I love getting things in my email that just make me smile, don’t you? Well for being just a regular social media geek, spending some time on Twitter, I’ve earned a ton of badges through the Osnapz site. Through a connection to Foursquare, you could earn badges for Osnapz by patching in your information and the badges you’ve earned there will connect up to your list of badges. Check out my latest badge:

What’s impressive about this fun little service is the addicting way they get you to pursue more badges. They tell you what’s next and what you have to do in order to get there. Very cool. I’m expecting to see other social media activity badges.

Wow,  I just realized they’ve turned me back into a Boy Scout, earning achievement badges. Outstanding!

As I mentioned, a similar badge system is in use at Foursquare.com, which encourages you to earn badges by earning points and competing with your friends to visit places (usually restaurants, but buildings are just fine) and you earn extra points for tasks and to-dos that get completed along the way that users generate. Foursquare is attempting to sweeten the deal by asking users for suggestions regarding new place-related badges with tasks for completion. You’re welcome to suggest alternate ideas and methods of acquisition. I ended up submitting my own idea for a series of badges geared toward people who love buffalo wings. I identified some restaurant chains they could track, and you could earn badges for progressive visits or the quantity of wings you could eat.

i.e. “Wing Commander” badge if you reach 300 visits to restaurants that serve up wings of all kinds.

At any rate, I’m impressed. Not only do they take us back to our youth (having just realized the connection as I write this) but it’s a fun way to share net-based, and real world accomplishments. I look forward to seeing how this service expands over the next year.

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iTablet – iTouch Style
10.1′ Display
Multitouch
OLED Screen
P A Semi Chip
16GB
Runs iPhoneOS
iTunes & App Store
Apple eReader
Multitouch iWork (Downloadable from App Store)
Front facing Camera
Looks and Acts like an iTouch with new Tablet interaction UI, Gestures/Swipes, etc.
3G Network Connected, No monthly fees, available first at the Apple store then everywhere.
WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity
White or Black Plastic Finish.
Audio Out, USB 2 and Mini Display Port
Sync Port, capable of connecting directly to an iMac with new dockport
$399, Competitive with Kindle 2. Available from the Apple store & Everywhere iPhones and iTouch are sold.
Arrival: March

iTablet Pro – Mac-Netbook Style
10.1′ Display
Multitouch
OLED Screen
Intel Chip (Atom?)
2GB
32-64GB SSD
Runs OSX
iTunes & App Store, Also accepts typical Mac Apps.
Apple eReader
Multitouch iWork (Downloadable from App Store)
Ability to stream apps used on your desktop (Photoshop, etc) to your tablet if connection is fast enough.
3G Network Connected, using AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, w/Data plan.
WiFi & Bluetooth connectivity
Front facing Camera
Looks and Acts like a Mac with new Tablet interaction UI, Gestures/Swipes, etc.
Aluminum Finish.
Audio Out, USB 2 and Mini Display Port
Sync Port, capable of connecting directly to an iMac with new dockport
$699-799, Upper-end Netbook competitive, price will be less within 6-8 months as it will be subsidized. Available from the Apple store, or an authorized Mobile retailer.
Arrival: March-June

I’m going to enjoy seeing something come out, even if this isn’t it. I wasn’t wrong about the iPhone, now let’s see what happens with this launch.

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Wired’s list in short:

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Brad Slavin has posted a few videos to YouTube (as any good Social Media marketer would do ;D) and appears to be promoting the customer experience at the new Microsoft Store in Mission Viejo, CA. Both Engadget and Gizmodo have added their take on it — and all wonderfully snarky comments aside — it’s a good effort at promoting the experience. The fact is, from all the pictures I’ve seen of the new Microsoft store and videos like the in-store dancing you see above — Microsoft’s making an effort to compete on what people perceive as Apple’s turf. When the Gateway stores failed here in DC, and while Dell kiosks in local malls abound, the fact is that Microsoft really does need to show that the experience of owning a PC can be fun, and perhaps no longer as painful as it’s been since the beginnings of the company.

The problem with Apple (from what should be Microsoft’s perspective)

A Complete Consumer Experience Strategy.
When Apple goes to war their strategy is by far the most part complete. And they adapt, at least in a manner quicker than Microsoft. Apple’s all about being able to actually do things with your computer and the software inside. It all starts with the OS. From the OS, Apple achieves a uniform simplicity. What you see is what you get. It’s not hard to do some incredibly powerful things with the system and it’s difficult to break. Apple’s software is easy to learn because all the basics for getting around and doing what you need to do remain the same – it doesn’t matter. Development of software for the Mac demands a similar user experience. Menus have to be the same. Work processes have to be similar, and always familiar.

