In short: Diablo 3, as of today (5/25/2012) has now hit 6.3 million in sales. Quite impressive! Huge congratulations going out to all my friends at Blizzard! That’s an amazing milestone; and even better, it’s always nice to surpass expectations. Article here.

So this got me to thinking. IF this game had shipped on just (1) of the Consoles; how much revenue in royalties would they have normally had to cough up to: Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo? (For the ostensible privilege of being on that platform?) Well… if rumors are true.. and believe me, I’ve heard a ton of them…. Royalty rates are typically between $7-10/unit. So.. let’s go on the low side of the scale. 6.3 million units at $7 ea = $44,100,000 (US) dollars!!! That’s a ton of money no matter how it’s sliced/diced.

In short: I think the savings that can be had by shipping on the PC, and not paying that royalty are spot on. It’s hard to argue with their track record. Those kinds of savings, if managed properly and keeping the quality of the product high, and by being able to hit a much broader global market continue to provide them a very strong recipe for success. Again.. congratulations Blizzard!

Thx for following everyone! Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend!
Matt
PS: If anyone does have more clarity on those royalty rates I'd love to hear them!

So what things does she like most about it? The below is in her words.

1) She loves the design, how sleek it is, and the brushed metal appearance.
2) Loves the small form factor – fits in most of her handbags.
3) Loves the Keyboard. Likes the spacing between the keys & the way they feel.
4) Setup was seamless, found all her ‘piles of different devices’. “Right out of the box everything worked”.
5) Liked the fact she didn’t have to download a bunch of updates. Was up and running quickly.
6) The Solid State drive. (I asked her how she knew about that) – ‘because she read up on it’.
7) Boots up super-fast.
8) Likes the attention to detail.
9) Out of box experience was great. Wasn’t like unpacking something from just a bunch of cardboard.
10) Likes the Case it came with, it’s like an envelope case.
11) Loves the battery life.

Ok… so I realize this is a sample of one; but I’m struck at how quickly she rattled off all the above features without even thinking about it. So… about ten minutes later I asked her – ‘So what do you like about the iPad 2’? (Note: It took her about three times the length of time to list the following things)

1) Touch screen.
2) Size of the Form Factor.
3) Convenience that it offers in being able to multi-task.
4) Can play games on it.
5) Good for reading stuff.
6) Quickly checking email.

That’s where it ended… and then about three minutes later she says … ‘well, now with my Ultrabook, the iPad has now pretty much been relegated to being a kitchen gadget’.
Interesting….
So then I flipped the bit and asked her – ‘Is there anything you don’t like about your Ultrabook?’ – Answer: “not yet”. IMO that's pretty cool.

Ok - so now onto some gratuitous pics of most of these devices. (Note: I didn’t include my Alienware M11x this time around). In the foreground – bottom to top: iPad 2, Asus Ultrabook, HP dv6, and then the Dell M1530

In this next pic.. I’m comparing the thickness of the Dell to the Asus Ultrabook.

In this following pic I’m comparing the thickness of the Ultrabook (on the bottom) as compared to the iPad 2

In this final pic I’m comparing the iPad 2 (I had to put the case back on it in order to prop it up), the Ultrabook, and then the HP dv6

For those concerned about the dimension of weight. The Dell XPS for example weighs 5.9lbs (2.6 kg), the Ultrabook comes in at 2.9lbs (1.3 kg). This weight factor alone is one of the biggest selling points for me. The best part is that I’m seeing little to no tradeoffs yet with regards to overall performance. These devices are packing a pretty serious punch.

So – in a nutshell I’m having some serious PC Laptop envy right now. I might wait a few more months though. For those that have been following the Ultrabook category – we should also start seeing the Ultrabooks that also integrate ‘touch’ – and convert into being either a Laptop and or a Tablet when you want it. At any rate, I’m very sold on the concept, and yes, I’m keeping a very close eye on ensuring that all the games we PC Gamers love to play – play well on these! Stay tuned!

The PC Gaming Alliance has just released our latest Press Release results covering PC Gaming’s latest revenue milestone now exceeding $18.6B. The in-depth details are available to PC Gaming Alliance members provided in our Horizon’s Research Reports. The best part about all this is that this is just the tip of the iceberg! PC Gaming Revenues are on a trajectory to once and for all pass up all 3, yes, all 3 Consoles Revenues combined - this year!

