Image by dpstyles™ via Flickr

If you're wondering why I haven't chimed in on Google Buzz, it would be because I'm not really sure what to make of it.  Like many, I started to play with it when it was available, but even a week or so on, I'm still not sure where Buzz sits in the social landscape.

It aims to do a couple of things right, like aggregate your friends/contacts/social feeds.  But then it does a couple of functional things wrong, like making it a part of Gmail, and not having an easy way to view your followers Buzz feed outside of your Gmail page.  Of course there is also all the privacy issues, but if the product doesn't work or isn't functional, then no one will be using it, and the privacy issues will go away.

Buzz thinks that we want to follow the activities of those in your address book.  The problem with that is that my address book is full of clients and family and such.  Or to put it more clearly, full of people in which I have absolutely no interest in their online activities.  The few that I am actually interested in, I follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

Is it just me or is Buzz a copy of Friendfeed, albeit a bad copy? I'm not the only one asking that question, and I would be interested to know if Friendfeed has been getting more interest as a result.  I know that I have taken another look, as Friendfeed still has the best functionality when it comes to "the conversation" and getting involved in it.

Regardless of this, it looks like Google has a failure on its hands, despite them having an almost instant audience.  The big lesson here is that there needed to be a Beta logo on it, until you have the mind share.  This makes me wonder what Google have waiting in the wings that made them try and force Buzz.  

Jason Remnant

...if it's not Broken, then where is the button to turn it off???

Image via CrunchBase

The modern story of the fall of a platform is being lived out by the once great Flash.  In a world where it was becoming the most important feature of the web, Adobe's Flash has somehow squandered it all and looks to be on the verge of being displaced by HTML5, which isn't really out of the gate yet.

The nail in the coffin seems to be the continued issues Adobe is having with Apple, and its mobile products.  Apple has made a concerted effort to avoid the technical issues which surround Flash.  And that is to avoid Flash all together.  Many complain about this stance, but if you look at what is happening in hardware and the web, Apple is really just getting ready for the future, a less buggy future.

Steve Jobs comment at a recent Apple Town Hall meeting summed up the point:

"Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it's because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5."

The main issue that Apple would have had is that Flash is heavy on systems with few resources to spare.  And with the push to Net-books and mobile devices, the future is not heading to more power as much as it is heading towards more portable power.  This sort of move just doesn't have a place for Flash, unless of course Adobe can come up with a better, leaner and faster version.

Will the lack of Flash effect the iPad?

Since the launch, the main problems people have been talking about is the name, and the lack of Flash.  But is the lack of Flash going to hurt the iPad, or for that matter Apple?

Theflashblog.com made an attempt to rally the troops, but really just put the reality out there that no Flash could mean no porn.  The use of a porn site as one of the examples of sites that will no longer work, was a little too real for Jeff, who commented: 

"I know it’s true and all…

… but is the porn screen shot really necessary? What I mean is… is it really in Adobe’s best interest to play up a “Flash = porn” angle?

Just sayin’…."

In response to the above, Daringfireball.net made the important point that this is the Internet age and content providers will go where the users are:

"Ends up a bunch of them, including the porno site, already have iPhone-optimized versions with no blue boxes, and video that plays just fine as straight-up H.264. iPhone visitors to these sites have no idea they’re missing anything because, well, they’re not missing anything. For a few other of the sites Brimelow cited, like Disney and Spongebob Squarepants, there are dedicated native iPhone apps."

In this post, "Who Can Do Something About Those Blue Boxes?" John Gruber points out that the iPhone generation haven't been missing out on content because the creators, even the porn sites, have been supporting them.  So why is it going to be any different for the iPad? And once HTML5 rolls out, then we are all back on a level playing field again.

I do feel for all those developers out there who have been making a good living, but it will be nice not to have to curse them because of a browser crash.  

If you feel differently, comment and be noticed.

Jason Remnant

...if it ain't Broken, play the porn card and hope no one notices.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Waking up this morning I finally got to re-live that feeling you get when you're a kid, when the presents, or the family vacation was about to begin.  As a geek, the launch of a new Apple product can be just like <insert generic religious holiday here>, so today was always going to be fun with the promise of a new device revolution.

