Prius automatically switches Essay Example for Free

Prius automatically switches Essay There are many reasons why people want a revolutionary car. Some enthusiasts enthuse about scientific and technological advances and want the latest gizmos. Others rebel against fuel price increases, even though fuel is cheaper than it has been for decades. Finally, people are ‘concerned about the environment’. Hoping that all the above was true and looking to grab a technological advantage over other car manufacturers; in 2000 Toyota introduced Prius, their first hybrid car. Prius means ‘to go before’, so is a name that may be very prophetic. The Prius and the Honda Insight are the first in a wave of hybrid family cars coming out ahead of similar vehicles from GM, Ford and Daimler Chrysler. At first glance, the Prius seems to have a lot going for it. It combines a 1. 5 litre, four cylinder petrol engine and a 33-kilowatt electric motor. It comfortably seats five, if the three in the back aren’t too tall or too big and has 0,34 cubic meters of luggage space. The electric motor starts the car and operates at low speeds, using a nickel metal-hydride battery.   Under normal motorway conditions, it should get 28 km per liter. The downside is that the Prius is no muscle car. It also costs about 4,000 euros more than the Toyota Echo, although they are nearly the same car. Of course, getting twice as many kilometers per liter of petrol will help to offset the price differential. Assuming the range and a typical 2002 price of one euro per liter, the Prius owner would have to buy 4,000 liters of petrol, enough fuel for 112,000 km, which could take years. Of course, if prices were to rise drastically, that could change. But even if prices doubled-which is not likely-you’d have to drive more than 50,000 km to make up the initial price difference. The picture gets even gloomier when you realize that no one is going to get the estimated fuel consumption anyway. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has admitted that its testing procedure overstates petrol mileage by as much as 15 per cent. It tests cars on a chassis dynamometer, where the driven wheels turn freely on a set of rotating drums-far from normal driving conditions. In addition, hybrids use regenerative braking to recharge their batteries, with the result that braking during the EPA driving cycle is feeding more energy back into the system, boosting estimated petrol mileage. Although this offers a fuel saving, the overall cost of ownership looks less attractive. Compared with the family ‘Car of the Year 2004’, the conventionally powered Toyota Avensis 1. 8 T3-S, the Prius looks poor value. Although the Prius saves on fuel, its overall running cost comes out higher than that of the equivalent Avensis. The reason is its 25 per cent higher service or contract hire cost. On the brighter side, Toyota and its competitors believe that costs will decrease once production of hybrids begins to yield economies of scale. The benefits of scale would not stop with the producer. For example, a major part of the cost of the car is the nickel metal-hydride batteries. A company such as Panasonic could reduce the cost of producing batteries through research and development, it the market merited such an investment and could further reduce the price of batteries through its own economies of scale. However, realizing that cost reductions are a way off that fuel savings aren’t going to be the key to convincing people to purchase the Prius, car manufacturers have asked for tax incentives to stimulate purchase of clean-fuel and high-mileage cars. Several governments are providing incentives to people to buy hybrid cars. The US government offers $ 2,000 federal income-reduction and the UK government offers reduced car tax on initial purchase. Electric car drivers can also avoid London’s GBP 5 per day Congestion Charge. Are consumers ready for hybrids? Do improved gas mileage and emissions standards affect their buying decision? A glance at car sales in the last 10 years would suggest not. The biggest sales growth was in gas-guzzling 4 x 4s. After all, we rarely saw Range Rovers 10 years ago, now they’re a fairly common sight. People, it seems, think it’s a good idea for their neighbors to drive green machines, not themselves. Actually, when the Prius was introduced, it flew out of dealer’s showrooms. Between July and October 2000, Toyota sold 2,610 Priuses and had difficulty keeping up with demand. By the end of October 2000, the cars were waitlisted until January. Of course, much of that sales success is attributable to Toyota’s clever marketing. Two years before introduction, Toyota began educating consumers about the Prius. The company established a website to distribute information and also sent e-brochures to 40,000 likely buyers just before the introduction. Within two weeks. Toyota sold 1,800 cars based on the