News of the Day 12/6/2010

Google breaks into eBooks, Sprint Upgrades, and OnLive takes on . . . Netflix? Lots happening today, so let's get to the news!

Career:
Seth Godin hits it out of the park and into hyperspace with this post on the world's worst boss. Must read.

Mobile:
Sprint to spend $5 billion to upgrade it's network. An intelligent choice – and it may mean they're hiring . . . and maybe AT&T should take a hint.

Movies:
The Live Action Yamato does well. I like what I see and hope it gets further distribution. Curious how this affects "Cool Japan" issues.

Publishing:
And here we go again (in a good way): Google's eBookstore is live, with a heavy emphasis on courting indie bookstores. Give Techmeme a check and see what people are saying here. This tells me that Google wants to make sure it keeps the book market/e-publishing market frothy, and this is a definite shot at Amazon. So will they do comics next?

(And now I have to upload my book again . . .)

Social Media:
GroupOn walked away from the Google offer and is looking to emulate Facebook.

Technology:
OK try and follow this rumor: AOL is considering a breakup/merger/restructuring combo that will combine it with Yahoo. A bit more of a view into the complexities of the oft-discussed (especially here) possibility of a Yahoo-AOL merger.

A nice, sane response to the idea that we’re in another tech bubble.

Ouch – Major Outage At Tumbler.

Video:
OnLive to get into streaming movies. OK, NOW they have my attention. If they try to be an entertainment device without a device (or with a small one) they may have a model here. This could also be a sign of concern or desperation, but as for now my opinion of OnLive has gone up a bit. Certainly Netflix is in their sights – which makes me think they might want to try being a Google-esque spoiler for other streamers and services . . .

Video Games:
How one man made a hit game for mobile.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Would Movies change the game so to speak for OnLive?

– Steven Savage