Category Archives: Science

April 10, 2025 · 12:08

New short term thinking

The news hit me somewhere yesterday. I got it by means of a LinkedIn mention, and it gave me reason to pause. Here is one version of that news (at https://techwireasia.com/2025/04/microsoft-pauses-key-builds-in-indonesia-us-and-uk-amid-infrastructure-review/) with the mention ‘Microsoft pauses data centre investment in Indonesia, US, and UK’, and here we see the byline “Microsoft pauses or delays data centre projects in the UK, US, and Indonesia.”, it is my view that they cannot afford this setting. You might have heard the American expression, “Go big or go home” and I think that Microsoft is about to go home. You see, I have forever had the clear opinion that there is no AI. I call it NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing), the setting that if too many start accepting the setting that I was always right (which comes from the clear setting that there is one AI station and it was given to us by Alan Turing) the people will realise that there is no AI and it comes down to programming and a programmer. That setting puts Microsoft in hot water for a lot of heavy water (to be poured over their heads). And lets be clear, a side you can confirm with mere logical thinking. A data Centre is a long term setting. No matter what you put in the White House (by some called the village idiot) whatever this administration is, it is short term and a data centre is long term and that so called hype around their AI should never waver. You see, this short term action (read: knee jerk reaction) implies short term planning and that is where they all get into hot waters. Why did you think that I made mention that Google needs to put a data centre in Iceland and consolidate their thinking into geo thermal reactors? (Reactors might not be the right word). A setting where ceramic tiles (or cylinders) surrounding new constructions that is not unlike a nuclear reactor, but the reactor is all around them, not Uranium rods, the Lava (or Magma) is the powerful and as it is merely bleeding the radiation, the fuel never dissipates and never ending energy is theirs. For all these parties looking of creating data centers (as far as I can see around 50 in total globally) they will all require energy and as one data centre takes energy close to a amount a small city does, we will get energy issues a lot sooner than we think.

Did Microsoft think this through? Pretty sure they did and their conclusion is that they cannot spend billion on data centers. So at the same time as we are given “Rivals Oracle and OpenAI ramp up investments”, I come to the conclusion that Microsoft can no longer afford the bills their ego’s committed themselves to. Feel free to disagree, but they set out this AI ‘vibe’ and own 49% of OpenAI, so why close down their Data Centers whilst they ‘own’ one of the ramp up partners? They are figuring out that they are too deeply committed. And as the world realizes that NIP is not the same as actual AI, they fear what is coming next.

So you decide what to make of the stage of “Microsoft has acknowledged changing its strategy but declined to provide details about specific projects. “We plan our data centre capacity needs years in advance to ensure we have sufficient infrastructure in the right places,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “As AI demand continues to grow, and our data centre presence continues to expand, the changes we have made demonstrates the flexibility of our strategy.”” As I see it, it is an answer, but not the one that touches on this. I come with questions as ‘What growth?’ All this sets the need for some lowered activity, not pausing, unless you know what comes next and there is a larger setting with Oracle, Tencent and Huawei, I know there is a Swedish centre as well but I forgot the name. All these are ramping up, but Microsoft is pausing? That makes no sense unless there is another reason and my thought of “They can no longer afford it” takes another gander and when we consider that they paused “North Dakota, Illinois, Wisconsin, the UK midlands and Jakarta, Indonesia.” That implies something is going on and when we combine this with “Microsoft cuts data centre plans and hikes prices in push to make users carry AI costs” (source: The Conversation, March 3rd 2025) these elements together implies (imply, not proven) tells me that there is a funding setting for Microsoft. Combine that with the lovely voiced fact of “OpenAI brought in US$3.7 billion in revenue – but spent almost US$9 billion, for a net loss of around US$5 billion.” (Source: the Conversation) we see another failed setting and that failure gets to be bigger. As Amazon, Google, Oracle, Tencent and Huawei steam ahead getting larger data centers and ready long before Microsoft is there means less revenue for Microsoft. I did say that they could go big or go home? I reckon that Microsoft already lost 6 times on front settings and they lost to Amazon, Apple (twice), Sony, Adobe, Google, and IBM. I should add Huawei to that list but they already bungled that setting before Huawei became an actual competitor. A simple deduction from little stupid old me. 

So whatever you do, you might look into the trust you gave Microsoft and see that you are not left with an empty shell. Oh, and to prove that I am not anti-Microsoft you need to know that they did corner the spreadsheet market (Excel) and the flight Simulator market. Microsoft did some things good, but when it comes to the spin setting of vibes they need to reassess their situation.

Have a great day, it’s midweek now. I am happily in the next day.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 9, 2025 · 16:30

A danger possibly foreseen

That was on my mind this morning. It was brought to the surface by the actor John Cryer (the famous duckster as well as a surgeon in NCIS). He referred to an NPR broadcast.

And the article (at https://www.npr.org/2025/04/08/nx-s1-5356476/social-security-new-rules) gave me pause. I had seen this before and after a few minutes and a ‘eureka’ moment I came up with my article ‘Utter Insanity’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2021/10/04/utter-insanity/) where I (read: Reuters) came up with “That could spare the United States a default, but would force other cuts, possibly in areas like Social Security or military pay.” I had come to that conclusion before that ion a few articles I mention there. It comes to ‘blows’ with “It is the relentless boasting government approach towards “My Credit Card is too big too refuse!” Yet that is at this point exactly what is going to happen next week Friday” and that moment was avoided with millimeters to spare. And now? Now we get the timeline change in a few ways. NPR gives us “Instead, they will have to seek services online or travel in-person to a local Social Security field office, which a new analysis from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, or CBPP, found amounts to a “45-mile trip for some 6 million seniors.”” Here I do not completely agree with NPR, even though they talk in my street of the equation. The added NPR setting is “More than 4 in 10 retirees apply for their Social Security benefits by phone, as do most spouses who are eligible for benefits,” researchers wrote. “So do the substantial majority of bereaved family members who are eligible for benefits following the death of a worker.” This is a valid setting, however, the American administration has valid issues with “Agency officials have said these new measures “will further safeguard Social Security records and benefits against fraudulent activity” by creating “stronger identity verification procedures.”” I agree that they need to stop Fraudulent settings, but that might not be the best way to go about it. For one, the people with clear settings because they moved to Costa Rica or another warm place where their dollars has a better spread is one reason and there are plenty of places to do that and they fall into a dark gap of nothingness. 

