Next Xbox Ditching Hard Drive?
With this
new contract with M-Systems, a flash memory products company, it's increasingly likely the next version of X-box will not have a hard drive. Microsoft is looking for areas to cut costs since they lost so much money with the current configuration. It's ironic though because the next generation of consoles with its focus on online gaming probably would of benefited a lot from a hard-drive.
Flash memory maker M-Systems announced on Wednesday that it has signed a contract to provide storage products for future versions of the Xbox, bolstering speculation that Microsoft may ditch the game console's hard drive.
Professor of iPod
Wired writes about an author
who is writing a book on the social behaviors of iPod users. His thesis is iPods offer a way to "control" your life. Interesting stuff.
People use (the iPod) as an alarm clock, and when they listen to it at night, they like the fact it can turn itself off. It's how people like to use music. I don't think Apple did much research into how people would use their players, but they got most of it right.
For example, a lot of people use it to go to work, for commuting. I found that they use the same music on a regular basis. They will often play the same half-dozen tunes for three months, and each part of the journey has its own tune. It gives them control of the journey, the timing of the journey and the space they are moving through. It's a generalization, but the main use (of the iPod) is control. People like to be in control. They are controlling their space, their time and their interaction ... and they're having a good time. That can't be understated -- it gives them a lot of pleasure.
Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts? Comment on the
discussion forum.
[
Discussion]
Link Roundup
- PalmInfoCenter has a
instructive article for new Sony Clie PDA users on how to get most out of their devices.
- Sharp is
coming out with a 19" LCD monitor with 16ms low response time perfect for games and DVD movies.
- Forbes 2004
Top 20 Richest Billionaires article is out. Bill Gates is still #1 with Warren Buffett nipping at his heels.
- Anandtech's
weekly recommended mid-range system guide. I don't know why they love AMD so much. Every AMD system I ever built tended to be much more of a hassle and crashed more vs. Intel.