There are a lot of negatives when it comes to the launch of new hardware products and living in Australia.  The main one is that we only seem to ever get access to a small percentage, and it's normally months after the North American launch.  I guess you could look at that and say that means that we only get the successful devices. 

Having the time to analyse and access the real world use of a new device/platform is a plus that in some instances can make up for the delays in access.  But when it comes to Apple products I have to admit to a pang of jealousy after a launch.

Three am this morning, Apple and Steve Jobs launched the iPad, dispelling all the rumours and innuendo of the last few months, if not last three years.  Gdgt.com describes it as:

"The iPad is a tablet computer announced by Apple on January 27, 2010. It is 0.5-inches thick, weighs 1.5 pounds, and features a 9.7-inch IPS capacitive multitouch display. It is powered by a proprietary 1GHz processor, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and is available in 16, 32, or 64GB flash storage capacities. Additional specs include an accelerometer, compass, speaker, mic, 30-pin Apple dock connector, and 10-hour built-in battery."

Apple doesn't so much describe the iPad, as describe the missing link in personal, and mobile computing. "Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."

But being in Oz means that we are a little way out of the "Reality distortion field", so lets take a look at the details and what they will mean in the real world.

Is this a tablet computer?

The new Apple product was supposed to be a tablet computer.  So much so was the hype that the rest of the industry was racing to get their tablet computers out first.  Microsoft was pushing Windows 7 tablet power at CES at the start of the month, probably in the hope of remaining relevant with whatever Apple was going to do.

But is this a tablet computer? Or is it a bigger iPod Touch? Or is this a new platform altogether? These are the important question that will be debated for some time to come.

I don't think that this is a tablet in the way we have been used to a tablet.  Much in the same way as the iPhone was not a smartphone as we had previously known them..  Here, with the iPad platform, we are going to have a device that will offer the tablet experience in a new way.  Just like the way the iPhone gave a new experience to the smartphone.

So yes, we can say this is just a rinse, repeat of the iPhone model, but if Apple can fix the tablet the way they fixed the smartphone, I'll be first in line.  Not that I think I have any need for this style of computing.

Is there a need for the iPad or tablet style computing?

When I think of the tablet style of computing, I think of fail.  As I guess most in the hands-on IT community do.  The Windows based tablet PC's seemed to be always a Windows PC with hardware tacked on, or vice-versa.  The touchscreen feature in laptops was really just a feature like a built-in web cam.  Nice if you had a use for it, but for most it is just a feature that is there "just in case".

The true tablet PC's with no keyboard were a real problem because the Windows OS is designed to work with a keyboard and mouse, enough said I think.  Of course I haven't played with any of the new offerings pre-empting the iPad release, but from a far, the philosophies don't seemed to have changed.

The iPad seems to be pitched at a number of emerging markets.  The launch showed how the iPad could be a Ebook reader, a News reader, a web surfing device, a portable gaming device, a music and video device, a email device, and a GPS device.  There was also the iWork Apple office suite, and of course, the Apps store.

So more than a tablet, the iPad is set to be a personal computing device, a personal media and information device, with a interface that is possibly going to change the face of the computing industry. 

Not that I'm going to go into it much here, but just think what the uses and importance of a working, secure, reliable and easy to use tablet will do for other industries.  We may be thinking about photos and twitter, but think about the iPad uses in medicine, manufacturing, government, and ordering at McDonald's when the registers are full.

What is interesting about the spec's?

I'm normally not a huge fan of specifications of devices, when it comes to Apple, mainly because they upgrade and change so often.  Also because Apple tend to support a long way out (take the iPhone OS example).  As I noted before, it looks as though the iPad will follow the iPhone model, so we will probably see OLED models, bigger memory models, and maybe a camera over the next couple of years.  So I'm more concerned with the software, but then again Apple have redefined the way of adding value to their software as well.

Should we be all that concerned about the spec's at this stage?  I'm very interested in the processor that is powering the iPad.  Apple have put a 1GHz Apple A4, their own custom chip. At this stage there is little known about this, but if the 10 hours of battery life can be believed, the A4 could be an important piece of tech going forward.