So I am a little on the fence with “Beginning on April 14, Social Security will perform an anti-fraud check on all claims filed over the telephone and flag claims that have fraud risk indicators,” they wrote. “We will continue to conduct 100 percent ID proofing for all in-person claims. 4.5 million telephone claims a year and 70K may be flagged.” I agree a better setting needs to be found, but in clearness the American administration has a clear point with optional Fraud. The clarity is seen in the numbers and if there aren’t any, the question becomes why isn’t there a better documented stage? I for one am in the setting that consulates and embassies need perhaps half a dozen more people in certain places to do that work. Too bad America let go over 30,000 federal employees. Perhaps that was an unforeseen blunder of mega (or is that MAGA?) proportions. 

The fact was that I saw this in 2020 and whilst there were references in 2019 going back to 2014, they were partially the same but founded on different facts. So it might seem the same, but it is not. NPR has given a rather large spotlight on something that starts next week and that will have people buzzing in all kinds of panic modes, because retirees that face this will panic and that is on the administration of THIS government, no one else.

So what is the solution? Well, I have a few ideas, but why do the work for people who are making 7 figure numbers. Let them prove their value or perhaps they might be made redundant (too save a few coins in the process). Oh, and before you think I am merely stirring the pot of panic (not entirely incorrect) I decided to give a few ideas another thought like the Google Data centre on Iceland. You see, before 2022 I had an idea, I reckon it was around 2010, I thought (in light of a few Venusian settings. I saw that there that we get “Venus has an extremely hot average surface temperature of around 867°F (464°C) due to its dense, carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere and a strong greenhouse effect, making it the hottest planet in our solar system.” As such I thought (a partial solution that these sulphur batteries might be actively recharged (and happily ignoring other needs), but for unmanned recon it could suffice. So in the meantime we get 

“Also in 2022, Researchers at Drexel University produced a prototype lithium-sulfur battery that did not degrade over 4000 charge cycles. Analysis has shown that the battery contained monoclinic gamma-phase sulfur, which has been thought to be unstable below 95 degrees Celsius, and only a few studies have shown this type of sulfur to be stable longer than 20 to 30 minutes.”

Yet in a volcano rich environment (like Iceland) these lava pockets might be the stage for thermal interaction and the lava (or magma which is a technical setting) flow could recharge almost indefinite. So we have power and as cooling might not be the issue, water is still needed to cool other stages of a plant like that. Fortunately the Greenland Sea (or North Atlantic around the polar circle) is plenty cool (read: cold), so could these two elements unite to give data centres the steps they need to become energy independent? You see, everyone needs more power, so power will cost more and more and we have Iceland in the North and New Zealand in the south, yet New Zealand doesn’t have thermal energy (as far as I know) so a different solution is needed there.

But the setting is still about social security (I got blown off track). So whilst the people are screaming for fraud setting, are there any clear numbers on how many are using social security for fraud (I am certain it is done), but are they overthrowing the system for 10-50 cases? There are 6 million seniors at risk. The question becomes how do the military deal with these cases? How many retired veterans does America have? Would their system be good enough to be adapted to the senior citizens of America? If the Military needs more staff to deal with this, I reckon that at least 20,000 people were fired and need a new job and as most embassies and consulates have military presence adding a few logistical people might be a better solution. Was that investigated? 

I reckon all good questions, but who has the answers? In the mean time Google needs to create data centers with independent power solutions, because the (around) 50 new data centers that seem to be coming all over the world will draw power dry to a dangerous level, being the odd one out will give them a leg up over anyone else. And perhaps they have a better solution than I just phrased. I am not the best, but I remain trying. That’s more than I can say for a lot of high paying people in the American administrations we see. 

So have a great day and while I have my ice water, I will dream of becoming a Goalie at 63, still preferred with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but Iceland will do as an alternative choice (I doubt they need me, but there you have it, I can be delusional too).

Toodles

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Military, Politics, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 6, 2025 · 20:39

The color of grass

The CBC just alerted me to something that kind of slipped my mind. There is no reason why it didn’t was on my mind, mainly because I do not harvest for headhunters. But when I saw the story, I thought that it would make a lot of sense. The story (at https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/us-scientists-canada-1.7502527) gives us ‘Top American scientists just lost their jobs. Canada is rolling out the welcome mat’ the byline of this story is “Manitoba, B.C., Ontario looking to recruit top scientists from the U.S.” You see, as we read and know from the last few months “Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is aiming to cut 20,000 jobs at agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).” So here we have Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Germany seeking specialists of all kinds of people and as they were shown the exit by America, others will look happily to bolster their own sides with people that they couldn’t get before. As such Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be getting several Christmas hampers, optionally a dozen this year. Even if he is under orders, there is nothing like governmental gratitude from these nations. Of the sidelines. I can advise these governments that the Hampers at Fortnum and Mason (at https://www.fortnumandmason.com/international-delivery-category) are the best.