So for those of you that follow the news about Gaming – results haven’t really been all that rosy over the past quarter or more right? So I’m sure some of you are going what? How can PC Gaming be doing this well? There's no way! Right? So this gets better… as I’m sure the Console Giants, Strategists, Biz-Dev, Marketing-PR, Academics, several Analysts, and Investor types, et al are convinced that Consoles are crushing PC Gaming blah blah blah. Right? Well....

WRONG
WRONG
And
WRONG

Here’s what’s really going on. The reports coming out from Retailers that Gaming sales are way down leave out the most critical detail. It’s not so much the PC Games being impacted…it’s mostly Console Games. I’m not trying to gloat here or anything but let’s face it; Console Games are going to go through the same pains that PC Games did in the last decade. Put another way…. PC Games can’t really fall any further at Retail since that’s pretty much already happened. However; Console Games have a much much much further distance to fall before they hit ground. It’s most likely not an if, but when, that happens. So… welcome to our PC Gaming Party!

So… should we do to the Console PR machine what they did to PC Gaming and spin this as… “Consoles are dying”? Nah… I don’t believe we should. I think the smarter way of pitching this is that Consoles are both obsolete and irrelevant. Those paying attention already see that. However; given that, I don’t they’ll die out per se, but rather evolve & be re-spun as some sort of new, evolved, or transformed product. (Have fun with that several hundred million dollar PR re-invention story). Besides… for all the propaganda about PC Gaming dying… the reality is that the only platforms that actually did die in the last decade actually turned out to be 2 Consoles. (Xbox 1, & GameCube – if I must spell them out). A shame that people can’t keep their facts straight, or conveniently overlook these things.

Unfortunately; the real victims are likely going to be more of the Retail stores. I don’t relish seeing that. I think we’ve all seen too much of that happen already with Music stores, Book stores, Video/Movie stores, and even with Games stores.

So.. in a nutshell for those wondering how PC Gaming can be this healthy, strong, and vibrant.
1) PC Gaming is far more global
2) Gaming capable PC’s sell more units in one year typically than any individual Console can in 3 to 5 years
3) PC Gaming, for quite some time now, has had far less reliance on Retail than Consoles
4) PC Gaming shifted & embraced newer more lucrative business models & formats more quickly than Consoles have. (e.g. Subscriptions, Free to Play/Freemium/Micro-transactions, Advertising, etc). They’re also able to do this because the form-factor itself is far more flexible & iterative.
5) PC Gaming, believe it or not, is far more profitable. Consoles are swimming in veritable ‘Red-Oceans’. ARPU’s are way up on PC Gaming. Especially so when taking advantage of the latest and greatest formats and business models. I have far more details here for PCGA members-only.
6) PC Gaming practically invented the 'Free to Play' model which nearly eliminates Piracy. This has proven to be a very effective approach and adopted quite heavily in some Geo's. Piracy can be further reduced by other simple things such as offering more value, or services, back to Gamers. This includes localizing your game content for as many Geo’s as possible on day 1 launch.
7) PC Gaming doesn’t suffer nearly as much from the ‘Secondary Sales’, ‘Pre-Owned’, ‘Loaned-out’ games scenarios as the Consoles do.
8) PC Gaming's value-proposition smokes the Console. Savvy Gamers across the world realize PC Gaming has never been more affordable. Have you checked out all the great laptop and desktop bargains lately? Absolutely incredible deals out there for extremely respectable PC’s ranging from $350-800 (US) that blow Consoles of today completely out of the water.
9) PC Gaming can be done in your Living Room, using an HDMI cable, and wireless game-pads. I do this all the time. Now.. if your game isn’t available for the PC, or the PC version isn’t working like the Console version does. Email and contact the Games ISV in question! Vote with your wallet!

I’m going to hit the ‘pause’ button now as I could keep going with tons of more reasons as to why PC Gaming is doing so well. That said, I’ll try to share more of the research report over time. It’s a great time to be a PC Gamer, and honestly, I believe this is just only the beginning.

Thanks for reading everyone.
Hopefully I’ll bump into a few of you at GDC this week!

Sincerely,
Matt

I hope to see some of you in a few weeks at GDC. This year I’ll be doing an Introductory Session on Security Best Practices. This is going to be a fast paced debrief and introduction of the spectrum of: Piracy, Secondary Sales, and Account Theft solutions available to Game Developers. I’ll also be providing a quick snapshot of some common Piracy ‘misconceptions’; and touching on some other related topics such as domestic legislation that impacts our industry as a result of Piracy.