email message. In all, Toyota spent â‚ ¬15 million in 2002 promoting the Prius. There were print ads in magazines, but the bulk of the campaign was in television advertising. Ads running before the actual introduction used the tag line ‘A car that sometimes runs on gas power and sometimes runs on electric power, from a company that always runs on brain power. These ads helped to position Toyota as an ‘environmentally concerned’ company and more subtly stressed the technology aspect of the car. After introduction, the ads appealed more to emotion, with tag lines such as ‘ When it sees red, it charges’ – a reference to the car’s recharging at traffic lights. The headline captured the consumer’s attention through ambiguity. Only through focusing on the ad could the consumer learn why the headline was accurate. Again, the appeal is based on the technology of the car. Finally, Toyota took advantage of Earth Day to send out green seed cards shaped like Toyota’s logo to prospective buyers, wrapped some Priuses in green, and gave away cars at Earth Day events. Of course, â‚ ¬15 million is just a drop in the ocean compared to Toyota’s overall marketing budget of â‚ ¬ 200 million in 2002, but Toyota was satisfied with the effectiveness of the campaign, given the ‘newness’ of the car and the need to explain its technology. Much of this success can also be attributed to the narrow targeting of the ads. The company expected the first hybrid car buyers to be ‘techies’ and early adopters (people who are highly likely to buy something new). They were right. Many Prius owners are immersed in thee technology. They flood chat rooms with discussion of the car. The Priusenvy. com website urges owners to ‘Kick some gas’. Owners immediately began tinkering with the car’s computer system. One owner was able to add cruise control (an option not offered by Toyota) by wiring in a few switches in the car’s computer system. The founder of priusenvy. com worked out how to use the car’s dashboard display screen to show files from his laptop, play video games, and took at rear-view images from a video camera pointed out of the back of the car. One Austrian consumer installed a sniffer – a device on the car’s computer network that monitors messages. With the sniffer, he will be able to hook up add- ons such as a MiniDisc Player, an MP3 player, a laptop computer and a TV tuner. In the past, owners using mechanical skills customized cars with paint, lowered bodies, and souped – up engines. In the future, customization may rely on being computer savvy. Even though the Internet was a major part of the Prius launch, Toyota does not sell the car from its website. Buyers go to prius. toyota. com online to pick a color and decide whether they want a CD player and floor mats- the only options available from Toyota. After that, the dealers get involved, but it takes specially trained salespeople to explain and promote the Prius. Consequently, only 75 per cent of Toyota dealers handle the car. Many of them are not happy about the need to train salespeople. And why should they be? Margins are higher on gas-guzzlers, which are also easier to sell. Given dealer reluctance and consumer resistance, why have Toyota and Honda spent so much on their hybrids? While part of the answer is government regulations, a bigger part of the answer is competition. All car manufacturers concede that they will eventually have to move to hybrids to raise petrol mileage and lower emissions, and all of them have plans to do so. Ford, for example, plans to introduce an Escape SUV that will get 17 km/litre. Daimler Chrysler says that 15 per cent of its sport-utility vehicles will be hybrids that will get 20 per cent better fuel efficiency than conventional vehicles. General Motors is betting on hybrid buses and trucks. Toyota hopes, however, that its early entry will be the basis for a system of hybrids from ultra compact ‘minicars’ to luxury saloons, sport-utility vehicles, and even commercial trucks,. The mass market, however, values space, comfort, and power. Although hybrids may have space and comfort, power would appear to be elusive. Without greater power, it will be interesting to see whether consumers, who like speed on those open autobahns and acceleration on alpine roads, will settle for a hybrid. Questions 1. Outline the major macroenvironmental factors-demographic, economic, natural, technological, political and cultural-that have affected the introduction and sales of the Toyota Prius. How has Toyota dealt with each of these factors? 2. Evaluate Toyota’s marketing strategy so far. What has Toyota done well? How might it improve its strategy? 3. In your opinion, what are the advantages of Toyota’s early entry into the hybrid market? What are the disadvantages? Should Toyota have waited- like Ford, GM and Daimler Chrysler? 4. What needs and reasons would drive someone to purchase a â€Å"green† car?