As such we see an inverted version of the grass is always greener on the other fellows grave. We now (mostly the Commonwealth nations) are the greener grass. So as we see “One example: Dr. Madhukar Pai, the director of the McGill global health programs, told CBC News he’s expecting a record number of applicants for a new tenure-track job in his department, opening in the coming weeks. It’s a field hit especially hard amid sweeping cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development that are slashing life-saving programs across the world tackling diseases like HIV and malaria.” As well as “Scientists overseeing cancer research, vaccine and drug approvals, public health and tobacco regulations are also among 10,000 already laid off. Public health experts say the mass firings could have catastrophic impacts for the U.S. and the world.” Here I say that it s more the US then the rest of the world. This is the first instance of an American brain drain. The second setting was the market crashing over the last two days, making these people accept other locations a little sooner than accepted. As we see that ‘Trump tariffs wipe $5 trillion off Wall Street’, we also need to realise that some of these people are hurt in their finances and they seek a way out of the uncertainty. So these people are roaring to be the first with a decent contract under their belt. So as we see “Kevin Griffis, a former CDC communications director, resigned in protest two weeks ago after three years at the agency. He said the mass firings were widely felt and could have unanticipated consequences. If the agency needed to hold a press conference today about a major public health threat, “there’s no one who even knows how to run the sound anymore. Because they fired the studio team,” he said.” That case alone will speed China to remove whatever options the other players have. With that setting consider Dr. Fauci joining a Swiss medical enterprise, and according to Kevin Griffis when Americans do not know what to do when a health crises arrives. So when the next ‘covid’ arrive, the people can rely on the treatments through President Trumps ‘advised’ Hydroxychloroquine, but when that fails? What then. Canada can get a setting to be the next best thing to the CDC, then there is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and they are a little tired of the American tariff game and could slap a nice 25% tariff on that. The settings for America go from grim to deep black soon enough. Even now we get headlines like ‘Elon Musk backs ‘free trade zone’ between US and Europe’ (source: Al Jazeera) and that is merely for openers.

So whilst the Commonwealth replenishes their shorts on medical experts, America need to wonder what else they could lose. I am still of the mind that America is near to implosion moment of their debts and shutdowns are likely to happen, when that does, these first ‘evaders’ are is a much better position than any other American, even now as the 5 trillion write off hits the entirety of the tech corporation, some will make it, some others will make massive losses taking their home selling efforts almost essential and the billionaires who relied on their Bitcoin, need to realise that this currency is still a few percentage points. So Sergei Brin (all-father of Google) had $142.2 billion, now at 7% less, he seemingly lost 9.95 billion, not that much overall, still more than the 5 billion annual I had reserved for his firm as additional revenue (he dumped the Google Stadia, so that was that) and as Jeff Bezos seemingly lost 13.51 billion, my IP could set him topside in around a speculative 2 years. It is all relative as I see it. Still, this is not about me. As America is losing the handles on the world thought essential services, others will step in to make a move for themself (and I am no different). You see, as the issues evolve, we see scientists that were in unshakable positions, were suddenly shown the door and now as we see “Canadian provinces are already trying to attract American health experts suddenly out of a job. Manitoba is “rolling out the welcome mat” for U.S. trained doctors, nurses and researchers affected by the cuts, said Minister of Health Uzoma Asagwara in a statement to CBC.” And this is only the beginning. As some other fields are shown the cutdowns, we see other ventures all over Europe and even in the Middle East, they are smiling and wringing their hands as fields of opportunity are given to them. The Hollywood fires gave rise to the Dubai Media Group now getting their hands on several lucrative projects. No this is in no way the fault of President Trump, but these small kicks can become a lot bigger. They are not related, but these separate items can become related. As health scientists have possible connections to pharmaceutical corporations, the impact to the larger stage will be visible in less than two years, so consider that in two years the revenue now (which is expected to be $605-$635 billion on medicine in 2025) gets down by 20% (speculative number) in 2027. So what happens when $121 billion goes to other places (like Europe)? So we have Defense (2022-2026) went to China and Europe (close to 90 billion)  now presumption on pharmaceuticals $121 billion less, and the Middle East are now aiming for $10 billion handing that to others and taking that out of America. So how many hits can the American economy endure the loss of of revenue in added fields of revenue again and again. At present (as I personally see it) America needs to pay interest on 36 trillions, which is a little over 2 trillion, all whilst the tax revenue is around $4.92 trillion (2024), so 50% is out on paying the interest of outstanding debts. Do you realise the issues America faces? And now Canada has a first jab at the fired experts in healthcare on several levels and in several disciplines. So how was the tariff game a bright idea? 

And as America loses more and more it is (as I personally see it) nicely on its way to become a third world country, the first in the western world. And I am not surprised as I predicted this as early as June 8th 2014 in the story called ’17 or 70 trillion?’ (At https://lawlordtobe.com/2014/06/08/17-or-70-trillion/) when I wrote “My issue is not just with the US debt levels, it is also about the ‘blasé’ approach economists are throwing at the people stating that things are not that bad and that it will all work out. That part is a figment of THEIR imagination, because for things to resolve, actions must be taken and none are getting taken at present (or in the near future for that matter). My biggest issue with the Article of Chad Stone is seen at the end. His quote “Lowering the debt ratio comes at a cost, not only risking the recovery if it’s done too fast but also in burdening businesses and households with larger spending cuts, higher taxes or both to stabilize the debt ratio“” I foresaw the dangers 11 years ago, not to this degree, but the setting was clear and as the people are now vacating the sinking ship, the seas become heavy for America and they basically almost capsized the boat themselves. A larger setting is connected and even if we are ‘in denial’ that there is a problem, the people are seemingly rising up all over the United States and Europe with their ‘Hands off’ calls. ABC Australia is giving us ‘Thousands protest against Trump and Musk in ‘Hands Off!’ rallies across US and Europe’ (at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-06/thousands-rally-trump-musk-hands-off-protests-across-us/105143038) the American setting has usually been ‘The best defense is a good offense’, I do not disagree, yet I am more on the stage of Julius Caesar (Italian army, 65 BC) he states “the first stage is to protect yourself from enemy retaliation” a better setting and as I see it America has left itself open like never seen before. The (slightly less rich) friends from the American administration are now seeking their own save spot, the enemies are enticing former American friends and I warned of that in the years before 2025. Now we see another nail cast into a coffin named ‘defaulted’ And this is not the end, there is every chance that the defense industry will see its own setting of people seeking early retirement and the market crashes will make them seek other shores, their money is in danger of losing the bulk of its value. Will the markets get back? I feel certain they will, but will they recover enough and soon enough? That becomes the question. To write off over 5 trillion is not easily fixed, that much is clear. The next setting are the tariffs, America needs to cancel them for Europe and the Commonwealth to say the least, that might stem the flow of brainpower, but that is a presumption by me. The opponents of America are battering America’s walls and they did mostly this to themself. 

