Business : Entrepreneurship : Digital Media : Games

David Sharp's Blog – April 2009 Archive (9)

Not a moment to panic ...

Microsoft has reported its first downturn in revenue since 1986:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/microsoft-quarterly-revenue-down-for-the-first-time-ever

Whilst it shows that no one is immune to the current economic woes there is a lack of urgency when the press release that your revenues have dropped to a mundane $13.6 Billion! I don't think they're in any kind of financial depression with revenues at that level and an estimated cash reserve of some $40… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 24, 2009 at 10:55am — No Comments

There in a Flash!

This is a slightly more significant story than it first appears:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8008070.stm

Having met a lot of the set top box manufactures at CES in the last two years there was two very striking aspects to what they were up to.

Firstly, set top boxes in the latest incarnation are extremely powerful mini-pc's that are fully connected and can manage a large range of different kinds of media. The development of them by companies like… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 21, 2009 at 1:47pm — No Comments

New Idea for a start-up ... a bank!

The government has come to the table with this chestnut:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8007467.stm

Whereas the government sees the idea of creating a new bank to fund hi-tech startups as a way of overcoming some of the problems in the economy, I say that this organisation should be treated like a start-up itself, so its completely aware of the issues surrounding new business enterprises.

Can the people running it show a track record in their given… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 20, 2009 at 11:20am — No Comments

Farce

The guys behind Pirate Bay in Sweden have been found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison by a Swedish court:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8003799.stm

This is a circus. They produce a legal P2P software, they host no illegal files anywhere on their servers or system. The link to criminal activity is via the usage of their software by pirates to bit torrent films, games and other media, its not an activity they do themselves.

If this is a legitimate… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 17, 2009 at 9:33am — No Comments

Law ... but not as we know it ...

For anyone working in the digital media industries in the modern era, this news report will not be a surprise ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8000876.stm

If you've been involved with international business of any sort and with licensing in particular the you will know how antiquated the UK legal and judicial system is with regards to the usage of words, imagery or combinations. As with a lot of things around the world, we were the first to the party, being the… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 16, 2009 at 12:12pm — No Comments

All that glitters is not gold ...

After a bit of stumbling around and wondering what to do with it, eBay is looking to IPO Skype:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/04/14/breaking-ebay-announces-plans-to-sell-skype/

Personally, I think they rushed to buy Skype without fully understanding what they would do with it and paid too much for it in the final event. Skype was always going to be a bit of a trophy in some boardroom cabinet and the guys at eBay were too wrapped up in the shiny side of Skype, the hype and… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 14, 2009 at 9:35pm — No Comments

Garbage

There was a small story published on the BBC website yesterday that made me laugh a little:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7986483.stm

Whilst its an innocent mistake and something not within the control of the foreign office, it does bring up some points and questions about the management of the internet over a long period of time.

As with real life, companies come and go and domain names will change hands. If your website has a company directory on it or… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 8, 2009 at 6:52am — No Comments

Technology for the sake of it or technology for a reason ... ?

There has been a lot written and said about the current mapping of the UK by Google for their Street View application. The media have over reported the fact that some UK residents are unhappy about Google snapping their home for all to see and it would seem that this has reached a peak with residents physically blocking the progress of the cars taking all the footage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/04/the_battle_of_broughton_1.html

The real question for me is… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 3, 2009 at 4:20pm — No Comments

The value of email?

Sweden has introduced new laws to combat piracy, and has instantly seen a reduction in internet traffic overall of 30%

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7978853.stm

For the licence holders, the IP creators, the people who feel that the internet has in some way cost them money instead of making them some, its the first step towards a totally policed Internet free of piracy and subversion, if you believe that kind of thing is possible at all.

I've always tried… Continue

Added by David Sharp on April 2, 2009 at 7:28pm — No Comments

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