There has been rumours for some time about Apple buying up and working with chip manufacturers, and I guess this shows us why.  It shows that Apples vision for the iPad, and possibly computing, is strong.  They feel that they have the pulse of the market, or can obtain the pulse, and that their ecosystem is big enough to keep the market. This may sound like a bad thing, but hey, if everything works, is straightforward and easy to use, what more do you need?

Why not OSX?

In many discussions I have had on or around the coming of the iPad, remembering that I don't really want a tablet, all revolved around the need for the device to have a full OS.  A OSX (Apple desktop OS) rather than the iPhone OS.  I kind of felt that the tablet should replace the netbook/laptop in the scheme of things.  I didn't really see much of a point to a larger iPod Touch, mainly because of how locked down the system is.

I thought, and until I get to play with a iPad still do think, that for a tablet to work it would need to have the depth and flexibility of a laptop.  I love my iPhone but I don't need my phone to have depth or flexibility, I need my phone to work and have a interface that makes that happen. The fact that the iPhone does offer a lot of that depth and flexibility is a bonus.

Apple made the case for the platform chosen in the launch, with the slide pointing out that "Over 75 million people know how to use iPad" with a picture of the iPod Touch and the iPhone.  If you have had the experience of introducing the iPhone to friends or family and had them lock-on to the interface and start doing things on the device almost instantly, then you know why Apple probably went this way with the iPad.  My 3 year old daughter loves picking it up and showing everyone photos and videos, and she isn't using a mouse yet.

My problem will be with how files work on the device.  Can you just move files around like documents so that working on them isn't a problem? Will I be able to use Google Docs? Will there be syncing with other services like Dropbox, and then the ability to work on those files?  Where is iLife?

Do I get an App Store with that?

I write a bit about the importance of the ecosystem in the modern technology landscape, and really, Apple are the masters of the ecosystem.  Probably another reason to run with the iPhone OS on the iPad was the existing App store and the ecosystem of user and developers.  Add to that the new iBookstore for the iPad, Apple is going to create a space where the content creators can all play nice and make some money.

The model is a win-win for the content creators as they can have access to a locked down market place, with users ready to pay for their content.  The users will start to get the access and convenience they have been wanting, and I'm sure the price will be reasonable.

If you look at iTunes now with music, movies, and TV if you're a iPod or iPhone user, there is little reason to go anywhere else.  For goodness sake, they have "Yes Minister" and "Miami Vice" ready to download.

The Australian angle

So what does the iPad mean to Aussies?  If you're a fanboy/girl there will be rejoicing.  Apple are sticking with a formula that has worked, and thus one that will work here.  Even though, as of this writing, there is no release dates for Australia, the fact that there is a WiFi only version means that there is no problems with carriers to be worked out.  The fact that there is a 3G version coming means that it is compatible with the major carriers here, so there won't be any reason we can't have one.

The WiFi only model will be fine if you're not looking to take it far from home or work, but outside of that, we Aussies may be in trouble.  Although some of the major metro areas are a little better, WiFi coverage is still not good enough to make the WiFi only version a useful cloud computing device.  So we may be waiting for the already cautious Telco's here in Australia to come up with some reasonable data plans for the 3G version.

As for the ecosystem, we already have most of it in iTunes, and Apple just needs to roll it out in software updates.  But here is where things can come to a screeching halt, the book and newspaper content.  Publishers really suck at getting things worked out when it comes to access to content and different countries.  If you use services like Audible.com you may have come across not being able to access a book because the service doesn't have the rights to sell it in your country.

My fear is that Apple, being the perfectionists they are, will delay the roll-out to other countries until they have all the local publishers on-board. 

Am I getting one?

I am in the market for a netbook/laptop, and have been eyeing off the 13 inch MacBook.  So at this stage in the game, who can say, many of the folk at the launch like the device and say that once you play with it, you see the point of it.  Over the last couple of days my wife has been talking about the rumours, and how she could see a use for a decent eBook reader.  So I guess that once we can get our hands on one it might be a yes.

I could see us having one for the house for newspapers and browsing and books.  But until we can get it, and see the local pricing will be, the jury is still out.

Jason Remnant

...if it ain't Broken, pick a silly name and change the playing field again.

