Internet of Things (IoT) in Insurance

Internet of Things (IoT) in Insurance There are many Insurers with well-defined IoT based solutions in their core business product space, such as Usage-Based Insurance in auto insurance, discounted smart sensor device offers etc.   Large Property and Casualty (PC) insurers have been watching the IoT technology space mature over a period of last couple of years, and thus have capitalized well on their learnings and analysis.   Expectations from IoT continues to grow in the field of insurance. IoT is not just about the connected devices, but any IoT solution is incomplete without capturing the real-time and relevant data.   This captured data should be available in cloud, to have the ability to run advanced analytics to provide appropriate customer and other stakeholder dashboards.   It is key for the insurers to leverage their existing high volume of data, and develop the ability to drive improved outcomes for customers, brokers partners. In this article, we review the journey of IoT in the insurance industry, and we discuss what to expect from IoT in future.   Other aspects of this article includes the impact of other technology trends with IoT, such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Natural Language processing etc. Influence in PC (Property Casualty) and (Life Annuities) LA industries IoT has been able to mark its impact in PC market, but LA market still needs exploring opportunities.   PC insurers have deployed more IoT projects than LA players have. Connected ecosystem is one of the core IoT trends in the insurance space.   Approximately 34 percent of customers have indicated that they would be inclined to smart homes and real estates.   Close to follow in terms of trends are the wearables with 30 percent customer interest. In terms of numbers, LA has only 5% projects deployed, whereas in PC percentage is 12%. The trends clearly indicate that growth of IoT based solutions in both the domains is obvious. As IoT grows in adoption, leading insurers will find ways to leverage the data available from these technologies to improve operations and better engage customers. BI Intelligence recently projected that by 2020, there will be over 34 billion connected IoT devices, and over $6 trillion spent on IoT solutions in the next 5 years. With this expected growth in IoT and wearables, insurers need to plan for their use by consumers and the impact of these devices on consumer behavior and expectations. Below are a couple of success stories in the PC world where IoT has played a significant role in improving their business: Progressive Snapshot ® Progressive insurance groups Snapshot ® product is a flagship initiative that primary deals with IoT and high volume of data with analytics to provide Usage-based insurance to its customers.   Its primary intent is to reward good driving, and thereby encourage insureds to save in their insurance costs.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Snapshot ® is an OBD II based simple device that pluggable into most modern cars.   This device keeps a track on the driving habits such as usage of brakes, average speed etc., along with other relevant data such as time of driving etc. Liberty Mutual Google Nest Liberty Mutual has collaborated with Google Nest to provide its customers an ability to prevent perils.   Customers are offered the Nest protect device along with their insurance at no extra cost.   This IoT device helps customers identify and alert on critical parameters such as smoke, CO emission levels, temperature variations etc. It rewards the insureds for staying safe. Challenges and Barriers for IoT in insurance Some of the apparent challenges that comes along with IoT based solutions in the insurance industry are: Security Risk IoT is susceptible to cyberattacks as it involves multiple devices and multiple protocols.   IoT based solutions are effective with very large volumes of data flow between entities, over networks and many a times over public networks.   Such solutions make the Insurance Company vulnerable to interceptions. Large investments are required to secure IoT generated data, to avoid intrusions as well as misuses of such data for fraudulent activities.   IoT solutions should include a clear focus on identifying and addressing the possible security risks and threats as an important aspect.   Insurers and the insureds should understand the security dimension of such solutions to ensure appropriate measures are in place. Data Volume management Strength of IoT solution is to provide and capture data (real-time in most cases), which is added to the Insurers big data repositories.   Such large datasets are the assets for the insurance companies and the whole solution relies on how stakeholders utilize these large volumes for the benefit of all.   With large data volumes, comes the volume management challenges that requires significant planning and appropriate enterprise strategy.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   It is also very important to plan the inclusion of the IoT real-time data with the historic data such as Policy, Client, and Claims data etc. Data ownership is also a challenge with IoT data management strategies.   