As such I am on the side of Canada, our Commonwealth brother. And if Manitoba, B.C., and Ontario gets their hands on excellent health experts, then I say “Hurray for Canada” and I raise my cup of coffee to them (no beer in my fridge). 

So you all have a great day and if you are on the board of scientists at the CDC, consider the lakes, excellent trout and pike fishing. The air is clean and the people are mostly friendly (not too much to Maple Leaf friends), they revere the Winnipeg Jets. So that’s all for now and see you all on the flip side.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Politics, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 3, 2025 · 07:27

Seeking the moon

I was surprised by awn article in the New Arab last night stating ‘Did Saudi Arabia announce the start of Eid al-Fitr a day too early?’ (at https://www.newarab.com/news/did-saudi-arabia-get-eid-al-fitrs-date-wrong). Now there is one little setting that needs vocalizing. I am not a Muslim, so I can hide behind ignorance regarding Muslim matters, but to accuse one of the more conservative nations like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia of this seems a little wild. So I had to look up a few matters before regarding the outcome. So let’s get my non Muslim readers a little up to date. We know that Islam is set to five pillars. One of them is Ramadan, the time of fasting. It lasts for a month and that implies no food or drinks between sunrise and sunset. I think there are rules for some, so that they can have water during the day, mainly the old and the sick. The end of fasting is set at a specific date. 

“According to a certain hadith, these festivals were initiated in Medina after the migration of Muhammad from Mecca. Anas ibn Malik, a companion of Muhammad, narrated that when Muhammad arrived in Medina, he found people celebrating two specific days in which they entertained themselves with recreation. Muhammad then remarked that God had fixed two mandatory days of festivity: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.”

Eid al-Fitr begins at sunset on the night of the first sighting of the crescent moon. The night on which the moon is sighted. If the moon is not observed immediately after the 29th day of the previous lunar month (either because clouds block its view or because the western sky is still too bright when the moon sets), then the holiday is celebrated the following day. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated for one to three days, depending on the country. It is forbidden to fast on the Day of Eid, and a specific prayer is nominated for this day. As an obligatory act of charity, money is paid to the poor and the needy (zakat al-Fitr) before performing the ‘Eid prayer’.

That is as far as I got, so the festivities around the end of Ramadan is important and that is the debate, did Saudi Arabia call that mandate too early? And the byline from the New Arab is ‘showing’ “Reports and rumours online said Saudi Arabia got the timing of Eid al-Fitr wrong, but there has been no official statement from the kingdom saying this.” I cannot say that this is the case, but the fact that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia got this wrong is close to stunning. The Kingdom and its inhabitants live for Islam and such an accusation cannot be ignored, for me personally it seems not a biggie, but for an Islamic? It comes with the added “While some Arab countries announced Eid al-Fitr falls on Sunday, others said it was Monday. Egypt, Jordan, Syria and several other Sunni-majority countries broke with the Saudi announcement and celebrated on Monday. Shia-majority Iran also declared the festivities to begin on Monday, as well as Oman’s Ibadi religious authorities.” It comes with the added “Many astronomers and experts had rejected the idea that Eid al-Fitr could take place on Sunday, saying it was impossible to sight the moon on the preceding Saturday. The Abu Dhabi-based International Astronomical Centre said a Saturday sighting would be have been impossible from the eastern hemisphere using any type of method.

Saudi astronomer Bader al-Omaira also told Gulf News that the sighting of a crescent would have been impossible, largely due to a solar eclipse which took place on Saturday, after which sightings of the moon are not possible for several hours.” And the added setting gives it weight, according to some that the sighting of the moon was not possible for several hours makes it the debate. I for one seem to shrug at the accusation. But in the setting of not being a Muslim, I do not care that much and I am ‘heavily’ opposed to fasting, but then I need to turn every dollar around and sometime like a real accountant, I squeeze a dollar bill until it releases three 50cent coins. Life is hard at times. So I don’t celebrate too much. Yet I do understand the Muslims that have an issue with the setting of stopping their pillar of fasting a day early. Off course I do see the ‘accusation’ of “In 2011, there were reports that Saudi authorities who observe the skies to record the sighting of the moon mistook Saturn for the moon. This reportedly happened again in 2019.” That is the idea that I can see Saturn and mistake it for the pancake that hangs over our heads. I kinda find the idea to funny to ignore. There is the little setting that at the closest setting (we move in eclipses) Saturn is 746,000,000 km away, the moon I mere 360,000 km, as such I want to wonder who looks for the moon?  And that is before I’m ‘entertaining’ a few other parts. 

And here is the surprise I got, there is a difference between Sunni and Shia in Islam.

“As ritual dictates, Sunnis praise God in a loud voice while going to the Eid prayer:
Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar, Allāhu Akbar. Lā ilāha illà l-Lāh. Allāhu Akbar, Allahu akbar, wa-li-l-Lāh al-ḥamd.
Recitation ceases when they get to the place of Eid or once the Imam commences activities.”

