Archive for November, 2011

Gabe Newell deserves to be on top

2
5 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in

Gabe Newell’s Valve “gets” gaming like very few others. Here are but a few examples:

  • They made Half-Life (enough said)
  • They made Half-Life 2, and they gave us the gravity gun at the start of the game, rather than holding out on it till the end as some kind of nonsense reward for playing through their game.
  • They released Portal, after buying the developers who made the original Narbacular Drop
  • They only release games when they’re ready. Sometimes that takes a looong time, and sometimes, not so much.
  • They developed Steam, which has changed gaming forever.
Gabe says that piracy will not be cured by price reductions, but by improved services. As someone who lives in Finland, but would consume North American content by choice, I can tell you that he’s right on the money. iTunes store? Location restricted. Netflix? Geographic restrictions. XBox 360 media content? Restricted. Beatport DJ downloads… geo restricted. And the list goes on. I’m keenly aware that these limitations are put in place by the publishers and copyright holders of the content, rather than the distribution channels. But when push comes to shove… if pirates are offering a product in region x, that cannot be had by legitimate means, then it’ll be had by piracy. And this isn’t even a lost sale! There never would have been a sale in the first place, because of the regional restrictions, so your cost analysis is wrong.
“Most DRM solutions diminish the value of the product by either directly restricting a customer’s use or by creating uncertainty.”
Valve get this, and so they’ve built Steam with that in mind. My hat is off to these guys, pretty much all the time. If publishers and copyright holders could get it in their heads that people actually do want their content, and are happy to pay for it, then we’d all be a happier bunch.

Brief thoughts on the Kindle Fire release

0
6 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in

Living in the unprivileged every-country-outside-of-America, I can’t get my hands on an Amazon Kindle Fire, but I’m enjoying reading the reviews. Engadget has a typically thorough review up, which boils down to this:

It’s physically tough, remarkably affordable, presents the best integration of content digital acquisition, and can’t hope to compete with other better tablets.

In a word: Amazon. This is exactly the device Amazon would release, and I commend them for playing to who they are, rather than just delivering an iPad knock-off. Amazon’s in this game for the long-haul, and this looks like a fantastic first entry. They’ve addressed the UI issue with aplomb, but I’d still like to see something creative with a color e-ink display down the road.

110727_GIST_The_Mobile_Worker4

Things I’ve Learned Working From Home

0
6 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in ,

In 2007, Maija and I moved to Finland, and I’ve been working from home ever since. What started as a 3-month trial that we assumed wouldn’t work, has become a litmus for my organization; both our Executive Director and our CFO now work remotely, commuting back to the office only every few weeks. I’m lucky enough to get to stay home most of the year :) On my last few visits to the office I’ve been struck by the differences in what can be accomplished in the office, and at home.  (more…)

Open letter to Blackbaud

6
6 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in

Dear Blackbaud,

In October, you gave many people a sneak peak at a new product option, The Raiser’s Edge Mobile. This mobile application is being developed for iOS, Android and Blackberry devices, we were told, and will let us access our own Raiser’s Edge database from outside the enterprise using mobile devices. I believe this is a huge leap in the right direction for Blackbaud, and I am very encouraged to see that this functionality is very near useable. However, developing a mobile app is easy; anyone can develop a mobile application, and connect it to a SQL database. Adding mobile functionality to The Raiser’s Edge will not set you apart, in many ways it won’t even bring you up to par. It’s 2011 (almost 2012!) now, and mobile applications were so 2009.  What you really need to bring to the mobile space, is the tools for us to build out our own solutions against The Raiser’s Edge: you need to release a mobile platform.

(more…)

Contracting your weaknesses: Schooley Mitchell

3
6 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in ,

A few years ago, when I’d just been promoted to IT Manager, my predecessor encouraged me to staff my weaknesses. I’ve followed that strategy, and have had the privilege of building up some excellent staff and building some great teams. I’ve now moved into the realm of staffing my strengths, as I seek to be less of a point-of-failure, and more of a value-add to my organization. I’ve also had the privilege of working with some excellent corporate partners, and this post will the first in a short series highlighting a few of those amazing companies.  These guys have totally made up for my weaknesses in various areas, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.

The first, is Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants.  (more…)

0
6 months ago
by Jonathan Puddle in

Last year my midi controller was damaged, and so I did a bit of mixing in software only. I sent it off for repair this year, and after months off hassle it was finally fixed. To avoid frustration (because I couldn’t use my gear), I decided not to listen to dance music this year. My neighbour, who is a fantastic music snob and art historian helped me immensely, plying me with music from Midlake, Bon Iver, My Morning Jacket, Sister Flo, and more. It’s been a great year of music, but I almost forgot how much joy dance music gives me. I started dipping my toes back in a month or two ago, and now you finally get to enjoy another Beatitudes mix.

Go to Top