It is always a challenge to understand if the data belongs to the insured or the insurer.   There are other data challenges such as privacy, data tampering etc., which need absolute attention from the Insurers while defining and establishing a long-term solution. Standardization and Regulation With an increasing trend of growing numbers of IoT devices, interoperability is already a challenge.   Plenty of startups as well as large players are trying to capitalize on the IoT market by deploying and integrating devices.   With lack of regulations and agreements in place, the IoT solutions are bound to fail.   There have been quite a few initiatives by many players on this front, but the process maturity will take some time. Disruption to existing large business models Insurance industrys business relies on the right balance between the volume of risk managed, and the claims associated with the covered risks.   To understand this better, insurers always seek to contain the volume of claims by preventive measures to have a good handle on the loss ratio.   This leads to have a direct impact on their written premium to losses ratio and thus improves their margins.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   IoT solutions give a great advantage in avoidance of claims by providing relevant indications and alerts for most of the critical major perils. There is always a threshold to such business theory because if the claims keep going down then it will have a direct effect on bringing down the premiums as well.   Insurers need to ensure the IoT based solutions provide the right balance and manage the alignment between solutions and core business models. IoT with other technologies Insurance industry has recognized the importance of IoT in its business, and we have seen a clear growth trend for the last couple of years. We believe that the trend will continue in the same direction, with an increase in the implementations of IoT based solutions.   IoT solutions involve multiple technologies to maximize benefits for stakeholders.   For example, IoT solutions are inclusive of Analytics, Cloud, protocol management etc. Some of the other trends where we see an immediate impact in the insurance industry are: Natural Language Processing Talking to devices is not something new for the human beings.   We have had our smartphone based digital assistants in existence for quite long now.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   Amazon echo has already pioneered in the home digital assistant space.   Imagine a situation where an IoT device like Amazon echo, captures the conversations by a senior citizen living alone.   IoT devices can be extremely beneficial in emergencies for senior homes, and NLP capabilities to such sensors can help prevent any medical situation by understanding, processing and alerting appropriate agencies for help. NLP and Text processing is predicted to have a positive disruption in the insurance industry by providing abilities such as information retrieval from unstructured data, sentimental analysis to streamline the flow of information to customers thereby improving customer relationships, kiosk based Chabot etc. Blockchain Blockchain looks very promising when it comes to providing some of the challenges that IoT solutions possess.   Roadblocks such as inorganic scaling of IoT devices (without identity, or interoperability), information and privacy concerns etc. can leverage the fundamental principles of Blockchain technology for an appropriate resolution.   We foresee Blockchain considered as a heavyweight partner technology for IoT based initiatives. Insurance companies and their technology arms will need to understand and implement the appropriate solutions involving Blockchain.   Blockchain comes with its own baggage of challenges hence we recommend a thorough study of the problem scenario. Artificial Intelligence IoT generates high volumes of data, and such significant and relevant data is of no use if we do not have machine-learning capabilities introduced in our IoT based solutions.   As the devices are increasing, so will the data volume as well.   This significant and invaluable data will help our systems to understand what is working vs what is not working. This data volume goes beyond human capabilities for analytics; hence, a machine learning will be inevitable to maximize the return from IoT based solutions. Future Impact of IoT in Insurance Industry IoT based solutions have done tremendous development in all horizons of human life and the impact has been on positive as well as negative side. On the positive side, IoT provides real time data, which provides useful information ahead of time to both Insurers and Insureds that helps them in taking preventive action and reduces/eliminates losses. On the negative side, IoT brings risks, both physical and financial; with the connected devices over Internet. Some of the significant areas of IoT impact listed below: Need of Cyber Insurance policies will grow With the growth of