Monthly Archives: September 2011

Friday Free For All

  By Chris | September 30, 2011 - | ,
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I have been a fan of the Amazon Kindle since I got one for my birthday a few years back. It is simply the best way to read a book in my opinion. Of course, I am thinking of novels. There are other books and magazines that a more multimedia rich environment would benefit. To that end, the new media consumption tablet, the Kindle Fire has been announced with a release date of November 15.

This looks like a great device, especially if you plan to take advantage of Amazon’s digital and cloud offerings. We have been buying TV shows and movies on Amazon Instant Video for a while now and have been quite happy with that. The Fire would be another option for watching those shows.

Of course, the big thing seems to be comparing it to an iPad or calling this an iPad killer. CNN even has an article about this: Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you? I don’t think this is quite an iPad killer, but it is certainly an attractive alternative. I think this will bring tablets into the mainstream. $199 is a lot easier to drop than $499 on a tablet, and if you don’t need any of the extra features then why pay for them. But if you plan on using  a variety of apps then the iPad may still be more your style since (unreasonably in my opinion) developers tend to write apps for the iPad before they do an Android version.

Friday Free For All

  By Chris | September 23, 2011 - | ,
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When I see this:

It makes me think of this:

 

Or maybe this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What it refers to is the practice of circling around a parking lot in the hopes that a spot might open up in the next few minutes/hours. I’m not sure why some people would rather do this than go park somewhere else, but it is a real problem. Just don’t look up sharking on Urban Dictionary, since it apparently also means something much more disgusting….

Disclaimer: I am merely making an observation about, not making fun, of this. I am actually glad someone is trying to stop people from wasting gas and causing more pollution when there is ample parking further down.

Tech Talk Thursday

  By Chris | September 22, 2011 - | ,
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Some thoughts on the Netflix split:
While I think in the short term Netflix will suffer from their price increase and then misguided service split, I think in the long term they will come out stronger.
I think the customers lost from this were expecting too much for basically free. Hopefully this will allow Netflix to focus on their core customers who actually like their product.
I do think the split to two different services is a mistake, done hastily in reaction to a vocal group of bad customers. One of the downfalls of our constantly wired world is that it can be very easy for a few people to blow things out of proportion and then have their opinion given undue weight.

Worker Wednesday

  By Chris | September 21, 2011 - | ,
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From Bottom 60% of Americans lost wealth between 1983 and 2009

the richest 5 percent of households obtained roughly 82 percent of all the nation’s gains in wealth between 1983 and 2009. The bottom 60 percent of households actually had less wealth in 2009 than in 1983, meaning they did not participate at all in the growth of wealth over this period.