Today's Australian reports that the general public would prefer a compromise between the price they pay for the increased speed in FTTH connections and the speed. It says that "for most people, the prices for access to the fibre network would have to be comparable to what already exists in the marketplace today -- at speeds that would only be modestly higher".
This is completely stupid, most people would love to have 100Mb/s speeds and, as the actual infrastructure is being payed for by taxes, there won't be a huge increase in prices. The article also says that there will be a push to "encourage people to make the switch to fibre and then only slowly increase speeds and prices as consumer demand grew over time". The demand when this network goes live around 2020 will be huge initially and therefore if they are to increase speeds and prices as demand grows they we will probably end up with at least 80Mb/s from day one and prices around $89.99/month. Where could any incrase go after that? Nowhere.
Anyone with a brain can clearly see that when this network is rolled out, prices will not increase drammatically, as hinted in the article, because the infrastructure has been paid for so there will only be access fees which will only be marginally higher than prices today. Most peole would be happy to pay $20-$30 more than now to get an 80% or more speed increase.
The whole NBN plan is in a shambles and people who follow tech, like me, are gettign sick of the talk and just wanting teh network to be built and running on schedule, givign Australians faster internet speeds comparable to those overseas.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Introducing ...Tagged Politics
Want to get your Political opinion fix...then head on down to the newest member of the Tagged family Tagged Politics. Over time Tagged Politics will become full of political opinion and wisdom for you to ponder over whenever you like. Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
No Youtube Live in 2009...but maybe 2010
This week I emailed Youtube to ask if there was going to be a Youtube Live in 2009...their answer was no. This is probably appropriate considering it is already October and they would have made they announcement at least 2 months ago. However, they haven't ruled out a Youtube Live 2010, saying "We haven't taken that possibility off the table". Youtube Live in 2008 was a very expensive endeavour and with the Global Financial Crisis this year, and Google's declining stock price, Youtube Live was probably not a priority. If there is to be a Youtube Live in 2010, we will hear about it next year.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Steam - Is it really a conflict of interest?
There has been a lot of talk lately in the gaming realm about whether Vale's Steam distribution service is a blatant conflict of interest. The argument for this is that they make games and they have a platform to sell them and can therefore rip off 3rd party developers (including EA and Activision) and exploit them, while still maintaining a positive revenue stream.
This is preposterous as games sold on Steam, including those made by Valve, are clearly cheaper than if bought at a bricks and mortar store. If Valve were trying to rip off 3rd parties then they would charge less for their games. Also if these other developers were being ripped off and exploited then they would have pulled out of Steam, leaving it to die.
The only way that these developers could be exploited is through binding contracts with Valve, to distribute on Steam, giving Valve a larger than normal slice of the profit made on the game.
Steam is one of the most successful online distribution systems and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If these developers and publishers think they are being ripped off then they should just pull out of Steam. Take Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, his game Borderlands, which Tagged previewed a month ago, is being sold on Steam and yet he is making comments against Steam...SHUT UP AND ACCEPT STEAM FOR WHAT IT IS. If he doesn't like it then maybe he should not distribute his game using it.
This is preposterous as games sold on Steam, including those made by Valve, are clearly cheaper than if bought at a bricks and mortar store. If Valve were trying to rip off 3rd parties then they would charge less for their games. Also if these other developers were being ripped off and exploited then they would have pulled out of Steam, leaving it to die.
The only way that these developers could be exploited is through binding contracts with Valve, to distribute on Steam, giving Valve a larger than normal slice of the profit made on the game.
Steam is one of the most successful online distribution systems and it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. If these developers and publishers think they are being ripped off then they should just pull out of Steam. Take Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, his game Borderlands, which Tagged previewed a month ago, is being sold on Steam and yet he is making comments against Steam...SHUT UP AND ACCEPT STEAM FOR WHAT IT IS. If he doesn't like it then maybe he should not distribute his game using it.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
New Firefox UI Plans
This week Mozilla announced plans to make the Firefox User Interface more Windows Friendly and more like the Windows 7 task bar and teh Office 2007 Ribbon. This new UI would only be availiable to Windows Users, startign with Windows Vista then Windows 7. It would start to be implemented in Firefox 3.7 before being completed in Firefox 4.
I find it interesting that people complained bitterly about the Office 2007 Ribbon, especially how it was so vastly different to the UI of Office 2003. What is to stop this same reaction to the new Firefox UI? Mozilla is making the right move in the gradual UI change over 2 versions, one minor and the other major. This won't isolate their users and users will have plenty of time to get accustomed to the UI. However new users may beturned away by an unfamiliar interface which can only be overcome by a tutorial to teh new UI...WHICH IS NOT ON THE PLANS!!!! Mozilla will need a tutorial video on the new UI if anyone is going to be able to use it as people are very stupid and do not like change unless they know that they will be able to handle it.
Another idea put forward is App Tabs which would be tabs that you would have open all the time, like GMail or Facebook, and could access all the time without the clutter of the bac/forward buttons, freeign up space making it more user friendly for the site you wnat to view. This is a brilliant idea which Mozilla started planning with Prism, and now to carry it into Firefox itself...genius. In GMail I do not want to have the Back/Forward/Stop/Refresh buttons as they just take up space and are useless. People will catch on to this very quickly and I expect it to be one of the more popular changes.
