own locations and does not include Elon as an available city. It also misses smaller Greensboro venues like Greene Street Club where bands like Forever the Sickest Kids and The Rocket Summer are playing in the next few weeks. 8. The Weather Channel — The Weather Channel application takes a user’s current location and gives the temperature, wind speed and direction, humidity, UV index, visibility and time of sunrise and sunset. Users can switch between current weather conditions, hourly conditions, a 36-hour forecast and a 10-day forecast. This application is perfect for users unsure what to wear for the day. 7. Stanza — Stanza is perfect for users who enjoy reading but don’t have the space to carry books everywhere. Stanza offers an online catalog of free books users can download and read with the application. The catalog links to e-book retailers, where users can buy e-books for an average cost of $8. The application has a program users can download to their computers to upload their own e-books to their iPhones. The formatting does not always translate correctly when personal e-books are added to the Stanza library, but it still offers a great way to read books without carrying them around, even with the limited selection of free books. 6. PhotoShop.com Mobile — Users can open any picture they have stored on their iPhone for editing, giving them the ability to crop photos, ac^ust exposure, saturation and tint, make the photo black and white and play with effects ranging from adding a border to adding a vignette. Edited photos can be saved to the iPhone or uploaded to PhotoShop.com, so it can be located from any computer. 5. iheartradio — This application is perfect for users who are traveling, or just Elon students missing hometown radio stations. Users can search stations by location and genre, mark stations as favorites and tag songs so they can be reminded to buy them later. With iheartradio, users can listen to any station in the world and discover new music with the application’s large variety. 4. Facebook — Facebook for iPhone allows any user to update or check profiles on the go. Facebook mobile allows users to access their news feed, notifications and requests, as well as change their own profile pictures and Facebook chat. 3. Pandora — All that’s required for the Pandora application is a free Pandora account, which allows users to create their own stations based on artists and songs they enjoy. Pandora will play music similar to what the user has chosen on custom “radio” stations. If users are tired of listening to their own music or don’t have the storage space on their iPhone to hold every song they like, the Pandora application provides extra music. 2. Remote — Remote allows users to sync their iPhone with their iTunes library and to control playlists from across the room. This application works with PCs and Macs to turn the iPhone into a remote for the user’s computer, and it allows users to access their iTunes with their iPhone as long as both are connected to the same wireless connection. 1. Bump — Bump allows users to share contacts, e-mails and photos with each other simply by bumping hands while holding the iPhone. The light bump is enough for the iPhone to get the signal to transfer files. This is great for users who want to share photos and contacts with friends.
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