Essentially I want to use the best of my best copy swipe file and turn it into a long sales letter for a project. I can get around uploading initial limit but pretty positive it won't get nearly what I need.
Wanted to know what other options others have used to bypass this?

Hello fellow redditors. I am from Switzerland and did the classic office apprenticeship (Kaufmann) and made the Bachelor in Business Administration then after. I am now in my mid-thirties and tired of staring at a monitor all day long. I would like to change my job, maybe something more „technical“, or one were you have to leave the office from time to time (no sales man though), or if an office job then maybe for a very innovative company? I would really appreciate to get some inspiration, or hear your stories. I live near Aarau by the way.

Island in the Sky - 1953
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Island in the sky is a 1953 adventure/aviation-disaster movie, directed by William A. Wellman, and starring John Wayne, as well as an ensemble cast of well known B-feature actors of their day, including; Lloyd Nolan, Walter Abel, James Arness, Andy Devine and Harry Carey, Jr.
The story is based off the novel of the same name, and apparent true story by the writer Ernest K. Gann, concerning a downed airplane of the Air Transport Command during WWII, the survival of its crew, and the subsequent search and rescue operation throuhgout the frozen and unmapped Canadian North to save them.
This movie, along with another Ernest K. Gann novel turned into film "The High and The Mighty" relased one year later in 1954 (also by the Wayne and Welland duo), would go on to set the bar for the all-star cast aviation-disaster style movies that were to follow starting with 1970's "Airplane", and it's subsequent sequels.
The movie starts off with what feels like an authentic educative wartime newsreel, taking us into the lives of the civilian air transportation command of World War 2, what it is they do, and what perils they face in the skies.
From this sequence we come to meet pilot Captain Dooley and the rest of the crew of "The Corsair", crossing over the Canadian north, en-route back from a delivery of army supplies overseas. When a severe snowstorm causes the plane's wings to ice over, the rough and tumble Douglas C-47 Skytrain makes a crash landing on down onto a frozen lake somewhere near the Quebec-Labrador border. Now with no bearings, limited radio contact and poor supplies of food and clothing, the crew now relies on the hopes that a search-and-rescue party will find them, and quick.
The other half of this movie is shown from the viewpoint of multiple other pilots, as they relentelesly plan, and carry out multiple different search-and-rescue operations for their downed comrades from their last known position, in completely unmapped terriritory.
This ensemble cast of feature character actors delivers a perfect blend macho-comedy and strong emotional determination, as they defy all odds and show no fear in the face of the frozen skies, refusing to even entertain the idea that the crew of the Corsair could have perished, no matter how hopeless the situation becomes.
Back down at the Corsair, in continuing on with the classic "Wayne-way", Dooley does his job as leader and keeps up the spirits of the others, setting round the clock tasks to keep everybody's mind at ease, including the building of a warmer bush shelter in change of the cold steel airplane.
However, when the rescue party flies directly over the Corsair without even seeing it (having been buried in a snowstorm the night before), coupled with the death of one from the harsh elements, hope begins to dwindle for Dooley and the rest of the crew.
Will the rescue party make a second turn around the area before the severe weather closes in? Will Dooley and the crew of the Corsair survive the elements in time to be found alive?
To sum it all up, Island in the Sky is an extremely enjoyable movie, full of top notch acting, showing Wayne in arguably one of his greatest full on "acting" roles ever (one of the only to show him in a dire state of hopeless panic), but truly elevated by the surplus of veteran character actors.
This coupled along with the absolute realistic on location shoot of the snowy crash site, more than believable interior sets, authentic costuming, and amazing first hand aerial photography (thanks to WWII combat photographer and pioneer in aerial cinematography William H. Clothier) using 3 separate contemporary army transport airplanes.
When all rounded together by the all time great director William A. Wellman (who himself was known as "Wild Bill" in his World War 1 flying days and went on to direct many of the greatest aviation movies of his era starting with "Wings" in 1929), this movie has almost nothing negative to say about it, plain and simple.
​
And that's all he wrote folks. Thanks for reading.
Ryan D. Hurley

PODCAST: https://ayearofwarandpeace.podbean.com/e/ep1521-hail-and-farewell-george-moore-ave-chapter-11/
PROMPTS: Poor Edward. Something quite wrong about what went on here...
Today's Reading, via Project Gutenberg:

