Tech Notes: Classic Games on iOS, Netflix, Amazon, Google +1
Classic Arcade Games on iOS
Atari announced 100 classic arcade and 2600 games for iOS. Yes, there’s a market for retro gaming on the iPhone / iPad — have bought several old games to recapture a childhood burning through rolls of quarters.
That said, I already have a slew of old game ROMs playable with a 2600 emulator and an old copy of MacMAME. I was recently musing on turning the presently-unused Apple TV gen 1 into a retro video game console. But while cool, the time spent trying to get that to happen pales in comparison to a single iTunes download — and ultimately that’s why an initially high $14.99 for 100 decades-old Atari games is a tempting deal.
The iOS touch screen also avoids the infamous “2600 joystick thumb.”
Netflix
File in the “content is king” department: Netflix has locked in streaming rights to all seasons of Mad Men, past and future. This essentially guarantees my continued Netflix subscription for the next five years at least — not that there was any doubt.
Netflix Roku Box also added a Crackle channel, which features ad-supported movies and TV shows. The end price is free to users. Crackle is backed by Sony and is also appearing on the PlayStation 3.
Amazon
Amazon added a “music locker” storage service. Seems Amazon is managing a transition from analog to digital goods — as Netflix is shifting from DVDs delivered by mail to Internet delivery, Amazon moves from “dead tree” books to eBooks. And since Amazon also sells CDs and DVDs, those are being transitioned as well.
The larger picture is likely to be a future Kindle that can leverage all this content, moving them closer to the Apple iTunes / iPod / iPad experience.
Google +1
Google announced their answer to the Facebook “like” and Digg’s “digg” called “+1″. Google Search is by far the most popular google product — but I’m not sure search is best when social. I use Google Search daily, but majority of results (jQuery, CSS tricks, cat pictures) aren’t things that would make sense to promote to anybody. Most of the interesting stories I do want to share are found through Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, or Google News.
Certainly further tweaking is in order. Right now, Google +1 seems like the sort of thing that makes more sense for Google strategically than any sense for the user. The additional data might improve their search results, though.
Agreed — Google’s +1 seems written with Google in mind, not their users. I search daily — but I move on directly from search results to what I was looking for. Usually, I try a few links when I’m looking for something obscure, so I leave google.com open in a tab.
I don’t know if there is any function for Google in the social arena, and that’s not a bad thing. Not everything needs to be social.
Can’t wait to see Amazon’s music locket to debut on iOS. Maybe that’ll be enough push for Apple to extend Home Sharing beyond your LAN, which seems to be the most logical next step.