THE NOT SO-SMARTPHONES

Referring to last editions debate on Android vs Apple, I began reflecting on whose side am I really on. It didnt take long for me to figure it out, not because I own both but because I CHOOSE to own neither. I am often faced with the question of the age of my NOKIA 5330 phone and subsequently mine to be a satisfied owner of such an outdated equipment. And, I myself often wonder if I belong to this age at all. The truth of the matter is that while my dear friends and acquaintances invest every second of their existence ( how else would they derive the value that the PRICE ensured ) in exchanging apps, games or just maintaining their machinery, Id rather lock my phone up in the closet once I am done talking . Smartphones dont attract me for reasons more than one: 1. The gadgetory control of an equipment which goes way beyond its USE disturbs me. The GPS on my phone might make it smart but learning how to read a 3D map makes ME smart. The fact that smartphones can do all of that and more is commendable and so is the hardwork and skill put in by designers praiseworthy , but for me it ends there. 2. I recently heard of a feature where if I look at a contact/image long enough, my SMART phone initiates a call to that person. How are you ever going to stop the unmanageable dialing if you pass into daydreaming is hard to fathom. It is these highly sensitive options that discourage me from being in the vicinity of smartphones. The subjectivity/sensitivity of human beings cant be beaten by smartphones/ thus I foresee a weak sustainability for these devices. 3. The idea of carrying a thing worth so much , all the time would confuse me at times of danger or distress( wouldnt know who/what to save first, me or my phone) The battle of android vs apple in the previous edition, I fail to see what is it that each boast of , Apples SIRI assistant that you can almost never use in India even if you dig up some unnecessary need to do so, or the Androids open source that many of use wont even know how to work around/customize. I live with smartphone users, eat , watch and perform the same activities in possession of my Nokia 5330 all this while. Its hard to accept the fact for smartphoners that they hardly ever put any of the features that they boast of to use. Having said all that I have , I would still stick to the old adage to each his own. While in my life , m y lifestyle, I havent found a need for a smartphone, you might need this embellishment.

SAS GLOSSARY UPLIFT MODELING

For a specific business problem we tried to employ the technique of uplift modeling to measure incremental propensity for a subscriber to add a line , given a marketing campaign. Uplift modeling predicts the change in purchase probability, attrition probability etc. that results from a marketing action such as email, tele-calling etc. It helps identify the best segments to target, and thus maximize ROI

Uplift Model Models behavior of person subject to some influence

Response Model Models the change in behavior that results when a person is subject to an influence. typically, how much more that person spends, how much less likely (s)he is to leave etc. Includes control group in the modeling base itself P (purchase | treatment) P (purchase | no treatment)

Use control groups ONLY for measuring difference in response rate during post campaign analysis P (purchase | treatment)

Model Performance Metrics Unlike propensity models, capture rate cannot be used to determine uplift model performance since subs with high propensity to add but low incremental propensity to add will move towards bottom deciles.This would also present challenges when tracking the models decay over time. Two other metrics are available for calculating model performance

Incremental Event Rate Per Decile : Event Rate of Treated Population Event Rate of Control Population Event Rate of Representative Population : i. Since subs with high propensity to add but low incremental propensity to add will move towards bottom deciles, events in these deciles also need to be included for calculating event rate of the population. A representative popn can be created by taking the treated subs from the top 3/4 deciles and control subs from the bottom 7/6 deciles This approach is an attempt to replicate an actual marketing campaign scenario, where top 3 deciles are targeted and the other events would be taken from the control population

ii.

iii.

Building an uplift model Method1 Build separate models on treated and control group. Final score is difference between scores from two different equations. Flaws : No interaction between treated and control , drivers of uplift and response can be different, more prone to errors. Method2 Build single model with treated and control modeled together. A single equation is tweaked to generate separate scores for control and treated the difference is the final score. Better technique because treated and control are modeled together, several interactions are created to between the two to capture changes in behaviour

7 THINGS YOU WOULD NOT KNOW ABOUT MARK ZUCKERBERG

1) Mark Zuckerberg is red-green color-blind, which is part of the reason why the Facebook we know today is blue! 2) Being able to read and write in five different languages English, Hebrew, Latin, French, and Ancient Greek means that Mark will never have to worry about blessing a sneeze, no matter what country hes in. 3) As a child, Mark had his Bar Mitzvah in the theme of a Star Wars party. Became a man, he did. 4) It must be hard work being the brains behind the most popular social network in the world. Mark claims he doesnt own a television! 5) Zuckerberg hates public speaking, which is probably a bad thing, considering his job involves a lot of public speaking. Maybe a career as a postman is on the cards? 6) Social networking in 1996! Mark created ZuckNet an instant messenger service on an Atari BASIC, which his family used to communicate. 7) Zuckerberg also invented an automatic playlist creator while in high school, rejecting seven-figure bids in order to distribute it for free. Great business sense, that lad.

PIC(K) OF THE QUARTER

While wearing this very silly helmet, a plain cookie can taste like an almond cookie, or anything else you can imagine. You can view this as a horrifying piece of technology that is going to destroy what it means to be human. It can be thought of as a genius cure to obesity problem: Put on your tasting helmet and you can make an otherwise bland bowl of healthy tomato-lettuce sandwich taste just like that supersized McDonald's Value Meal that one craves. (Aug 2011).