XI

While Edward revised his play Yeats and I talked of The Shadowy Waters, and the Boers crossed one of our frontiers into Cape Colony or Natal—I have forgotten which; but I remember very well my attitude of mind towards the war, and how I used to walk every day from Tillyra to Ardrahan, a distance of at least two Irish miles, to fetch the newspaper, so anxious was I to read of a victory for our soldiers.
Before starting I would pay Edward a visit in his tower, and after a few words about the play, I would tell him that the way out of our South African difficulties was simple—the Government should arm the blacks; and this would make Edward growl out that the English Government was beastly enough to do it; and I remember how I used to go away, pleased that I had always the courage of my morality. Other men do what they know to be wrong, and repent, or think they repent; but as it would be impossible for me to do what I believe to be wrong, repentance is for me an idle word; and, thinking that to raise an army of seventy thousand blacks would be a fine trick to play upon the Boers, I often returned through the park full of contempt for my countrymen, my meditations interrupted occasionally by some natural sight—the beauty of the golden bracken through which the path twisted, a crimson beech at the end of it, or the purple beauty of a line of hills over against the rocky plain freckled with the thatched cabins of the peasantry. Nor do I remember more beautiful evenings than these were; and, as the days drew in, the humble hawthorns shaped themselves into lovely silhouettes, and a meaning seemed to gather round the low, mossy wall out of which they grew, until one day the pictorial idea which had hitherto stayed my steps melted away, and I became possessed by a sentimental craving for the country itself. After all, it was my country, and, strangely perturbed, I returned to the castle to ask Edward's opinion regarding the mysterious feeling that had glided suddenly into my heart as I stood looking at the Burran Mountains.
It is difficult for anybody to say why he loves his country, for what is a country but a geographical entity? And I am not sure that Edward was listening very attentively when I told him of a certain pity, at variance with my character, that had seemed to rise out of my heart.
It would be strange if Cathleen ni Houlihan were to get me after all. That is impossible ... only a passing feeling; and I sat looking at him, remembering that the feeling I dreaded had seemed to come out of the landscape and to have descended into my heart. But he was so little interested in what seemed to me transcendental that I refrained from further explanation, concluding that he was thinking of his play, which had gone to Coole yesterday. I was led to think this, for he was sitting at the window as if watching for Yeats. We were expecting our poet.
Here he is. I wonder what he thinks of your revisions?
And to save Edward from humiliation I asked Yeats as soon as he came into the room if he liked the new third act.
No, no; it's entirely impossible. We couldn't have such a play performed. And dropping his cloak from his shoulders, he threw his hair from his brow with a pale hand, and sank into a chair, and seemed to lose himself in a sudden meditation. It was like a scene from a play, with Yeats in the principal part; and, admiring him, I sat thinking of the gloom of Kean, of the fate of the Princes in the Tower, headsmen, and suchlike things, and thinking, too, that Yeats, notwithstanding his hierarchic airs, was not an actual literary infallibility. The revised third act might not be as bad as he seemed to think it. He might be mistaken ... or prejudiced. Yeats's literary integrity is without stain, that I knew. But he might be prejudiced against Edward without knowing it. The success of The Heather Field had stirred up in Edward, till then the most unassuming of men, a certain aggressiveness which, for some time past, I could see had been getting on Yeats's nerves. Nor am I quite sure that myself at that moment would not have liked to humble Edward a little ... only a little. But let us not be drawn from the main current of our resolution, which is entirely literary, by a desire to note every sub-current. Yeats looked very determined, and when I tried to induce him to give way he answered:
We are artists, and cannot be expected to accept a play because other plays as bad, and nearly as bad, have been performed.
Saints, I said, do not accept sins because sins are of common occurrence.
He did not answer, but sat looking into the fire gloomily.
He takes a very determined view of your play, Edward. It may not strike me in the same light. If you will give me the manuscript I'll just run upstairs with it. I can't read it in front of you both.
There was no reason why I should read the first two acts; Edward had not touched them. What he had engaged to rewrite was the last half of the third act, and a few minutes would enable me to see if he had made sufficient alterations for the play to be put forward—not as a work of art—that is as something that would be acted fifty years hence for the delight of numerous audiences, as proof of the talent that existed in Ireland at the end of the nineteenth century—but as a play to which literary people could give their attention without feeling ashamed of themselves afterwards. There was no reason why we should ask for more than that; for the subject of the play was merely one of topical interest, and it is a mistake—I pointed this out to Yeats—to be very particular about the literary quality of such a play. All the same it would have to be put right, and this Edward could not do. It was more a matter for a cunning literary hand than for a fellow like Edward with a streak of original genius in him, and very little literary tact.
On these reflections I sat down to read, but the play was so crude, even in its revised form, that I fell to thinking that Yeats's thoughts must have wandered very often from the page. He should have remembered, however, whilst we discussed the play with Edward, that Edward was a human being after all, and not made it apparent that he looked upon the play as something the local schoolmaster might have written, and of all, should have kept looks out of his face which said as plainly as words could: Your soul is inferior, beneath my notice; take it away. He did not even seem to apprehend that Edward was torn between love of self and love of Ireland. Abstract thinking, I said, kills human sympathies, and Yeats is no longer able to appreciate anything but literary values. The man behind the play is ignored ... Yeats can no longer think with his body; it is only his mind that thinks. He is all intellect, if that isn't too cardinal a word. And seeing before me quite a new country of conjecture, one which I had never rambled in, I sat thinking of the cruelty of the monks of the Middle Ages, and the cruelty of the nuns and the monks of the present day. Their thoughts are abstracted from this world, from human life—that is why; and Yeats was a sort of monk of literature, an Inquisitor of Journalism who would burn a man for writing that education was progressing by leaps and bounds. Opinions make people cruel—literary as well as theological. Whereas the surgeon, whose thought is always of the flesh, is the kindliest of creatures. It is true that one sometimes hears of surgeons who, in the pursuit of science, willingly undertake operations which they know to be dangerous, and we know that the scientists in the laboratory are indifferent to the sufferings of the animals they vivisect. Even so, Nature thinks like the surgeon who risks an operation in order that he may discover the cause of the disease. The knowledge he gathers from the death of the patient is passed on, and it saves the life of another. But the artist cannot pass on any portion of his art to his pupil; his gift lives in himself and dies with him, and his art comes as much from his heart as from his intellect. The intellect outlives the heart, and the heart of Yeats seemed to me to have died ten years ago; the last of it probably went into the composition of The Countess Cathleen.
Yesterevening, when we wandered about the lake, talking of The Shadowy Waters, trying to free it from the occult sciences that had grown about it, Fomorians beaked and unbeaked, and magic harps and Druid spells, I did not perceive that the difficulties into which the story had wandered could be attributed to a lack of human sympathy. But Yeats's treatment of Edward proved it to me. The life of the artist is always at difficult equipoise; he may fail from lack of human sympathies, or he may yield altogether to them and become a mere philanthropist; and we may well wonder what the choice of the artist would have been if he had to choose between the destruction of Messina and Reggio or of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Were he to choose the ancient ruins in preference to the modern towns, he might give very good reasons for doing so, saying that to prolong the lives of a hundred thousand people for a few years would not be, in his opinion, worth a bronze like the Narcissus. A very specious argument might be maintained in favour of the preservation of the bronze, even at the price of a hundred thousand lives. Perhaps he might let the bronze go, but if all Greek art were added he would hesitate, and when he had let one hundred thousand men and women go to their doom he would probably retire into the mountains to escape from sight of every graven thing. To write a play our human and artistic sympathies must be very evenly balanced, and I remembered that among my suggestions for the reconstruction of The Shadowy Waters, the one that Yeats refused most resolutely was that the woman should refuse to accompany the metaphysical pirate to the ultimate North, but return somewhat diffidently, ashamed of herself, to the sailors who were drinking yellow ale.
Yeats has reflected himself in the pirate, I said. All he cares for is a piece of literature. The man behind it matters nothing to him. But am I not just as wicked as he? Worse, indeed, for Edward is my oldest friend and I do not defend him. Whereupon the manuscript fell from my hand, and I sat for a long time thinking; and then, getting up, I wandered out of my room and hung over the banisters, looking down into the central hall, asking myself what Yeats and Edward were saying to each other, and thinking that their talk must be strained and difficult, thinking too that my duty was to go down to them and bring their bitter interview to an end.
And I resolved to say that I could see no reason why the play should not be acted. But half-way down the stairs my conscience forbade so flagrant a lie. Yeats would not believe me. And what good would it do to allow Edward to bring over actors and actresses for the performance of such a play? It's kinder to tell him the truth. In the middle of the hall I stopped again. But if I tell him the truth the Irish Literary Theatre will come to an end.
Well, Edward, I've read your play ... but the alterations you've made aren't very considerable, and I can't help thinking that the play requires something more done to it.
You've read my play very quickly. Are you sure you've read it?
I've read all the passages that you've altered.
I had only glanced through them, but I could not tell him that a glance was sufficient.
If there were time, you might alter it yourself. You see, the time is short—only two months; and I watched Edward. For a long time he said nothing, but sat like a man striving with himself, and I pitied him, knowing how much of his life was in his play.
I give you the play, he said, starting to his feet. Do with it as you like; turn it inside out, upside down. I'll make you a present of it!
But, Edward, if you don't wish me to alter your play—
Ireland has always been divided, and I've preached unity. Now I'm going to practise it. I give you the play.
But what do you mean by giving us the play? Yeats said.
Do with it what you like. I'm not going to break up the Irish Literary Theatre. Do with my play what you like, and he rushed away.
I'm afraid, Yeats, his feelings are very much hurt.
And my heart went out to the poor man sitting alone in his tower, brooding over his failure. I expected Yeats to say something sympathetic, but all he said was: We couldn't produce such a play as that. It was perhaps the wisest thing he could say under the circumstances. For what use is there in sentimentalising over the lamb whose throat is going to be cut in the slaughter-house?
The sooner the alterations are made the better.
And I asked Yeats to come over tomorrow.
You see, you'll have to help me with this adaptation, for I know nothing of Ireland.
It is a pleasure to be with him, especially when one meets him for the purpose of literary discussion; he is a real man of letters, with an intelligence as keen as a knife, and a knife was required to cut the knots into which Edward had tied his play, for very few could be loosened. The only fault I found with Yeats in this collaboration was the weariness into which he sank suddenly, saying that after a couple of hours he felt a little faint, and would require half an hour's rest.
We returned to the play after lunch, and continued until nearly seven o'clock, too long a day for Yeats, who was not so strong then as he is now, and Lady Gregory wrote to me, saying that I must be careful not to overwork him, and that it would be well not to let him go more than two hours without food—a glass of milk, or, better still, a cup of beef-tea in the afternoon, and half an hour after lunch he was to have a glass of sherry and a biscuit. These refreshments were brought up by Gantley, Edward's octogenarian butler, and every time I heard his foot upon the stairs I offered up a little prayer that Edward was away in his tower, for, of course, I realised that the tray would bring home to him in a very real and cruel way the fact that his play was being changed and rewritten under his very roof, and that he was providing sherry and biscuits in order to enable Yeats to strike out, or, worse still, to rewrite his favourite passages. It was very pathetic; and while pitying and admiring Edward for his altruism, I could not help thinking of two children threading a bluebottle. True that the bluebottle's plight is worse than Edward's, for the insect does not know why it is being experimented upon, but Edward knew he was sacrificing himself for his country, and the idea of sacrifice begets a great exaltation of mind, is in fact, a sort of anaesthetic; and sustained by this belief we, Yeats and I, worked on through the day, Yeats tarrying as late as seven o'clock in order to finish a scene, Edward asking him to stay to dinner, a kindness that proved our undoing, for we lacked tact, discussing before Edward the alterations we were going to make. He sat immersed in deep gloom, saying he did not like our adaptation of the first act, and when we told him the alterations we were going to make in the second, he said:
But you surely aren't going to alter that? Why do you do this? Good heavens! I wouldn't advise you—
Yeats looked at him sternly, as a schoolmaster looks at a small boy, and next morning Edward told me that he was going to Dublin, adding that I had better come with him. On my mentioning that I expected Yeats that afternoon, he said that he would write, telling him of his decision, and a note came from Lady Gregory in the course of the afternoon, saying that she was leaving Coole. Would it be convenient to Edward to allow Yeats to stay at Tillyra for a few days by himself? He would like to continue the composition of The Shadowy Waters in Galway.
Lady Gregory's request seemed to me an extraordinary one to make in the present circumstances, and it seemed still more extraordinary that Edward should have granted it, and without a moment's hesitation, as if Yeats's literary arrogance had already dropped out of his memory. Such self-effacement as this was clearly a matter for psychological inquiry, and I turned Edward over in my mind many times before I discovered that his self-effacement should be attributed to patriotism rather than to natural amiability. He believed Yeats to be Ireland's poet, and to refuse to shelter him might rob Ireland of a masterpiece, a responsibility which he did not care to face.
Extraordinary! I said to myself, and as in a vision I saw Ireland as a god demanding human sacrifices, and everybody, or nearly everybody, crying: Take me, Ireland, take me; I am unworthy, but accept me as a burnt-offering. Ever since I have been in the country I have heard people speaking of working for Ireland. But how can one work for Ireland without working for oneself? What do they mean? They do not know themselves, but go on vainly sacrificing all personal achievement, humiliating themselves before Ireland as if the country were a god. A race inveterately religious I suppose it must be! And these sacrifices continue generation after generation. Something in the land itself inspires them. And I began to tremble lest the terrible Cathleen ni Houlihan might overtake me. She had come out of that arid plain, out of the mist, to tempt me, to soothe me into forgetfulness that it is the plain duty of every Irishman to disassociate himself from all memories of Ireland—Ireland being a fatal disease, fatal to Englishmen and doubly fatal to Irishmen. Ireland is in my family. My grand-uncle lay in prison condemned to death for treason; my father wasted his life in the desert of national politics. It is said that the custom of every fell disease is to skip a generation, and up to the present it had seemed that I conformed to the rule. But did I? If I did not, some great calamity awaited me, and I remembered that the middle-aged may not change their point of view. To do so is decadence.

