Archive for January, 2008

I have to admit I am getting addicted to the 2008 Presidential Election process. Part of the reason, I suppose, is that I am older and more aware of the issues. I have a greater sense of the ongoings of the world beyond my own personal life.

The other reason I am interested is because of a little PC game I discovered in 2004, The Political Machine, produced by Stardock. I remembered walking through a Wal-Mart and saw a PC game box cover that had a head-to-head caricature of John Kerry and George W. Bush. I also remembered that game being relatively inexpensive at $20, half the price of most commercial PC games.

The Political Machine game box had a certain charm to it. It claimed to simulate the Presidential election process using a cartoon-like interface. I figured, “what the heck”, it was only $20 and I could probably stand to learn a bit more about the presidential election process and have a little fun on the way.

In that game, I played a variety of presidential candidates such as Al Gore, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton, and many more. I have to say, I was hooked. The game was simple, fun, and educational. I actually learned so much that I knew which states had the most Electoral votes as was most crucial in winning the election.

I found myself spending money, fighting for, and campaigning the larger states and other important battleground states much like they do in real life. Depending on whether I played a Democratic or Republican candidate, my strategy would change to favor certain states. I had no idea that a $20 game could be so addictive.

In any case, I am looking forward to the update, The Political Machine 2008. If the first version is any indication, the release date of Political Machine 2008 will likely be released sometime late Summer sometime around the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.

There is a fan base who are really trying to find out the latest update and status of Political Machine 2008. Stardock is not talking. I am guessing they are incorporating the real-life elements and situations into the game. And so, Stardock developers have to watch the 2008 election process unfold like the rest of us so they can make the game more true to life.

The 2004 version of Political Machine contained many interesting real-life elements developments in the game. And so, I am guessing Stardock will do a similar thing.

When Stardock releases The Political Machine 2008, I am definitely going to get my copy.

For the last two years, I have been looking for signs on what would be the technological successor to the standard DVD. I love buying and owning movies on DVD. I am also a power user on the personal computing side. And so, I have a vested interest in knowing what direction the high definition DVD format would eventually go.

Warner Brothers, the owner of the largest movie library in the world, announced they would give full support to Blu-ray by releasing their movies exclusively on Blu-ray discs and discontinue releasing HD-DVD movies.  The tipping point has finally been reached.

For so long, it was HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray with no clear leader. I read all the technical opinions and the consensus was that Sony’s Blu-ray was technologically superior in many ways. However, HD-DVD offered a more affordable path for manufacturers to produce the format.

Sony has continued to brag about the number Blu-ray units sold that include the PlayStation 3 units. Quite frankly, I don’t think that a gaming machine is terribly decisive so I mentally discounted that. I know some of the PC industry folks such as Intel, HP, and Microsoft support HD-DVD. However, they are also not the driving force for adopting a new DVD format. So, I mentally discounted them also.

When Blockbuster adopted Blu-ray exclusively, that was a big sign of trouble for HD-DVD but not a deal-killer.

As much as I hate to admit it, the consumer market rules. They will follow whatever the movie studios decide. Most consumers have no interest in being bleeding edge. I have often said I would have no trouble shifting over to Macintosh computing if the market share was much larger. At 5% market share, Macintosh’s continue to be a minor player in mainstream personal computing.

The analogy is similar. I actually leaned towards HD-DVD, not Blu-ray, because of the cost factor. Although I like superior technology, I am not always willing to pay a large premium for it.

However, with Warner Brothers (the studio owning the largest movie library) committing to Blu-ray exclusively (joining Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, MGM, Lionsgate, and Sony), they have seriously tipped the balance in favor of Blu-ray, ensuring the inevitable demise of HD-DVD. Essentially, that leaves only Universal and Paramount hanging on to HD-DVD.

I believe the only way HD-DVD can be resurrected is if there was a sudden surge in the numbers of HD-DVD players being bought and owned by consumers this year. And the only way I can see that happening is that players need to be less than $150. If that does not happen, I believe the folks in charge of the HD-DVD format will have to concede.

I think the HD-DVD camp will not give up without a fight. However, given how quickly technology markets move, vendors who don’t have any religious or financial commitment to HD-DVD will simply and easily accept Blu-ray as the triumphant format where the only barrier to entry is the cost factor. Once that happens, I believe the HD-DVD folks will concede the fight next year.