It s the first time that I am made aware that there is a difference between the two versions of Islam. The other part is the detection of the moon, “While some countries use astronomical calculations and technology like telescopes, others insist that it must be seen with the naked eye.” I understand that in the past like pre 1650, we had to rely on the naked eye, and to some degree I am on board that it should be done with the naked eye, but is it a sin to let technology aid us, in these matters? I am merely voicing the question and perhaps there is an Imam giving us a resounding yes to that question, as I said I am not Muslim.

The fact that Saudi Arabia was accused of something so profoundly Muslim startled me to some degree and I am not on anyones side. I merely found the occasion strange and as such I devoted a blog page to the effect.

Have a lovely day and at present I don’t see a moon, the sun got in the way of that at 07:23

Leave a comment

Filed under Media, Religion, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

April 2, 2025 · 02:02

Software directions

That tends to be the norm, some software BI person looks at where the masses are and then shoots his net, so that he can catch the biggest population. And I (initially) tended to think the same way. We can call this the wrong way. 

So this started last night when Wired (at https://www.wired.com/story/can-gaming-save-the-apple-vision-pro/) gave me ‘Can Gaming Save the Apple Vision Pro?’, OK, I admit, the story was two weeks old, and none the less relevant to this conversation. Personally I didn’t know that the Vision Pro required saving, but that is my wimple setting. You see, new devices open up new frontiers and on November 9th 2024 I gave the world (apple too) ‘The Easy Lesson’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2024/11/09/the-easy-lesson/) and in under an hour I designed a near original game an adaptation from a world favorite game. Yes it took me less than an hour to think of a solution. 

Now there is another idea based on all time favorites and used in a very different different setting. You see, people look in the same direction over and over and hoping that something new hits them. I look in the opposite direction and that is why I have over half a dozen original IP settings and this one could bring Ubisoft the fortune it so immensely desired, the dream of growing to greatness. The funny part is that most of the work is done already. You see, schooling is required all over the world and the chances are that Ubisoft overlooked it. And apparently Timmy the Cook did too (said to be the CEO of Apple). 

The setting is larger to be considered as more and more need is out there for languages. OK, there are some hangups. But the larger setting becomes visible in mere minutes and 80% of the gamers have had that feeling, especially those who played any of the Assassins Creed games. You see, we all want to be that assassin, but the missed part is that they loved walking down the streets of Florence, Rome, The America’s, New York, Paris, London, Egypt, Greece, Iran and Japan. The one thing that Ubisoft excelled in were the graphics. When these games get upgraded to Unreal Engine 5 it becomes a very different game. Now on Apple Vision Pro (optionally MetaQuest as well) people can actually practice their language skills in a private setting and there are millions ready to get ready. Now there is no killing, there is no climbing all over the place. It becomes a walking setting, with optional reward settings and Ubisoft actually opened the door to this when they had the expansion The Discovery Tour added to the game AC Origin. It gave us a different setting to the game and also gave us just how deep they had taken the game. Now consider that we get access to languages English is gotten from AC Syndicate and Watchdogs Legion, and optionally AC3. French from AC Unity (when it is properly fixed), Arabic from Mirage, Italian and Latin from AC Brotherhood and optionally AC2, Greek and Egyptian from AC Origin, and most of the work is already done. Now there is one setting that takes precedence.

About a month ago I saw someone program a chatbot to take on scam centers. His view was that when they are held busy by chatbots, scammers cannot scam. But that impact is larger. People can now be set in chatbots engaging in the use of natural speech. As such there is a unification of skills and in that setting Ubisoft could offer a much larger population. According to ‘records’ in 2022, the United Kingdom had the most students learning English as a foreign language. There were approximately 262,400 students who were learning English as a second language that year, followed by Ireland with almost 116,000 foreign students. The third place ranking was completed by Canada, with around 105,000 students learning English as a foreign language. That implies a population of billions who want to learn English. When the modules are ready Ubisoft could cater to millions of people who want to learn any of these languages and with a subscription model they could cater to hundreds of thousands of them. To make it fun they could add the villa in Monteriggioni and as language assignments are completed they could get another painting added to the villa. There is also the notion that ‘midterms’ in several stages would upgrade Monteriggioni. You will not get a well and a few other things, but most other upgrades become possible. And as you engage with the people in Florence and Rome you could get lots of interactions. With Latin you get the added nun/priest outfits and get access to the old Vatican. Linguistic skills are valued globally and for those who want to learn Arabic there is the world of Mirage (just Bagdad) and there we will see what more there is to learn. Any language student gets assigned an address and as your skills progress you will get a ‘better’ address. All this was already possible and now it serves a much better purpose. There is classic English (AC Syndicate) and modern English (Watchdogs Legion) the setting already exist for the most. But the added setting of interactive chatbots will push the Ip to new heights and the graphic skills of Ubisoft have seldom been questioned (only in AC Unity). So this took a little more than an hour, but it was there for the longest of time. It just required Yves Guillemot to wake up to see what he had and now that this writing is out in the open, he could wake up and seek new frontiers. There is the thought that Unreal Engine might not be a solution everywhere, but it will give the most lifelike views on Vision Pro and MetaQuest. As such it just fits better. 

Software directions are out in the open. The trick is not to take the mundane direction that everyone seems to be taking. As such I offer this thought to the wannabe captains of industry.

