anti-cranky

Amazon Gaining Share on iTunes

I found a lot of value in using music, in the form of a digital file, to be useful for teaching my kids about Intellectual property and its value. Paying for music should not be about “parental guilt”. It’s something I was able to teach my kids as soon as they started using ipods and they “get it”.

Speaking of the generational differences… my kids use iTunes almost exclusively. I still prefer to get the actual CD from Amazon since I’m getting the music in a lossless format. If I do buy compressed music I prefer Amazon because I can get a 256kb encoding rather than the 128kb encoding itunes offers. I wish there was a service that offered lossless formats for those of us (few) that care…

Recession Hits Gaming Industry

Bruce,

I think your spot on in your analysis of the gaming buisness. A couple of comments:

If "PC-lite" games become big on netbooks do you think this will benefit the xbox since it is direct-x based.

Anecdotally, my household (12 year old twins) seems to buoy your theory of the WII bubble. My kids have had the WII for a year now but they are not playing it nor are they requesting games for the WII. The Xbox gets all the play time and my kids are only asking for xbox games… The music playing games are big right now.

Is the Microsoft Empire Cracking?

Couple of comments Alex,

MSFT dominates the productivity apps business on the MAC. This was not done by "leveraging" an OS monopoly. Lastly, NT was developed in the 90’s and is technically superior and more "modern" than the UNIX variants you speak of (developed in the 80’s) one example of this is B2/C2 security compliance and more robust memory/object management architecture.

Mike

How Much Will Game Theft Harm Microsoft's Xbox 360?

Well, for sure there is mismanagement at EA but having worked for a small company that did game porting and some new development I can tell you that it's insanely expensive work. You need a crew or talented artists, programmers and testers. You need limited but effective managment. We're talking about staggering capital burn rates before you ever make a dime or even make the pitch! Then if you do manage to hit the home run you get ripped off by pirates.

Apple-Microsoft Ad Wars Heat Up Again

No doubt, Apple has a great product. Due in large part to the tight HW/SW integration they enjoy which is something of a pandoras box for MS. This is something PC makers need to understand! MS understands this all too well! That said, those of us that object to overpaying for hardware and don't require the level of hand holding that apple "provides" and will remain PC users with lot's of choices for operating systems. We can all get along can't we :-)

Cloud Computing: More Storm Clouds Ahead

Cloud computing you say? Been there, done that. 30 years ago while at university using DEC machines from a dumb terminal. You'll have to pry my quad-code from my cold dead hands!

Electric Cars for 2010: Shift from Foreign Oil to Riding on Local Renewable Energy

EV's are the future of personal transportation and hybred's are an acceptable bridge technology. Solar power can provide 70% of the nations energy needs in 50 years. www.sciam.com/article....
Problem is, we need progressive minded political leadership to make this a reality. It can happen sooner or later but it will happen. Let's hope it's sooner...