News and Analysis

Big Pile Of Ship

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Wait, news analysis?

Yeah, we over here at Fan To Pro have been dreadful busy, moving, getting new jobs, sick of old jobs, sick period, etc.  So the news analysis has kind of declined – and we do dump interesting articles to Ye Olde Twittere Feede.

So we didn’t get in a lot of news analysis, which of course was because all the great news happened at once.  I think if I were to sum it up, Apple’s new operating system is based on the Penny Arcade kickstarter, which is run in Windows 8 by Amazon, which is crouching over the burning corpse of Best Buy.  Or something.  Oh, and RIM is a disaster, but we knew that.

But out of the news articles, and all the crazy, something stood out:

Amazon is pushing to make same-day service.

Sure, it doesn’t come as any surprise, but there’s some takeaways:

First, this is going to be a challenge to lots of local retailers and not-so-local retailers.  Let’s face it, when you can get it from Amazon, people tend to.

Second, what’s being missed here is that Amazon is probably going to develop some revolutionary storage and shipping technologies.  People will want to help it happen, look at it, copy it, etc.  If you’re into shipping tech, this is revolutionary.

But there’s one thing that’s being missed among the Amazon-will-crush-all and so forth.

Amazon also has their amazon storefronts and the like.  What the hell are they going to be able to do when they have this mass shipping/recieving system set up? What kind of service can they offer to others?

Think of what it can mean for small businesses.  Think of how many other small companies providing services like this they may crush.  Think of what it will do if they use this to try to help people ignore the fact they’re sort of undermining other businesses . . .

Imagine if Amazon faces limiting lawsuits?  They could scale back – but keep the shipping business as a business.  An amazing about of people use their EC2 cloud service.

So, no, there may be much more to this than simply crushing others.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

 

 

 

The Future Of Computing Is Maybe

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So a few trends came up we’re going to need to follow, progeeks:

First, yes, as everyone not comatose under a rock in an alternate dimension knows Microsoft announced it’s own entries into the Tablet wars, Surface. Er surfaces.  Anyway, read the article, once you wake up and crawl out of your other-dimensional Rock

Of course this doesn’t surprise anyone since there have been rumors and speculations for awhile, and since Windows 8 and even the X-Box looked awful tabletesque.  Rather strong design however, though we really do NOT have a lot of information whe you look at it.

Also, the question remains how does everyone else on the planet feel who makes Windows boxes?  Since Microsoft sort of became their rival/enemy all in one go.

Secondly, if you didn’t follow the Wired teardown of the new MacBook pro with Retina display, you need to.  Yes, the thing is basically a brick, but there’s a larger point they make.  Mac is essentially trying out systems that can go two ways – the sealed unfixable/unhackable system (that probably is “repaired” by swapout), and a more open system.  Mac really is following consumer lead, and upcoming choices will likely focus their efforts – so what are we going to choose?

This makes perfect sense, but there’s part of a larger picture – what Mac does is going to affect what other people choose to do.  Like say . . . Microsoft.

We’re going to need to pay attention.  How we use devices, develop for them, repair them, etc. may come down to consumer decisions we’re not expecting because we’re making different ones . . .

It would be an interesting time with just one of these announcements.  With two of them, well, I’m going to have to process this for awhile.  But my thoughts:

  • If you work at any company that makes Winboxes, watch what’s going on. Microsoft could be your enemy, or your friend, or a trendsetter.  Or they may not know.
  • If you’re a developer and you didn’t think you’d be “thinking tablet,” well, you’re thinking tablet now.  Get used to it.
  • The Apple trend bears watching and we should see if sealed/unsealed systems change in popularity and who follows the trends (as it could give competitors an in – or they may just follow suit).
  • I’m not sure how powerful the Wintabs are going to be, which may affect the apps they use.  I don’t think these are exactly gaming machines.
  • The Wintab design looks pretty solid to me – it’s “beyond tablet,” and I expect it’ll be influential if only because it’s what a lot of people want anyway.
  • Google will do something.  The question is, what . . .

 

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

 

Fandom, Critique, and Art

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In order to criticize a movie, you have to make another movie.

– Jean-Luc Godard (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000419/bio)

Fellow blogger Serdar turned me on to the above quote, which speaks volumes really about media, culture, and profans (and fans doing pro-activity as fans).

I’m a great believer in people practicing an art, be it writing, or music, or drawing.  Some form of communication is worth practicing and even mastering, for the sake of expressing ourselves, understanding how others communicate, understanding how others manipulate, and to create a dialogue.  To have an art is to engage other people.

This is one of the reasons I love fandom, geeks, nerds, otaku, and more.  Many of them are engaged in their art, from fanfic to fanart to fan games.  They are practicing their creativity and communication.

Godard’s quote made me realize that in a way, they’re really engaging other creators in a dialogue and in a critique.

Think of many fanfics go down paths that authors avoided.  Yes at times there were damn good reasons for that.  But still, the dialogue is there, even if it’s more telling about a fans desires or a misinterpretation or a wish fulfillment.

Think of the artists who show characters in new light, from the humorous to the deep to the bizarre.  Each piece of art is a glimpse into an opinion, and analysis, and/or an artists ideas.  Even if it’s just pandering or a simple piece for fun it tells you something.

Fan creations are a kind of dialogue.  Often about the fans themselves and among the fans themselves, but it is a dialogue.  So many of us are following Godard’s advice in writing, art, music videos and more.

In some cases however it breaks into the larger world (even if not always well received). Hasbro’s engagement with the Bronies.  50 Shades of Gray bringing fanfic and taboo subjects to the fore.  User-created content being encouraged by gaming companies.  There are moments the fan/otaku/nerd/geek dialogue breaks out – and it’s magic when it does.

In a way, I think that’s part of what I’m trying to do in my work here and elsewhere – connect people up and expand the horizons of what they do and who they reach.  I want to see the dialogue expand.

Of course I also want to see you make money at it too.  That’s a given.  Seeing what it can be can help.

The fanart, fanfic, games, RPGs, and more are all, in a way, a form of dialogue.  We’re all doing a critique or commentary on previous art, even if we never go as far as Godard and make a movie to critique another film.  It’s powerful and amazing, and it should be appreciated as such.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/