Gaming the iPod
so, this whole games on the ipod thing is a pretty big deal. a lot bigger than what folks are thinking about.
lemme ‘splain.
apple took the ipod from a passive experience (music) towards a more attention-driven experience (movies) and is heading towards an active experience (games).
why is that big?
well. aside from a headstart as a mainstream cultural mainstay, the ipod is a buddy. it’s your companion. it’s like carrying around your own theme music. everpresent but not the focus.
you can use it for its main purpose passively while you are doing anything else. that puts it into “attached-at-the-hip” mode. unlike, say, a psp or a gameboy who during 95% of the time you carry them around while you can’t play are just dead weight.
“yeah. but what about cell phones?”
this one can be summed up as simply as tool vs. lifestyle. phones are tools. an ipod is all recreation all the time. it’s all about small things like form factor and no keypad required. that dial is the grist of the ipod’s sex appeal. it’s a symbol of affluence, completely unlike the modern day cell phone. (despite what those cell phone belt-clip owners would tell you.)
it’s about establishing a beachhead and burrowing into the mainstream conciousness on your way to ubiquity. babysteps in establishing a marketing message on “what your product does.”
they didn’t start off marketing it as a multi-media device. however, that’s exactly where they’re heading.
m3mnoch.
Addicting Entertainment 
I know I’m exited! Especially about tetris. Although, I think that Apple should put in Sudoku. It’s the same kind of cultural phenomenon, so I think they’d go good together.
What instantly struck me was the next step I’m sure Apple will take… casual games in the living room.
speaking of cellphone, there’s a rumor out there that apple will be developing iPhones–an iPod and cellular phone rolled into one smart device.
That rumor has been around forever.
Hey, m3mnoch, I don’t see any contact form, but I thought you might want to know that Sony has caved and lowered the price on the PS3 *before it is even launched* because of massive bitching about the price in Japan. They’re taking an even bigger loss on PS3’s now… damn. I’ve never seen a company screw up a flagship product quite this way before.
Buon luogo, congratulazioni, il mio amico!