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The Lineup:

• Chapter 1 (2013-2017):
• The Batman
• Superman: Man Of Steel
• The Batman 2: Heart Of Ice
• Batman Vs Superman: World's Finest
• Wonder Woman
• Green Lantern Corps
• The Flash
• Aquaman
• Suicide Squad
• Justice League

HBO Television Series:

• The Batman: The Early Years
• Catwoman: The Jewel Thief
• Doctor Fate
• Hawkman and Hawkgirl
• Blackhawk

OUTLINE OF THE MOVIES
A detailed outline of plot-lines, changes and in-universe connections.

The Batman:

The Plot: This events of this movie would stay exactly the same.
My Major Changes: Batman is in his fourth year in my version of the film, he's not an experienced veteran like Ben Affleck's interpretation, he still has a lot to learn, but he isn't totally inexperienced like in the film we got. This would be done in a similar way to The New 52. I believe that Pattinson can play a Batman who has sidekicks before, but after Jason's death, he becomes more emo, like in the movie we got.
Batman, in my DCEU, already had adopted Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Jason Todd and Helena Bertinelli. Bruce hasn't adopted or even met Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, or Damian Wayne yet.
Dick Grayson left on extremely bad terms with Batman in a similar way to in the animated series episode "Old Wounds"
Jason Todd gets lured into a circus, similar to Titans, and is killed on live television by The Joker, similar to Earth-27.
Huntress left Bruce, due to the trauma of Jason Todd's death, since they were dating at the time, similar to Earth 27.
Barbara Gordon got shot in the spine and raped by The Joker, like in The Killing Joke storyline, it happened shortly before Jason got killed. Barbara doesn't become Oracle until a few months after the events of the first movie.
Batwoman is a cousin of Batman, and Bruce is aware of her activities.
This would be subtly mentioned in my version, and Dick leaving and Jason's death are a few additional reasons why Bruce acts like an edgelord and doesn't have that playboy persona anymore (at least until the sequels)
Batman, before the events of this film, has already fought The Joker, Killer Croc, Harley Quinn, Killer Moth, Deadshot, Poison Ivy and Ra's Al Ghul. There would be newspaper clippings that mention these off-screen encounters.
The Joker deleted scene is added in my version, to establish that he exists in this universe, if the post-credit scenes didn't do it already.
Metropolis and Queen Industries are mentioned during Bruce's meeting with Falcone. Setting up the larger DC Universe, in the future.
I would place emphasis that Batman is struggling to make change in Gotham on his own, without his sidekicks to assist him, he only has Alfred, Catwoman and Gordon to rely on, since Dick, Barbara, and Helena, have left on bad terms or to do their own thing in neighboring cities, and Jason is deceased (for now).
That also explains why Batman calls himself "Vengeance". He's on his own with barely anyone to help him, just like how he was when his parents died. (Aside from Alfred)
Bruce's utility belt gets blown up during the final battle. Which sets up him getting a more comic accurate one, in the future.
However, he still uses the adrenaline injection, and I'd later tie that to Bane and his venom formula, in a future movie as a prototype.

