Category: Columns & Opinion
Opinion: Corporate cash is never a bad thing!
So the boss emails me this morning and he says: “Can you do a post on either Microsoft buying into Facebook or Blackberries becoming more of an entertainment device?” ‘Mmm’ I thought, why don’t I do both! So here it is, cunningly combined by way of a tenuous techno link.
I can’t lie, I’m possibly one of the most corporate people you’ll meet. I love big business, capitalism and all the positives that come from it. And I’m overjoyed at Bill Gates grabbing a slice of my beloved Facebook. His firm has invested $240m in the social network site and while it’s less than a two per cent stake, there’s no doubt the company will start to exert some of its muscle amid the Poking and Fun Walls…
Opinion: University study discovers online role-playing games are addictive. No, really?!
Some retarded university professor with too much university grant money on his hands has concluded that role-playing games, or MMORPGs played online are more addictive than playing on consoles. No, really?
Judging by the fact that tens, if not hundreds of people (mostly in the East) have died from several days’ worth of…
Opinion: Why Gordon Brown, Dr Tanya Byron and the Nanny State should stay out of technology
When does a Government go too far in a bid to protect its citizens? When it locks people up without a charge? When it bans people from taking to the streets and puts them under curfew? Or when it employs a TV presenter to look at how the Internet and computer games are harming the nation’s youngsters?
This week it’s been announced Dr Tanya Byron – star of such TV greats as House of Tiny Tearaways – is to preside over a review of what effect the web and console adventures are having on kids across Britain. And I for one find it not only laughable, but downright disgusting that Gordon Brown and his cohorts think they have the right to interfere in our lives which such a pointless exercise…
Opinion: Does Nokia move pave way for car that drives itself?
I’ve wanted a car that drives itself ever since I first watched Knightrider. What child of the 1980s didn’t grow up hoping that by the time they turned 17 a real-life version of K.I.T.T. would be on the market. Well, this weekend I turn 30 and that hope is still not a reality some 13 years later…
Opinion: Why isn't Apple letting us share music too?
Stuart Dredge writes…
I’m genuinely excited about Microsoft’s plans for the Zune Social community, allowing Zune owners to subscribe to each other’s dynamic playlists, and embed their latest listening in their blog or social networking profile.
It’s certainly more interesting than the Zune-to-Zune Wi-Fi track sharing that debuted in the first Zune, anyway. Zune Social would actually make me buy a Zune, if Microsoft was selling it officially over here in the UK. Note to Bill: sort this out soon, please.
With the caveat that I’m not a Jobs-hating Microsoft fanboy (or, indeed, a Gates-stomping Apple nut), Zune Social has made me wonder why Apple hasn’t done more in the area of music sharing – or at least communities around the music stored in our iPods and iTunes applications.
Opinion: Why are robots still so rubbish!
So there I was on Friday, snowed under with work and wanting the weekend to arrive but take a bit longer than usual to get here so I could finish off everything I needed to do. And then it struck me, what I actually needed was some help around the house. No, I don’t mean an eastern European cleaner, or a girlfriend – the first is too expensive and the second a lot of hassle, or should that be the other way around?
And then I read on Tech Digest about the iRobot Looj: the robot that cleans your gutter. Now that’s more like it! A robot for cleaning my gutter, I WANT ONE! The fact my gutting doesn’t need cleaning and is currently free of leaves, is of no consequence…
Opinion: Why it's now COOL to be a GEEK
Jonathan Weinberg writes…
This is possibly the most important techno story I’ve seen all week, it’s officially ok to be geeky. A new list of the UK’s most coolest brands has been released and the top 10 contains SEVEN firms related to gadgets, gaming and the internet. So if that’s not a reason to embrace your virtual friends and give thanks I don’t know what is.
The iPod was only pipped into second place in the CoolBrands 2007 by James Bond’s favourite car, the Aston Martin, and you could argue there’s something geeky about being a fan of that motor. No longer is it nerdy to be geeky – because both are different…
Opinion: Why is MTV not spreading the Britney Spears VMA video far and wide?
Stuart Dredge writes…
Seen Britney’s shambolic performance at the MTV VMA awards yet? If not, and you’re outside the US, you’ll be hard-pressed to watch it. Why? Well, MTV has the footage on its website, but it says it’s “not accessible”, which I think is because I’m outside the US.
But it’s on YouTube, right? Wrong. It was, for a few hours on Monday, but MTV parent company Viacom’s lawyers were quick on the case to get it taken down from there, and any other video-sharing site where it was posted.
It’s frustrating, because you’d think MTV would be keen to have the video splashed all over the web, given that on Monday morning, Britney’s performance was THE celebrity story around the world.
Opinion: HMV need more than gimmicks to attract kids to "cyber store"
Quick quiz now – do you still buy CDs on the high street? I rarely do these days, unless it’s an impulse buy in a sale as I browse, but then I don’t get much time to do that either like I used to. Let’s face it, we’re a cash rich, time poor society now and that means one thing – the Internet!
I’m not going to spit out the obvious downloading facts and figures that we all already know, digital music is big business and only a miniscule percentage of people reading this will never have bought or “found” a music track via the web…
Opinion: If only the iPod Touch had more storage capacity…
Stuart Dredge writes…
Following the excitement of Apple’s product launch this Wednesday, we’ve all had time to sit back, take stock, and… reach for our credit cards. As with any new Apple products, the iPod Touch, new Nanos and iPod Classic are being snapped up from the start, with the now-predictable flurry of unboxing images online as proof.
Once I’d finished all the posts for our big Apple roundup, I actually went as far as getting my wallet out and logging into the Apple Store, with a crazed look in my eye and an iPod Touch in my sights. But then I stopped.
