MS Cites National Security to Justify Closed Source [Slashdot: News for nerds, stuff that matters]

6:12:51 PM    

Fortune.  Why companies fail:  The New Economy Death Spiral. [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Key reading for any leader. I especially like Churchil's method getting bad news.

5:32:05 PM    

NYT.  Microsoft's Xbox plans focus on social gaming.  For many reasons this is going to be a massive $1 b flop.  The PC is the device connected to the broadband connection in all US homes.  Most of the PCs that are connected don't have a home network.  The only way to shoehorn this into the home is to sell a home server with a built-in wi-fi hub (Homestation) and connect the Xbox to that network as a satellite device.  This is putting the cart before the horse.   [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

This is something that I had not even considered, I take it as a given that people who want it have a broadband connection. This is not the case, as both writers I know of and people I know will gladly tell me. I once worked for a company that paid one of it's programmers ISDN bill every month because the town he lived in had neither cable modem nor DSL service.

Further, I just taught myself how to run cat 3 phone lines as well as coax, and will be learning how to crimp my own cat5 this weekend from a friend. While I consider these to be vital skills for any self respecting homeowner, (or in my case, renter) I forget other folks are not as hands on. Wiring up a network is no mean feat, and is also a skill that the average platform gamer probably does not have.

9:58:12 AM    

World: Nintendo drops US GameCube price to $149. 04:56 ET - Ananova [NewsBlip.com]

And they have all now droppred their prices.

8:32:21 AM    

Microsoft's $1 Billion Bet on Xbox Network. Microsoft is betting that an Internet-based gaming service will save its Xbox video-game system which lags far behind industry leaders. By John Markoff. [New York Times: Technology]

Here is the problem with MS's theory: People can game for free* on their PCs. Why would I buy a $200 box that is going to cost me another $50.00 for the game and then ANOTHER $9.99 a month for me to be able to play it online?

I just went and installed Tribes 2 on my new machine here, as well as Unreal Tournament. I can play those for free online, all I want, as well as Freedom Force [Flash into, you can skip it], any of the Quake series, etc etc. The only games that people have been willing to subscribe for are the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) games, which have a persistent universe and serve to continually hand out challenges to the players as time goes on.

I don't think people are going to rush to a system that has a history of OK games, in order to pay a monthly fee to play more OK but not great games.

8:29:53 AM