Newspapers and the net - was Re: Stupidest Quote etc Re: Newspapers and the net - was Re: Stupidest Quote etc

[George Michaelson]

  I think, its about the silliest concept I've seen for a long time -- or at 
 least since the Commodore computer.  Remember how it connected up to your TV
 set, and 100,000 were sold in Australia as "Fun for all the family".
 Dad, mum and
  the kids were shown in the ads all sitting around laughing, while little
  Johnnie, with his hand on the sole joystick, played some game.
  
  I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now.
 
Stew, if you get out into the 'burbs you will find a large number of gen X-rs
find a few tins, a pizza, and two mates round a Sony playstation is an amazing
buzz when you can't afford to beat up old ladies. Mom and dad may not be 
there but more than 1.5 people per household are.

Seriously, the people buying gaming consoles and playing with them are not
digerati. Its single mums with small kids, and young singles with mates to
play with. There are 50,000,000 of these worldwide. ages from 6 up, beat the
shit out of me for response times on Mario or Crash Bandicoot.

Inside 5 years, it really WILL be families. These people are either already
with child, or will be. if you have 20 games and a $187 console, does having
a baby suddenly make it un-fun to play?  

Believe it or not, some people still play monopoly as well.

WebTV? sure. it might die. but families round a game, it can work.

If somebody ties a low b/w backchannel to sale of the century, or wheel of
fortune, do you think there will be nobody stabbing the "ME" button? How about
if I can save $5 on busfares to get to a WebTV casino and blow 2c tokens 
instead of walking into Jupiters?

This is like saying no TV station will make money parading fur coats
round on buxom swimsuits. But I don't see Italian television shopping channels
wising up ...

-George
--
George Michaelson         |  DSTC Pty Ltd
Email: ggm@dstc.edu.au    |  University of Qld 4072
Phone: +61 7 3365 4310    |  Australia
  Fax: +61 7 3365 4311    |  http://www.dstc.edu.au