Xbox fanboy site launches

I blog for Weblogs, Inc. too and saw "we" just launched a new blog: Xbox360 fanboy, which looks exhaustingly cool.

Exhausting because I see a LOT of work has gone into it. Cool because I think the 360 is going to be a huge hit, and very swanky. Hell, there's iPod compatibility for crying out loud! Is this a shift at Microsoft? No, but they are embracing some real change in this console. I had been considering a PS3, but with all the nonsense of Sony lately (and if PS3 discs aren't rentable) then it's g'bye Sony, hello Microsoft. And that's something.

Either way I still want a Nintendo Revolution, but that's because I have very small kids and I [heart] Mario.

NBC ain't afraid of no blogs!

Rrrr! Zucker smash blogs!!!

Yeah, well, the new prez of NBC is prattling on about how NBC and the major networks are NOT afraid of big, bad, blogs, or technology, or anything else that might displace them. That death rattle is a long way off. Mostly because they have the money, the equipment, and the built-in social inertia to last indefinitely. I think he's right to a certain extent, but he's underestimating the power of the new technologies. Anyone remember that company that made floppy disks, refused to make a proper high-capacity disk, and was doomed to failure? It's called disruptive technology, and it happens all the time. New technology can completely change an industry.

Case in point: TV. People are starting to download more shows, or just watch stuff online (stuff created by enthusiasts rather than big studios). What I'd like to see is a Hollywood celeb with some vision and nads that'll step up to the plate and become the spokesmodel (so to speak) of the internet boom. Seriously, if ONE big time personality were to come forward and say, "from now on, I'm going to do movies online, and those movies will be free," imagine the repercussions. Not that they have to do it exclusively, but I doubt they'd get any roles in traditional distribution films after making such a stand... Sad, isn't it?

Anyway, you can read Zucker's rant here:
Daily Northwestern - President of NBC speaks on future of network TV

Dear Tom at MySpace

Yeah, I kinda MySpaced out for a while... Not because I was looking for a ton of pretend friends, but real ones. It's been cool reconnecting with old friends too. But apparently MySpace has succumbed to the Popularity Syndrome. Similar to what Digg has been having, where the demand for content has outstripped the server resources. Kevin Rose was on This Week in Tech recently, and discussed his VC funding, and how it'll mean more servers to handle that capacity.

What is MySpace doing? News Corp recently bought MySpace, so you'd think all that money would go to server space. Maybe it is, I don't know. What I do know is that the site is often broken in several places, and IM and chat are offline... EMBED's were off a week or so ago...

Which brings me to my suggestion for "Tom" the guy you're supposed to pitch ideas to, the guy who can "help" you. The guy who currently won't allow me to email him because he's "away" and will "be back real soon." Har har.

My suggestions for MySpace:

1. Quit with the damn videos on profile pages. Seriously, this is a major SUCK in my book. Have a Vids page or something
2. Your interface is shit. Sorry to be so blunt, but bulletins, blogs, mail, classifieds, etc. There's too much going on and none of it makes sense from a UI standpoint. It's bad enough when I have some eyeball-splitting checkered and Betty Page background going on, with black on grey text, with animated gif's shouting at me all over the place. Those template suck, 99% of them. Customization is fine, but make your interface more pleasant to use. Mac compatibility won't hurt either.
3. Here's the big one, the one that could save MySpace from implosion: move into the 21st century.

What do I mean? Ditch ColdFusion on the backend. It apparently doesn't scale well enough for your needs. Try PHP or Python. WIN uses PHP, and I don't see Engadget hurting too bad. (Yes, they've had server issues lately, but very few related to load on the database, more like crappy Windows patches)

Also, there's this thing called Ajax... Look into it. Despite being "trendy" it could actually save you some bandwidth. Having to post comments means traversing pages. Sending mail, or many other important communications tasks takes you through several pages, all of which are full loads. Sure, that's more opportunities for ads, but ads on pages where there's nothing but a "back" button are pretty damn useless. I'm guessing your clickthroughs on those pages are abysmal.

Imagine being able to leave a comment on a friend's profile, and just seeing it appear, without the whole page having to reload. Pretty swanky, eh? Easy to do as well.

Email, or "messages" are atrocious. Again, I know you want to allow customization and whatnot, but how about a threaded view? How about more than a couple on a page at a time? How about a bloody search (guess that won't help the db tho).

That's just the tip of the iceberg. I doubt Tom will ever hear about it, nor do I expect to be consulted. Fine. Just sucks that MySpace sucks. As popular as it is, I think it'd draw millions within months by taking my advice...

Sony's rootkit fiasco spells the beginning of the end

At least, for Sony. Google "sony" and "rootkit" for more info. I'm surprised by the people I've met who have NO idea what's going on with this one. And it shows you the way info can get isolated. I'm not going to recap the whole story, but I did want to point out how Sony will become a joke in the next 5-10 years.

1. They will continue to try this idiotic nonsense, because they are a content/tech company. Unfortunately, they aren't that great at either.

2. The corporate bigwigs in charge still don't "get it." That new guy, the first white dude to rule Sony, yeah, he still doesn't get it. He doesn't get it the way Ballmer doesn't get it...

3. The future roadmap for Sony continues with mistakes of the past: create walled gardens, isolate the product, and never innovate.

Let's face it, Sony has lost it's edge. What's going on? For one thing, they are obsessing over protecting their content. This rootkit fiasco is like an angry bum clutching the last sliver of whiskey, perhaps even dying over it in a rusty knife fight. Think I'm kidding? They could wind up losing millions of dollars in damages because the idiots thought this would prevent copying. Stupid. There you go Sony, you just did millions in damage to yourself trying to squeeze yet more profits from a dying medium (CD's).

As for not getting it, let's think about a claim I heard the other day: PS3 games will not be for rent. Do whu? You mean I'm going to just have to take the word of reviewers (which Sony has fabricated in the past, remember that one?) to plunk down $50 on a game??? Yeah, right. Nice move Sony. Make your system expensive, make the games inaccessible, and keep locking down the PSP... Gee, I'm starting to get the feeling the people at the top of Sony are control freaks. You think?

Last point: closing the borders. Ah, Sony is a history of failed attempts to create a new standard. Beta (which I loved), MD (which I didn't care about), ATRAC (which I hated)... Now UMD's are busting a closed-system loop for the befuddled masses. Fun! I don't see any great ideas on their horizon either. The PS3? It's going to tank.

What can Sony do? Take a page from Apple's book. SIMPLIFY your product line. Only the hardest core geeks remember names like UM-2401. Your product lines should form a neat little 4x4 matrix, and separate the pro and consumer lines clearly. Apple color codes them! White plastic for consumer, aircraft aluminum for pro. See, wasn't that easy? Start "leveraging" (what a buzzword) that damn content too!

For additional tips, please insert 25 million cents.

myspace

I was just getting into the quirky interface (more like interference) that is the youthful and jubilant MySpace.com, when all hell broke loose on their servers. Is this normal? Or am I hitting a peak period? We'll see. They need to get it together. digg was crushed under it's own weight the other day too...

Web 2.5 RC anyone?

btw my username is superpixel on there...