Hamlet’s Gentle Ophelia Essay -- The Tragedy of Hamlet Essays

Hamlet’s Gentle Ophelia  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   William Shakespeare created a gentle little creature in the character of Ophelia in the tragedy Hamlet. Her strange misfortunes, as well as other circumstances, make her life an interesting one to explore in this essay.    Ward and Trent in The Cambridge History of English and American Literature maintain that Ophelia is interesting in herself, aside from her relationship with the hero:    Of Ophelia, and Polonius, and the queen and all the rest, not to mention Hamlet himself (in whose soul it would be absurd to attempt to discover new points here), after this we need not say anything. But it is observable that they are not, as in the case of Coriolanus, interesting merely or mainly for their connection with the hero, but in themselves. (vol.5, pt.1, ch.8, sec.16, no.55)    Helena Faucit (Lady Martin) in On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters reveals the misunderstood character of Ophelia:    My views of Shakespeare's women have been wont to take their shape in the living portraiture of the stage, and not in words. I have, in imagination, lived their lives from the very beginning to the end; and Ophelia, as I have pictured her to myself, is so unlike what I hear and read about her, and have seen represented on the stage, that I can scarcely hope to make any one think of her as I do. It hurts me to hear her spoken of, as she often is, as a weak creature, wanting in truthfulness, in purpose, in force of character, and only interesting when she loses the little wits she had. And yet who can wonder that a character so delicately outlined, and shaded in with touches so fine, should be often gravely misunderstood? (186)    Ophelia enters the play with her ... ...s 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24 .    Pennington, Michael. â€Å"Ophelia: Madness Her Only Safe Haven.† Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. of â€Å"Hamlet†: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996.    Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint of Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981.    Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html No line nos.    Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/215/0816.html      

Lord of the Flies Essay

In society there are leaders for examples Presidents and Prime Ministers. These leaders need to have certain characteristics, which include respect, maintaining order, and to protect the people. When these leaders start to ignore their responsibilities the society starts to get uncontrollable and mistakes will happen. For an example when leaders ignore protection and safety their actions undermine the groups ability to function, also when leaders ignore respect their actions undermine the groups ability to function. All of this happens in the story written by William Golding Lord of the Flies. All in all when leaders ignore their responsibilities their actions undermine the groups ability to function. To begin, when leaders ignore respect their actions undermine the groups ability to function. When Ralph gets assigned Chief by a vote he makes the rules where some of Jacks choir boys will go hunting and some watch the fire so it does not go out. When Ralph and Jack got into a fight about how Jack does not help out the group with their hunting, and how they are just wasting time because they barely catch a pig or any food for the group he disrespects them: â€Å"Boys armed with sticks.† (Golding,127) This shows that Ralph does not really care for them and their skills that they seem to have according to Jack. After Ralph had said this Jack left the group and asked anybody who wanted to join him could do so if they wanted to. After Jack left with his group him and Ralph are always fighting now but one occasion it gets a little out of hand: â€Å"You’re a beast and a swine you bloody, bloody thief!† (Golding,177) After Ralph said this it made Jack furious he stole Piggys glasses for fire for themselves instead of asking for it he just took it. After this was said Jack also killed Piggy. Ralph being leader and ignoring respect undermines the groups ability to function. As leader, Jack also fails to respect people and keep peace. Jack disobeys Ralphs orders to have to choir boys watch the fire because Jack feels that they need the men to hunt and not get rescued. When the fire went out it could of saved them in that time frame as a symbol of help but he decides to disrespect Ralph and not listen to his orders: â€Å"We had to have them in the hunt.† (Golding,69) After Ralph confronted Jack about the fire going out he refused that he was wrong although he knew he disobeyed Ralphs orders, which in the end could of resulted in getting rescued by the boat that drove by. Now Jack in his own group decided that they need to attack Ralphs camp and steal Piggys specs so they can have fire instead of just asking him: â€Å"Ralph remember what we came for. The fire. My specs.† (Golding,161) Jack invaded Ralphs camp here to steal Piggys glasses to have fire. As Jack said that he came for fire and that the specs were his, although the specs are Piggys. Piggy even asked Jack to give back his glasses but he refused and killed Piggy. Jack is just disrespecting Piggy and Ralph here not listening to them at all. Jack refusal to have respect undermines the groups ability to function. Both boys, clearly fail in their responsibility to have respect. Ralph being voted leader should have respect for others and enforce it instead of ignoring it, having thee problems caused the group to fall apart. Jack on the other intentionally disrespected everybody in the group to get what he wanted . In both cases, however, when leaders ignore respect, their actions undermine the groups ability to function. To begin, when leaders ignore protection and safety their actions undermine ability to function. Ralph being the leader of the group tries to keep it safe for everyone to live so he decides that they need to make shelters for the group. Ralph is trying to make the shelters for everyone but no one will help him except Simon because he failed to maintain order from everyone: â€Å"But you like it!