Why Old People in Business Should Be Considered Obsolete

A question of whether or not consoles are obsolete.

I will agree that PCs are becoming cheaper and more likely to be in the home, but to have a graphically powerful computer that is capable of playing to top of the line games (or even anything new), you will constantly be upgrading the hardware. Considering the life span of a console (5-10 years), without any significant upgrades (microphones, dance pads and internet connectivity aside), programmers are given a set of stats they are to work with for an allotment of time. PC gaming, while allowing for independent programmers with low budget and even lower graphic resolutions to produce (which is starting to happen to console gaming as well), has a near-endless limit. Which, as awesome as infinity is, it's hard for a casual gamer (as the author of the above article mentions), to just say "I really want to play that new PC game" without having knowledge of their video card, RAM, O/S or hard disc space remaining. I think this kind of acknowledgement is important. Yes, our culture is geekier and more tech savvy, but ask the majority of those 35 to 55 year old women casual gamers what their processor speed is and they're likely to hit you with their purses.

I am not saying the casual gamer is incapable of knowing what their computer does while they are asleep (although this is also true), I am suggesting that these casual gamers are less likely to invest the large amounts (still) of capital required into casual gaming (computer + every damn upgrade when things aren't to the specs of a required game). If it comes preloaded on their Palm, BlackBerry or PopCap is emailed to them, they'll probably enjoy it and may seek out other online games. Ask them to pay $20, and some will. MacMommies will probably be livid that you need a PC, and PCGrannies will be upset that their grandson's old (and I mean old) computer doesn't have enough "sheeps or goats or rams" on her email box.

And here is where the console will thrive: no upgrades, no tech talk, plug it in (or sometimes, throw in a few batteries), put in cartridge, play.

Rather than software commanding the hardware market, consoles have established hardware that the software must conform to. If we look at Nintendo alone's journey into the software demanding hardware upgrades, we'll see the roadside littered with Super Nintendo's mouse & SuperScope, the 8-Bit's Power Glove, GameCube's microphone, GameBoy Advance's E-Card Reader and even the original light gun. But if we look at the DS & the Wii, we find two "gimmicky" ideas requiring software to adhere to the demands of the hardware; and two very large successes in casual gaming.

I won't pretend my readership knows me, so I will tell you now, I have never turned anyone a gamer by using a PC or Mac. I'm sure I could set up a casual gamer, but I sure as hell do not want to deal with the call about why World of Warcraft won't install.

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This rant comes courtesy of my father who, when having difficulties with his computer (likely because it's heavily fragmented and he would've installed Bonzi Buddy if it were still around), decided that it was time to buy and install Windows Vista in the opening weeks. The only reason my father even has a computer was because he wanted a camcorder that he could edit home movies on my mother's Mac. He bought one that was only compatible with a PC (although the salesman said otherwise). It was a Sony camcorder, so his solution was to buy a Sony Vaio. I hate these people, but love my father. A real dichotomy here. The amount of tech crap he's bought and installed (thank god he stopped buying Sony only products and has moved onto the Kodak line of thinking--diversity is good) reminds me of a Threadless shirt...

Back to the Windows Vista saga, his video card won't support Vista. His motherboard won't support a newer video card, and his solution? Buy a new computer.

Ask him about his Wii and he'll tell you it's never given him any troubles. Which is good for a toy.

Seven Months Later...

So, I've drank more Coca-Cola products than PepsiCo. brand, but I blame cherry flavouring for that. But PepsiCo. is the better company.

I have yet to be asked if I wanted to be on a test circuit for PD-1 suppressants, but I have learned that foreskin increases men's chances of HIV infection, and may lower a woman's odds. There's another argument for male genital mutilation for mysogynists to use. That, my friends, is called "irony".

Special juvenille bonus: The director of the World Health Organization's AIDS department is named Dr. Kevin De Cock.

The Crane Wife rose to the top of my favourite albums of 2006, but in doing so also put Decemberists fans at the bottom of my favourite list of 2006. How did they manage to get into the high schools? We must ban mixed tapes, CDs and iPods immediately to prevent good music from falling into immature hands! [/curmudgeon]

Another argument against the glass ceiling was released at some point in the past month: Boys are just as good at quitting as women. Take that Human Resources Departments! Equality in job hating! We have to start somewhere.

This link argues, or at least gives the argument that Babyboomers really suck.

The argument has two distinct parts:
1) They are largely responsible for the excessive consumption of our current culture, and thus the destruction of the environment.
2) The free-sex and experimentation that they practiced broke down the sense of respect and social norms, causing the degeneration of society.


It's odd to see one paper arguing both from the left and right for the same point. I largely agree with the first argument, but the second one reeks of fear and social conservatism. It was just funny to see in the same plave. I guess noone likes the poor bastards.

The Battle for Cola Supremecy Has Been Won

After decades of battling it out for my loyalty, PepsiCo. Inc. has won my alliegence (as best as any soft-drink manufacturer can), by simply making itself a minority. With Ms. Nooyi coming in as the eleventh (that's a one preceded by another one) female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, it's no wonder women are feeling the sting of the idea of an imaginary glass ceiling.

Those who know me, know that I know that there are external forces that keep the glass ceiling in place that don't involve the oppressive man, but I'm finding startling (but not surprising) that women only account for just over 16% of corporate officers. Sure, lots of women opt to take a year off to make a baby or two and that makes our whole gender economically unreliable in the grand scheme of things (especially if they fall in love with pukeypookie and opt to stay home foreva!), but is there not a viable solution for investing in women in the workplace to allow for the possibility of trusting career-minded women? I'm seriously doubting that the mere admission that a woman does not want to pass a baby through her loins is ever taken seriously (speaking from my own experience: very few people on this planet take me seriously).

Back on topic about how I'll drink PepsiCo. Inc. products:

I realize that this is not exactly a difficult choice as I prefer Aquafina over salted Dasani and the rest of the sugary water all tastes the same to me, but now I'm going to make a concerted effort to support PepsiCo. Inc and their choice to appoint a woman in the seas of men.