Have a great day and think of what language you would like to learn, because that is a universal thought we all have. It might be that you want to learn the dead languages (Greek and Latin), you might want to broaden your horizon with English, French, Italian and Japanese and for those wishing to learn Spanish, a case can be made to include AC Black Flag. The rest? Well that gives a person a dozen languages to learn, but cases can be made for other languages as well. How that goes? It would be up to Ubisoft. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Gaming, IT, Media, Science, Tourism

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 28, 2025 · 16:59

The mostly ignored stage

This hit me yesterday in between all kind of other stuff I was brooding about. It was set off by thinking of something else. As I was replaying Hogwarts Legacy, was thinking about the collectors edition that was released on day one and at $599 that was not. Leap I was ready to make. That set another track n the rails. You see, most places are lacking Power-points and some have solutions for that, but the larger issue is ignored. You see when you put a few things together, you start wondering a few things. With night stand lamps, office lamps and all kind of lamps in every room, there is a clear setting to have these places ‘illuminated’ with USB-C ports, for all kind of reasons. Charging mobiles and other mobile devices. Collect gimmicks and as such the average gamer needs about 10 points of contact. The office person has their own need and a few more. But color me happy, the big boys (in this case IKEA) never seem to have acted on this. I saw one part on TEMU, so why is that largely overlooked?

Screenshot

Now, this TEMU contraption needs a power source and as it is a bluetooth speaker, an alarm clock, a nightstand, a charger for mobile, earbuds and watch this makes sense. But most people (like me) merely have a mobile and optionally a watch to charge. As such adding a USB-C to most lamps will solve the issue without people have to find connection points for charge ports. And as most will suffice with a 15 watt solution, most rooms will have the stage solved for iPad, Watch, Mobile, and optimally enough space for the a mobile wifi hotspot. And in an instance the required need for 5-8 charge points are reduced to a mere 1-2 spaces. Most solutions are done with in an instant when we add a USB-C port to most lamps. So why was this never done? Some will say it was the price. But if TEMU can offer a 5 charging station with bluetooth speakers and alarm clock for a mere $15, I reckon that the pricing isn’t it (or at least not anymore). 

Was it the required brainpower that was needed? Well it seems that these captain of industry (as they call themselves) are in dire need of an overhaul to say the least. 

So where did they leave their innovation? With their marketing department, whist the marketeers needed time to think over the term innovation. So far this decade I have only seen one innovative marketeer and that person is the Canadian Ryan Reynolds (probably he got assistance from that youthful young sprout Blake Lively in that regard), beyond that there was the Heineken marketing teams in the 80’s and 90’s. The rest are mostly iterative players on ideas already phrased in some ways. So where are the boffins? The fact that I have at least three goals over DARPA makes one think whether true innovation has left the field and its stadium of operation. And that was merely the upper soil tossed, there is a lot more under the rubble and where are those innovators? They seemingly left Apple almost a decade ago, Microsoft hasn’t given us innovation for decades and mostly that is regurgitated from ideas from way passed. We see that when we see Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 with the initial release date on November 19th 2024. There is no mention of the Flight Simulator 2020, which gives us “It is an entry in the Microsoft Flight Simulator series which began in 1982, and was preceded by Microsoft Flight Simulator X in 2006.” I remember that as I had the CBM64 edition (which set me back $299, and in 1985 that was serious cash), never regretted that move. It was the first time that I saw true innovation in the face of lacking resources and make no mistake, getting any flight simulator running on 64KB is an achievement. So when I saw the 2020 edition (I had the X version in 2010) blew me away, so seeing the 2024 version with an initial release data of that year kinda makes my blood boil (a little). To disregard innovators to that degree is not cool and it shows that big tech and their marketeers need to review what they think innovation is. 

And that takes me back to the present. As we see more and more items requiring a USB-C point, the idea of having this option inserted in laps (as such) gives us a much larger station for consideration. And the Collectors Edition is still desirable even after having played it several times over the last 25 months. So what will we do when another collectors edition requires a charge point and that is before we consider what other house smart ideas will grace our presence. Smart buttons, smart lights, smart speakers and all needing a USB-C point. So why didn’t IKEA (as merely one place) consider this option 1-2 years ago?That’s it for now, my Friday is almost gone, in Vancouver (the most eastern point of intelligence in the time line it starts in a little over an hour). Have a great day.

Leave a comment

Filed under IT, Media, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 26, 2025 · 22:06

The tradeoff

That is at times the question and the BBC is introducing us to a hell of a tradeoff. The story (at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kglle0p3vo) is giving us ‘Meta considers charging for ad-free Facebook and Instagram in the UK’, the setting is not really a surprise. On April 10th 2018 we were clearly given “Senator, we run ads” and we all laughed. Congress is trying to be smart over and over again and Mark Zuckerberg was showing them the ropes. Every single time. There was little or no question on this on how they were making money. Yet now the game changes. You see, in the past Facebook (say META) was the captain of their data vessel. A system where they had the power and the collective security of our data in hands. There was no question on any setting and even I was in the assumption that they had firm hands on a data repository a lot larger than the vault if the Bank of England. That was until Cambridge Analytica and in March 2018 their business practices were shown the limelight and it also meant that Facebook no longer had control of their ship of data, which meant that their ‘treasure’ was fading. 