IoT, the risk of data loss and resulting liabilities will increase. Cyber insurance policies provide coverage against data liability losses and the costs involved due to data breaches, hence there will be improved focus on cyber insurance products, which increase the sale of such policies. List of excluded risks will increase in cyber policies With IoT penetrating more and more in human life the risk of cyber-attacks on IoT devices will also increase. Providing coverage against all these risks will be loss for Insurance carriers hence insurers will provide specific exclusion for cyber perils. Minimize the insurance need IoT based solutions will continue to alter the risk associated with customers and their perils, which will make both Insurance carriers Insureds aware of the risks before time. This will have an impact on the global insurance market, as the chances of error will reduce which results in shrinking the insurance market thereby minimizing the need for insurance. Artificial Intelligence and containers will distribute IoT: The year 2017 would see Internet of Things software distributed across cloud services, edge devices, and gateways. Further, machine-learning cloud services and Artificial Intelligence will be used to mine data from IoT devices. Role of Insurance carriers in IoT security will increase More and more inclination of consumers towards IoT enabled devices lead to more security risk for them. Since IoT technology is changing so fast, it has become a big challenge for the insurance regulators to cope up with that and design the new products accordingly. Insurers are taking on the financial risk associated with the increase use of IoT; hence, they will address the IoT security via proper underwriting. IoT will affect the mobile industry in both directions Many upcoming solutions will create enhanced mobility solution requirements and at the same time, we will see some IoT solutions making mobile apps redundant.   With increased connected devices, mobility solutions will enhance the user experience using digital assistants, smart watches etc. IoT certification will suppress Industry specific certification In order to get into the nerves of IoT, the vendors will be motivated to get IoT certified inspite of having Industry specific certified. Investments will be focused on minimal cost based trainings and certifications along with maintaining high standards of these certifications. Along with it, all major industrial vendors will come together to jointly certify their IoT-enabled products with enterprise vendors. *Forrester ICRMC Report NIIT technologies IoT We have been participating in the growth of IoT based solutions across industries.   NIIT Technologies Ltd has already worked with a large US based insurer to come up with a complete connected solution suite.   This solution involves end-to-end IoT based package for the Personal lines insurers, especially dealing home and dwelling insurance based. NIIT Technologies also has in-depth experience with IoT based devices including, but not limited to, Bosch XDK, Google Nest, Amazon Echo, VR devices, Pressure and Temperature measuring devices as well as expertise in learning and research devices such as Raspberry pi, Arduino etc.   Our dedicated IoT lab and its experienced resources work closely with our Data Analytics experts to design comprehensive solutions for the insurance industry. NIIT Technologies is also working on other relevant initiatives i.e.   IoT solutions integrated with NLP, machine learning and Non Natural disaster artificial intelligence solutions etc. Recommendations for Insurers Research and understand customer needs and identify how IoT based solutions can improve your business model.   Understand your capabilities and whether you have the right solutions in place with the existing landscape for data management IoT in isolation is not beneficial for long term; invest on solutions that are beneficial for all stakeholders. Invest on partner technologies, as per relevance with your business Start looking beyond business as usual.   Disruption in business has already become a norm, hence business, technology and product research should be an ongoing process.   Focus on impact by IoT innovations on insurance products, for example, insuring driverless cars, drones etc. Enhance your business model and focus on how to help customers adopt the IoT based solutions.   Without customer buy-in, IoT solutions will have no value, and the benefits to the insurance companies is quite high hence, it is worth the focus. For many insurance products, IoT has minimized the need of large historic data and maturity.   This has happened because IoT has the ability to provide real-time, more relevant and custom user specific data to improve and customize underwriting.   This has allowed smaller players to jump in to participate in this levelled field.   Large insurers need to be flexible to customization of products and need to bring in more agility in product designing as well. Insurers should invest on appropriate Proof of Value and Proof of Concept initiatives for IoT solutions with their trusted partners before initiating any industry scale implementation or solution. Abbreviations and Acronyms IoT Internet of Things PC Property and Casualty insurance LA Life and Annuities insurance NLP Natural Language Processing