Superman: The Man Of Steel

The Plot - Act-1: I’d heavily change the opening, develop Zod more, and make a cleaner Krypton that actually has crystals covering the planet, just like in the comics and in Superman (1978)
(I'd replace General Zod with Metallo as the antagonist, because Zod has already appeared in Superman ll and Smallville, by 2013, so I'd use a new villain that never appeared on the big screen in Metallo, who only appeared on Smallville with a small budget and we never fully saw his robotic form. I'd save General Zod for the third movie)
We see a small meteor found in the ocean, near Metropolis, by Lex Luthor, with a glowing green substance.
We flashback to many years ago, Kal-El is born, they name him. We cut to General Zod who is sitting in his home alone, having violent flashbacks of robotic creatures with symbols on their foreheads attacking krypton, killing people, even Zod’s family, the flashbacks are brief, but just enough to see the Kryptonian council surrender to their attacker, a dome encloses over Kandor and make it disappear, but a pod flies away as Kandor disappears.
(That will set up Supergirl in Chapter 2, and Brainiac fighting Superman eventually)
Dru-Zod is haunted and angry about this traumatic event that happened ago. Jor-El is studying problems in the planet’s core, but their computers say everything is fine. Jor-El asks Zod to come with him to check a fault line, as a scientist needs to be accompanied by a soldier when going to the outer lands, to access military equipment or whatever, just as a soldier needs authorization by a scientist to access scientific equipment.
They talk, it’s clear they’re friends, Jor-El tells Zod about his son, happy for him. Suddenly a violent earthquake erupts, causing Jor-El to quickly check his readings. They’re off the charts. Jor-El and Zod quickly rushes back to his lab to check his main computers, which are all reading things as fine, he digs deeper into the programming and finds the same symbol that was on the robotic creatures head embedded into the computers programming, corrupting it.
Jor-El is horrified, Zod is furious, yelling about how that thing destroyed their families, their brightest city, and now it’s destroyed them, Zod blames the council for bowing to the thing and proclaims them weak. Jor-El warns the council, as Zod rallies any soldiers loyal to him to save their world while they still can, he does so easily, they attack the council headquarters and take them out, Zod finds Jor-El, and asks him to help him save their world through allowing access to The Codex.
The Codex is a computer chip, essentially it’s the brain, it has info on everything, from the genetic code from which all kryptonian children are created, to the entire history of Krypton and all its knowledge, and the how to build and operate a terraforming device called the World Engine, as such a thing has been illegal for a long time due to it requiring a planet with an already habitable environment and thus life.
(Brainiac would get the information about how to build and use The World Engine in a sequel)
Jor-El refuses Zod, saying he will not allow Zod to destroy an entire race. Jor-El escapes, accesses the codex, steals it and goes to Lara, telling her they have to leave. Jor-El has set a warning for the planet to give them time to escape, but doubts they’ll be able to as a military security system destroys any ship entering or leaving krypton, but Jor-El has a plan:
A space probe, small enough to sneak past the security systems, but big enough to carry maybe one person, or one person and a baby. The probe was designed to send robotic drones to other planets and test the planet’s atmosphere and environment. He sends Lara and Kal-El to the probe, and she goes, begrudgingly, as Jor-El gives her the codex and a special command key for the probe that will guide them when they get to earth, telling her he has to distract Zod’s men to keep them from the probe.
Lara is wounded fatally, from a plasma shot by one of Brainiac's drones, but she gets into the probe with Kal-El and takes off. She hides the codex in the main engine of the probe just before this happens.
Zod captures Jor-El, and sees the probe doing that teleporting thing, he puts two and two together and takes Jor-El prisoner, gets on a large ship with his army, and shuts down the security systems, so he can track the ion trail or whatever science mumbo jumbo before it dissipates.
Jor-El, though, has thought ahead, and damaged the teleportation device thing, making it so it would trap them in the “phantom zone” between the teleportation destinations, giving the trail time to dissipate so they can’t track it.
General Zod, Faora and Nam-Ek are all caught in the vortex, and sent to The Phantom Zone, by the teleportation device.
(General Zod and Faora will return in a future sequel)
Jor-El closes his eyes as he is caught in the planet destroying explosion, as we see Krypton blown to smithereens, as a green remnant goes through a radiation storm and crashes in The Atlantic Ocean. As we cut to Earth, where the probe crashes in Kansas at night, near a farm in winter, Jonathan and Martha come out. Lara, barely alive, opens the probe, by pulling the command key out, and they find her, Jonathan tries to save her, but she dies, her last words before passing away are asking them to protect her son.
Jonathan and Martha lie to a friend of theirs in the hospital by telling them that the baby had been left on their doorstep and asking him to write down that Martha had given birth to the baby over the winter, during a recent snowstorm.
Meanwhile, Clark Kent hitchhikes across Metropolis and starts working odd jobs, researching extraterrestrial sightings, and secretly using his powers to help people in need, which results in him having to hit the road again. Clark Kent starts developing journalistic skills as he talks to people and gathers information in his quest to figure out where he came from.
We flashback to Clark Kent's backstory, with Clark's parents trying to raise him right and help him control his powers. In the scene where Clark Kent asks his father in the original movie, which is "Should I have just let those kids on the bus die?".
Jonathan Kent tells Clark, no, and that he did the right thing, but he shouldn't expose his powers too much. During the scene, these flashbacks show that Jonathan Kent wants to keep his son Clark safe, but what kind of father would he be if he didn't encourage his son to do the right thing, even when it is hard?
Jonathan Kent is inspired by his son's selflessness and rushes in to help a lady that is about to be run over, and he succeeds, but the excitement and fear cause him to have a heart attack. Jonathan Kent gets rushed to the hospital by Martha Kent and Clark, but he dies. Years later, Martha says goodbye to Clark as he's moving to Metropolis.
Back in the present, Clark Kent goes to a bar to eat some food, but when he eats, Clark notices a drunk and rude Truck Driver harassing a female waitress.
Clark Kent hesitates a bit, but he notices no one else is stopping it, so he decides to do something about the situation. As the drunk and rude trucker is about to grab the woman inappropriately again, Clark Kent grabs his arm and he angrily tells him to leave the girl alone, which surprises the truck driver and makes him a bit scared.
However, Clark notices that his strength is hurting the man's arm, and in order to not expose his powers in front of people watching, he lets his hand go to show A bit of restraint, but Clark pushes his own to the floor, so he doesn't attack him. The truck driver gets back up from the floor and attempts to punch Clark, but Clark dodges the punch before he can be hit.
A few police officers notice the fight happen, and they decide to arrest the drunk trucker for intoxication and attempted assault against Clark Kent. Clark Kent gets thanked by the waitress for standing up for her, but Clark decides to head out to avoid any suspicions.
(The waitress will later be revealed as Lucy Lane, the younger sister of Lois Lane)
Clark decides to go downtown in Metropolis to apply for a better job. He drives there and we get shots of Metropolis. The design of Metropolis, in my rewrite, strongly resembles the version from Superman Returns.
Act 2: Later, after seeing The Daily Planet building, Clark decides to apply for a job there, and he succeeds, and this is where he first meets Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Chloe Sullivan and Perry White.
Jimmy Olsen is the new kid in The Daily Planet, fresh out of college, and he becomes fast friends with Lois and Clark.
Perry White is the very stern Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet. He is Clark's boss. (I would still cast Lawrence Fishbourne)
Chloe Sullivan is witty, feisty, and cheeky reporter of The Daily Planet. She is Lois's close friend and she vaguely was acquaintances with Clark, back in his Smallville days.