You Can’t Complain About the Hardware Anymore.
Apple needed to establish an even playing ground. For years the processors Apple was using were actually superior to the Intel and AMD chips but they couldn’t shake the stigma of being too slow when people talked about Gigahertz. Apple needed to stop the argument and level the playing field. So Apple adopted Intel hardware. The processors Windows and Apple’s OS run on are now the same. What separated these two operating systems was now little more than the code. How it’s written, designed and behaves. And people have been finding a Mac’s behavior to be far superior to the Windows experience.

Apple Does Windows, and Runs all things Windows.
For years, tools like Parallels, VirtualPC, RealPC and other emulation products have helped people use Windows applications on their Macs, but without the Intel hardware, using a Windows program meant a big processing-hog translation process if you wanted to run the software at the same time as the Mac OS. Add the Intel hardware, problems with processing are solved. In-comes “Boot Camp”, a bootloader that allows an Intel-class operating system like Windows 7, Vista, XP, or Linux to be run unimpeded. Some improvements allow the separate partitions to operate in cooperation. Over time, Parallels (and competitor VMWare Fusion) has been improved to run on the new hardware and the speed gain is significant — and now that Mac does Windows, it’s great. No more barrier. If can run any Mac and any PC app at the same time there’s no little reason to actually own a PC, not if your life’s going to be easier as a result.

Ubiquity through Content, Delivery and Function.
Apple has learned that despite good software, and fairly good, well designed and consistent hardware, there’s still the question of content, and in the end you need more than just content. You need a way to consume it. What’s the one thing you can’t do without? Your mobile phone. What was the most frustrating thing about your mobile phone? It was difficult to use, and every new feature is just that much more difficult to use and no new device released is quite good enough. Apple offers you an option. A superphone, a smartphone. Something so easy to use, has great applications, and runs on the same philosophy and operating system the Mac operates on. Fantastic. Applications are easy to get (Delivery), inexpensive and can be consumed just like music has been, through iTunes 99 cents at a time. Apple made it painless and somewhat inexpensive to buy the supporting content, be it music, movies or applications. Before you know it you’ve removed pain from your life by adopting an iPhone. Well that makes me as a potential convert pretty receptive to the overall Apple experience.

Windows users have started to add it all up.
For years the argument has been that up front, a Mac costs too much. The Mac argument has been quite the opposite. We don’t get virus. We don’t get botnets. A Mac is easy, it’s simple. It does what you ask it to do. I can pair it with my phone, I can use my phone like my iPod, heck it is an iPod! Look at the commercials. The “Mac” argument shows through because the song “PC” in sings in the advertisements is pretty common. He gets virii. He freezes all the time. He really doesn’t care about you. He spent a ton of money on advertising when he should have spent it on fixing the XP or Vista operating systems. In the end, if you want a new computer, or you want to end up spending less money over the long term you need to consider if buying a PC is the right thing to be doing. So you pay a little more up front — in the end it’s all easier and far less pain if not painless.

The Apple Store: Mystique, Style, Open Support and Proof at your fingertips.
Imagine hundreds of Mac faithful on hand daily to tell you how great it is to own one. Imagine a place where you can go into a store and actually touch a Mac in a pleasant, open setting where the isles aren’t arranged like a “Superstore” and knowledgeable people are on hand to openly support you with style, love of the experience and a little knowledge. When you can go in and touch all things Apple in an isolated but open experience lab, you can make the decision yourself if you should join the party, or in this case the larger Apple community.

As a result, more people are buying Macs every day, even in this horrible economy. People are finally understanding Apple’s KISS User Experience. The Apple Store makes inroads. PC users are being converted.

Conclusion: Microsoft has been running scared as a result.

What’s on the way?
Apple’s producing a tablet — pretty much everyone agrees with that. This means even more media being produced for it, and even more opportunities for catching someone’s attention and time will be driven to yet another device. One that’s likely to succeed.

Apple’s next steps are likely in the content, connectivity/delivery and application vein.  Microsoft needs to follow up with an equal stroke of genius or beat them to the punch. It’s time to innovate or get out of the kitchen. According to the way things have been expected to play out, Apple isn’t about to purchase Adobe (but they should), they aren’t about to purchase TiVo (but they should), and they aren’t about to purchase AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile (but they should). Acquiring these companies would put some new corners on the revolutionary hat that Apple’s been wearing, and solidify the overall value proposition of owning Apple products. Adobe’s product quality and a solid position providing the tools people use to generate all the media people are consuming on the Net (and TV), TiVo’s killer-timeshifting content app for collecting the results still has incredible reach and is still relevant. Also, adopting a Telecom network, bringing down the costs for delivery and establishing a stronger network would normalize and potentially fix  the things that hurt Adobe, TiVo and AT&T the most, customer service and consistency, delivery and solutions.

But wait! There’s more! Microsoft sensibly fights back.

