A few things I’ve been thinking about lately:
1. Apple knows how to generate buzz – My entire office was glued to Apple fan websites waiting to get a glimpse of what Steve Jobs would reveal. Seems like half my coworkers own a Powerbook and iPod. Does Apple have the most dedicated fans or what? A new iPod comes out with a couple of new features and suddenly their 6-month old model won’t do. Microsoft would kill to have such passionate Windows XP users clamoring for Vista.
2. Google is everywhere – TV, websites, podcasts, newscasts, newspapers…you can’t read or watch one without hearing about Google. Everyone is talking about what Google is doing. How did it come to this? For me, it’s still just a search engine I use a couple of times a day. They did announce some vague partnership with Sun but nobody seems to know what it means.
3. Xbox’s big lead – Why is it that people are more concerned that the Xbox will beat the PS 3 to market than they are about actual game quality? Who cares how cool the console looks (faceplates??) if the games aren’t compelling? My theory is gamers just need something to get excited about every few years. Look back to the Sega Dreamcast. It came out early, people got so excited and then it died. Will Microsoft keep pumping billions into a business that’s losing money?
4. Nintendo rocks – Listening to the Engadget interview with Miyamoto reminded me why I love Nintendo and their franchise games like Mario and Zelda. Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still the best game I’ve played on any console or PC, period. My daughter and I enjoy playing Mario Party 6 together. I’m thrilled to see Nintendo continue to create games families with young children can enjoy. For adult games like Half Life 2, I’ll stick with my PC.
5. Podcasting is cool – I tried it out over a year ago and didn’t find any content that made me come back. Recently I downloaded iPodder and found Yahoo’s new Podcast directory which is really easy to use. I download the podcasts using iPodder and listen to them on my iRiver H-120 on the train into work each morning.
6. Why does everything and everyone suddenly need to become “transparent”? – I can’t read a blog or attend a meeting without hearing this word tossed around. It feels like a great addition to the buzzword BINGO days of the dot com era. Is “transparent” the new “synergy”?
Nordquist Blog 