News and Analysis

Black Friday News, dark news about the bank bailout, and a cloud over Zynga.  Not your most pleasant day . . . but things may look up for Hulu!

News Of The Day: Economics/Geekonomics:
Sure Black Friday had some good numbers – but look what it took to get them. Something to consider as this Black Friday did see a lot of odd hours, extended deals, and more – and those cost money/profits. So take any numbers you see with a few grains of salt – and keep following this to see what the results are.

The details on the bank bailouts are coming to light. It's not pleasant – and wasn't always public or even explained to elected officials. This is a huge list so take your time reading it. There's a lot of nasty bits here which may affect a lot of public opinion/political actions if the public pays attention.

Technology:
A self-taught computer geek asks how to get a job at Slashdot. Plenty to chew over here for you geeks and computer types who have taken a similar route.

Video:
Hulu Plus May Expand to Germany. This of course helps them take on Netflix in a way – and Germany provides them a relatively unique ground to work in. If Hulu makes it it may breathe life into the ambitious, but erratic, venture, and change competition on streaming video.

Video Games:
There's worry ove Zynga's future and it's not exactly surprising. Internal culture problem, acquisition failures, and a flat release. Of course this is even more important with an IPO coming up – and with the luster off of some current IPOs (Hint: Groupon), it may not help them at IPO time.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:Is the bloom off of Zynga's rose?

– Steven Savage

Layoffs, changes in game subscriptions, and much, much more. This holiday week is getting interesting . . .

Culture:
An interesting thought: consumers know more than salespeople and that changes shopping among other things. THat's a pretty good point and one I hadn't considered.

Mobile:
Nokia Siemens to cut 17,000 people over the next year or so. I can't say I'm surprised, but damn. Keep an eye on both of the parent companies as well as this company if you dare try and work for any of them.

Publishing:
Tablet magazine provider Ziro raises $20 million. They've got good partners in the industry. Oh, and they have $20 million dollars, so send them a resume.

Social Media:
GroupOn stock is falling and no I'm not surprised, yes I did warn you, etc. Let's see if this kills enthusiasm for other IPOs – because it may.

Technology:
Microsoft signs a non-disclosure agreement to get more info on Yahoo. In short, this is the usual examine-stuff-for-possible-bid. This will surprise no one of course, but it could result in the seismic, if not unexpected, acquisition of Yahoo by Microsoft. That'd be a hell of a game-changer (even if we overuse that word). I'd also

Video:
You Tube rolls out Disney content and starts its rentals. So it begins.

Video Games . . . and Stuff:
A game to train people in Microsoft Office that mocks the much-maligned Clippy by making him a character. I'm all for ramification, and this may give you some good ideas, but also this is seriously meta. Presented for an interesting idea.

Big Fish is trying a subscription service for iPad. That's an interesting idea and one I'm going to watch to see how it goes. Odd thought though, could this subscription idea catch on . . . and then like MMO's turn out to work better going back to free?

GameStop gets in on carrying the ASUS Transformer Prime? Apparently so – and that looks like an obvious move for Gamestop – to start selling game-worthy devices. Plus it's ASUS, which I have a geek-crush on, so I see this as a good fusion. Now what does that mean for GameStop's future evolution? Well, that's a good question . . .

Must Read: The Careers of Classic Game Developers.

QUESTION OF THE DAY:What other technology should GameStop carry?

– Steven Savage