Image via CrunchBase

Google have dropped/inspired another in a line of new innovative Hardware products, and with the Chrome OS and the series of Net-books being worked on, you might find yourself thinking that Google is trying to make a play for the hardware device market.

With the drop of Nexus One, Google appears to have pulled out all marketing stops.  Using services like YouTube to create Apple-like buzz around their new product.  Not to mention the Twitter buzz and Yahoo Buzz.  And the rumours dropped a few weeks ago by Techcrunch to start the hype was very Apple-ish.  It looks as though Google are quite serious about a move into the hardware device market.

Are we missing the point with Google?  We keep saying that their business is online search advertising and not hardware, but we seem to forget what Advertising really is.  Online advertising is one of the best ways to sell hardware.  Especially if that hardware happens to be pitched at the tech community.

The Open-Source Ecosystem

Apple's success in the mobile marketplace has been due to the ecosystem they have created around the iPhone with iTunes and the Apps store.  The ecosystem (and I guess a good product) is what has engaged consumers and is taking the smartphone market by storm.

Google started their Open-Source ecosystem some time ago with the Android smartphone OS, but we all brushed it off as just a company with a few bucks trying something different.  Even months after the Android launch and gaining a cult following, the Apple App Store with all its approval failings was still better stocked and growing.  Whereas the Android platform looked like it was fading away.

But regardless of Androids success, Google was really just building a ecosystem to support the great products that they were going to bring out.  Many in the industry were saying that 2009 was going to be the year for Android, with so many manufacturers tipped to support the platform.  But when only a couple phones came out, it looked like Google had dropped the ball, as on so many other occasions.  But maybe Google's timeline was just a little more patient than ours, and they prefer to do things their way rather than the Apple iPhone approach.

The Marketing Ecosystem

If you take a step back and look at Google as a whole, you see that they have being working on another ecosystem which may have snuck up on us a little bit.  That is the collection of trusted marketing tools that give them a edge in the tech market, and the mobile computing market.

First they have the name.  I have mentioned this before when commenting on Chrome OS, many would put Google up there with Microsoft and Apple.

Second is the knowledge.  If I am looking for the best way to sell and market online, I would love to get access to the information on the Google servers.

Third is the tools.  Many have seen, and used, the marketing potential of YouTube and other Google services but I don't think everyone understands what can happen when you have full control of this potential, as Google does.

In the End

I'm not saying that Google will begin a campaign of rigging their services to promote the new Google products, but they do have a marketing machine at their disposal that perfectly suits the audience they're pitching too.  Who but Google knows the real "influences", and probably has ad space on their blogs?  If only they owned a major retail outlet, the future would be assured.

If you do some searches, especially on Twitter, you'll find all the big names discussing Nexus One.  All the blogs are doing the compares, and interviews.  And there is one of the best looking (maybe Apple-like) YouTube pages I have seen.  Not to mention all the user generated content out there, and on it's way.

If Google can put the same marketing hype behind Chrome OS, Net-books, and other Android phones, then I can see a real power shift in the mobile device market.  Google already controls a fair chunk of the Internet and the things we use the Internet for.  Apple's tablet better be good, for a flood of cheap, easy to use and net-compatible devices may be on their way.

It may sound as though I'm a little anti-Google, but I am not.  I use as many, if not more of my fair share of Google services.  And we might be getting Nexus One in the future, so it is not that.  It just hit me as I was fed a stream of marketing info on Nexus One through most of my information sources all day, that Google had wrapped-up the marketing quickly and simply.  Then when @ginatrapani tweeted "best part about Google's Webstore? Not standing in line with a bunch of nerds for 2 days to buy a phone", the above started to make sense.

What do you think?

Jason Remnant

...if it ain't Broken, just wait a little while (we're just watching everyone else).

Image via Wikipedia

What is it about big robots with enough firepower to level a small city that grabs the male geeks imagination? OK maybe just grabs this male geeks imagination, but you have to say that the Mechwarrior Sci-Fi franchises has been one of the coolest never to make it into mainstream.  

The Mechwarrior universe is right for TV or movies with its complex political systems and heroes, and did I mention the big 40 tonne robots/Mechs with enough firepower to level a medium sized city.  But it has spent the last 25 years in the tabletop game/RPG space, with a few good novels and a handful of popular PC games.

