October 10, 2006
Nintendo’s Gambit
It just occurred to me while reading another article about the PS3′s massive advertising push, and its almost pathetic lack of units to be shipped for launch that a very favorable situation has been presented for Nintendo and they are seemingly poised to capitalize on it. As you may know the PS3 will be launching “worldwide” (North America and Japan, sorry Europe) on November 17 of this year, and Nintendo will be putting out the Wii two days later. This move on Nintendo’s part has been panned by a number of pundits as foolish for letting Sony get a head start on them right away, yet I think there is a hidden genius to it.
The crux of the issue is that due to expensive and difficult produce components the PS3 will only be launching with 500,000 units worldwide with 400,000 coming to North America, and 100,000 for Japan, which suffice it to say is not going to meet demand (even at their bloated price) by a long shot. Nintendo on the other hand has been building Wii’s for several months now and according to reports already has several million units complete and ready to ship and expects to have 7 million more by the end of the calender year (I am a bit skeptical about that, but hey who knows), that combined with their significantly lower price and their choice of launch dates could work out in their favor.
You see PS3 will launch, and they WILL sell out almost immediately, they will continue to advertise for it heavily (think XBOX 360 last year) and people will still want it, after all it is a PlayStation and people like continuity. These people will go to stores expecting to find one of these magical money burning machines within a week or two of launch and picking up after Black Friday (unlike you and I normal people do not tend to line up for a favorite console the morning it launches) and they will find it is out of stock with only a vague guess from the overworked sales clerk as to when more units will come in. Then they will see a pyramid of Wii’s sitting there, and they will ask what it is, the clerk will tell them that this is the new Nintendo system that just came out. They will take a closer look and see that there are people having fun on the box, and that is also cost several hundred dollars less then the absent PS3. Little Timmy wants a system, and this one seems fun and it certainly fits within the old budget, and bam one more sale for Nintendo. The fact that Sony will continue to aggressively advertise the PS3 during this time when they have basically no units on the shelves of stores will only drive more people into Nintendo’s open arms and ample bosom (product availability wise).
Don’t get me wrong, the people who are determined to get a PS3 will get one, they will either camp out and try to be one of the lucky folks who can get one of the 5 systems allocated to their state, or they will pay 1600 dollars on Ebay for one. But they are not the mass market consumer, they are the high end HD enthusiast niche that Sony is trying to sway, but that the Xbox has been catering to for 5 years already. But by going through with their attempt to wrest the high end market from Microsoft as with the PS3 as they did the casual market from a complacent Nintendo oh so many years ago with the PSone they are opening up their base to a well calculated assault by the bit N.
May 24, 2006
Job Searching
Well, actually it seems tha twhen things are getting hopeless I tend to get lucky. I have been temping since I last updated, with very mixed results. Initially I worked for a government contracter called PAE where I assisted them with an internal audit, it was pretty tedious work, but the people there were nice and it was stable, but I did wear down after a few weeks and requested to be moved to something new. Then things got a bit fishy, as I wasnt assigned to anything for a week until then sent me to work in the mailroom of some advocacy group, except when I got there I found out that they did not need me and had canceled the contract the day before with the temping agency, no one mentioned this to me though. Then nothing for a week or two then I did some of the most monotonous labor for the American Casualty Actuary Assoc. After that I was assigned to an organization whose existance to me just seems to be evidence of our societies stupidity, it was the American Hearth, Patio, and Barbecue Association. This was the national trade group for fireplaces and fireplace accessories, they even had a Pellet Fuels Research Institute, where they are making the charcoal of tommorow. Now I went there and I was thing about how stupid the work I was doing was and how I couldnt believe I was working for such a stupid organiziation when I get a call from my temp agency telling me the contract was canceled immediately and what not. So there is more to that, but I dont feel like writing it at the moment, long story short my career there lasted about 1 hour and 35 minutes. Now I have been set up with an interview with a government contracter this thursday, and I will actually be meeting with the VP of the company, I am expected to wear a suit to this and it is pretty exciting becuase they dont seem to want bitch work they want my mad $kill$. I feel like this is attainable, and I could be working a "grown up" job starting next week. The downside is they are not on the mass transit thing at all, I would have to drive there every day, and I would involve a short reverse commute, I am not so big on the suburbs, and while this does seem to be a decent enough company I am not completely positive that my working there would make the world a slightly better place. I am also not sure how important my doing good is to me, but I do like the idea of being an idealist. I am also applying for a postion with a Peace and Conflict studies institute at Georgetown, and I am kind of hoping they express a solid interest in me before I possibly commit myself to this job so that I have options, and the possibility of being a proffessional tree hugger.
Who knows?
March 1, 2006
I am back now…
…and I seem to have been unprepared for finding a job here. I have been doing the standard spinning of the wheels on internet ads and such, and trying to get my rather poor example of a resume out to prospective employers, but it is difficult when “entry” level positions require 2 years experience or a Masters degree. I should clarify that I am back home, and furthermore that my home is in Washington DC, I suppose I am looking for something in research or as an analyst, but I will take anything that can get my foot in the door. Recently I have been looking more into internships, with the idea that hopefully they will like me enough to hire me or at least pass me along to someone who is interested in me thus making my free services worthwhile. I have also been trying to do as my career councelor advised and network (ie hit up everyone you know for leads until you get one) and that seems to be starting to pan out now, as my girlfriend has potentially found me a person who graduated from my college, who makes a hobby of finding employment for her fellow alumni. I found jobs for a few people in China, so maybe this is some sort of Karma coming back to me, I dont know about that, I dont really believe in Karma, but that is for another day. Still this is the best news I have gotten since my return, and of course it is my amazing girlfriend who makes it possible. I am making this pledge here and now, if this works out for me and I can develop into a successful career having type of person then I will go out of my way to pass it foreward, and those of you potential readers who are already in that position should think back to your first job and try to help someone in my position out.
January 31, 2006
links for 2006-01-31
-
Facinating, I just got back from the countryside and it was incredible, unlike anything I havd done before.