GDC Conference Link: http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/13473324/Security_Best_Practices_%26%238211%3B_Piracy%2C_Secondary_Sales%2C_%26_Account_Theft_Solutions

We will also be posting these materials up on: www.intel.com/software/gdc

Hope to see you there!
Matt

Links to both articles here:
Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/39461/Report_Crysis_2_named_mostpirated_game_of_2011.php
TorrentFreak: http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-games-of-2011-111230/

Here’s a screen capture from the latter site that I’ll be discussing: (Attributes/Thanks to TorrentFreak & Ernesto)

So let’s dissect this & put things in more context. Besides the obvious exclusion of PS3 data – what stands out to you all? …………………………. Give up? Here are the things that stand out the most to me.

1) Does anyone see any Games here that lean on Free to Play/Freemium? (w/Micro-transactions)
2) Does anyone see any MMO, or Subscriptions based Games here?
3) Does it strike anyone else that these games all appear to originate in the Western Hemisphere?
4) Aren’t most of these games still leaning heavily on the Retail fire & forget release model?
5) Most of the games listed also stand out as those that are candidates for Secondary Sales.

Ok… yes…. Before I get flamed I do realize that a few of these are dabbling in things like Online Pass, & some platform specific exclusives, Co-Op modes that lean on a great multi-player experience etc., and so forth. However; I really believe that what we’re seeing occur in Piracy is largely (but not always) a function of these ‘Pirated’ games perhaps not taking, or leveraging more fully, the full tool-set of Business Model Options, Game Design Choices, & or Current Technology that can help reduce, or even in some cases eliminate Piracy outright. I honestly don’t get it. That said, not every game might be a good candidate for say the Freemium/Free-to-Play model, or warrants a subscription; however, it seems like the Western Hemisphere’s Game ISVs – could at least consider some form of a hybrid approach to implement at least (1) of these new trends or technologies to tackle Piracy issues. The alternative is to continue to blame the PC for being a bad platform to publish your game on. However; I don’t hear this kind of story coming out of Eastern Hemisphere Games Companies such as: Nexon, TenCent, Shanda, Netease, etc. So again… I’m at a loss as to why. Also; is the PC really that bad to publish on after all? I believe the PC as a platform to bring your games to is far superior as long as one's willing to tap into some of those relatively newer game design choices, business, and distribution models; but it's going to require some changes in our thinking and playing some catch up to other parts of the world. (Note: Worth adding that localizing your content on day 1 release as globally as possible is also extremely important - especially if you want to reduce Piracy)

Last but not least we have to ask ourselves the following question. When looking at the links or the posted pic we see that PC is leading piracy rates, then it’s the Wii, then it’s the Xbox 360. Interestingly enough though, how much of this is due to the active install base of players on those respective platforms? It’s interesting to note that the higher the Install base, the higher the Piracy rates. Mere coincidence? I doubt it. Bear in mind, the volume of GPU capable PC Gamers over say the Xbox 360 platform is at least 4:1. (~250mu to ~60mu). The Wii has to be somewhere in the neighborhood of at least ~85-90mu or ~3:1 PC to Wii Gamers. Which is an extremely conservative estimate by the way for PC Gaming but I digress. So I’ll leave you with this thought. What would the Piracy rates be on the 360, Wii, or even the PS3 *if* the Active User Install base were at least comparable to that of the PC global install base? Sadly… I think what you’d see is comparable rates of Piracy; regardless of what platform a Publisher chooses. The net is this – and in my opinion it appears that: One: Consoles have failed to truly curb Piracy, and Two: As a result we’ve ended up with an experiment in Consoles that have unfortunately held back gaming and left us with sub-par gaming experiences.

Perhaps it’s time to break those shackles?!

It’s that time of year again where I speculate on what the big technology announcements and impacts are going to be for next year 2012. The lens I use for this are those things that will in some way have a profound short or long term impact, or implications, for the various gaming ecosystems.

I also want to preface this by saying that I intentionally try to close myself off from various discussions that would implicate me from divulging anyone’s roadmaps. In instances where I do have some inside foreknowledge of what’s going on I have to remain mute on those topics. In those instances where I’m dangerously close it would be by sheer coincidence and is tied to my own predictive models.