Clark and Lois hit it off, despite their bickering at first, and they even agree on a date, a few weeks later. Clark and Lois interview Lex Luthor, about LEXCORP's new achievements in cybernetics. During the interview, Lex makes some unwanted advances towards Lois, which irritates Clark but he keeps his cool and stays professional.
(That is a creepy politician metaphor, kinda like a certain president from 2016, who has sexual assault allegations from at least 5 women)
Clark decides to help people publicly as Superman, as he pulls out the old black suit that Martha had made for him. After work, Clark hears an explosion, he walks as Clark rips his shirt to reveal his (Silver) Superman symbol.
After that, then John Willlams score starts as we see a montage of Clark helping people from life threatening situations and stopping robberies, as the reports of a guy flying in a gray cape stopping crime is flooding in. However, it's not entirely confirmed by the public, so some cynical people in Metropolis say it was an urban legend of some "Superman".
It's during one of these robbery encounters that Clark fought a former marine, John Corben, though his own machine gun's bullets bounced off Superman, and they ricocheted back at Corben and he's paralyzed and his body was mutilated beyond repair. A regretful Superman jumps him to a hospital, near The LEXCORP Building, (We'll get back to that later)
Later, Lois is involved in a helicopter mishap. Clark publicly uses his powers for the first time to jump high enough to catch Lois Lane falling off the damaged helicopter, as it explodes, near 'The LEXCORP tower, astonishing the crowd gathered below. Very similar to the 1978 film.
Superman is now publicly recognized, but not everyone is welcoming of this, some seeing him as dangerous for having this much power. Lex Luthor was quick to become an enemy of Superman when he accused the hero of being an alien threat to humanity. Lex also did research on the meteor that crashed, and he found out that it is deadly to Superman, Lex dubbed the green radioactive substance, "Kryptonite".
The Daily Planet was the only newspaper in existence to portray him in a positive light, with his first recorded photograph being taken by Jimmy Olsen.
Lex, along with Mercy Graves, plans to kill Superman, before he can interfere with LEXCORP and he sees Superman as a threat, due to his alien origin. It's basically Batman's motive for being against Superman in Batman Vs Superman, but pasted onto Lex Luthor, instead. Eve Teschmacher doesn't see what is wrong with Superman. She's very reminiscent of her counterpart in the 1978 film. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor goes to pay a visit to John Corben, in the hospital, after he heard the new story of his encounter with Superman.
John, by this point, is a man that was screwed over by Superman (inadvertently) and Lex made a deal with Corben that if he killed Superman, he'd get millions after the U.S. Government screwed him out of getting benefits after years of being in the marines. Feeling that he had nothing to lose, Corben agreed to the cybernetic enhancements.
LEXCORP scientists transfer his mind into an indestructible android body made of titanium alloys and powered by a Kryptonite heart. Upon the completion, Corben's android body was covered with a layer of artificial skin, which, aside from a rectangular seam which could expose his Kryptonite heart, allowed him to pass himself off as his original body.
Lex Luthor orders Metallo to cause destruction and collateral damage around Metropolis, to catch the attention of Superman. Reluctantly, Metallo rips off his human skin, revealing his robotic body from underneath.
Act-3: We see Metallo decimate Metropolis with his kryptonite powered weapons. The Military is sent in to neutralize Metallo. However, none of the machine gun rounds from the soldiers can pierce Corben's android body. Meanwhile, Clark hears a psychic call and he discovers a glowing blue crystal from the remains of his spacecraft that he keeps around. It compels Superman to fly to the Arctic where he uses the blue crystal to find The Fortress of Solitude, which strongly resembles the architecture and design of Krypton.
Inside, a hologram of Jor-El explains Clark's true origins, and after educating him on his reason for being sent to Earth and his powers, and he says to Clark,
"The people of Earth are different from us, it's true, but ultimately, I believe that is a good thing. They won't necessarily make the same mistakes we did, but if you guide them, Kal, if you give them hope. That's what this symbol means. The symbol of the House of El means "Hope". Embodied within that hope is the fundamental belief in the potential of every person to be a force for good. That's what you can bring them. They will race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in the Sun, Kal. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders."
Clark leaves the Fortress wearing a blue and red suit with a red cape and the House of El family crest emblazoned on his chest. It's basically the classic Superman outfit.
After seeing news coverage of Metropolis getting decimated, Clark decides to learn how to fly to save everyone, and it's the same exact scene from Man Of Steel, except when Clark does fly, The John Williams Superman Theme plays in the background instead. When Superman arrives in Metropolis, he evacuates civilians out of the city. (Because that's what Superman is supposed to be written as)
Meanwhile, Lois is about to get shot and killed by Metallo's plasma cannon, especially since she was too close to Lex's operations, as a reporter, but Superman swoops in and punches Metallo, sending the cyborg crashing into a Wayne Enterprises Building. (That's hinting at a Batman crossover)
After Superman saves her life, Lois grabs a nearby AK 47, on the pavement and evacuates Jimmy, Chloe, and Perry out of the city to be safe from all the chaos and collateral damage that Metallo is causing. Superman and Metallo have a brawl across Metropolis.
Metallo activates his kryptonite blaster and Superman is shot in the chest with it, weakening him and sending Clark crashing into a car, destroying it on impact.
Metallo absolutely bodies Clark in his weakened state. Corben is a master martial artist during his time with The Marines, and Superman is reliant on his abilities. Metallo beats down on Superman.
Metallo fires a missile at Superman, but using his reaction time, Clark turns the missile right back at Metallo, and the explosion blows a huge chunk in the torso of Metallo's cybernetic body.
Superman flies away from Metallo, momentarily for extra sunlight, to nullify the effects of the kryptonite, but Metallo has thrusters that allow him to fly at supersonic speeds.
The two engage in an aerial fight, but Superman grabs Metallo by his robotic skull and throws him into The LEXCORP Tower, tearing a hole through the skyscraper.
Superman and Metallo continue fighting in the LEXCORP Tower. When they are in close quarters, Superman freezes one of Metallo's arms and blows it up with his heat vision, knocking Metallo backwards, losing his right arm in the process.
When Metallo rushes towards Superman, Clark, in slow motion, sees an exposed chunk of wiring on the side of Metallo's torso, fires his heat vision and Metallo explodes and he is left a fiery mess, and Metallo shuts down.
Lois does find and confront Lex, thanks to Eve Teschmacher, the intern, next to Lex screams "She's got a gun!!" as Lois shoots Lex in the left arm.
When Superman arrives, Lex explains that they cannot arrest him, since he already covered the Metallo incident up, so Superman leaves with Lois, and flies away, vowing to put Luthor away in prison, one day.
Superman reveals his identity to Lois, and they still stay together as the two kiss, as the camera pans out to see the ravaged Metropolis. News Coverage, the papers and social media posts around the globe publish that Superman saves Metropolis from Metallo's terrorist attack and is a beacon of hope, just when it looked like Metropolis was about to be wiped off the map. Meanwhile, Metallo is sent back to LEXCORP and Lex repairs Corben and keeps him in a room, for something darker and nefarious…
(That is set up for The Legion Of Doom for a future Justice League sequel, especially since Steppenwolf is the villain for my rewrite of the first Justice League film)
The film ends with Superman and Lois being on their date that they promised each other, and after the date is over, Clark hears a crime, Lois kisses him and Clark suits up as Superman and flies off, with the John Willlams theme playing in the background, as the credits roll.
Post Credit Scenes: In the Batcave, Batman is watching a live video of Superman's fight with Metallo, setting up their meeting in World's Finest.
A giant skull-ship with tentacles orbits Saturn, and inside, the computer coldly states, "Kryptonian detected" and a green humanoid alien in silver armor, with his eyes glowing pink, states "Target Acquired" and smiles sinisterly.
This will set up Brainiac as a villain for a future Superman sequel, right after The Justice League.

