Can you believe Amazon has a bookstore? ?I’m talking about a real life Amazon physical bookstore. My question is: Is it even worth visiting?
An independent publisher named Dustin Kurtz wondered the same thing. He wrote an article in the New Republic about his Amazon bookstore experience. He visited Amazon Books in Seattle, Washington’s University Village shopping complex. The first thing that struck him is the simple name: Amazon Books. ?He noticed employees carrying walky-talkies doing their best to prevent an overcrowded mob scene. He talked about an article promoting this new bookstore that came out the day before. This article that shamelessly promoted the online bookstore as well as this physical one. He calls the store setup odd, with book stacks being way too close to each other. Though there were discounts throughout the store, these books don’t come cheap. The sense I get from this article is that you can get most of the same books online for the same price, if not better. Some classics, like George Orwell’s 1984, weren’t even offered. However, Kurtz was impressed with how employees were treated. Their pay was $18 an hour, and they got benefits. But keep in mind Seattle is one of the few cities where minimum wage is $15 an hour.
At least they got that part right. This bookstore offers nothing new or unique. Even the name Amazon Books is bland. Why were there security concerns? There was no special guest author or celebrity scheduled that day. Just because an Amazon bookstore was opening, the masses run to the door. What does that say about our consumer culture today? They could have offered better pricing on merchandise, something that would make it worth the trip to University Village. I find it funny they didn’t offer books like 1984, books that make you think about the coming world. Are we heading towards on Orwellian world today, and they don’t want us to know about it? They did have a Starbucks though. Then again, so does almost every Barnes and Noble in the USA. If Amazon Books opened up in your town, would you go? And what’s wrong with the good old library? What’s wrong with your local independent bookstore?
King Digital Entertainment was acquired by Activision Blizzard for 5.9 billion dollars. What’s the big deal behind that and what does it mean to you? Do you like playing the popular online game Candy Crush?
King Digital Entertainment is the company behind Candy Crush. And now they’re no longer they’re own entity. It’s the biggest gaming acquisition since Microsoft/XBox bought out Minecraft last year. You see, Activision Blizzard’s bread and butter comes from console games. They want to make it big in the mobile market. They believe paying for one of the most popular mobile games out there will make it happen. This is an all cash transaction. This deal will give both entities a combined 500 million users in around 200 countries. That covers most of the world. According to Activision chief executive Bobby Kotick, this deal would make Activision Blizzard have the third highest social media audience membership behind You Tube and Facebook. The acquisition should be official by early 2016. All it takes is approval from 75% of King’s board of directors in Ireland. Activision is confident this will happen.
King Digital Entertainment was founded in Sweden back in 2003 and has headquarters in New York City, London and Dublin, Ireland. They’ve produced and released over 200 games in the twelve years since. They gave us popular mobile games like Farm Heroes and Bubble Watch. Candy Crush was released in 2012. That’s what put King Digital on the gaming map and won them gaming respect in the gaming world. That game alone made for a third of King Digital’s revenue. I often get many, many Facebook requests to play Candy Crush. I often turn them down many, many times. Candy Crush isn’t just a video game. Candy Crush is a cultural icon that has done really well. Does King Digital really want to lose control of that to Activision Blizzard? Is any amount of money worth it?
It’s Halloween again. Still deciding what your costume should be? We at Computer Geeks are here to help with our top ten tech Halloween costumes.
10. Steve Jobs: With the biopic out, why not? He’s pretty simple to pull off: glasses, black turtleneck, New Balance sneakers, jeans.
9. Black/White/Gold Dress: Over the past year, this head-scratching color changing dress has been a social media icon.
8. Any Mortal Kombat X Character: It’s the top selling video game of the year and even more intense than it was 20+ years ago. This game is the reason why video games are age restricted. Get over here!
7. Emoji: Some say they’re cute. Some say they’re funny. Some say they’re annoying. But these social media icon faces will definately get you noticed.
6. Kermit the Frog Sipping Tea: Then there’s this social media phenomenon. You’re spending all this money on Halloween but forget Christmas is under two months away. But that’s none of my business.
5. Any Retro Video Game Character: Pac-Man, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, Sonic the Hedgehog, and others allow us older gamers to relive memories. They also teach the young folk about about how we used to play. Who knows what Q Bert is?
4. Astronaut: It’s classic, but always work. It’s a good way to honor these space and tech geniuses who paved the wave for us. You can even carry some Tang around.
3. Any Star Trek Character: Did you know we’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of this historic TV franchise? Beam me up!
2. Minecraft: They’re simple to do. All you need is a cardboard box, Minecraft printouts, glue, scissors and tape. It’s a ?budget friendly costume as well.
1. ?Any Star Wars Character: It’s back! Star Wars VII will be released in December 2015. There’re many Star Wars fans (sorry, I’m not one of them). How much Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Yoda, and Princess Lela ?will we see this year?