Before we get started though, I’d like to recap some of my 2011 predictions; of which a few came true. I was only 4 for 10; and am kicking myself for not posting so you’ll have to take my word for it. Some of the things I didn’t accurately predict I’ll actually ‘carry-over’ into 2012. What I did predict accurately for 2011 was:

1) Microsoft would sign some major deals with additional content providers & pipelines. (In this case Comcast, Verizon, and a host of other TV networks)
2) Microsoft would pitch Xbox 360 as an Entertainment System (Expect even more of this)
3) Knew that GameStop had to buy some digital distribution partner. (Impulse)
4) Free to Play would start hitting the Western Hemisphere’s shores like a sledge hammer. (Too many games to list)

So what’s in store for 2012? Let’s get started. Some of these may seem painfully obvious, but there are often some things taking place between the lines that may not be so apparent. (Note: These are stack ranked in ‘my-view’ of importance)

1) Voice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Bucket I’ll use for things like Apple’s Siri, Personal voice assistant)
There are big implications here and I expect this to be a huge battlefield for the likes of Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Will be very fun to watch! Will obviously be used by Games in the future. I’m hoping this sparks a new renaissance in voice recognition software coupled with artificial intelligence. Doesn’t everyone want a protocol droid? Oh wait… that’s just a few more years off… before becoming more affordable. This does however; segue into a stronger #2 below:

2) Cloud Services: Sure, this may sound painfully obvious but I truly believe we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg here. The biggest implications come back to more and more content that can be digitally delivered or consumed. So expect things like the DECE Ultraviolet initiative. Things like Ultraviolet could very easily be extended to also include the various gaming devices. The big players here will continue to be: Apple with iCloud, Valve with Steam, Sony with PSN, Xbox with LIVE, and so forth. However; expect Amazon to come on very strong. I also predict we’ll see a few more *Uber* consortium pacts formed as well. Where does it settle? I’m not sure it does. However; the first partner that delivers something on the order of ‘Jarvis’ from Iron Man, my own ‘personal cloud’, will be who I crown the winner.

3) iPad and Slate/Tablet mania begins to wear off: By the end of 2012 we’ll likely see Microsoft spend more on Windows 8 and “Project Denver” marketing than what’s left in the Federal Reserve. However; what I find more fascinating is that the form-factor is already evolving beyond a simple ‘slate’ like form factor. (e.g. Asus Transformer) We also have Amazon playing in this space with the Kindle. How many more 100’s of knock-offs will we see in the meantime? Don’t get me wrong I think they’re nifty and cool little devices. Perfect for easy to do tasks and some PC usages. However; it’s a device that I’m likely to buy in addition to a PC; and not as a replacement for. Given that the #1 peripheral bought for these are the keyboard – why not just get a thin and light laptop? (e.g. Ultrabook, Macbook Air?) IF I were a Console Mfg… this is the form-factor I’d adopt for a next gen console. Why? Tough to crack the case open.

4) Smart’er TVs and All in One’s converge: I was hoping to see more of this in 2011 and it didn’t happen. However; I’m still hoping for at least (1) of the big HD TV Mfg’s, like Samsung, or LG, to offer a compelling All in One in the 42” range or greater. I’m hoping for moderate upgradeability, WHDI/WiDi; and an integrated Kinect/Primesense-like sensor in the bevel or stand. I’ll keep that on my wish-list for Holiday 2012 if the Mayan calendar proves to be incorrect.

5) China lifts it’s Console ban? Perhaps… however; as a PC Gamer I’m hoping not. For their culture’s sake I hope not. Otherwise they can suffer along with our W.Hemisphere’s culture of fostering more PC illiteracy. Yes… I feel it’s extremely important for our kids to understand the inner workings of any form factor a Personal Computer has evolved into.

6) CES News (Project Denver on multiple Form Factors/TVs?): I think the biggest news splash for the 2012 CES will likely be around Windows 8 and Xbox LIVE services, new partners, form factor announcements. My best guess here, and I could be wrong, would be around the Project Denver stuff from Nvidia running Windows 8. The conspiracy side of me expects a bait & switch; so expect to see Win 8 Metro running on a host of devices and screens. In other words, not just Slate like devices, but mobile SmartPhones, HandHeld Devices, PC Form Factors, and last but not least - TVs. This would all dovetail well into Microsoft’s long term vision of attaining the 3-Screen, now Multi-Screen initiative.

7) E3 News (New Console Splash): I’m hoping to see an announcement for at least (1) of the Next, 8th Generation of Consoles. Good luck! My bets are on Sony. If they’re smart about it they’ll go with a cross device, cross platform play. If for any reason it helps the Game Publishers/Developers get to a better ‘buy once, plays anywhere’ scheme.

