Yuumoushin.com (勇猛心)

Social media based sites currently dominate the online space. Even “video” sites such as YouTube allow you to create primary “ports” for connecting with people who share similar interests (i.e. personal profiles, subscribing shared videos, blogs, etc.). When I read a recent issue of CNN Money, I wasn’t surprised that of the top 25 startups for 2007 the first six were all social media sites:

1. Stumble Upon
2. Slide
3. Bebo
5. Meebo
6. Wikia

Its not until #7 do we see that first “non-social” media site, Joost. Actually, the dominating groups on the list are social media companies, video companies, mobile companies and advertising companies. Very obvious what’s hot and what’s not from those categories alone.

Interesting when compared to a year ago:

1. Digg
2. Last.fm
3. Newsvine
4. Tagworld
5. YouTube
6. Yahoo

Of course, social networking is still a major theme of last year’s list, but not nearly as dominating. It will be interesting to see where next years big “money opportunities” are. At the moment, all of the various video sites offer something different and compelling (Dabble, for example, gives more control on the layout of one’s video cast). And sites like MySpace, which attract millions of users on a daily basis, are also promoting more video based interactions. The social media/video line is starting to become quite thin. Throw that in with an ever increasing broadband saturation rate (note: both from a mobile perspective and fixed line perspective), and it’s not too surprising. And why not? Tons of people gathered in one spot and with various ways to deliver advertising (read: revenue streams), it’s no wonder the top 25 fall into these categories.

See the full listhere.

I had a chance to play the PS3 this past weekend, and it was pretty nice (played with some friends on a big screen HD TV). The machine is sleak, albeit very big (and the load times for some of the games do seem a bit longer). The wireless controllers are nice and very responsive, much more than third party controllers I’ve used in the past (with the PS2 and other systems). None-the-less, I still don’t think of the system as the “must have machine” for games. The big thing being it’s still too damn expensive, without being THAT much different than its predecessor. Now, if the price were on par with the Xbox, I think Sony would see a huge shift towards their system, and there might be more interest from developers. Then again, I don’t know how much of the “issues” involving developer dissatisfaction are true. IBM and some others recently sponsored an event to show just how much the cell processor can really do.

Sony’s Phil Harrison said that the current PS3 launch window titles use “less than half” of the system’s computational power, and that “nobody will ever use 100 percent of [the PS3’s] capability.”

Developers haven’t kept quiet on the challenges for making games on the Cell. John Carmack, lead programmer of the Quake and DOOM 3D engines, has expressed his thoughts, saying, “I think the decision to use an asymmetric CPU by Sony was a wrong one. There are aspects that could make it a winning decision, but they’re not helpful to the developers … It’s not like the PlayStation 3 is a piece of junk or anything. I was not a fan of the PlayStation 2 and the way its architecture was set up. With the PlayStation 3, it’s not even that it’s ugly–they just took a design decision that wasn’t the best from a development standpoint.”

Perhaps it’s just a matter of time.

In another interview, Phil Harrison (Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide President) touches on the price issue. In particular, his response to a question about the recent negative reports on the PS3 were interesting, and I can see his point:

No, not a bit. I think, first of all, the so called negativity is in a fairly narrow section of the media. The most important thing, however, is that the people who buy the system love it, and the fact that we have great reaction—great scores if you will—from the people who bought PS3 [who've enjoyed] the games that they’ve played and the services that they get. That’s all that really matters. I don’t really care about the negativity in the press; if it was true, if they were talking about real big issues that were genuine criticisms, then of course we’ll address them, but there’s nothing that bothers me. I think the fact that we are able to have a very well organized, very well managed supply channel, which allows us to keep the stores restocked, is a really positive thing. You would be sitting here saying, “Why the hell are you out of stock? Why the hell can’t you manage the supply chain and why can’t people buy PS3s?” So we’re actually doing in succeeding in managing to keep the demand satisfied, so I think that’s a positive.

I have to admit, friends of mine who own the PS3 love it and swear by it. I’m still not sold, but we’ll see what happens over time. I’ve said this time and time again, Sony has a solid track record (PSP excluded) so it’s not game over for them yet.