Quite frankly, I hope they will concede sooner so that everyone can move forward and let competitive forces start releasing more Blu-ray players and software (movies) in volume to help lower prices further.

R.I.P. HD-DVD, Long live Blu-Ray!

I have to admit I was quite surprised at some of the results.

The biggest surprise for me was that Obama won by such a wide margin in a state like Iowa. Not only did Obama win by a huge margin, Hillary came in 3rd place. Wow. Obama is really going to be a force to reckon with. It is very difficult for me not to be inspired him. I really like what he represents. Edwards came in 2nd again. I am wondering if he would be willing to be VP to Obama.  It looks like it will be a tough fight for Edwards to stay in.  It might be that the best he can hope for is become VP to Obama like he did 4 years earlier for John Kerry.  That would really be something if that happened.

I was also a bit surprised how well Mike Huckabee did. But the good news is that Romney was put in is place. All the money in his warchest didn’t mean jack for him. As the leading Republican hypocrite, Romney really needs to get knocked aside so that McCain can gain some momentum. I was very disappointed that McCain did so poorly.

New Hampshire will be fun to watch in a few days. I want to see what unfolds in the next few days before I put in my 2 cents.

If I was in Iowa (which I am obviously not), these are the ways I would go.

In the Republican camp, it is a no-brainer. I would have to go with John McCain. Both Huckabee and Romney are out. If they were to win, I will sooner choose a Democratic candidate than Huckabee and Romney. Yes, it is a strong statement but that is an indication how much I am against seeing Huckabee or Romney in the high office.

In the Democratic camp, this one is very, very tough. I think I will have to choose John Edwards over Barack Obama by a very thin razor. I don’t hate Hillary but I think she is too entrenched and part of the “old school”. I want to see an “outsider” given a shot. However, I would rather see Hillary win the Presidency over Huckabee or Romney.

Those are my positions for now until some of the candidates start conceding their run for the Presidency.

Let’s see how Iowa votes! It will be exciting to find out the results.

As we have crossed the New Year into 2008, I have been pondering the future direction of this blog. Week after week, I write posts about an assortment of subjects but most pertain to my business projects and business interests. Occasionally, I will write an editorial or commentary on subjects I think are relevant.

Overall, the purpose of this blog is to provide a degree of business transparency into what I am involved with and what I believe is in important. I think for any “unknown person” (such as myself) to survive and thrive business-wise on the Internet, you have to demonstrate credibility. If someone is going to invest money with or buy products from an “unknown person”, they have to know something about the person or company they are buying from. And so, my readers get to see what projects are being worked on and they get to hear what works and what doesn’t.

However, I wonder if it is too boring or plain. I have been reading Seth Godin’s books over the years but paying more attention to them lately in light of the major changes happening in the world and adjustments I am making in my business. Seth encourages entrepreneurs to push the edge. The risks are higher working at the edge, but the rewards are also greater.

I have to admit, I do not have much clarity as to how I can make this blog become explosive but I do know I cannot keep the status quo. Something has to change to make a big difference.

In that spirit, starting today, I will be taking more risks as to what and how I post messages on this blog. There may be more “nonsensical” stuff that gets posted. There will be more spontaneity. Having viewed my website statistics over the past few months, I have discovered I get traffic from unexpected subjects and topics I occasionally talk about.

Essentially, I have my base of core readers who seem to have a curiosity of what I do and the projects I work on. But I also get a whole bunch of traffic from people who are looking for opinions and commentary on subjects that have nothing to do with me or what I do. I am simply another blogger offering their view.

It’s funny. When I started this blog over 2.5 years ago, I did it as an experiment. I also did it to support my other business projects. But in mid-November 2007 at the 2007 NAR Convention, I realized that I was also a full-fledged blogger with a small but ever-growing, ever-changing audience.

As a blogger, it is my duty to not just report factual information. I should be bold enough to offer more editorials and commentary even at the risk of upsetting some people. I should be willing to entertain a little and be trivial. Not everything has to be “important”.  Not everything has to be “an article”.  Micro-posts are allowed.  Boring definitely has to stop.

So, be prepared. I am going to take some risks with this blog and my reputation. Playing it safe is too boring and too slow. It is time to “supercharge” this blog and branch out further and see what shows up. Google continues to regularly monitor this blog and so by writing more expansively on a wider degree of subjects, let’s see what my web statistics tell me in the next 2-3 months.