The Batman 2: Heart Of Ice:

The Plot Act 1: The Batman 2 takes place during Christmas, and a year after the first movie. The opening scene is a flashback montage of Victor Fries and Nora falling in love and would end with the doctor saying she has cancer.
After this revelation, Victor developed a special cryogenic cell and planned to cryogenically hold Nora in there, to keep her alive, until a cure was found. However, Fries had been misappropriating GothCorp's money, which left the company in debt and the experiment unauthorized.
Fries was interrupted by GothCorp's CEO Ferris Boyle and a fight ensued and Fries grabbed a handgun, pointing it at Boyle and the security guards. Fries was then calmly ordered by Boyle to drop the gun, reasoning that it was not his nature to resort to violence and that a possibility may have existed to legitimately bankroll Nora's experiment.
Boyle's smooth talk got to Victor as he relaxed and let down his guard, allowing the deceitful CEO to kick the scientist into a lab table full of beakers which exploded. The explosion smashed him into his cryogenic freezing tanks and the accident soaked his entire body with the freezing solution and rendered him unable to survive outside of a sub-zero environment.
In the present day, Bruce Wayne has been trying to help and go out in public more and has his playboy personality, to help Gotham City recover from the flood that The Riddler caused in the previous movie. Ferris Boyle would be one of the head leaders for Gotham's rebuilding, even after the flood being frozen solid. However, it's another lie and secretly, Boyle is secretly taking money supposed to rebuild Gotham into his own bank account.
We have an opening action sequence of Batman fighting Killer-Croc, in the flooded waters of Gotham City, in the sewers. It's very similar to Bruce's fight with Killer Croc in Arkham Origins video game, where Batman uses his electrical gauntlets to wail on Croc, knocking him out and Bruce leaves Killer Croc for the cops.
After that, we see Batman as Bruce Wayne attending a charity event for Gotham's reconstruction, after the flood. It's led by Ferris Boyle. However, the door is busted down, thugs begin aiming their guns and an armored figure with glowing red eyes slowly walks towards Boyle, as Mister Freeze is introduced and he attacks The Charity Event, and tries to get the diamonds in the area and kidnap Boyle. He begins freezing people with his Freeze-Gun.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Bruce disappears into the panicked crowd and suits up as Batman, and he jumps out and kicks Mister Freeze, directly in his glass dome, cracking it. Due to his limited mobility in his armor, Freeze struggles against Batman, as Bruce continues landing several blows on him. However, Freeze gets Batman off of him and freezes Batman's feet to the floor with his Freeze-Rifle.
Mister Freeze steals the diamond and kidnaps Boyle. Victor takes Boyle to his hideout where he freezes his body. Boyle had caused his body to turn a bluish blue and for him to feel like he's constantly burning and his only comfort is his suit which cools him down. We now cut to Gordon and Batman investigating the crime scene.
Mister Freeze is using the diamonds to power his armor to find a cure for Nora who is permanently frozen. We have a similar scene to the animated series to show Freeze's lack of empathy and cold demeanor towards his goons.
Freeze has also been targeting executives of Ferris Boyle. Which leads to an action sequence in the frozen waters in Gotham City, where Freeze is surrounded by the executives, who all carry assault rifles. Mister Freeze kills them all by smashing the ice and freezing them underneath the frozen water, causing them to drown.
Finally, Batman figures out who Victor Fries is, through some research on The Batcomputer and which bank he's gonna rob next and chases after him with The Batmobile. However, Mister Freeze freezes the vehicle causing Batman to lose him.
Act-2: After his loss to Mister Freeze, Batman goes to The Iceberg Lounge to get some answers and information on Freeze but instead of getting met by The Penguin, it's two super strong thugs who are Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Batman fights the duo, but he gets overpowered and just when Batman is cornered and about to be beaten to death, Catwoman jumps behind Tweedledum and kicks him in the head and says playfully to Batman,
"I figured you'd be here".
Together, Bruce and Selena knock out both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in a bloody fist fight. After dealing with those two, Bruce and Selina get to Penguin, who does actually have information this time as he is doing a weapons deal with Freeze where he'll trade for this new freeze tech.
Batman attacks The Freeze Thugs, alongside Catwoman. These thugs have less advanced versions of Freeze's gun and interrogate one and figuring out Freeze's hideout and his motivation for his crimes. After they are subdued, Batman and Catwoman go to Mister Freeze's hideout taking out his goons stealthily and finding Freeze looking at his wife in the tube.
Batman sympathizes with Freeze and tries to convince him that he'll help Freeze with his wife and that he doesn't need to steal diamonds and shatter Boyle, who has been frozen all this time. Freeze doesn't care and doesn't trust Batman because Boyle lied to him in a similar way. They battle for a while, with Freeze having an upgraded version of his armor for better mobility.
Mister Freeze catches one of Batman's kicks and throws him aside into one of his ice structures, shattering it to pieces.
As Batman is in a fist fight with Freeze, Bruce begins to freeze up, because his main suit is not built for this low temperature environment, as Mister Freeze pulverizes Batman with a fury of punches, which breaks his cowl.
Catwoman tries to slice into Freeze's armor with her claws, but Freeze shoots her in the neck, causing Selena to suffocate.
(As for the effects of The Freeze-Rifle, The freezing itself doesn't actually kill you but it's the hypothermia that ensues that does it)
Batman breaks the ice and stealthily retreats with a wounded and suffocating Catwoman, back to The Batcave.
Act-3: After this, Batman quickly gets out of his armor and shatters the ice around Selina's neck. During Catwoman's recovery, Bruce reveals his identity to her and the two make out and get into an official relationship. Bruce and Selina come up with a plan to stop Freeze and find some way to cure his wife. His original suit is too damaged and they don't have time to repair it, as Freeze plans to storm GothCorp and steal all their latest technologies to help Nora.
Lucius Fox and his son, Luke, create Batman's new extreme environment suit created to stop Freeze specifically. The Extreme Environment Suit is armed with Thermo Charged Batarangs. Batman with his new XE suit will find Freeze and they battle.
All of Freeze's blasts from his Freeze-Rifle do nothing as they melt quickly on Batman's XE suit.
Batman bombards Mister Freeze with explosives and blasts from his Thermo Charged Batarangs, which ends up weakening Mister Freeze.
Batman punches Freeze across the room.
Catwoman fights off Freeze's thugs. It's a similar action sequence to Black Widow's hallway fight with Whiplash's thugs in Iron Man 2.
Batman reasons with Mister Freeze, to turn himself in for the sake of his wife, Nora, and Victor agrees and surrenders to The GCPD. Mister Freeze is put away in Arkham Asylum, in an extremely cold cell. The movie ends with Wayne Enterprises announcing that they are working on a cure for cancer, and they are almost there, as Victor cries with happiness, as the film ends on a hopeful note.
Post Credit Scenes: We see a dark haired woman, looking at photos of Batman and Superman's past sightings and footage of their battles with past supervillains, including Batman's final battle with Mister Freeze.
She says "The Silver Age of Heroes is happening, huh." As we zoom in on her amazonian armor, tiara, and lasso, hung up in her penthouse. As we hear the Hanns Zimmer Wonder Woman Theme quietly plays in the background, as it cuts to black…
(Yep, it's a small glimpse at Wonder Woman)
Tweedledee and Tweedledum are in the streets of Gotham, and they are suddenly hypnotized by a mysterious man. That will set up Mad Hatter for a future Batman film.

