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That’s precisely my point, if the game sharing is as easy as some people make it out to be then the publishers will be losing sales hand-over-fist. It will make the problems caused by secondhand sales look like very small fry indeed. MS will not have created a system that is so hostile to publishers so logically there must be restrictions on it that we don’t yet know about.

Until we know what the restrictions are it is impossible to state whether MS’s scheme is better or worse than physically lending a disc.

about 16 hours ago on PS4 appearance on Jimmy Fallon highlights Microsoft's struggle to explain Xbox One policies 1 reply 4 recommends

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I think you’ve just killed your own argument!

There is absolutely no way that the publishers would just give up $540 worth of sales. They would lose far more on this than they ever lose from second-hand sales and people lending physical discs. There has to be restrictions on family sharing that make it much less consumer friendly than Xbox fans are assuming.

about 17 hours ago on PS4 appearance on Jimmy Fallon highlights Microsoft's struggle to explain Xbox One policies 10 replies 39 recommends

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What’s amazing is that they’ve managed to screw up the one brand they have that appeals to people looking for entertainment. If Xbone struggles as much as looks likely it is going to have some really serious knock-on effects for the rest of MS’s products.

1 day ago on Microsoft offers Surface RT to schools for as little as $199

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If MS are planning to lower the average price of games now is absolutely the moment to tell us about it. They got seriously beaten up by Sony at E3. Announcing that the default price for Xbox One games is $39.99 would have made most of the bad PR disappear. Instead MS continue to being out of touch with what gamers are thinking.

5 days ago on Microsoft says games for the Xbox One will still cost $59.99 2 replies 2 recommends

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The big problem with third-party apps is that it is much easier for the parent service to make money if they own the client-apps as well. Just look at Twitter apps; Twitter needs to start making money and in order to do so they have greatly restricted third-party clients in order to push people towards the official apps. Once they are on the official apps it is then much easier for Twitter to make money through advertising or add-on services.

Eventually the parent services will find some way or another to snuff out the third-party clients. WP needs official apps to be viable in the medium and long term.

5 days ago on Alternatapps - When people moan about no app for X on WP 1 reply

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I’d add that all but bottom-end TVs now come with Smart functions built in. These functions may not be great or even good but they have a big advantage over Apple TV because people get them for ‘free’. If your TV already does Netflix, Hulu, iPlayer and movies-on-demand then what is driving people to spend more on an Apple TV box?

An Apple TV set would defend against Smart TVs as well as providing a much more integrated experience.

10 days ago on Why would Apple ever release a television?

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Larry Page would have been much better off saying that people should take Glass off in the bathroom. Dismissing people’s concerns like this just makes the problem worse.

12 days ago on Google CEO: people won't 'collapse in terror' when someone uses Glass in a bathroom 2 replies

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That’s over the short-term, since early 2011 Nokia’s marketshare has been decimated. Maybe that decimation was inevitable no matter which OS Nokia chose but there is a long way to go before we can say that Windows Phone has been ‘good’ for Nokia.

19 days ago on Tech sites are partly to blame for the current Windows decline 2 recommends

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I’m not going to disagree with you here. If you use iWork on a Mac and iWork on an iPad or iPhone then transferring files is extremely slick as it all happens automatically. I certainly wouldn’t say that the process is ‘cumbersome’. Unfortunately the number of people who can work in such an Apple only environment is very small.

Apple probably should have concentrated on getting iPad file syncing and transferring to work with the services that people already use. OS wide support for DropBox would solve some people’s problems straight away. Instead Apple tried to change how people think of files, which was more ambitious but doesn’t really work unless you are all in with the Apple ecosystem.

19 days ago on Tech sites are partly to blame for the current Windows decline

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You must be using a different iPad to me…

My iPad has apps for Netflix, YouTube, iPlayer, 4OD, Spotify, several podcast apps and Kindle not to mention the excellent web browser. There are an absolutely enormous variety of ways to access content on an iPad that don’t involve iTunes at all.

19 days ago on Tech sites are partly to blame for the current Windows decline 2 replies 3 recommends

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That’s ridiculous! If people aren’t willing to learn new interfaces than how has Apple soared on the backs of the iPhone and iPad?

The problem with Windows 8 isn’t learning something new, it’s being forced to learn something new. People are happy to learn iOS because they have chosen to use an iPhone or iPad. However people’s expectations with Windows are different, if they buy a Windows laptop or desktop they expect to get something which works much like their previous Windows computer. When they find out that Windows 8 appears to be radically different they unsurprisingly freak out. Until MS figures out how to make people at least feel like they are choosing to use Metro, Windows 8’s reputation will continue getting worse.

20 days ago on The Potential Metro Holds in Business - Case 1: Secretary

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The reason it is taking such a long time is that it’s a classic catch-22 problem. You need some form of scaling so that text and icons aren’t too small for most people. However for scaling to work software developers need to put in support which they won’t concentrate on until high-DPI monitors are widespread.

Apple worked around this by dumping their work on variable scaling and using pixel-doubling instead. This makes it much easier for developers to support but requires a big step up in resolution. This monitor probably wouldn’t be a good ‘Retina’ display because its resolution is too low! It would have the same useable space as a 1080 display and that would make things pretty huge on a 31" screen.

20 days ago on Asus will release a 4K 31.5-inch monitor in the US this June 1 reply 3 recommends

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The problem with just sticking an App Store on the Apple TV is that it wouldn’t make big money for Apple. All the TV companies would release their apps for free and either rely on ads or your existing cable contract to make money. Neither of which make money for Apple or any other smart TV maker.

Until this log-jam is broken I think that TV innovation will continue to be stuck.

22 days ago on Apple TV sales surpass 13 million, 'about half' sold this year 2 replies

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Just no. Most people have never been interested in computers for their own sakes, it’s only geeks like us who are. Most people are interested in computers for the things that they can do for them. Recently the things that computers can do for normal people have mushroomed and thus vastly more people have bought PCs, smartphones, tablets and so on. The number of geeks has probably stayed much the same, it’s just that we are now hugely outnumbered by normal people. Which is a good thing because it means that computers are benefiting more people.

23 days ago on How losing iMessage could mean losing your friends

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That’s an important point. There has never been a ‘golden age’ where every kid could program. Even back in the 80’s most home computers were used to play games and programming was very much a niche thing. I’m sceptical that we have regressed; it’s just that many more non-geeks are using computers today and they, rightly, want things to be straightforward.

23 days ago on How losing iMessage could mean losing your friends