Google is the most successful company today, maybe the most successful of all-time. Much of that should be credited to the near perfect technical skills and innovation of Google leadership. But some say there’s something lacking.
Bruno Bowden is a former Google employee. He’s currently a partner at Data Collective. In a statement, Bowden complained despite their massive success, Google leadership often comes short in empathy and what he calls ’emotional intelligence’. He criticizes them for not having good people skills. But he compliments new Google CEO Sundar Pichai for helping turn the tide. Others agree. Pichai is known for being hard only when he has to, but has the soft skills needed for production and management. A few weeks ago, he promoted his colleagues not just on longevity or talent. Qualities like loyalty, humility and congeniality were huge factors. One Google exec put it in layman’s terms: “All the [expletive] have left.” This is a contrast to former Google CEO Larry Page, whose now running Google Alphabet. Page is known for being tough, harsh and abrasive. Pichai is changing the culture and wants his fellow Google leaders to do the same. Maybe that’s why he picked?Hiroshi Lockheimer to lead Android. Lockheimer is known for being likable, approachable and merciful. He’s been with Android since 2006 and helped launch Android 1.0. So he’s experienced and knowledgeable too.
Sundar Pichai and Hiroshi Lockheimer may be onto something. Their reputation of empathetic leaders will certainly change the culture at Google headquarters. Maybe, just maybe, it could start a revolution and change the entire Silicon Valley culture. From certain stories I’ve read, Silicon Valley bosses can be tough. Let’s see how successful Pichai’s nice guy approach works. I hope his reign is very successful. I hope he inspires others to have the same care for their people. Can’t the nice guy finish first sometimes?
It’s the smartwatch. It’s one of the fastest rising tech devices today. But what if you could build your own smartwatch? Soon, you’ll be able to.
Thanks to a crowdfunding?firm called Kickstarter, you can. Kickstarter helps fund creative products and services, especially in the fields of entertainment and technology. They’ve funded everything from stage plays to video games. Now, it’s backing Blocks Wearable’s first modular smartwatch. This Blocks smartwatch kit includes a round watch face that is the main module. You can clip in other modules that will make up the watch band. This kit offers the same things an already made smartwatch does, like a physical fitness tracker, voice control, and various notifications. It isn’t a one size fits all kind of watch. This watch can be constructed and crafted to fit the needs of the individual building it. This Blocks build-it-yourself smartwatch is backed by Qualcomm and ARM. It’s their processors that most likely power your smart devices. It will run on mobile operating system Android Lollipop. It’s compatible with many Android and Apple products. This smartphone kit contains an extra battery module, GPS module, heart rate monitor, pay at the register availability, and a module that offers everything from temperatures to air pressure. There are two versions of this Block Kickstarter phone.
The core module will cost you $195, or five modules for $80 more. Kickstarter will offer discounts to early buyers. But pack the patience. These kits don’t ship out until May 2016. While the prices are competitive, I’ve seen smartwatches that are $100 or less, and you don’t even have to assemble them. Nonetheless, building your own smartwatch can be fun and educational. I can see parents doing this with their kids to get their handy and creative talents flowing. This can be a tool of learning how today’s technology works and learning different factors of technology. And it does offer the things a regular smartphone does. The people at Kickstarter pride themselves on investing in products that produce creativity. Have they succeeded here?
Amazon has been very busy as of late. First off, Amazon‘s cloud service AWS celebrates a milestone. Amazon’s AWS has over a million active customers.
Not only that, but AWS has grown 81% in one year. At this time in 2014, this cloud service was worth $4 billion. Now, it’s worth $7.3 billion. You can add an additional billion from their database business. Then they’re other ventures. Amazon wants their own online pay-TV service. This would add to their video based service. Amazon is asking CBS and NBC to cater to their channels. This information is according to anonymous insiders. These alleged negotiations are in the early stages. Nobody from CBS or NBC is saying a word. Neither is Amazon spokesperson Craig Bergman. But here’s another clue Amazon really wants pay-TV service: Amazon recently acquired Elemenetal Technologies for $500 million, one of Amazon’s biggest purchases in their history. Elemental specializes in software enabling different channels and content to be delivered across many devices. They have many customers, like ESPN, ABC, and BBC. So last month, they acquire a company that will help them deliver many TV channels to many devices. According to anonymous sources, negotiations between Amazon and CBS and NBC have been going on for months. Coincidence? I think not.
For years, Amazon has been the most successful online retail site of all-time. Their grocery delivery service is doing well. Smaller, more local delivery services aren’t liking that. Now they’re expanding. Amazon’s AWS is on their way to becoming one of the most respected cloud services in the game. Microsoft and Apple aren’t going to like that. Now they may or may not be getting in the online pay-TV service. All signs say they are. How are Netflix and Hulu going to respond? I believe in capitalism as much as anybody. But how many toes are Amazon going to step on here?