†¦You want to hunt! While I-† (Golding,125) Ralph is clearly upset here with Jack of how he wont help them make the shelters while they go out and hunt for pigs. Ralph not being able to control the group early on had failed him now, since no one will listen to him they have a lack of safety due to them not have shelters for them sleep in. Also at camp the boys have to sleep in the dark one night when the fire burned out: â€Å"We cant get any more wood Ralph not in the dark not at night† (Golding, 125) As shown here there is a lack of protection due to not having the fire at night because it resembles hope. That night they had no hope they had fear. The fear of darkness was scaring the littluns and some others to go in the forest to get wood to keep the fire burning. Jack also fails in his responsibility to keep it safe and protected. During the storm when everybody was dancing, Simon was walking to all the boys and Jack thought he was the beast and went to attack him: â€Å"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!† (Golding,141) Jack is not having safety for the group because he is getting them to kill a human who they think is the beast which is not. After they killed Simon they realised how small the beast was and the found out that it was Simon. Jack saying â€Å"Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood! Do him in!† got the group all hyped up and not paying attention who or what the beast was and they just acted and attacked it. After Jack killed Piggy and killed the conch, he attacked Ralph and saying he is the new chief: â€Å"See? See? There isn’t a tribe anymore! The conch is gone†¦ Im Chief† (Golding, 181) Jack is furious here just after he killed Piggy he threatened Ralph that he would do the same. Jack is totally ignoring safety and protection is actually doing the complete opposite ignoring it a killing other people in his tribe. When Jack ignored his responsibility to maintain protection and safety it undermines the groups ability to function. Both boys, clearly fail in keeping the island safe and protected. Ralph tried to protect the group but since he joked around when he was first chief no one took him serious when he needed them to help. Jack totally ignored safety and did the opposite he tortured people, and also killed people. In both cases, however, when leaders ignore their responsibilities to maintain safety and protection it undermines the groups ability to function. In conclusion, when leaders ignore their responsibilities their actions undermine the groups ability to function. When leaders ignore protection and safety their actions undermine the groups ability to function, also when leaders ignore respect their actions undermine the groups ability to function. If all of this happened in our life, we would all become epic fails, just like how everyone did in this book.

Dissociative Identity Disorder - 1221 Words

This research paper is about Dissociative identity disorder (DID) as known as multiple personality disorder. DID in which a person could have many different parts to their personality due to severe stress and an experience of a trauma. A person with DID when the have control over their one identity they cannot remember what they did when their other identities were in control. Most of the time people with DID have two personalities but they could have more than two which is referred as alters. Then it’s a task for the professionals to communicate with the different personalities and have an effective relationship with any personality that causes the violence, destructive behavior and find a way to terminate it. Dissociative identity†¦show more content†¦There was a woman name Eve white, who is a wife and a mother. When she started to face the blinding headaches and occasional blackouts, she was sent to personality psychiatrist Dr. Luther, and she was diagnosed with DI D. Eve White was diagnosed with personality name Eve Black. Eve White had no idea about Eve Black. Eve White was depressed, sad etc, on the other hand, Eve Black was fun loving and wild women. After Eve White’s husband discovers this disorder in Eve White, he abandons Eve White and their daughter, Bonnie. Eve White was sent to asylum when Eve Black attempted to Dissociative Identity Disorder 5 kill Eve White’s daughter. Eve White had no idea about this incidence. As time goes on, Eve White was diagnosed with third personality known as, Jane. Jane was the only personality that knew everything that was happening with Eve White and Eve Black. After discovering third personality, Eve White marries a man name Earl; she met him when Eve White was playing Jane. So we can see DID can come in many different Phases, so we can’t really predict what happens to the person till it actually happens. Also one of the famous movies Fight Club is a very good example of dissociative identity disorder. In the movie the main character is tired of his different daily routines and suffers from insomnia. He becomes friend with Tyler a soap salesmen on the plane coming back from a business meeting. After meeting Tyler again at a bar the mainShow MoreRelatedDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Disorder )1040 Words   |  5 PagesDissoci ative Identity Disorder Dissociative identity