8) Google goes big in 2012: I expect Google to do bigger things in 2012. Especially along the lines of some things I’ve previously mentioned. 1) Imagine a Google-voice(Siri) offering couple with Google Search? 2) What Google Android did on SmartPhones will likely be attempted to be duplicated on the Slate/Tablet form-factor. Sure.. they’re there now, but I expect it to be much finer tuned for 2012. It has to be fine-tuned given Microsoft’s push, with Metro, on that form factor. Google and a bigger push towards gaming. Not sure if that will entail an acquisition or not. We’ll have to wait & see.

9) Large name Game Engine Company gets acquired by a bigger fish: Well… I keep expecting to see this happen and it doesn’t. However; I’m keeping it on my list.

10) Globalization and Economic Climate continues to remain flat: Believe me when I say I hope I’m wayyyyy off on this one and dead wrong. There is however always the random act of nature, or conflagration in the Middle East, that we can almost bank on. So domestically speaking, continue to pay off those credit cards, keep your debt to income ratio down, expect taxes to go up. The implications here, if I have to spell them out, for technology are: 1) Continued ASP erosions, 2) Lower disposable income rates, 3) Discerning and savvier buyers. This all translates into smart business leaders will want to ensure they can offer more compelling content at low rates; and may require or warrant another look at new business models. Proprietary devices with lower Total Available Markets (TAMs) will be very unattractive places to be.

So there you have it, my predictions for 2012. I hope you enjoyed this. I have other predictions for 2012. Some others that frankly I can’t post. I’d love to hear if you have anything to add to my above predictions.

Hope you all have a great Holiday!

Matt

Why do I feel it’s important to make this assertion and distinction? With the advent of so many devices, and screens, we’ve seen come to market over the past decade, the real trick has been how do the end users access their content? We’ve seen a ton of ‘big-names’ over recent years snatch up various content providers; or secure content ‘deals’. Critical and key content for consumers is largely: Games, Movies-TV-Video, Music/Music-Video, EBooks, and so on. In the Movie Industry for instance we’re seeing broadly endorsed options such as the DECE’s – Ultraviolet (Allowing one to view their movies across their devices screens). In the Games Industry we have leaders such as Valve’s Steam moving towards more cross-device functionality where in some instances you buy the game once and their service allows it to play on your PC or Mac. There are tons of other examples to draw from. The cool thing though is we’re seeing more and more of these types of services than ever before.

Where does it take us? Is this the tip of iceberg for more cross-device functionality in our devices? I sure hope so. This does tie in well with the “buy the content once plays anywhere” type of scheme. Some other strategy nomenclature that’s been used to describe this are terms such as: “3 Screens, Compute Continuum, Any Screen” and so on. The impacts will be interesting to watch. I’d contend that ‘Proprietary’ business models or those that are more restrictive could be a recipe for disaster. If for any reason, I know that I as an end user, don’t want to buy additional special devices to watch proprietary content on. (e.g. Imagine if you had to purchase 3 'specialized' TVs - to watch 3 programs from different providers!) The device/s most likely to win, are those that allow me to connect to a Cloud-Services-Platform that can deliver my content to me, anywhere, anytime; across the array of devices/screens that I own.

I’m curious to get your take on my assertion. Feel free to comment.
Thank you
Matt

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/forget-the-gaming-pc-buy-a-console/15969#comments

While the author brings up a few interesting discussion points; I’m not entirely convinced that it’s a fair assessment and here’s why.

1) Pricing: When the Xbox 360, and PS3 first released their real street price was no way nearly as low as they are today. Were you really out the door, after tax, etc; for $399? Once you accessorize, get the larger hard drives, etc, you’re arguably left with a device, which for what it’s capable of, is priced comparably to a PC; maybe even a tad higher. For example: If my Console (PS3 in my case), was scaled in terms of cost for a comparably priced PC with 4GB of System Memory (vs. 512mb), how much more would it have cost? The Blu-Ray player more than offsets this IMHO; but I digress and I think you get the point. PC’s simply having a ton more packed inside of them. Also; the OS cost seems to me to put PC OEMs at huge disadvantage against the Consoles which effectively are giving their OS away for free.