1920 Baseball

How the 1920s Forever Changed Baseball It should come as no surprise to a majority of Americans that baseball is considered America’s national past time. In fact, for many people baseball has always been an enormous part of every day life. People are exposed to baseball through multiple mediums such as television, newspapers, and even the radio. When did this obsession start for the citizens of America? The 1920s is known as the Golden Age of Sports. While many sports started to emerge during this decade, baseball was already established in 1875 and rapidly gaining popularity.Multiple factors affected the way that baseball changed during the 1920s. Due to its increased popularity of baseball and certain aspects of the game, the 1920s created what is known as modern day baseball. Previous to 1910 a rubber-centered ball was used, which had â€Å"less resiliency than the modern cork-centered baseball. † When baseball switched to the cork-centered ball in 1910, â€Å"batti ng averages shot upward phenomenally, but the managers continued long afterwards to employ the ‘scientific’ strategy† (Mandell 131).Before the cork-centered ball, the game was dominated by extraordinary pitchers and batters who had difficulties hitting (Mandell 130). Walter Johnson was considered the decade’s best pitcher and totaled 3,497 strikeouts and 113 shut outs in his career (Mandell 130). Once the ball was changed the game became more interesting by having the game now balanced between the offense and defense. This made it possible for listeners to be entertained listening to a ball game instead of constantly having to go to watch the game. During this decade and the decade before, mass production made the radio a staple in most households in the United States.The wide scale production made radios much more affordable for common families. â€Å"By 1925, 40 percent of workers in the United States earned at least $2000 annually †¦ and many enjoy ed shortened workweeks, which gave them increased leisure time† (â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview† 1). With the excess money that the workers now possessed, they would go out and buy, â€Å"among other items, automobiles, radios, and tickets to movies and athletic events† ((â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview† 1). Swarms of people were going to stadiums to watch their favorite team compete. More people went to baseball games, more people followed baseball, and more people played baseball for fun than any other sport† (â€Å"The Golden Age of Sports† 1). No other sport was as prominent as baseball was during the 1920s. A major draw to baseball was that it was a new form of theater. â€Å"The sheer drama of baseball was yet another attraction. Baseball had a cast of well-defined heroes and villains, familiar plots, comedy, and the unexpected† (Rader 129). Baseball proved to be able to produce larger-than-life characters, or the â€Å"hero es,† time after time.To name a few there was, most notably, Babe, Wahoo Sam, and Bugs. In every game, the umpire served the purpose of the villain (Rader 129). While people in the 1920s might not have had the financial excess to spend money on seeing a Broadway play or other large-scale theater productions, baseball games had the same attraction for a lesser price. While many well-to-do people did attend baseball games, â€Å"†¦ every mother’s son from banker to bum is eligible for membership in the Benevolent Brotherhood of Baseball Bugs† (â€Å"The National Pastime in the 1920s: The Rise of the Baseball Fan† 1).Everyone was welcome to play participate in baseball, whether it be as a spectator or player. At this time baseball was not just for one race either. People of all races and backgrounds played baseball. For example, in 1920 Andrew â€Å"Rube† Foster founded the Negro National League, NNL, so that when baseball was finally integrated th e black and Hispanic players of the time would be ready for the challenge (Heaphy 39). Even men that did not come from well-respected upbringings were immediately accepted into the world of baseball.George Herman Ruth Jr. , more commonly known as Babe Ruth, was the prime example of how accepting baseball was. Babe grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and said, â€Å"†¦ he became a ‘bad kid,’ who smoked, chewed tobacco, and engaged in petty thievery. † When Babe turned seven â€Å"his parents sent him to the St. Mary’s Industrial Home for Boys, and institution †¦ for †¦ delinquents. † (Rader 178). After twelve years in the home and building his baseball reputation, Babe was drafted to the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox (Rader 178).Babe wrote in an autobiography, â€Å"The greatest thing about this country is the wonderful fact that it doesn’t matter which side of the tracks you were born on, or whether you’re homeles s or homely or friendless. The chance is still there† (Rader 178). All