My love affair started with the Mechwarrior 2.  Crashing around the countryside in a Timberwolf (oops sorry that should be Madcat) was just too much fun.  Even if the graphics were a little dodgy, Mechwarrior 2 had the game-play and the depth that was normally reserved for flight sims.  So the even though you were cruising around, laying digital waste to the landscape, you really thought you were cruising around laying waste to the landscape, and as a teenager that was as cool as it could get.

The New Game

The last offering on the PC Mechwarrior 4, was one of the best games of the day and if I could find my copy I would be playing away.  The reason for the renewed interest is the news and the trailer for a new game in the Mechwarrior franchise. 

The trailer looks great, and often does, but if the trailer gives any insights into the game-play and interface, then I think I will be a happy camper.  It looks to have the classic sim undertones as well as all the new graphic hotness.

The Old Game

On to the other news in the Mechwarrior universe, that they are going to distribute Mechwarrior 4 for free as a download.  This is going to be great for those of us that are missing our disks, and also a great way to get friends checking the franchise out before the new game.

The only draw back is that I have been waiting for the download since early 2009, so with each check of the website my hopes are dropping.  I guess we shouldn't get our hopes up too much when one of the franchises with probably the worst legal history is battling to make something happen.

A New Game, from another Game

The other interesting bit of news is that some lads have put together a Mechwarrior mod for Crysis.  Called "Mechwarrior Living Legends", it promises to be a cross between FPS and Sim. You can find the trailer and the links to the downloads from here.  I'm still downloading and so haven't had a chance to play with it, but from the trailer I have to say that it looks good.

All things considered, I'm looking forward to the new game and am hoping that it will get the marketing it deserves.

Jason

..if it ain't Broken, then it soon will be *Alpha-Strike*

Image via Wikipedia

Google and gang have just released a new video website just for music videos, called Vevo.com. After having a bit of trouble getting on the site (it may have been busy, I am in Oz) it looks like we may have a new site to go to when we are chasing the new Mariah Carey clip, Pina Collabo clip, or Rihanna clip.

But funnily enough, not many of the groups/artists I like are on the site.  And the when I clicked on the new Weezer clip I got the "Sorry, this video is not available in your region." Strange, it worked fine on YouTube.com, so I'm a little unsure of Vevo.com's purpose in the interwebs.

The video clip is still an important tool for artists. I'm a big fan of video clips, as I'm a big fan of video put to music.  I love to see the interpretation of the song in the clip, and also see the video clip as an extension of the song. Some of the most powerful images of growing up were seen on late night Rage on the ABC, or Video Hits on Saturday mornings.

The upshot of this is that I have been looking for a way of easily getting my video clip fix, so when I heard about Vevo.com, my palms got sweaty.  Of course, YouTube is probably the easiest free place at the moment, but the quality is generally poor, and finding a good version, if the record company hasn't put up the clip, can be a pain.  

The other option is to buy the clips from iTunes which gives you a better quality clip, but there is money involved.  I like video clips, but even great artists occasionally make a crap clip, and really, the clip is an advertisement for the artist and the song.  So they should be freely available, especially since a good clip is a great way to introduce a new artist with the shift away from radio by its core demographic (the young people).

So from my point of view Vevo.com should be a win.  It should be a legitimate replacement for the pirate, or shady services where the record industry can get 100% of the audience and the conversation.  A way for the record industry to take back their image, and give the fan's what they want, and to be able to control it.  Of course I mean that in a love and free music kind of way.

It looks like the industry doesn't see things in a "love and free music" kind of way.  Even if you argue that the site is just launched, you would think that with the back catalogue they must have, not to mention the clips that are legitimately on YouTube, there should be more clips on the site.  There should be a wider range of artists, and they should be free for all so that the fans can honestly comment and rate.  Of course, openness may mean that the odd really bad Taylor Swift clip may rate low, and the really cool clip by that Norwegian folk band may rate well.

What we are seeing here is that the Music Industry still doesn't get the internet.  Even when they get the right idea they have to hamstring it in some way.  This could have been the first step in a fight back for the minds of the internet generation.  By making the service convenient and easy they could have started to win back the audience/eyeballs that P2P and YouTube took away.

