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More Thoughts on The Everything Wars

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I've written about the Everything Wars a few times, and frankly, some of it seems to be sneaking up on me.

You may remember when I said that I felt the core of the Everything Wars was Microsoft, Google, and Apple, with tangents in the e-book area and gaming.

I think I was being kind.  It started that way, but the more I watch what's going on in the news, I think the Everything Wars have rapidly expanded.  Yes, Google, Microsoft, and Apple are core players, but it seems EVERYONE is jumping into the fray directly or tangentially (usually the latter).

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Kindle, Amazon, Technology, Trust

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As the Kindle Deletion Disaster continues, I'm seeing a lot of analyses of what this means.  Yes, there's what it does to Amazon, there's the political repercussions (what's to stop a government from manipulating omni-delete features), and there's more to come.  I'd like to add one thing the Kindle Deletion Disaster does to writing: it affects trust.

Trust is a very important thing in the world of media, as we geeks and fans know.  A company can loose trust with a lousy game, by cracking down on fansites, etc.  But the Kindle and similar technologies give companies – and creators – a chance to completely destroy trust in their work by doing boneheaded things.

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News of the Day 7/25/2009

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Career:
What to do if you have no references or work experience – A good set of suggestions, excellent for fans who excell at DOING things.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonimics:
Job losses are higher than expected – Very interesting, from the WSJ. This definitely points to potential persistent unemployment post-recovery.

China's government leveraging its soverign wealth fund to encourage Chinese businesses to expand and acquire overseas – Or more simply, they get cash and support branching out – and you can that may include your country. Didn't see this coming, but I expect that this means the Chinese government thinks its safe to do this and wants to cut any losses or potential losses from other areas affected by the global downturn. Upshot is this could be an economic game changer and put more power in China's hands.

Why companies must get back to venture capital and R&D – Essentially large companies now rely on parterships with startups and smaller companies to innovate. And they're not. A good read to make you think – and wonder where that Chinese money may flow . . .

Multimedia:
Microsoft taps big names in anime for Halo video collection – Sort of what was done with the Animatrix. Good multimedia synergy there (and I imagine that the studios want the money). There's some good story potential with Halo anyway, so I sense a potential success, and further encouraging multimedia synergy. Thought for your career – what companies could benefit from more synergy, and what can you do to encourage it (and get a job or contract . . .).

Publishing:
Amazon will be target of a class-action suit over the book deletion – The argument seems to involve property rights and set expectations. The firm in question specializes in such suits. As usual, watch this space – this can also persist the incident in people's minds and give competitors an advantage, as well as settle (or open) some legal issues. The ethical issues already seem pretty apparent.

Writing:
Geeky things you don't know about romance writers.

Video Games:
Game Developer's free 2009 game career guide available – So, go for it. Warning – lots of ads.

Analysis of video game market – Looking flat overall this year, with some nasty bumps – and some of the big boys may take hits. I disagree casual gamers may pull back significantly as their overall investment is likely less as it is – and much casual gaming is lower priced.

– Steven Savage