people of different races and upbringings were brought together through baseball, as spectators and players, although the sport would not be integrated until 1947. The popularity of baseball greatly affected the way that the sport would change. Without the demand of the spectators, certain changes would not have been made to the game. The most marked feature of the new sporting landscape was the ascendancy of ‘big-time’ spectator sports, that is, sports that were attracted and were designed for mass audiences† (Rader 173). Baseball changed from a player-centered sport to a spectator-centered sport. In American Sports it says that: After 1920 the fans virtually dictated the character of American sport history. Even the ethos and structure of ‘amateur’ sports like Little League Baseball and high school football resembled their professional counterparts more than the player-cent ered sports of an earlier era.In principle, if not in practice, amateur sports had been for the pleasure and benefit of the players; in short, the athletes ‘played. ’ But with the ascendancy of the spectators, the athletes ‘played’ for the fans; sports then became a form of ‘work. ’ (Rader 173) Baseball eventually became a consumer run industry. Magnificent stadiums were beginning to be built during the 1920s, beginning with Yankee Stadium in 1923 (Rader 128). â€Å"The massive baseball parks, built of concrete and steel, bore mute testimony to the values Americans place upon baseball. The fans saw the parks as more than a place for commercial amusement, the stadiums were also a â€Å"king of civic, religious sanctuary representing and entire community† (Rader 128). Judging solely on the change of the stadiums from rustic to urban, it’s clear that America was changing baseball into a larger-than-life, commercialized industry. Bef ore Babe, fans were loyal to certain teams, but Babe changed the face of baseball, making the fans more player-loyal.Apart from the enormous increase in the popularity of baseball during the 1920s, Babe Ruth was extremely influential in how the game is now. Paul Gallico, a sports-writer, said, â€Å"In times past we had been interested in and excited by prize fighters and baseball players, but we have never been so individually involved or joined in such a mass outpouring of affection as we did for Ruth† (Rader 179). Not only did Babe change the focus of the spectators to the individual players from the team, he set a new standard in the amount that players should expect to be paid.Christy Walsh became Babe’s literary agent and â€Å"†¦ as Ruth’s ‘literary agent’ he increased Ruth’s writing income from $500 to $15000 in the first year† (Rader 181). Most players made less than $10000 a year playing professional baseball. By the tim e Babe was at his highest point, he was making close to $3 million from playing and outside endeavors relating to baseball (Rader 181). Other than the amount that he was paid and how America idolized him, Babe Ruth undoubtedly changed the history of baseball forever by making the homerun a common feature of the game.Before Babe, homeruns were not common, especially out-of-the-park homeruns. Outfielders played very shallow, which caused inside-the-park homeruns more frequently than seen today (Rader131). Babe Ruth shattered that normality by hitting out-of-the-park homeruns like no one had ever seen before. Baseball was forever influenced by the skill, idolization, and salary of Babe Ruth. There is no denying that baseball has long been considered America’s pastime, but it was not always like that. The game grew immensely in the 1920s and morphed into the baseball that is around today. One distinguishing and very important quality of baseball was the (however much the game did , indeed, resemble games played in many places for millennia) it was believed to be historically and exclusively American† (Mandell 180). Growing up with parents that were actively involved in athletics throughout their adolescent life, sports were an enormous part of my and my brothers’ lives. Starting at age six I began playing tee-ball and from there moved onto softball, while my brothers did the same, except moved onto Little League.The popularity of professional baseball was evident even in tee-ball and Little League by having the teams named after the professional teams. It is obvious that the popularity in the 1920s continue into modern day baseball, not only by the growing number of fans, but almost how professional baseball has affected the amateur level of baseball. Work Cited Heaphy, Leslie A. The Negro Leagues 1869-1960. 1st . Jefferson: McFarland&Company Inc. , Publishers, 2003. Print. Mandell, Richard D. Sports A Cultural History. 1st . New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. Print. Rader, Benjamin G.American Sports. 1st . Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1983. Print. Sumner, Jim. â€Å"The Golden Age of Sports. † North Carolina Museum of History. American Social History Products, Inc. , n. d. Web. . â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview. † American Decades. 