Media consumer, tech enthusiast, and gamer
Walt Mossberg of WSJ fame (subscription required) often answers popular tech questions coming from readers. One noticeable question answered this week, which coincidentally comes right on the heels of Microsoft announcing that it expects to sell 1 million Zunes by June:
We have not had good luck with iPods, and I’m ready to try an alternative. Which ones should I consider? Is there a way to transfer the music we purchased from iTunes to another player?
So Blockbuster released a holiday promotion yesterday that will let Netflix subscribers rent Blockbuster movies for free. The reaction to the offer is, of course, mixed. Some seem to hate Blockbuster with a passion while others point out Netflix
has its own issues (especially when you are a frequent user). How can we know what to do in a case like this?
I thought we could settle this once and for all using my favorite imperfect method: the poll! Question: I would switch from Netflix to Blockbuster IF:
Read More “Poll: What would make you switch from Netflix to Blockbuster?” »
According to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Blockbuster is introducing a holiday promotion that will let Netflix subscribers rent Blockbuster movies for free. Here’s how it works: Netflix members can turn in the tear-off flaps from any red Netflix envelopes for free rentals at any Blockbuster store. The promotion is set to run through December 21.
Read More “Blockbuster Inviting Netflix Customers to Rent Movies From Stores for Free” »
It’s official: HP is the biggest PC-maker with Dell falling to the number two spot after the latest earnings reports from both companies. Dell has been hit with a stream of bad news recently, including unexciting profits, a costly battery recall, an SEC investigation, a volatile share price, and the death of its MP3 player. What happened? And where does the company go from here? Well, in a move that’s getting polarized reactions, Dell wants to reinvent itself with an initiative called Dell 2.0 (Is the name hip or an eye roller? You decide). Here are the details:
Read More “Dell 2.0: The “To Do” List Now That HP Is Number One” »
The Economist (subscription required) had some choice words in describing Digg and “social news.” After your typical one paragraph introduction to the concept, we get the following:
“Digg has become an internet phenomenon. It has over half a million registered users and has been valued at over $200m despite having just $3m in revenues and no profits. Its success has spawned similar sites such as Reddit and Newsvine, and prompted the world’s largest media company, Time Warner, to turn its ailing Netscape.com news portal into a social-news service instead.”
Both Wal-Mart and TiVo had some big news today in the area of trying to commercialize the latest advances in digital media. Wal-Mart released its movie download service with a twist: you have to buy the DVD. But for a few bucks extra, you get a download too. TiVo decided to sell advertising space at the end of recorded programs and track how many people watch them. So the question of the day is:
Which of these new services is more likely to succeed (or fail)?
Read More “Wal-Mart Releasing Movie Downloads Versus TiVo Adding Commercials” »
The latest trend in online advertising (you know, that thing that feeds all these websites with otherwise free information) is in-text ads. If you see a word on a website with a double underline (supposedly the “double” part makes it so you won’t confuse it with a link), click on it and chances are an ad window will appear (see picture).
This embedded advertising has been online for a while even if only a few dozen larger sites have used it (such as IGN.com and ScienceDaily.com). But that’s all changing now with mainstream journalistic sites trying it out (such as Fox News and Popular Mechanics), which is already causing some controversy. The tradition in the print medium was to keep editorial content separate from ads, and many were hoping the tradition would hold true online.
Read More “The Rise (or Fall?) of In-Text Advertising: Is It News…or Is It an Ad?” »
The Wall Street Journal (subscription not needed) has an interesting article out today describing the aches and pains of Wii players. For those who might have been hibernating this Fall, the Wii is the latest gaming console from Nintendo that was released just two days after Sony’s PlayStation 3.
The Wii does not try to compete on a technical level (i.e. game graphics, etc.). Instead, Nintendo is hoping to convert non-gamers with “intuitive game play.” The controller it comes with is a wireless, motion-sensitive wand-like device that gamers wave around in the air perhaps as a sword, gun, steering wheel, tennis racket, or whatever a particular game calls for. But apparently, this type of game play amounts to some fairly intense exertion. Reports are coming in of aching backs, sore shoulders, and something now called “Wii elbow.”