All this being said, I do hope that the above problems are just launch issues.  Because there is a big need for a portal to high quality, well organised, and rateable music video content.  Not just for the access to the content, but as a way to find and explore new music.  As mentioned, a video clip can tell you way more about the band than catching a song on the radio, and we are in the video age....

Jason

...if it ain't Broken, forget to add content.

Image via CrunchBase

Some time ago I signed up for a beta for Threadsy after I heard it mentioned somewhere. Well this morning I was invited to the Beta and thought I would jot down a few first impressions.

What is Threadsy?  Well, you know how it is a hassle to have your Gmail window/or email client open, and your Facebook window open, and your Twitter client open, and you find yourself trying to track and/or conduct conversations across all three? Threadsy allows you to merge all three into one stream/window.

This is kinda cool.  It adds Facebook updates and Twitter replies/direct-messages into your mail, or allows you to watch each one separately without changing windows or programs.  In short, providing one interface to rule them all.  And, yes it is all in the interface.

If something like Threadsy is going to work, you have to provide an interface that makes more sense than the existing services own interfaces.  And it has to be said that any improvement on Facebook's interface is going to be welcome, but for Gmail the web site is pretty good, and for Twitter there is a number of desktop clients that fix it's janky web interface.

The interface here is good.  I dropped into Chrome and turned Threadsy into the app and started to play.  Did I mention that setup was easy?  It is so easy it is almost to the point of silliness.  Instead of asking you all the questions, Threadsy seems to just go ahead and get your details from the services you attach to it.  You just give it your Gmail, Facebook and Twitter details (and yes I know how insecure that sounds) and it creates a mash-up, if you will.

The interface isn't crowded with options, but offers a neat main inbox style, with the sidebar for extra info and your Twitter/Facebook feed.  There are echoes of the Gmail interface in the way Threadsy expands messages, but the rest of the system feels new and early adopter fresh.

It is Beta so I'm not going to bag it out, but before you leap, there are couple of things that I hope are on the books for updates, or of course I haven't found them yet. The Gmail account I'm playing with is IMAP and I can't find a way to look at the folders, or find the emails that Threadsy allows you to archive, outside of Threadsy.  But really, they are more power-user issues, and if you're just looking for a easy way to consolidate your feeds, this is it.

The Twitter client is good, with some neat features.  Not quite as rich as your Tweetdecks, but a good looking first step.  And the Facebook integration fixes many of the problems I have with the Facebook website.

So overall it is a great Beta product with lots of potential.  For me, if they add in Gcal support I could almost do away with Thunderbird, and all my social, email, message and feed problems would be solved.

Please check it out, and watch this space as they fill out the Beta.

Jason

...if it ain't Broken, combine it.

Cute + Flag FTW

That being said, after a bit of trouble getting through to the checkout (Kevin and Blake's video must have motivated a few of us) the Digg Toms have arrived and as a tech blogger, I suppose I should do what any tech blogger would do, review the latest Digg offering.

A few explanatory points.  I'm Australian and I'm currently living in Australia.  So it was pretty cool to have ordered the shoes on the 13th November, and to have them on my hot little feet on the 18th November.  I was expecting delays after the lag on the website, and of course, having to have them shipped outside the country of origin.  Maybe this is because of the efficiency of Tomsshoes.com, or because I was the only one to actually go through with the purchase? ....something to think about.

What's in the Box?

The shoes arrived in a nice shoe box with a Toms flag and sticker.  Toms don't bombard you with leaflets on the "One for One" movement, but the message is discreetly on the box and also in the shoes.  If you like to help others, and have the rest of the street know all about it, then these aren't for you.  If you are a Digg.com fanboy with all the hoodies and t-shirts, then you are going to have to keep taking off the shoes to prove your hardcore-ness, as the only Digg labelling is on the inside of the shoe.

I kind of like these design choices.  The shoes and the Toms service stand up on their own, plus it shows the confidence that Tomsshoes has in the dignity of the collaboration and ultimately the "One for One" movement.

So what about the Shoes?