2001. Encyclopedia. com. 4 Dec. 2012 . . â€Å"The National Pastime in the 1920s: The Rise of the Baseball Fan. † History Matters. American Social History Products, Inc.. Web. . 1920 Baseball How the 1920s Forever Changed Baseball It should come as no surprise to a majority of Americans that baseball is considered America’s national past time. In fact, for many people baseball has always been an enormous part of every day life. People are exposed to baseball through multiple mediums such as television, newspapers, and even the radio. When did this obsession start for the citizens of America? The 1920s is known as the Golden Age of Sports. While many sports started to emerge during this decade, baseball was already established in 1875 and rapidly gaining popularity.Multiple factors affected the way that baseball changed during the 1920s. Due to its increased popularity of baseball and certain aspects of the game, the 1920s created what is known as modern day baseball. Previous to 1910 a rubber-centered ball was used, which had â€Å"less resiliency than the modern cork-centered baseball. † When baseball switched to the cork-centered ball in 1910, â€Å"batti ng averages shot upward phenomenally, but the managers continued long afterwards to employ the ‘scientific’ strategy† (Mandell 131).Before the cork-centered ball, the game was dominated by extraordinary pitchers and batters who had difficulties hitting (Mandell 130). Walter Johnson was considered the decade’s best pitcher and totaled 3,497 strikeouts and 113 shut outs in his career (Mandell 130). Once the ball was changed the game became more interesting by having the game now balanced between the offense and defense. This made it possible for listeners to be entertained listening to a ball game instead of constantly having to go to watch the game. During this decade and the decade before, mass production made the radio a staple in most households in the United States.The wide scale production made radios much more affordable for common families. â€Å"By 1925, 40 percent of workers in the United States earned at least $2000 annually †¦ and many enjoy ed shortened workweeks, which gave them increased leisure time† (â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview† 1). With the excess money that the workers now possessed, they would go out and buy, â€Å"among other items, automobiles, radios, and tickets to movies and athletic events† ((â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview† 1). Swarms of people were going to stadiums to watch their favorite team compete. More people went to baseball games, more people followed baseball, and more people played baseball for fun than any other sport† (â€Å"The Golden Age of Sports† 1). No other sport was as prominent as baseball was during the 1920s. A major draw to baseball was that it was a new form of theater. â€Å"The sheer drama of baseball was yet another attraction. Baseball had a cast of well-defined heroes and villains, familiar plots, comedy, and the unexpected† (Rader 129). Baseball proved to be able to produce larger-than-life characters, or the â€Å"hero es,† time after time.To name a few there was, most notably, Babe, Wahoo Sam, and Bugs. In every game, the umpire served the purpose of the villain (Rader 129). While people in the 1920s might not have had the financial excess to spend money on seeing a Broadway play or other large-scale theater productions, baseball games had the same attraction for a lesser price. While many well-to-do people did attend baseball games, â€Å"†¦ every mother’s son from banker to bum is eligible for membership in the Benevolent Brotherhood of Baseball Bugs† (â€Å"The National Pastime in the 1920s: The Rise of the Baseball Fan† 1).Everyone was welcome to play participate in baseball, whether it be as a spectator or player. At this time baseball was not just for one race either. People of all races and backgrounds played baseball. For example, in 1920 Andrew â€Å"Rube† Foster founded the Negro National League, NNL, so that when baseball was finally integrated th e black and Hispanic players of the time would be ready for the challenge (Heaphy 39). Even men that did not come from well-respected upbringings were immediately accepted into the world of baseball.George Herman Ruth Jr. , more commonly known as Babe Ruth, was the prime example of how accepting baseball was. Babe grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and said, â€Å"†¦ he became a ‘bad kid,’ who smoked, chewed tobacco, and engaged in petty thievery. † When Babe turned seven â€Å"his parents sent him to the St. Mary’s Industrial Home for Boys, and institution †¦ for †¦ delinquents. † (Rader 178). After twelve years in the home and building his baseball reputation, Babe was drafted to the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox (Rader 178).Babe wrote in an autobiography, â€Å"The greatest thing about this country is the wonderful fact that it doesn’t matter which side of the tracks you were born on, or whether you’re homeles s or homely or friendless. The chance is still there† (Rader 178). All people of different races and upbringings were brought together through baseball, as