I heart Ashley

Good times with Ashley and I playing the Nintendo Wii

The Baseball Game

One of my favorite places to be.

View is pretty good from our seats, huh?

Government regulation on datacenters?

Enterprise Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency Initiatives : ENERGY STAR

I'll admit to you right now that I have not read or investigated the Energy Star report delivered to congress in detail, but I ran across an interesting blog entry over at Data Center Knowledge debriefing the report.

My gut reaction is that the industry *without government intervention* was already beginning to regulate itself (to which I applaud). See: the recent creation of the The Green Grid, or see the recent webinar by Digital Realty Trust on "Green Datacenters", and 365 Main's marketing efforts on becoming "green" certified.

I have my hesitations about any further government intervention - at the same time, know it is inevitable when you reflect on the startling fact that datacenters make up between 1 and 1.5% of the U.S.'s entire energy consumption.

I saw mention of tax credits, standardized metrics and utility rebates and don't have any faith in the government actually being able regulate accordingly. When we discuss datacenters, we're essentially talking about one of the most innovative areas in our entire economy (on the part of the companies that consume datacenters). therefore, I must ask, "what would it take for a government agency to regulate such innovation?"

If there is one thing that the government does well, its definitely not regulation - taxation is another story.

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Starting the mobile blog...

A different way of serving ads to me

Official Google Blog: Online ad-serving tests

Have you heard of Google's new ad-serving tests? See the link above.

A couple of quick points:

I like that it is targeted. SEM should be a part of any company's "meat and potatoes" marketing tactics.

I like that you can opt-out. Are people afraid of Google collecting data still? If so, they can opt-out.

I like that Google is attempting to ONLY deliver ads that are relevant and pertinent to the buyer in the context of that buyer expressing his/her own affinities. Meaning, if that buyer is on the sharperimage website, then Google only displays ads contextually relevant to what that buyer is looking at (if that user has cookies enabled).

Quote from the blog post above: "giving users the ability to provide feedback to us about the ads they like and don't like."

How often have you gone to a site just to look to see if their advertisements were posted? Have you done that with Apple's ads? What if you could now choose which ads are delivered to you in the place you (probably) spend the most amount of time - the Internet?

It's interesting food for thought and I seem to like what Google is doing here. So why does it feel a little awkward to have ads customized to me on the Internet?

...don't know. Probably all of those years I have been told by marketers what I should like; now, evidently, I get to choose what I like.

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Its done when its done

Grand Theft Auto IV delayed to 2008 - PlayStation 3 News at GameSpot

My favorite game site (and every other gaming site on the net) has been discussing the recent GTA IV delay basically framing the discussion around the question: "are the consumers reacting negatively?"

In my case, I think the answer to that question is, simply, no. Here is why:

1. Rockstar has made the GTA series a huge hit. When, in the marketplace, the supplier reaches a level of dominance that Rockstar has achieved, the consumer is much more forgiving. Why? Because the consumer has expectations that they know the supplier will deliver on (e.g. based on previous experience with Rockstar games and and the GTA series in particular, they know that whenever they get their hands on IV, that it will be a superior product).

2. "It's done, when it's done." My much admired developer/publishers over at id software coined the phrase that the gaming industry lives and dies by. The consumer sits anxiously awaiting the next blockbuster hit from the top developers and publishers, while the marketers go to work building the demand and anticipation for launch date (see our recent history with Halo and Gears of War). The catch phrase generated by John Carmack is exactly what that consumer understands most about his/her gaming addiction: "I want the game now, but I do not want the game now if it is going to suck!" My response: take your time Rockstar and build a great game, you will be rewarded for such fortitude.

3. Maybe, just maybe it has nothing to do with the game itself. What do I mean by that? I first have to discuss one of the things I hate most in the gaming industry: packing the holiday season with releases. The strategy of packing the holiday season with releases is a strategy of, I believe, easily capturing the low hanging fruit. Most of the money in the entire gaming industry is made during the holiday season because, obviously, that is when the "gaming core" are receiving presents. In other words, what does the gaming core ask for during the holiday season? Video games. When do most people have money that they are willing to spend? The holiday season. Well, look at this crowded holiday season for 2007.

What I hate about that is that it leaves the consumer begging, pleading for new content in the first half of the new year. So...what if Rockstar is going against the usual marketplace norms and this delay has nothing to do with the game itself?

Hear me out on this one - what if Take-Two was deliberately delaying its release into 2008 to avoid the high competition of the holiday season and the potential to be overshadowed by the likes of Halo 3, Guitar Hero III, Assassin's Creed, Army of Two, UTIII, etc.? If so, that is smart in my books for two reasons: 1. the part of the year that the gaming consumer hates most, Q1 and Q2, is exactly when Take-Two will be releasing one of its most highly-anticipated games ever. There are NO new blockbuster-level games in Q1 and Q2 of the new year! So, what if Take-Two was releasing IV to drop in the period of the year when there is little competition, and is betting on the fact that so many people will buy IV because of their previous experience with the entire GTA series (see: point #1 above)?

Note: the press releases have all said that Take-Two is delaying the release until "the second quarter of its fiscal year 2008". That means the release could be somewhere in the months of May, June or July - sounds like the summer months to me, when there is no school.

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Food for thought...

A gamble strategy by Rockstar/Take-Two? Possibly smart?

Only the financial performance of the GTA IV release will tell us.

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