Geek Biz Report: week ending 2 May 2010
► Newsflash!: Steve Jobs posted a letter; sure, fine. Ah! but Mister Jalopy suggested a remix, which Mark Frauenfelder linked to from Boing Boing and a lot of us read it, and thoughtfully chuckled.
see also: major media (Associated Press in this case) reporting on the letter, Will Smith at Tested.com for one tech blog take [pro-Apple, to balance out the snark], and of course Adobe has a reaction
What is the letter actually about? Who cares. Both sides of the Apple/iPad v Adobe/Flash debate are, substantially, correct: We need open systems that run open standards. And both sides of this issue have some failings in one area or both, as do nearly all companies that are attempting to extract money from the gadget-and-computer-using public.
► Related: free video is still out there, but more and more sites would much rather you pay for it
► Bungie Has 10-Year Plan for Secret New Game Series Headline says it all.
Well, OK, I think part of the news here is that Bungie (formally separated from Microsoft in 2007) is going to partner with Activision to distribute whatever the Grand Secret Game Universe Thing is — at least to the PC and gamer decks. (Movies and/or Cable TV and/or breakfast cereals would obvious utilize different channels). Small coup for Activision, large coup for Bungie (they retain ownership of the big secret) and potentially good news for gamers, if the thing lives up to both the legacy of Halo and the hype.
► Intel, Sony, and Google gang up to provide future generations with all the TV they will ever need
Sony provides the screen hardware, Intel the chips to drive it, and Google will bake up an Android-variant dubbed Dragonpoint to run the thing. Logitech gets pulled into the mix (as providing the keyboard-cum-remote) and there’s even a rumour (though it’s a rumour reported by the New York Times) that set-top box testing is already taking place with select Dish Network customers.
[Geek Biz Editorial]
meh. I’ve already given up my TV to watch DVDs and streaming video on my laptop. In fact, I still use the external DVD player I bought 4 years ago when the internal drive failed on my first laptop (and it has in fact survived to serve both my 4th laptop and noteably, the drive-less netbook) and finding that old blog post to link back to reminds me that I’ve been without a TV since Sep. 2004 and I’ve not felt the lack, yet. Super TVs running Chrome OS on Atom chips isn’t about to get me to switch back, either. This isn’t the hardware solution I’m looking for.
[/editorial]
► Electronic Arts, News Corp, CBS, & Time Warner all report earnings in the next couple of weeks. Viacom reported earnings on Thursday — still making billions, but down slightly (4%) from last year, attibuted to lower box-office (down 6%) and the fact that their new DVD slate for Q1 2010 wasn’t quite as good as the releases for the same time period last year (strong sales of “DreamWorks Animation Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa DVD release in first quarter of 2009” is name-checked in the press release; …Really? Madagascar 2? ugh.)
Say, someone remind me to look into why Viacom is carrying $6.79 billion in debt. I’m sure it’s a movie thing, just don’t recall any news (good or bad) on the topic.
► Indigo lanched their Kobo e-reader in stores and online this past Saturday which is impressive, but only if you live in Canada. No word yet on when Indigo’s partner in the Kobo, Borders, will have the device for sale in the U.S.
They better start soon… the e-reader party is getting awfully crowded.
Selling point: The Kobo streets for just $149. (Canadian, but the exchange rate is tight) — That’s a $110 less that the next lowest price point [Kindle, Nook]. Here, have some
► Amazon, not content to under-cut sales, attempts to patent ‘meeting at the bookstore or coffee shop’ to exchange goods for money. Um, I think the entirety of Craiglist could be used to prove ‘prior art’ to immediately deny the claim. Seriously, who let this past Legal? Or do Amazon’s lawyers relish a challenge?
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Aggregate prices on the Rocket Bomber Geek Stock Index fell 23.93 points (2.27%) – Everyone was down for the week. (If I knew why I’d be making a lot of money)
Rolling 10-week RBGSX Aggregate Price
Value at close of markets Friday 30 April 2010: $1030.63
& the 25 stocks: CBS Corporation (NYSE:CBS), The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS), News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA), Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE), Time Warner Inc. (NYSE:TWX), Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA), Wiley John & Sons Inc. (NYSE:JW.A), The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MHP), Lagardere SCA (EPA:MMB), Pearson PLC (NYSE:PSO), Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL), Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Books-A-Million, Inc. (NASDAQ:BAMM), Borders Group, Inc. (NYSE:BGP), Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), Hastings Entertainment, Inc (NASDAQ:HAST), Indigo Books & Music Inc. (TSE:IDG), Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), Navarre Corporation (NASDAQ:NAVR), Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ:ATVI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), GameStop Corp. (NYSE:GME), Nintendo Co., Ltd (OTC:NTDOY), and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Please note: nothing here is investment advice. full disclaimer
Activision must be a little more than worried about possibly killing their goose that lays golden eggs, ie. Infinity Ward, to make such concessions to Bungie.
Driving away Harmonix, then Infinity Ward… man, if I were an Activision investor, I’d be really sore right now.
Comment by Simon Jones — 2 May 2010, 19:01 #
The Call of Duty/Infinity Ward mess is briefly mentioned in the linked article, but now that you mention it I do recall the Guitar Hero mess, too (interesting that these are Activision’s leading properties…)
I doubt this means Activision will become just a distributor/marketer of games, fronting for studios who have product but lack the chops or cash to go nationwide, all at once — but that is one model and it’s one you can make money with.
Comment by Matt Blind — 2 May 2010, 20:11 #