Skip to main content

2 things likely to shake up established industries that need a good shaking

Ouya

I'm not a gamer, but this idea could really shake up the game industry.  The basic idea is that it's a very accessible console for independent developers.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console

Interested to see how this goes.  Getting into just about any real console as a developer is difficult (and costly); that low (and cheap) barrier is a big reason why the iPhone and Android platforms have attracted so many developers.  Offering a $100 console built on open source / available technology that anybody can develop games for is an obvious idea, but as far as I know, nobody's done it to date.

AMC and Breaking Bad

AMC and Dish Network are currently in a few big fights; there are a lot of details but you can find them pretty easily.  The interesting thing that's coming out of this is the fact that while AMC is no longer available on Dish Network (as a Dish Network customer, it's a move I'm less than thrilled about), AMC decided to broadcast the premiere of Breaking Bad at the same time as the TV show:

http://observer.com/2012/07/amc-streams-breaking-bad-premiere-online-for-dish-customers/

Pretty much everybody is fed up with cable companies as far as I can tell (outside of the cable companies themselves) and I don't know too many TV watchers that would not be VERY excited to be able to get networks a la carte via the Internet.  Game of Thrones (reportedly the most pirated TV show this year) has already run into problems with this; basically, if I don't have cable and HBO - a pair that is hard to find under $60 per month - I can't watch the show, because it's not available on iTunes or Amazon or DVD until about a year later.

If the AMC approach was successful, it could set a precedent, or at least show the networks that streaming live TV over the Internet (with commercials and everything) can be successful; if they can create a model to get paid for this, I think the whole TV / cable industry is going to see some big changes.

In related news, Arrested Development is supposed to be coming back, delivered via Netflix:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/11/arrested-development-on-netflix-ron-howard_n_1664392.html 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Gobbler from Arby's

Stop.  Stop what you're doing and go to Arby's. Right. Now.  Have them make you a Gobbler .  This is not something you'll regret. Go. Eat this thing. Look at that bacon. Go. Arby's has a new sandwich.  It's called "The Gobbler" and as far as I can tell it's two things: a vehicle for their new deep fried turkey, and an attempt at a Thanksgiving themed sandwich.  It's also a third thing: magically delicious. move over Lucky, there's a new holiday mascot on the block Unwrapping: this actually looks like a sandwich.  It looks appetizing.  It looks like something I want to eat.  It doesn't look like the promo photo above, but it doesn't look like someone was flailing around and accidentally smashed up a sandwich, either. sexy Instagram caption goes here First bite: Wow.  I mean, "WOW."  Holy h*ck this is good.  The turkey has a really bold, meaty flavor.  It tastes a lot like turkey sliced fresh from your...

Interviewing: Tell Stories

Softball questions  are questions the interviewer asks to try to find out about your personality, your history, your level of enthusiasm, and your experience.  While technical questions evaluate your skills or your knowledge, softball questions are meant to have you talk about less quantifiable abilities.  An interviewer might ask a dozen or more softball questions to determine what you're like outside of an interview room. The word to remember for interviews, especially the softball questions, is: STORIES .  People who are good storytellers tend to be good interviewees. Technical questions are important - you need the skills to be able to do the job.  However, often interviewers are convinced by your answers to softball questions - then they spend the rest of the interview trying to convince themselves why they should hire you, instead of spending the rest of the interview trying to convince themselves why they shouldn't. A great strategy for prepa...

Sheetz Sandwich Standoff: El Gringo vs Twisted Swiss

My wife left me alone for dinner tonight so I decided to check out the latest GetGo offerings... but to my great chagrin, they have no promotional subs. My travels led me to the local Sheetz, where I'd be able to keep eating the best gas station sandwiches around. To keep tradition alive, I picked the two most outrageous "Burgerz" on the menu: El Gringo and Twisted Swiss. The ingredient list is promising: Twisted Swiss is the burger with topped with swiss cheese, cole slaw, pickles, bacon, and whatever "Boom Boom Sauce" is on a pretzel bun.  El Gringo is the burger topped with pepper jack cheese, chili, Doritos, and BBQ sauce on a regular old bun. I unwrapped them both and stood back to admire the majesty before me. They're not pretty, but they do look a lot better out of the wrapper than many fast food burgers I've eaten. Twisted Swiss I expected this sandwich to be an awful mess.  It just seemed like a bunch ...