2) Easy to Use: Let’s look at the OS again. When a game is easy to access, install, launch, etc.; this is a credit to the OS, and the Developer tuning the game for that environment. I see no logical reason why we couldn’t have that same ‘ease-of-use’ story for PC Gaming (Mac or Windows). IF something is broken on the OS side who’s responsible for addressing it? (Who is responsible for tending and stewarding their own ecosystem? This also applies to drivers, updates, etc.). IF something is broken on the game side, only the Developer is capable of providing that fix.

3) Grab a bootleg version? Really? Did you really say that? First – can’t do that with a free to play game. Second – I don’t know about you; but instead of a grabbing a bootleg – the Console industry saved a ton of people the trouble of pirating, by simply just being able to loan games back and forth. I have over $300 worth of Console games on loan to me right now. No ‘boot-legging’ required!

The best part about this blog, speaking for me anyway, wasn’t so much the blog, but the survey. After making my vote here are the results.

As you can see, for all of the supposed detractors for PC Gaming, it still comes out #1. Even when the Console’s are all added up in one lumped bucket. Had the survey listed everything out separately it probably would have shown the percentages to be more like: PC 57%, Wii 17%, 360 10%, PS3 10%, etc; or thereabouts.
What would happen if the PC enhanced and optimized its ease of use story for PC Gaming? I would say that this is already starting to slowly happen. One of the cool things taking place is that the platform story has now shifted. It’s no longer about the device: PC, Wii, PS3, 360, iPhone, Android, iPad, Slate, etc; but what it’s really about is the Cloud and accompanying services. The new platform is the Cloud.

Oh, and for the record, I love my Gaming Laptop! It beats the value proposition of any Console hands down. Was very affordable (Barely $700) does 100x, and allows me mobility and freedom to play my games anywhere, and when I want. (Living room, Den, Bedroom, Airports, Hotels, you name it!)

During this webinar discussion we’ll be outlining a couple of key proposals that should not only help PC Gaming, but most other gaming ecosystems as well. A couple of the key trends we’re seeing in the research from the PC Gaming Alliance, and in discussions with Game Developers, is an increased desire to support and adopt various ‘Cloud gaming’ scenarios that are accessible across a wide spectrum of devices and displays. (aka. Compute Continuum, 3 screens, etc). This ‘Cloud Gaming’ movement is critical to comprehend in tandem with another key trend as games increasingly move towards a games-as-a-service (aka GAS) model. Due to the global popularity, massive install base, and extensibility of Personal Computers as gaming devices, the PCGA’s set of proposals will be largely targeted at addressing the PC Ecosystem.

I’m very excited and looking forward to this webinar, as it ties into my previous roots working for Microsoft Game Studios in the early 2000’s determining Minimum System Requirements for the PC Games we were shipping during that era. It also culminates a near eleven year journey’s worth of conversations with Game Developers, and collected research for more than a decade.

If you’d like to join us for this Webinar, or know of someone that would like to join, details for the Webinar can be found here:

http://www.pcgamingalliance.org/NEWSEVENTS/Events/tabid/384/Default.aspx

Press Release: ">Here

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Matt

I'm sure most of us have heard or read the news. I'm sure there are likely a million blogs or more talking about Steve Jobs passing. However; I'd like to add to them and make it just one more. Even if I am number 1,000,001.

My first ever hands on with a personal computer was the Apple IIe my dad purchased back in the early 80's. While that period of Junior High and High School was a relatively bleak chapter in my life; the Mac did provide an outlet and glimpse of opportunity on the other side. What I didn't realize back then was how much my life would be transformed by that early exposure and experience. Little did I know just how important technology would become in the economy and world we live in today; or that it would end up being my career path.

We really do have people like Jobs to thank for where the PC/Macs, Smart/iPhones, & iPad/Slates are today that we enjoy. While I realize he wasn't acting alone in a vacuum, he definitely was a leader in the early years of personal computing devices; and he's almost been continually at the forefront of that charge ever since. The competition-bar, and pace he set in this space has been very VERY good for consumers. PCs/Macs were critical in paving the way for putting technologies we enjoy today like the Internet, and SmartPhones into the hands of we the consumers. Thank you for accelerating and empowering us Jobs!

If you've never heard Jobs' Standfor Univ., commencement speech, I highly recommend watching this.

You will be missed and thank you for being an inspiration.
Godspeed and rest in peace Steve.

Let’s start this out by pointing out a great article piece done by Eurogamer's (Robert Purchese) that a few of us just recently contributed towards titled: "How Bad is PC Piracy Really?".