disorder, formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental illness that is greatly misunderstood, much like many other mental illnesses. Nicholas Spanos, Professor of Psychology, hypothesized Multiple Personality Disorder as a defense against childhood trauma that creates â€Å"dissociation† or a split mental state. The trauma sustained during childhood is so substantial, that the individual creates different identities to cope with itRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Disorder )1194 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder is a disorder distinguished by the existence of two or more distinct personality states. It is also known as DID or Multiple Personality Disorder. It is very rare, with only 20,000 to 200,000 known US cases per year. Currently, there is no known cure, but treatment can sometimes help. Many believe that DID can be caused by a significant trauma and is used as a coping mechanism to help avoid bad memories. The disorders most often form in kids victim to long-term physicalRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder970 Words   |  4 Pages Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a severe condition in which two or more dissimilar identities, or character states, are present and alternately take control of an individual. The person experiences memory loss that is vaguely extensive to be explained as common forgetfulness. These symptoms are not taken in consideration for by seizures, substance abuse or any other medical conditions. Description of DID: Symptoms: Read MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2780 Words   |  12 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Imagine waking up in a new house, town, city, even state and not knowing how you got there. Now add onto that thought of forgetting almost a year of your life because someone else, or something, has taken over your body. That is just a look into dissociative disorders in general. Dissociative Disorders are ‘extreme distortions in perception and memory† (Terwilliger 2013). Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), or previously known as Multiple Personality Disorder, isRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2296 Words   |  9 Pagesdefines dissociative identity disorder (DID) as the occurrence of a minimum of two different personalities and maybe more than two. It also clarifies that the switching between the distinct personalities can be observed by the individual who is suffering from dissociative identity disorder or witnessed by others. (Barlow, 2014, P. 1). This disorder used to be known as multiple personality disorder, which is more recognized and understood to peop le without a psychology background. This disorder can beRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder : Dissociative Identification Disorder1485 Words   |  6 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Dissociative Identity Disorder is a mental disorder where an individual experiences two or more distinct personalities. When an individual is diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, one personality has dominant control of an individual. This personality controls how a person may act and how they live everyday life. A person diagnosed with this disease may or may not be aware of their alternate personalities. Each personality is contrasting of each other withRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder2158 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"Dissociative Identity Disorder† Through out the years there has been many disorders that continue to be diagnosed on people, many can be difficult to deal with. Some of these disorders can be uncontrollable and can make it harder on the patients who are trying to get better. Disorders are not sicknesses that can be cured and gone with a couple of doses of medicine, disorders are serious problems a person has to deal with usually if not for a large amount of time, it can be every day for the restRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder1030 Words   |  5 PagesDissociative Identity Disorder Defining what is abnormal is not necessarily easy. There are many different criteria to determine what exactly is normal and what is abnormal. According to Ciccarelli and White (2012) as early as 3000 B.C.E. there have been human skulls found with holes in them. Archaeologists suspect this was caused because of the treatments they had years ago such as â€Å"trepanning†. Trepanning is done nowadays as well to remove extra fluids from the brain, as for years ago doctors didRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder ( Dissociative Personality )1254 Words   |  6 PagesDissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple personality disorder) is thought to be a complex mental condition that is likely brought on by numerous variables, including serious injury amid early adolescence generally compelling, repetitive physical, sexual, or psychological mistreatment. The greater part of us have encountered mild dissociation, which resemble wandering off in fantasy land or losing all sense of direction at the time while taking a shot at an undertaking. In anyRead MoreDissociative Identity Disorder1678 Words   |  7 PagesDissociation is defined as â€Å"a mental process, which produces a lack of connection in a person s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, or sense of identity† (Grohol, 2016). The Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a severe condition in which two or more separate, distinct identities or personality states are present in an individual. In other words, a person has, what seems like, actual distinct and contrasting people in their head and these â€Å"alters† are able to take control of an individual’s