Good Morning Patriots
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Free place to chat and a good place to discuss whatever you like with other sub users
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Key dates on the 2023 NFL / Patriots calendar.

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New England Patriots News Link Catchup - Patriots already a better team than pre-free agency

• Patriots 2023 Free Agent Tracker.
• Mike Dussault notes that according to reports, the Patriots are adding a move tight end to their roster. Mike Gesicki should form a nice pairing with veteran Hunter Henry, providing the offense with an athletic player to be utilized by offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
• Transactions: Patriots sign OT Calvin Anderson; Release QB Brian Hoyer.
• Mike Dussault reports the Patriots are bringing back long-time long snapper Joe Cardona.
• Mike Dussault reports DT Daniel Ekuale re-signs with Patriots. He appeared in 15 games last season with two sacks.
• Evan Lazar reports the Patriots are bringing back LB Mack Wilson on a one-year contract. Along with maintaining their depth at off-ball linebacker, Wilson should remain a regular in the kicking game.
• Patriots Catch-22: JuJu Smith-Schuster reaction, analysis of New England’s roster moves in free agency. (84 min.)
• Patriots Unfiltered: Reaction to Pats’ free agency moves so far, JuJu vs. Jakobi debate; More. (2 hours)
• Mike Reiss passes along a report the Patriots agreed to a one-year deal with free-agent tight end Mike Gesicki that is worth up to $9 million.
• Mark Daniels believes that after signing Mike Gesicki, the Patriots offense is headed in right direction.
• Dakota Randall isn’t buying the Patriots doomsday takes amid the Aaron Rodgers-Jets rumors.
• Khari Thompson feels that all in all, the Pats are a better team than they were when they started free agency and still have some money they could use to put toward negotiating extensions, but it’s not nearly enough.
• Andy Hart wants to emphasize that the Patriots are the fourth-best team in the AFC East and yes, he’s aware it’s only March. /Insert eye-roll emoji here.
• Chris Mason writes that after jettisoning Jonnu Smith, Bill Belichick has landed Mike Gesicki, the top free agent TE on the market. Gesicki has averaged 52 catches for 604 yards and five touchdowns over the past four seasons.
• Darren Hartwell says Mike Gesicki is a nice pickup for New England: The 27-year-old set career highs in receptions (73) and receiving yards (780) during a breakout 2021 campaign and caught five touchdown passes in 2022 despite taking a backseat to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the Dolphins’ offense.
• Alex Barth brings up how for the second time in three years, the Pats are signing a high-profile free agent TE.
• Mike Reiss offers his take on why Bill Belichick took a risk in signing JuJu Smith-Schuster over Jakobi Meyers.
• Alex Barth talks about the Patriots bringing back underrated DT Daniel Ekuale on a multi-year deal.
• Doug Kyed explains how the Patriots haven’t missed on re-signing defensive free agents.
• Doug Kyed reports the Patriots finally released QB Brian Hoyer on Thursday.
• Matt Dolloff explains that no, the Patriots are not just dropping $8 million for a running back.
• Zack Cox considers what’s the Patriots’ plan at Tackle after the team’s free agent additions.
• Mike D’Abate (Patriots Country) Patriots host five free agent visits including Rams safety Taylor Rapp and former Patriots DL Trey Flowers.
• Zack Cox notes the Patriots are reportedly hosting oft-injured free agent wideout Bisi Johnson for a visit. Johnson missed the 2021 and 2022 seasons with injuries.
• Tyler Lamb (StadiumRant) The Patriots should look Into these under the radar free agents.
• Zack Cox notes Jakobi Meyers explains his ‘childish’ tweet after the Pats signed JuJu Smith-Schuster.
• Sean T. McGuire highlights Jakobi Meyers’ response when asked about his lowlight at introductory Raiders presser. As always, he handled the question well.
• Sean T. McGuire notes former Patriot and Jet WR Braxton Berrios is staying in the division, signing with Miami.
• Locked On Patriots podcast: Mike D’Abate discusses the JuJu Smith-Schuster signing, his take on the RB James Robinson and more. (20 min.)