Windows 7.
Windows 7 is proof that Apple’s way has won the day, but is it enough? We’ll see. The Windows 7 OS design has been seen as so much like Apple’s that pundits are commenting that Microsoft’s “ripped off the OS X dock”, and other features of the OS have become very similar. The jury is still out as to how robust the experience is.

“It’s my idea and I’m a PC” Advertising Campaign.
The last few commercials from Microsoft were a mess. Nothing even close to the brilliance found in the latest round — where commercial actors talk about this great idea they had and how Microsoft heard their ideas and turned them into Windows 7. They’re interesting, and even if they’re contrived at all, they still try convey that Microsoft is listening, and they are responding with something that makes sense, and it’s a no-nonsense approach.

The Microsoft Store.
Replicate the Apple style. Set up some “open” support and set up a place where PC users will feel welcome. A place where people can stay in there all day just like people do at the Apple store. Where a PC user doesn’t feel like a pariah when it gets sick, and everyone feels your pain when it does. So Microsoft is embracing community building models. Imagine that. Well as you can see from the video this blog post leads in with, someone’s trying to have some fun with the effort. However contrived.

What comes next?

• The “M-Phone”? The “Zune Phone?” Probably, if they can ever get over their “Sidekick” problem.
• Normalization of application behaviors? Likely. They will have to encourage developers to normalize their approach for UX and conform more closely to key operating system expectations.
• Would Microsoft buy Verizon? That would be spectacular for them. The nation’s largest most complete telecom and Mobile solutions?

Conclusion: Microsoft is attempting to become relevant. They can no longer rest on their laurels of being the most-used OS on the planet. Most used is not equal to popular, and it is nice to see they finally understand what that means. Microsoft has been the tin can for too long, will it have a heart? Will it innovate?
We shall see. Apple for their end is not sitting still.

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On 17th October 2009 game designers Infinity Ward launched a bombshell directly into the PC gaming community.  IW, makers of one of the best-selling game franchises in history – and their parent company Activision Blizzard may have destroyed any potential their new game had for success on the PC Platform and a good chunk of the franchise within a month before the release of their new title, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The spat is over being able to establish a multi-player dedicated server.  Infinity Ward, through Community Manager Robert Bowling (@fourzerotwo) in an interview with BashandSlash, announced they had no plans to support multi-player dedicated servers. They intend to support multiplayer gaming by using a matchmaking system. Modern Warfare 2 would be using the same matchmaking system the consoles use, via InfinityWard.Net rather than allowing the PC gaming population to be using dedicated servers. Dedicated servers permit you to have some freedom of choice as to who to play with, and to enable elite players to play with those who might be new to the game, or share the same interests. These servers are integral to supporting very significant social community.

That community reacted over the last three days, a petition was established, and demanding that the expected support for dedicated servers is re-instated. 100 thousand signatures are in place as of this writing. If these signatures represent lost sales, with the launch price set at $60.00, this represents a loss of $6 Million in pre-orders. The numbers climb steadily by the second. At the current rate, you might see 350,000 within a week, for a loss of $21 Million. Out of the larger COD gaming community, clan after clan (some of which represent hundreds of people) have posted on the Infinity Ward discussion forums that they refuse to buy the game. Many are intending to leave the franchise entirely at this point for other First-Person Shooters. Infinity Ward has only released videos of game play so far. A demo has not been released, no public beta test was ever established (probably for fear of a backlash when people started wondering where dedicated server support was) and you’re still more than 11 days from the game arriving in stores.

Bottom line, the community responded with overwhelming negativity, and yet nobody can say if it’s a good game or not. It’s already got an albatross around its neck. That’s just the tip of the iceberg: Imagine if these same people realized they shouldn’t buy the game on the console either?

Should gamers buy the console version?

A complete boycott of Infinity Ward, Activision Blizzard, Vivendi SA, who owns them, and Microsoft (who is likely selling or could be selling guaranteed advertising revenue into the new IW.NET) would be disastrous to the producer, distributor and the stock price of all the companies involved. Communities across the net are discussing this and many agree that at minimum this title shouldn’t be bought at ANY cost, on ANY gaming platform.

Other consoles would be boycotted as well, like Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii. The console, by the very design of the platform permits very little in the way of customization of the game experience, and by the fact of not having a keyboard standard, primarily permit mostly verbal communication with others if you sign up and pay for a service (at least in the case of XBOX Live).  If they encourage design the way their PC games like Infinity Ward just did, it could represent an industry entirely moving toward not just a few restrictions, but a move to control what you as the member of that community get to see, hear and experience.

Community

The truth is there is unlikely to be any community directly related to the game, because you can’t actually play with your friends in the way you’d want to. The InfinityWard.Net system embraces a restrictive environment that forces gamers to be matched up with people of their own skill level, experience, and without concern for you wanting to play with people you’ve come to know as a part of the franchise community. Players who are used to the methods available under Call of Duty 4 would be cut off from their clans. And so the community is weakened, or dies. Reign in the community and nobody will ever hear these gamers complain about what they’re being given.