spectators and players, although the sport would not be integrated until 1947. The popularity of baseball greatly affected the way that the sport would change. Without the demand of the spectators, certain changes would not have been made to the game. The most marked feature of the new sporting landscape was the ascendancy of ‘big-time’ spectator sports, that is, sports that were attracted and were designed for mass audiences† (Rader 173). Baseball changed from a player-centered sport to a spectator-centered sport. In American Sports it says that: After 1920 the fans virtually dictated the character of American sport history. Even the ethos and structure of ‘amateur’ sports like Little League Baseball and high school football resembled their professional counterparts more than the player-cent ered sports of an earlier era.In principle, if not in practice, amateur sports had been for the pleasure and benefit of the players; in short, the athletes ‘played. ’ But with the ascendancy of the spectators, the athletes ‘played’ for the fans; sports then became a form of ‘work. ’ (Rader 173) Baseball eventually became a consumer run industry. Magnificent stadiums were beginning to be built during the 1920s, beginning with Yankee Stadium in 1923 (Rader 128). â€Å"The massive baseball parks, built of concrete and steel, bore mute testimony to the values Americans place upon baseball. The fans saw the parks as more than a place for commercial amusement, the stadiums were also a â€Å"king of civic, religious sanctuary representing and entire community† (Rader 128). Judging solely on the change of the stadiums from rustic to urban, it’s clear that America was changing baseball into a larger-than-life, commercialized industry. Bef ore Babe, fans were loyal to certain teams, but Babe changed the face of baseball, making the fans more player-loyal.Apart from the enormous increase in the popularity of baseball during the 1920s, Babe Ruth was extremely influential in how the game is now. Paul Gallico, a sports-writer, said, â€Å"In times past we had been interested in and excited by prize fighters and baseball players, but we have never been so individually involved or joined in such a mass outpouring of affection as we did for Ruth† (Rader 179). Not only did Babe change the focus of the spectators to the individual players from the team, he set a new standard in the amount that players should expect to be paid.Christy Walsh became Babe’s literary agent and â€Å"†¦ as Ruth’s ‘literary agent’ he increased Ruth’s writing income from $500 to $15000 in the first year† (Rader 181). Most players made less than $10000 a year playing professional baseball. By the tim e Babe was at his highest point, he was making close to $3 million from playing and outside endeavors relating to baseball (Rader 181). Other than the amount that he was paid and how America idolized him, Babe Ruth undoubtedly changed the history of baseball forever by making the homerun a common feature of the game.Before Babe, homeruns were not common, especially out-of-the-park homeruns. Outfielders played very shallow, which caused inside-the-park homeruns more frequently than seen today (Rader131). Babe Ruth shattered that normality by hitting out-of-the-park homeruns like no one had ever seen before. Baseball was forever influenced by the skill, idolization, and salary of Babe Ruth. There is no denying that baseball has long been considered America’s pastime, but it was not always like that. The game grew immensely in the 1920s and morphed into the baseball that is around today. One distinguishing and very important quality of baseball was the (however much the game did , indeed, resemble games played in many places for millennia) it was believed to be historically and exclusively American† (Mandell 180). Growing up with parents that were actively involved in athletics throughout their adolescent life, sports were an enormous part of my and my brothers’ lives. Starting at age six I began playing tee-ball and from there moved onto softball, while my brothers did the same, except moved onto Little League.The popularity of professional baseball was evident even in tee-ball and Little League by having the teams named after the professional teams. It is obvious that the popularity in the 1920s continue into modern day baseball, not only by the growing number of fans, but almost how professional baseball has affected the amateur level of baseball. Work Cited Heaphy, Leslie A. The Negro Leagues 1869-1960. 1st . Jefferson: McFarland&Company Inc. , Publishers, 2003. Print. Mandell, Richard D. Sports A Cultural History. 1st . New York: Columbia University Press, 1984. Print. Rader, Benjamin G.American Sports. 1st . Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1983. Print. Sumner, Jim. â€Å"The Golden Age of Sports. † North Carolina Museum of History. American Social History Products, Inc. , n. d. Web. . â€Å"The 1920s: Sports: Overview. † American Decades. 2001. Encyclopedia. com. 4 Dec. 2012 . . â€Å"The National Pastime in the 1920s: The Rise of the Baseball Fan. † History Matters. American Social History Products, Inc.. Web. .