Video: https://youtu.be/zEVS02RZ9As
Hi guys, my drone accidentally crashed while it was auto landing, It was slightly windy, and I was returning home. When I got very near home, I wanted to test the precision of RTH (I hovered the drone for 30 seconds when I took off). It started landing with 15% battery, everything was normal, then it said "Check the ground for landing" or something like that, I noticed it was slightly too forward, so I moved the stick slightly back, then it started descending faster and faster and it didn't respond to my controls, so it got smashed on the roof, and started doing random things, so it flipped, I immediately did the emergency stop. Hopefully the speed wasn't high so I didn't get any major damage, but I still got some scratches on the legs and arms. I wonder why it did that?
Edit: Just noticed the title, lmao

A mobile future for e-commerce: Mikitani at New Year Conference
18 hours ago
t the Rakuten New Year Conference each January, Rakuten chairman and CEO Mickey Mikitani takes to the stage to share his vision for the future of the e-commerce and tech industries.
This year, Mikitani had one core message for the 30,000 Rakuten Ichiba marketplace merchants and stakeholders tuning in: Mobile!
Mobile matters more than ever
“In 2006, back when we were still using flip phones,” Mikitani reminisced, “I spoke at this very conference about how we needed to focus on Mobile! Mobile! Mobile! At a time when mobile sales made up basically 0% of our GMS (gross merchandise sales), I predicted that it would reach as high as 70% in the future.”
This prediction was fulfilled – and quickly surpassed.
“On this past New Year’s Day, 89.3% of total GMS came through mobile. What this means is that mobile is no longer just our main source of revenue: It’s becoming nearly all of our revenue.”
“THE WHOLE WORLD CALLED THIS A PIPE DREAM, BUT WE DID IT. AND OUR SOFTWARE IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY OPEN SOURCE – SOMETHING UNHEARD OF IN THE TELECOM SPACE.”
MICKEY MIKITANI, CHAIRMAN & CEO, RAKUTEN GROUP
For the 2023 conference, Mikitani deployed a new but familiar rallying cry: Mobile! Mobile! Mobile! Mobile!
“As you have no doubt read in the news, we are currently undertaking a new challenge in the form of Rakuten Mobile,” he reminded the conference. “But we are not trying to create just another mobile carrier like Softbank, au or Docomo. We are creating another enormous new platform to add to the Rakuten Ecosystem.”
Trailblazing, software-centric telecommunications
Powering its ambitious journey to become Japan’s fourth major mobile carrier is Rakuten Mobile’s adoption of a strong focus on cutting-edge software-based solutions – a pioneering approach that is sparking a transformation in the hardware-heavy telecom industry.
“The technology we have developed is simply unparalleled,” Mikitani explained with both pride and excitement. “Traditionally, mobile networks have always needed giant network hardware equipment from the likes of Huawei and Nokia. We’ve actually changed all of that to operate solely with software.”
The ambitious plan attracted its fair share of skeptics, but Mikitani believes the results speak for themselves, “The whole world called this a pipe dream, but we did it. And our software is becoming increasingly open source – something unheard of in the telecom space.”
This trailblazing network architecture has allowed Rakuten to provide a truly unlimited service at just a fraction of the cost of other networks. Mikitani revealed that subscribers of other carriers averaged just 9.3GB of data usage per month, compared to Rakuten Mobile’s 18.4GB.
“That is how we’ve achieved this extraordinarily fair and accessible plan – 2,980 yen no matter how much data you use. A mobile plan for the 100-gigabyte age,” he declared. “By freeing consumers from these extremely expensive, ludicrous mobile plans, we hope they’ll become fans of Rakuten Group and Rakuten Ichiba and choose to use our services.”
Rakuten Mobile empowering growth on Rakuten Ichiba and beyond
“The Rakuten Ecosystem consists of Rakuten Ichiba in the center, with services like Rakuten Card, Rakuten Securities and Rakuten Bank surrounding it as supporting pillars. And the strongest of these pillars will be Rakuten Mobile.”
“RAKUTEN IS THE ONE PLATFORM THAT CONTINUES TO GROW. THE MAIN REASON FOR THIS IS OUR ECOSYSTEM, AND THE STRONGEST PILLAR OF THIS ECOSYSTEM IS RAKUTEN MOBILE.”
Mikitani cautioned the merchants and stakeholders at the conference not to dismiss Rakuten Mobile as a separate undertaking, unrelated to Rakuten’s other businesses.
“This is all part of a plan to build an ecosystem that’s stronger than anything that has existed before,” he explained. “This is our strategy to boost GMS growth for everyone here and the biggest takeaway should be that this growth is closely intertwined with the success of Rakuten Mobile.”
Mikitani laid out his vision to grow Rakuten’s domestic e-commerce revenue to 10 trillion yen by 2030. Rakuten Mobile, he told the conference, would serve as a major pillar in this plan.
“Right now, domestic e-commerce GMS for Rakuten Group has reached 5.6 trillion yen,” he reported. “I believe that Rakuten Mobile will contribute around 2 trillion to this goal.”
Mikitani’s reasoning is simple: “Rakuten Mobile customers are buying more and more on Rakuten Ichiba. That means that as Rakuten Mobile subscriber numbers grow, so will your GMS.”
It’s more than just a hunch: Mikitani demonstrated the magnitude of this effect with hard data.
“WHEN USERS SIGN UP FOR RAKUTEN MOBILE, ON AVERAGE THEY’RE USING 4.5 RAKUTEN SERVICES. ONE YEAR LATER, THEY’RE USING SEVEN SERVICES ON AVERAGE. THAT’S PRETTY AMAZING.”
“Subscribers purchase an average of 49% more – nearly 50% – annually compared to before joining Rakuten Mobile,” he revealed. “86% of Rakuten Mobile users shop at Rakuten Ichiba… If Rakuten Mobile reaches 15 or 20 million users, everyone’s total GMS will naturally increase by at least 50%.”
There are several factors that could be driving this phenomenon, Mikitani thinks. These include the considerable savings Rakuten Mobile subscribers enjoy, freeing up household budgets and effectively boosting disposable income.
Rakuten’s highly popular loyalty point program is also likely playing a role: Mobile subscribers enjoy a higher rate of return when shopping on Rakuten Ichiba. A similar program was implemented for users of Rakuten Card, which now handles over 70% of all transactions on the platform and has seen almost 30 million cards issued in Japan.
“We want to do the same thing with Rakuten Mobile – but on a scale several times larger.”
Rakuten Mobile is also having an exciting effect on the wider ecosystem – namely, on user engagement with multiple Rakuten services.
“When users sign up for Rakuten Mobile, on average they’re using 4.5 Rakuten services. One year later, they’re using seven services on average. That’s pretty amazing.”
Growing Rakuten’s core and the ecosystem
“Rakuten is the only company in the world that can do this because we’re not just Rakuten Ichiba, but also Rakuten Travel, Rakuten Card, Rakuten Bank, Rakuten Securities and more – all working in tandem,” Mikitani argued. “Last year, almost all major e-commerce companies in the U.S. saw decreases in market share. The same probably happened in the Japan market, but Rakuten is the one platform that continues to grow. The main reason for this is our ecosystem, and the strongest pillar of this ecosystem is Rakuten Mobile.”
Mikitani touched on the skepticism directed towards the mobile business, comparing it to that received by Rakuten’s credit card, banking and travel businesses before each turned their respective industries on their heads.
“I truly believe that Rakuten Mobile can surpass the big three mobile carriers in Japan and I believe that its success is the most effective way to dramatically grow your business,” he told the conference attendees. “Everything revolves around a core. That core is Rakuten Ichiba. It’s our heart, and it makes it possible for us to continue to grow.”
https://rakuten.today/blog/a-mobile-future-for-e-commerce-mikitani-at-new-year-conference.html