Advertising

You already have product placements and small advertisements being placed in some games on a graphic or text basis. How long before they’re delivered to you through audio and video, or you’re forced to view a 10 second or more commercial before you can play a game? Well the console makers can control that and if the console makers win the day on this one, you can bet commercials aren’t far behind.  The console makers have an opportunity to make a lot of guaranteed advertising dollars that reaches a captive audience if people want to play these games.

Conclusions

This represents a path toward cutting costs; increasing advertising revenue, profits (with game prices able to hold steady at $60 a game instead of fluctuating in the PC market) and controlling communities instead of letting them exist outside of the walled garden.

Time and time again these matchmaking systems have been shown to actually help the game title fail rather than prosper. The only possible reasoning for this path is to note where the game companies will make their profit, and the answer is directing PC gamers toward the Game Console market. Why? Well it’s probably heavily subsidized. The console makers are probably taking advantage of the ability to provide guaranteed income in a bad economy to the game developers and encouraging the move. Share the systems and services, save your cash… We’ll even pay you to do it.

But this controlling mentality should be checked at the door if they want to preserve creativity, innovation and have a positive group of fans excited and rabidly promoting their products for them.

For this avalanche of horrible PR to be quelled, the PC Gaming community and really all gaming communities must acquire promises from these organizations, with agreements in place for development efforts within their organizations to openly support their gaming communities in the PC landscape with the software/modules required for dedicated servers, unrestricted multiplayer gaming, and open-format social networking community in every release from here on out.

Word will be passed on that this title should not be bought on any platform, and the avalanche will continue. Both buyer and seller beware.

This isn’t going to be pretty.

One more thing to consider

This is a message to the following suppliers of hardware to the PC gaming market:  ATI, nVidia, Intel, AMD, Asus, VIA, Logitech, Belkin, Thrustmaster, Creative and many other potential standers-by need to consider that their sales can and will suffer if this goes “the way of the console”. Nobody’s going to buy upgrades and peripherals for their PCs each year without having reason to do so. The PC Gaming community provides that reason. It is the number one reason why the above companies should also be concerned and applying what pressure they can to correct this problem. If you look at the long haul, heading to the “Way of the Console” for gaming means you’ll have a much more restricted cross section of customers to be able to sell to, not because of the environment changes — but because gaming on the PC will become too costly for development houses, and that means a hobbled ability to make profits when everyone migrates to an environment like that. Bottom line? If I’m not willing, or even remotely need to buy the new joystick, video card, processor or system board you’re selling because all sales are in Game Consoles which need no such upgrades, you’re going to be run out of business.

One last thought on the impact

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to suggest that a boycott be established of all platforms of this particular title. A company’s goal is to make money, and if you believe in the raw aspects of capitalism, profit is at any cost. Any agreements that are in place probably only represent the actions for this title and/or future development, but guide the company toward the ultimate goal.

At this point, a company’s best bet is to understand how your market will react to you doing something that disrupts the overall community and apparently the powers that be have chosen to ignore that, or aren’t telling us the whole story of how they plan to preserve what everyone knows and loves about how COD4′s community lives.

That said, a smart business will consider the needs of the community they’re a part of before the internal perception of what the business wants (i.e, total control of the environment) endangers it’s standing in the world it lives in. In my assessment I think they’ve made the wrong choice and they stand to lose a lot. It’s made even worse for them that this garbage came out over a weekend and most of their executives came in Monday morning to find over $2.5 million loss in pre-sales @ Amazon by 10AM Monday morning…

I’m very glad @fourzerotwo responded over the last 24-48 hours with this: “fourzerotwo: Definitely made a big wave, and the response will not be ignored. I’ll ensure everyone at IW sees the petitions and responses to it.” which I thought was a good response.

Hopefully IW & Activision Blizzard will follow through in a positive way.

There have been some further developments as the day has gone on, just check the links below for more of the back and forth on the matter at hand:

• Monitor the Twitter Feed of the Petition Organizer: @MW2PC1
• Petition Organizer’s Web Page on the Event: http://www.modernwarfare2-pc.com/no.html
• Monitor the postings of clans No-Confidence to the original announcement: Infinity Ward Forum – Clan Declarations of No-Confidence
• Robert Bowling’s Twitter Feed with Reactions/Updates to Event:  https://twitter.com/fourzerotwo
• Robert Bowling’s blog post on IW.NET and Why it’s an improvement for PC Gamers: http://www.fourzerotwo.com/?p=745
• List of Server owners that have publicly agreed to boycott MW2: http://www.game-monitor.com/search.php?search=boycott