So now we get “Facebook and Instagram owner Meta is considering a paid subscription in the UK which would remove adverts from its platforms. Under the plans, people using the social media sites could be asked to pay for an ad-free experience if they do not want their data to be tracked.” It makes perfect sense that under the guise of no advertising, the mention of paid services make perfect sense. This is given to us via the setting of “It comes as the company agreed to stop targeting ads at a British woman last week following a protracted legal battle.” I don’t get it, the protracted legal battle seems odd as this was the tradeoff for a free service. Is this a woke thing? You get a free service and the advertising is the process for this. As such I do not get the issue of “Guidance issued by the regulator in January states that users must be presented with a genuine free choice.” This makes some kind of sense, so it is either pay for the service or suffer the consequences of advertising. And lets be clear the value of META relies on targeted advertising. What is the use of targeting everyone for a car ad when it includes the 26% of the people who do not have a drivers license. There is the addition that these people need to have an income of over $45,000 to afford the 2025 Lexus RX $90,350 which is about 30%. We can (presumptively) assume that this get us a population of about 20%-25%, so does it make any sense for Lexus to address the 100% whilst only one in four or one in five is optionally in the market? Makes no sense does it? As such META needs to rely on as much targeted advertising as it can. And as you can see, The advertising model, known as “consent or pay”, has become increasingly popular. And at some point they were giving the people “But it reduced its prices and said it would provide a way for users not willing to pay to opt to see adverts which are “less personalised”, in response to regulatory concerns.” That is partially acceptable, but I have a different issue. You see, I foresee issues with “less personalised”, apart from gambling sites, there is a larger concern that even as Facebook (or META) isn’t capturing some data. There is the larger fear that some will offer some services and now care about capturing collected data. For example sites outside the EU (or UK). Sites in China and Russia like their social sites that collect this data and optionally sell it to META. You see, there is as I currently see it no defense on this. Like in the 90’s when American providers made some agreement, but some of them did not qualify the stage of what happened to the data backups and those were not considered, when they were addressed it was years later and the data had left the barn (almost everywhere). 

There is a fear (a personal fear) that the so called captains of industry have not considered (I reckon intentionally) the need of replacing and protecting aggregated data and aggregated results. Which allows for a whole battery of additional statistics. Another personal fear is the approach to data and what they laughingly call AI. It is hard to set a stage, but I will try. 

To get this I will refer to a program called SPSS (now IBM Statistics) so called {In SPSS, cluster analysis groups similar data points into clusters, while discriminant analysis classifies data points into pre-defined groups based on predictor variables.}

So to get data points into a grouping like income to household types, this is a cluster analyses.

And to get household types onto data points like income to household types, is called a discriminant analyses. Now as I personally see it (I am definitely not a statistician) If one direction is determined, the other one should always fail. It is a one direction solution. So a cluster analyses is proven, a discriminant analyses to income ill always fail and vice versa. Now with NIP (Near Intelligent Parsing, which is what these AI firms do) They will try to set a stage to make this work. And that is how the wheels come of the wagon and we get a whole range of weird results. But now as people set the stage for contributing to third party parsing and resource aggregation, I feel that a dangerous setting could evolve and there is no defense against that. As I see it, the ‘data boys’ need to isolate the chance of us being aggregated through third parties and as I see it META needs to be isolated from that level of data ‘intrusion’. A dangerous level of data to say the least.

There is always a downside to a tradeoff and too many aren’t aware of the downside of that tradeoff. So have a great day and try to have a half cup of good coffee (data boys get that old premise)

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 23, 2025 · 04:49

Recalling the idea

I was in a stage yesterday when I got a little too much ‘creativity’, as such two idea’s revisited me. The first was a good one, the use of AR (Augmented Reality) in malls. I wanted to add more functionality in the new IP and in part I succeeded. That idea was warped in a second setting that I also described in a previous article. The application towards real estate was achieved as I looked in the application towards Dubai, I realized that a quote in the Middle East Economy “Dubai’s residential sector saw 32 percent sales growth in 2024, reaching $99.9 billion, driven by investor interest” this implies that the 100% gives us 312 billion, now as I see it, the IP could bring at a mere 2% an added 6 billion. I use conservative numbers and this is merely Dubai. I believe that due to segmentation of the housing market the IP could be a lot more powerful. Taking in consideration places like New York, London, Stockholm, Paris, Riyadh and a few other places, the revenue becomes very interesting. This part I had figured out already. The setting had novel parts and as it could work in a 24:7 setting the larger stage is the missing of idle time and when people are drawn to a place or location. 

Screenshot

I was considering the addition. The setting of an information stand that is in ‘always on mode’ and when people can use the setting because of the setting of any particular mall, the provider merely needs to have a stall, or an arrangement, and the screen will promote in an interactive way the availability of property. And as the mobile app looks at where you are, this could work in any place. A stall is not a requirement, merely an available screen. A mere 2% represents billions in Dubai. Likely less in other places but it will still an impressive amount and in New York City recorded over $28 billion in investment sales in 2024, this implies an optional 560 million in revenue. So the setting is worth exploring. With two screens you can cover residential and business locations in several ways. Still, this is a mere application, I was looking for innovation in my application and we can add information, but that is as I see it mere iteration. The application off the Lightbox advertisement, which is merely a media box is a setting we can see in simple ways. The innovation could be seen by setting this ad in numerous ways of advertising, but that in itself is not innovative enough. Adding isn’t enough and there is a chance that it lessens the impact. So where is the innovation? As I see it, at present I got that IP nearly maximized, but I do think more can be done. In the other IP, the setting of smart ware, the IP has enough in Malls, but there is a setting to add smart collection to the app and if we can add locations (like different malls we visit) we get additional settings and that could add a new notches on the revenue streams. But that setting isn’t enough. 

As I saw one side, I also saw the side of a darker collection/distribution setting. One that does not get ‘governmental’ approval. But the mind does no distinguish that, the mind merely wants to expand the IP it created and expand on it. Perhaps it is not a good idea, perhaps it is. In a world where they are setting on greed and whilst these captains of industry all hide behind their AI and leave revenue on the ground, I found billions in revenue, but how to collect on this? The problem is that most Americans either steal or want all of the revenue. I do like to get a nice settlement fee. As such I have to hope for the eager person that collects on my ideas will leave me a nice sum. Half a dozen IP, I reckon one will leave me with a nice retirement sum and if that fails the showing of my IP in this blog will leave me with something.