The deal with the shoes is that Kevin Rose and Blake Mycoskie wanted to do something together, so Kevin got one of the designers at Digg.com to design some shoes.  I guess this was an effort to point the collective consciousness of the Digg community in the direction of the work that Tomsshoes is doing.

On their own, being viewed as a piece of design, the Digg Toms look good.  The use of the stitching and the paneling of the material give it a classic yet functional look, (and yes I'm not really sure what I meant here, but it sounds right) but the look is of house slippers, not shoes.

I left the shoes in a prominent place in the bedroom for when my wife and soul mate returned home from work.  Lynne was not aware of the purchase, maybe I was unsure, or maybe I wanted a reaction to the shoes without the back story.  Well, what I got was laughing.  Then when Lynne found out that I paid money for them, there was more laughing.  And later that night before sleep, I explained the Digg Toms, and after the giggles died down, Lynne confessed that she thought that I must have been given them, as I normally had better taste.

I think the the issue is the colour.  Of all the colours of the Digg.com corporate pallet, why choose yellow?  The blue would have been cool, or maybe classic black.  You may say that "tastes are different so stop picking on the colour", well yes tastes are personal but we were all quick to diss the Zune because of the brown colour choice.  And a range of colours isn't offered here.

The Road Test

After a days wear, the Digg Toms are comfortable and feel solid.  They do mark easily - another issue with the colour - but breathe well even on the 30+ degree days like today. But only time will tell what the battery life is like, and if there is going to be cracks around the screen....sorry, force of habit.  I found the soles a bit slippery on some surfaces, but that may solve itself once they have been worn in.  

As mentioned, the shoes strike me more as slippers than everyday wear.  But this may be just that I live in a environment where more sturdy footwear and socks are the norm.  I'm finding them quite good and as I get up the courage to venture out of the house more, with them on, I'm sure they will grow on me.

Impact for the kiddies

Of course, in all this we can't go past what Kevin and Digg is doing here.  The profile of Tomsshoes has been raised hugely, not just because Kevin and Digg mentioned their products, but because Kevin and Digg got actively involved in the products.

I spend quite a lot of time on Digg.com and I haven't ever knowingly clicked on a Ad.  On MY webpage, I really don't like them and keep them to a minimum.  In websurfing I tend to ignore them.  But what we have here with Digg and Tomsshoes is almost relationship selling/promotion.

With the loyal audience/community that Digg has amassed over the years, this sort of collaboration is the best way to advertise and promote.  Collaboration makes the community feel that they are also invested in the product, thus they participate, it's crowd sourcing to the max. Forget selling ad space or pre-rolls, this is going to be the future of online revenue.

You might be thinking that Digg is evil preying on our loyalty like this, but really, the Tomsshoes collaboration is the best example of how this revenue system will work.  The payoff here is not just the PR stunt, or even the revenue, but the legitimacy that the Digg effort confers to Toms cause and products in the tech/Digg community.

I'm not saying that the Toms "One for One" project and their product need legitimacy in their community or existing customer base.  But to reach out beyond that, there needed to be a tipping point (also the name of a good book explaining more about this process by Malcolm Gladwell), and collaboration of this style is the best way.

Could you imagine the "One laptop per Child" project getting more traction with a collaboration from say Google, Facebook or Blizzard?  Buy a laptop with the Chrome OS, or perhaps if Blizzard pitched it to 11 million World of Warcraft players with cool artwork on the case.  You would have to think that it would be a success.

It may just be a way to get to our social conscience, but it worked.  And in a world breeding consumer skepticism, the only way to get through may be good, innovative companies working with other good, innovative companies and/or causes.  It worked for me.

In the end I have something that I purchased and will use, and hopefully the recipient of the "One for One" will be saved from the odd nail.  And hopefully in version 1.5 we will see a GPS and a range of colours.

Jason Remnant

...if it ain't Broken, bright orange soles should do it.

Image via Wikipedia

As mentioned, my experience with Dragon Age has been a little rocky, but the more I play it the better it gets.  Although I'm getting the feeling that the length of the game, because of its polish, isn't going to rival the hours put into games like Baldur's Gate.