Recently on AOL’s money and finance site there was an interesting article titled “Top 5ive Gadgets You Shouldn’t Buy.” The list is as follows:

1. High Definition DVD Players
2. PS3
3. Draft N Wireless Routers
4. Windows Vista (OS)
5. 10 Megapixel Digital Camera

My thoughts:
1) Do you want Blu-ray or HD? Still a debate on the market as well. Not only that, these things aren’t cheap, and also require you to get a new TV to really enjoy the difference in quality (one that can actually handle the high definition formats).

2) Am I surprised? Not really. Too much too soon. Maybe it will be on the must have list a year from now, but it seems like the Wii has stolen all the thunder. Furthermore, MS has an entire year on Sony (and Xbox is cheaper for essentially the same games).

3) I don’t know too much about the “N” technology, but my wireless G router works just fine. Maybe if I had an enormous house, the extra range would be an added plus, but not the case for me. Also, isn’t Wi-Max just around the corner?

4) When you buy a new computer you get Vista pre-installed. And from what I’ve read, the only real way you can take advantage of Vista (unless you have a monster of a system now) is to upgrade so what’s the point in buying the stand-alone version? Another question you’d have to ask yourself: which stand-alone version to buy? There are about 10 so good luck trying to figure that out.

5) I’d argue that for the average person anything above 5 megapixels is too much. Most people print 4X6 or 5X7 photos, so why would you want something so large? Not only that, a 5 megapixel camera at the highest setting will run you about 2 megs per image…imagine the size of a 10 megapixel camera. The features I think matter the most when buying a digital camera are (in no particular order): a) shutter speed; b) processor quality; c) portability. If you’re planning to do more professional level photos, then I’d say go for the bigger camera, but there’s a point when I’d argue diminishing marginal returns with respect to the number of megapixels. Then again, maybe you like blowing up images and using them as wallpaper for you room. If that’s the case, the more megapixels the merrier. hah.

New York is reintroducing a bill that would ban custom wheel and hubcap options for drivers. Where’s the logic in that? I’m curious as to what their justifications are. The thing is, I can’t think of any specific negative externalities. Distraction maybe? But is that a valid justification (and that would be the distracted moron’s fault)? If that’s the case, food, drinks, stereos, etc. should also be banned. What about hydraulics or LEDs, how would the law address those customized options? They’re just as “distracting.” Anyway, I’m sure you can find a bill or measure up for a vote on almost anything.

On another note, made it out to a new park here in Seattle called Sculpture Park. It’s still under construction, but pretty neat none-the-less.

Sony’s PS3s aren’t quite the must have item of the winter, at least not as they had hoped (not that it’s game over for them…Sony is quite resilient, especially in the gaming market). Wii was the big holiday winner, hands down. A few people have already voiced this sentiment, but I think Sony was too quick to the market with the PS3. I know why they did it – Xbox360 was released an entire year earlier, and the Wii was scheduled to launch (god forbid Sony be left out).

However, the technology they crammed into the system is just too much too early (both price wise and technology wise). Take the whole Blueray/HD argument. Some say that it’s just like the DVD. Sony spear-headed early adoption of that technology with their PS2 so the argument is that it could also happen this time around. Okay, I can see the reasoning behind that. However, I’d say it’s a different game switching from a tape to a disc, where as now we’re going from a type of disc to another type of disc. Also, the DVD format at the time was universal…it was just a matter of getting companies to make DVD players. And your TV at the time was good enough to see the quality improvements of a DVD. Right now, if you really want to take advantage of any type of high definition, you have to run out and buy a new TV so it’s inherently more than just switching formats. Furthermore, the format support seems to be split right down the middle. And I personally think people are jaded with the compatibility issues (they’ve been bombarded with music DRM, player compatibility, software, etc. enough as it is). Again, Sony has a great track record in the gaming industry, and still hold the crown with their PS2 alone (not even the Wii or Xbox360 added together can come close to that beast in terms of market share).

This leads into a funny little article I found over at Kotaku: In an interview with game magazine, EGM, Jack Tretton (President of Sony Computer Entertainment of America) said the following:

If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that’s been on shelves for more than five minutes, I’ll give you 1,200 bucks for it.

Here’s a scan of a portion of the article (which I got from Kotaku):

Penny Arcade followed up with a fantastic little comic, which lays it all out.

Again, I don’t think it’s over for Sony, but you’d think the president would understand the current situation a bit more before making such bold statements.