Crocodile Tears

Inside the quirky world of Snapchat

by Alanna Petroff

February 3, 2017: 12:04 PM

Link : http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/03/technology/snapchat-ipo-filing/index.html

The world inside Snapchat is even quirkier than you'd expect.

*quirk : (사람의 성격에서)별남 점; 기벽

*quirky : 꾀바른, 변덕스러운

Snap -- as Snapchat's parent company is known -- field a 244-page document Thursday afternoon, detailing its plans to go public. It revealed some delightful and strange insights into the young firm.

Power at the top

The company's cofounders -- CEO Evan Spiegel and chief technology officer Robert Murphy  -- have set themselves up to have iron-fisted control over the company.

* cofounder : 공동 창설[창립]자

* set up (to start) sth : 판을 벌이다

Regular investors will have no voting rights, which is highly unusual. The two cofounders will have the majority of the voting shares, which gives them control over matters like executive pay and potential mergers.

* majority of : 다수의

* voting : 투표, 선거

* voting share : 주식

Additionally, these special voting right will continue to be valid for nine months after the death of either Spiegel or Murphy. So it's possible that Spiegel's fiance -- supermodel Miranda Kerr -- could inherit his stake in the business and wield a significant amount of power over Snapchat's fate.

*stake : 지분

*wield : (권력, 권위 등을)행사하다

Snap declined to comment beyond what was in its filing.

Security concerns

The company is intent on keeping Spiegel alive and well. Snap spent $890,339 on his personal security last year, nearly three times what it spent in 2015.

* intent : 강한 관심[흥미]을 보이는, 몰두[열중]하는

Meanwhile, his salary was just north of $500,000 and his bonus for the year was a cool $1 million.

* north of ~ : <금액이>(얼마)이상

* a cool $1 million : 자그마치 백만 달러

Murphy makes $250,000 a year, but the document didn't mention a bonus.

Chief strategy officer Imran Khan received about $5.5 million in total compensation -- most of it from a massive bonus.

Office politics

Snap listed a number of risk factors that that could hurt the company's growth, which is normal in a filing.

* a number of = many : 많은

* a number of + 복수명사 + 복수동사

* the number of : ~의 숫자

* the number of + 복수명사 + 단수동사

But one risk was quirky. It warned that its lack of a designated headquarters may "negatively affect employee morale." Snap is based in Venice, California, but its offices are spread throughout the city, a setup the company said may limit social interaction and oversight of employees.

* morale : 사기, 의욕

* oversight : (잊어버리거나 못 보고 지나쳐서 생긴)실수, 간과

Ad dependency

The vast majority of the company's sales comes from advertising, and Snap saw advertising revenue grow more than sixfold in 2016 compared to 2015.

* vast : (범위, 크기, 양 등이)어마어마한[방대한/막대한]

* -fold : ~배(ex> sixfold : 6배)

But that still wasn't enough to turn a profit -- it lost %515 million last year.

"We have incurred operating losses in the past, expect to incur operating losses in the future, and may never achieve or maintain profitability," the firm warned.

* incur : (좋지 못한 상황을[에])초래하다[처하게 되다]

Value of a Snapchatter

The company made just over $1 per user last year, which was a big improvement compared to 2015 when it made $0.31 per user.

North American users are particularly valuable. They're worth $2.15 per year.

Poop

The company got really personal when it talked about poop in the filing.

Snap said that people tend to "eat, sleep and poop" with their smartphones, which is an asset for advertisers who want constant access to its audience.

The firm said it wants to "serve advertisements that are personal and respectful of context."

Lowe's turns to virtual reality for home improvement

Matt McFarland

March 7, 2017. 9:07 AM ET

link : http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/07/technology/lowes-virtual-reality/index.html

Lowe's is betting virtual reality can help with your latest project around the house.

Lowe's : 로우스 는 미국의 주택 개량/개선 용품 및 기기 소매점 체인 업체이다. 

The home improvement giant is launching a virtual reality experience in one of its stores to give customers hands-on practice with a home improvement project. Lowe's may eventually create more VR tutorials and roll them out to more locations.

*hands-on : (주로 명사 앞에 씀)(말만 하지 않고)직접 해보는

Initially, customers at a Massachusetts store will get a lesson in how to tile a bathroom. A customer will put on a VR headset, be placed in a virtual room, and use an HTC Vive hand controller to simulate mixing mortar and placing tile. Eventually, a broader range of tutorials may be offered in all Lowe's stores. 

*a lesson in : ~을 가르침(give/teach a lesson[lessons] in ~

*HTC Vive : 가상현실 HMD기기와, 이를 개발하는 회사의 명칭(더보기)

*mortar : 모르타르, 회반죽

*broad : (폭이)넓은

*a broader range of ~ : 다양하고 폭넓은

In a trial run, Lowe's found that customers had a 36% better recall of how to complete the project when compared with people who watched a YouTube how-to video.

*recall : 기억해내다, 기억(하는 능력)

Kyle Nel, the director of Lowe's Innovation labs, told CNNTech about the advantages of VR as a teaching medium. He pointed to the tactile, immersive nature of virtual realty as allowing for better learning.

*tactile : 촉각[촉감]의, 촉각을 이용한

*immersive : (컴퓨터 시스템이나 영상이 사용자를)에워싸는 듯한

Nel noted the limitations of offering in-store clinics taught by an employee. Such classes have to be given at set times, which may be inconvenient for customers. The virtual reality experience is available anytime the store is open.

*note : ~에 주목[주의]하다, (중요하거나 흥미로운 것을)언급하다

*in-store : 매장내의

*at the set time : 규정된 시간에

"Virtual reality just happens to be the best way to give people what they want, when they want it," Nel said. "This is meant to be available to the entire country and Canada, not just those on the bleeding, cutting edge of tech."

*be meant to + R : ~하기로 되어있다, ~할 예정이다

The VR experience also lends itself to improvement. Lowe's will monitor customers and see where they may be getting stuck. Improvements in the teaching process can be made. If Lowe's scales the experience to all of its stores, updates to the teaching process could be made overnight.

*lend itself to something : ~에 적합하다

Lowe's trends team has found that millennials are forgoing DIY projects because they lack home improvement confidence and the free time for a project. For Lowe's, virtual reality might be a way to reverse that trend.

*millennials : 밀레니얼 세대(1980~2000년대 사이에 태어난 세대)

*forgo : (하고, 갖고 싶은 것을)포기하다