One of the things adding to this was, quite early in the game, the invention of a NPC (Non-playable Character) to get some DLC.  Now I'm a little new to the paid DLC concept, although I don't really see a problem with it.  But I found it a little funny as a consumer having the hard word put on me in a game, and made to feel that I was missing out on part of the story, and letting the side down. 

As someone interested in the future of PC Gaming, I think that it is a excellent way to build value/make a few bucks extra.  Of course I may change my mind a) When I see the price of extra content and b) if the extra content is important to the overall game and c) if the game is less than 60 hours.

I'm not buying the DLC yet.  Still enjoying learning the game, although there is some neat loot to be gained, so maybe on the next character.  Penny Arcade have a great comic on the subject, making the point perfectly.

Jason

...if it ain't Broken, bring in the sob story.

Image by brianjmatis via Flickr

Dragon Age: Origins is one of the biggest RPG releases for the PC this year and was touted as the next step in the Fantasy RPG.  So many of us opted for the chance to pre-purchase, and Pre-download the game from the Steam service.

Quick rundown on pre-purchasing a game from Steam, as I understand it:

1.  Find a new title which is available for pre-purchase from/on the Steam service.

2.  Purchase said title, giving Steam money, and once available, Steam will covertly download the game files to your hard drive, but it will not be playable until the advertised release date (US release date).

3. Wake up early on the morning of the release date (US time) and play your game before all the those who have to go to the trouble of going to the shop for the boxed copy.

The idea is great, as is the whole concept of down-loadable distribution, although having to wait for the release date does suck.

Dragon Age is the first pre-purchase I have made with Steam.  Although I have bought a number of post-release games in the past.  I can't remember any issues with the service on either Win XP or Win 7 until now.

This is what happened to me, and many others.

1. Purchased the game a couple of days before release and had Dragon Age: Origins sitting on the hard drive ready for 4th November.

2. Late on 4th of November (US time) I tried to launch the game, and nothing happened.  After a few failed attempts I went looking for some support and found the support message boards(already with 20+ posts) to find out that the problem was common and was to do with the game files not decrypting on first launch.

3.  The forums were recommending a number of fixes including deleting and re-downloading the game (not a nice solution on a slow link), registry hacks, and simply re-starting the Steam client software.

4.  After some messing around I got DA to work by "Verify integrity of game cache", and re-starting the Steam client, then launching the game.  On launch, the game started the decryption process properly and installed the game.  So happy to report all is well.

"No big deal, so why post about it?" you might say.  For me the whole process was just a annoying bit of the normal "getting games to work on a PC".  I've been doing it since you had to create a separate 3.5 floppy boot disk to free up RAM for games like Privateer and Doom 2.

I wasn't even going to post until I worked through the support forums and saw posts like these:

"♥♥♥♥!!!! I pre-ordered the ♥♥♥♥ing game and bought the deluxe edition. Had a ♥♥♥♥ty day at work and now this!!!! ♥♥♥♥ you Bioware and ♥♥♥♥ you Steam. This is it, I'm not gaming on a PC ever again. This is so over. I'll go buy a PS3 tomorrow."

"Here's an idea: take some of the astronomical profits you're getting from not having to pay overhead for printing and packaging and have more than one monkey chained to a keyboard to test your download and decryption process."

"This is just jarate-poor QA practices, and is the kind of amateurish bull♥♥♥♥ I'd expect from a company like EA, not Steam. I know I'll never buy another non-Valve product through this service; way too many issues every time I try to play a game on release day."

"I didnt find the registry.blob, but i took a chance and deleted just the registry files , after entering registry in search in windows 7, working fine now."

It struck me that if there was a pop up on the Steam client suggesting a re-start of the client, and maybe "Oh it didn't work please try this...." it may have saved a bit of aggro.  I guess that things can't always go smoothly, but when there is alternatives out there that appear to provide a better experience, and your platform is losing support every day, you would think that you would be trying a little harder.

I have put Steam up on a pedestal a bit when it comes to the future of PC gaming.  But I think that the convenience that it has to offer the gamer, and casual gamer, is the hook and strength that will keep the platform going.  I just thought, and I guess was hoping, that 2009 would be the year of the seamless PC gaming experience.

Jason

...if it is Broken, go buy a PS3 tomorrow.