Personally I think that Firefox is due for a major UI update and the plans put forward are great but Mozilla should be catious with making radical changes and should definately listen to their users about what they want. The changes make it sort of CHrome like, which is good, and the tab bar will be moved to the top (in FF4) and a progress bar will be added above the tabs. This will free up clutter and make Firefox a very sexy browser.
I find it interesting that people complained bitterly about the Office 2007 Ribbon, especially how it was so vastly different to the UI of Office 2003. What is to stop this same reaction to the new Firefox UI? Mozilla is making the right move in the gradual UI change over 2 versions, one minor and the other major. This won't isolate their users and users will have plenty of time to get accustomed to the UI. However new users may beturned away by an unfamiliar interface which can only be overcome by a tutorial to teh new UI...WHICH IS NOT ON THE PLANS!!!! Mozilla will need a tutorial video on the new UI if anyone is going to be able to use it as people are very stupid and do not like change unless they know that they will be able to handle it.
Another idea put forward is App Tabs which would be tabs that you would have open all the time, like GMail or Facebook, and could access all the time without the clutter of the bac/forward buttons, freeign up space making it more user friendly for the site you wnat to view. This is a brilliant idea which Mozilla started planning with Prism, and now to carry it into Firefox itself...genius. In GMail I do not want to have the Back/Forward/Stop/Refresh buttons as they just take up space and are useless. People will catch on to this very quickly and I expect it to be one of the more popular changes.
Personally I think that Firefox is due for a major UI update and the plans put forward are great but Mozilla should be catious with making radical changes and should definately listen to their users about what they want. The changes make it sort of CHrome like, which is good, and the tab bar will be moved to the top (in FF4) and a progress bar will be added above the tabs. This will free up clutter and make Firefox a very sexy browser.
Firefox 3.7 Planned UI
Firefox 4 Planned UI
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Preview: Bayonetta
Platinum Games, creators of Madworld, are once again creating a good lookign game called Bayonetta. The main character, called Bayonetta, is a shape shifter who has no memory of where she is, so in typical video game character style she goes around killing things to find out what she wants to know.
The gameplay seems very good , with good graphics, epic battle sequences and excellent music. However the camera controls were a little off with transperancy having to be used to get over this. Also, a typical Japanese collectable item has made it's way into the game, Rings. Yes, Rings as in Sonic teh Hedgehog rings even though the game has nothing to do with Sonice (although the PS3 port is being made by SEGA).
Overall after the 10-15 minutes Tagged spent with this game at GenCon Oz, it seemed to be a great game but the story seems a bit cliched. Nonetheless, we are looking forward to this game which is coming to Playstation 3 and XBox 360 sometime in 2010.
The gameplay seems very good , with good graphics, epic battle sequences and excellent music. However the camera controls were a little off with transperancy having to be used to get over this. Also, a typical Japanese collectable item has made it's way into the game, Rings. Yes, Rings as in Sonic teh Hedgehog rings even though the game has nothing to do with Sonice (although the PS3 port is being made by SEGA).
Overall after the 10-15 minutes Tagged spent with this game at GenCon Oz, it seemed to be a great game but the story seems a bit cliched. Nonetheless, we are looking forward to this game which is coming to Playstation 3 and XBox 360 sometime in 2010.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Preview: Borderlands
Gearbox software, best known for their work with Valve on Half Life expansions and for their Brothers In Arms series, are launching a new game called Borderlands, to be released on October 20 (USA/JP) and October 23 (PAL). Tagged was lucky enough to get some hands on with the game at GenCon Oz.
Borderlands is an FPS\RPG that is set in a futuristic world called Pandora and centres on missions to try and advance the story of one of 4 playable characters. Graphically this game has Halo-style graphics, except better, and the controls are easy to master but seemto be a little sensitive. The maps are hard to navigate but when you get the hang of the waypoint system (where a compass is positioned at teh bottom of teh screen) the game does start to get quite fun. The enemy AI is quite good with creatures knowing when you get too close and attempting to attack you from distances.
Borderlands has a level system but after a short play Tagged is still unsure what importance the level system has on the game.
Over the next few days I will be giving you 1 more preview, Bayonetta, and a review of the free MMO Planet Calypso.
Borderlands is an FPS\RPG that is set in a futuristic world called Pandora and centres on missions to try and advance the story of one of 4 playable characters. Graphically this game has Halo-style graphics, except better, and the controls are easy to master but seemto be a little sensitive. The maps are hard to navigate but when you get the hang of the waypoint system (where a compass is positioned at teh bottom of teh screen) the game does start to get quite fun. The enemy AI is quite good with creatures knowing when you get too close and attempting to attack you from distances.
Borderlands has a level system but after a short play Tagged is still unsure what importance the level system has on the game.
Over the next few days I will be giving you 1 more preview, Bayonetta, and a review of the free MMO Planet Calypso.
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