Rhetorical Analysis Drunk Driving Essay - 1482 Words

Corey Friedman’s Lawmakers Target Drunk Drivers, appeared in North Carolina’s â€Å"Wilsons Daily Times† on February 18, 2013. In his essay, Friedman, explains new bills and laws that are trying to get passed by North Carolina’s congress. They will target and prevent drunk driving across the state by developing harsher laws and consequences for those found guilty of these offenses. Friedman uses many different perspectives on the issue by restating various North Carolina state representatives, and various group advocates among Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). These many opinions on the new bills proposed to the North Carolina state legislature proved significant recognition of the issue by many across the state along with Friedman.†¦show more content†¦The audience that Friedman is trying to target are North Carolina citizens, by addressing the issue, and revealing the significance of drunk driving laws to prove that there are advocates acros s the state working to help aid in prevention, and create harsher consequences for those who commit and have been convicted of this crime. Friedman’s article has a serious tone and expresses empathy towards drunk driving as it seems to be a topic of importance to him. It is almost as if he has been effected by this awful crime and wants to raise awareness and help aid in preventing drunk driving across the state. This remains clear throughout the article by vividly expressing the current bills being proposed to create these new laws and consequences. I chose this article by, Corey Friedman, to help me throughout my research, because of his seriousness and his empathy on the subject. I was also able to learn about current laws being proposed to aid in prevention and development of harsher consequences for the many who commit these crimes. Freidman has a great article, but I feel that it fails to represent both points of view among those who commit the crime and those who were victims of this crime. As for me, I have experienced both sides in the past several years. Two years ago my best friend was killed by a drunk driver in a tragic accident. A bystander was also severely injured in the tragedy and is no longer able to walk, talk or eat by himself. People will have toShow MoreRelatedThe Topic Of Drunk Driving Essay1228 Words   |  5 PagesAnalyzing the rhetorical appeals from three different authors published in three different journals on the topic of drunk driving, the different rhetorical strategies used by each to achieve their writing goals quickly became obvious. Both Stephen L. 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The Decolonization Process in the Anglophone Caribbean Critical Thinking Examples

The Anglo Caribbean refers to the former British colonies of the Caribbean region. They are English speaking countries. The Anglophone Caribbean was colonized by the United Kingdom. Colonialism has left its lasting mark on the Caribbean states in terms of race and social stratification. The Caribbean society is full of class consciousness and struggle is always defined by race.  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Caribbean is identified by whites, Blacks and Brown.   Beside race, an individual’s social beliefs and cultural associations define classification. Fifty years after independence hostility still exists between the browns and blacks who were oppressed during colonial times. One of the pioneers of Black Nationalist movement, Marcus Garvey pointed out that an attitude of jealously and inferiority holds them back from being empowered (John, McLeod, 2007:1-10). Decolonization process refers to the undoing of colonialism. The process of decolonization is related to the historiography of decolonization. The   epoch of decolonization is divided in three phases. The first phase corresponds to the period prior to 1930’s. It is the time where there was slow movement towards more representative government. The second phase was between 1934-1962 when the labor rebellions put democracy and set government on the agenda and the process of constitutional decolonization developed. While the third phase, of decolonization, was between 1962-1980’s during which all colonies gained independence from the United Kingdom. The decolonization process in Caribbean has been uneven, therefore, resulting in subdivision of the territories into two, broader categories that are Aricom states and Semi independent states of Haiti. (John, McLeod, 2000:25-56) Economically, Caribbean is almost totally dependent on foreign aid, corporate capital and technology especially from USA. Majority of the states continues to languish in poverty. Poverty in this region has been caused by the inheritance of the colonial economic policy. They inherited the plantation farming which is believed to be the genesis of their problems.   The plantation economy has left the countries under-developed, dependent, and flattering on the edge of the capitalist system. The prices of raw materials are always determined in the world market hence the region has got no say on its products that fetch very little. The road to decolonization is not easy.   Apart from the flag independence, the Anglo Caribbean has achieved very little in terms of decolonization. The process of decolonization must go beyond political decolonization. Social and economic decolonization is important because the region is not yet economical independent. WORK CITED John, McLeod Rout ledge companion to postcolonial studies. New York: Routledge, 2007. John McLeod Beginning post colonialism. Manchester University Press, 2000