Still that is a worry for later. For now I merely want to improve on what my mind did create. Two of the IP’s are as ready as they can be. I believe that the AR stage could some more improvement, but that also requires the AR servers to be deployed. I can only see the creation improve as it is set to some degree of deployment. The AR setting is clear, I wrote about it several times. But beyond that there is little I see, I saw the application for shops, the setting for Bookshops, jewelry and to some degree fashion and the application of branding. From there we can see the interaction with the Real Estate app (in the original setting) and the application of smartwear. With the AR servers, any shop that has multiple locations could directly be applied to all servers and optionally in several national settings. As such there are the a few more impediments and the stronger setting comes out over larger shops. After all the US has 113,000 malls. So when you add the EU and the Arabic nations, it becomes a nice revenue settings. That gave gave me the idea to set the Japanese idea of Eki Stamps. That idea could be set to a larger stage in a larger book with social media and online settings. So what happens when you have a book and every mall and theme park you enter will give you additional pages and whenever you are near of in a ride the stamp will get automatically added, so in the end you will get a more and more robust and impressive collection? That was the setting that was brooding in my mind when I looked at the setting of Ferrari world and WaterWorld (both in Abu Dhabi) and over time museums and other places will add to this improving the value and acceptance of the idea and that gives a rather nice setting. And when one theme park has it, the others will all follow that is the simplicity of the idea I had. So tell me now, how innovative have these so called captains of industry been?

A setting that adds an entire cog of technology and innovation all by itself (with a little cerebral assistance from yours truly). 

As such I am still looking to add to the IP my mind created and create new gaming IP. I feel fine. I was able to outdo Sergei Brin, Larry Page, Jeff Bezos, Satya Nadella, Andy Jassy and a few others. Too bad I am not that rich (adding the delusional ‘yet’ to this). 

But the journey of creating the IP was a great ride by itself. Oh, I just remember the stage I had created for Adobe. I should give that a few more thoughts. It started with a weird dream, but the dream is still accessible and it is high time that I make the Microsoft Wannabe’s squeal. Perhaps an idea for tomorrow.

Have a nice Sunday. Vancouver will follow us in 13 hours.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 22, 2025 · 11:21

Twinkletoes

Yup, this happens to us all. Even the non-dancers. Twinkletoes means “used to refer to someone who is a good dancer or who moves lightly on their feet”, I accept that, but as I personally see it, it Also stages the person who has the situation that the person “who is a thinker or who moves swiftly in their brain” the same situation applies. I have been iterating new IP through existing games for over two days now (and it is really exhausting). I have been making new iterations to my version of Elder Scrolls 6: Restoration, a new FarCry (based on the legendary FarCry 3), the new RPG I have set on paper here, new iterations of commerce (in the RPG’s) and added a setting to a new stealth RPG (not a new Assassins Creed) and a very new approach to Watchdogs 5: Observations (in its earliest infancy), I had already commenced Watchdogs 4 to paper (somewhere on this blog) and it plays in modern day Japan. I changed the setting to Sapporo, as this is relatively new in gaming and as such there is novelty in new locations and the story requires a harbor setting. And this has been merely the last two days, although the original setting were created up to 5 years ago, with the setting of Restoration (TES6) almost 10 years ago. So as I am driven to near exhaustion as my brain is in twinkletoe mode, I can assure you that it is merely my version of overly active brain syndrome (perhaps there is a medical term for it) and it is leaving me a little tired. As it the case, it did give me the setting of Watchdogs 5, the issue here that it is a networking setting as the game goes in pairs. 

It is also less action driven, but more activity driven, as such you can be the hacker or the Agent in this game, there is a larger setting that you as one or the other can give clues to a fellow on the other side of the isle and the goal is to create a more robust observation and detection system. The frail setting of certain systems allows for actions to be monitored on CCTV, the internet and personal observations. The thought came to me as I was remembering 1985 video game Hacker by Activision. It was designed by Steve Cartwright and he got it done on a system with a mere 64KB, too what happens when we throw some real power to it? What happens when we unite agents and hackers and run the system from both ends? Can this result in a much more robust system? What happened when the game adds zero day faults (Apple has a few, Microsoft has tons as I personally see it). So what happens when we set these stages in motion and it is not merely point and click, so why happens when a Palantir (Gotham) system is thrown into the mix? I am merely postulating now, the reasoning that games could also instruct or teach people on how vulnerable they are in real life. 

As we move from station to station, some might remember the game V (based on the 1983 TV series), you merely run to a point and activate that system to let the red fumes inhabit the space station (I think that was what I was supposed to do), but add a section based on Portal (by Rob Swigart, 1986) you can get a lot more. That is the setting that I see when we set a game like Hacker to a much larger stage and at that point it is new IP, not merely some variation of IP, but a much larger stage and totally new. A game that teaches, informs and trains the next stage. As we now see that programmers are programming bots to keep scammers uselessly busy, we can grow more mundane and more intense in almost any direction. And it is a new endeavor, not some wannabe drip drip copy, but something totally new. Just like the makers of Chipwits (by Epyx, 1984) made a new version a larger and more enticing version on these newer systems, we can grow many games in new jackets and larger premises to new heights. And these systems have the computation powers to net the stage much larger. We can use the setting of the Balance of Power and add a few cogs to make it a much larger machine. And as Chipwits has a new version 42 years later in a much larger setting, we can do this in many ways and I wrote about them around 4 years ago. The new IP set on original ideas and stupidly discarded by this who thought the new horizons require better games, all whilst these games are the timeless golden oldies. We saw and forgot what Millennium 2.2 brought on the Commodore Amiga with 1024 KB on 150ns. Now we have systems (and mobiles) with 32000 times more memory and more than 15000 times more storage whilst the processors are over 250,000 times faster. You can really go to town on those merits and create the larger setting on several stages. I said that this was part of the 50 million Amazon Luna sales that I foresaw and some are in such stages now, but as I saw it Amazon stayed asleep and like Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin (1864) they went with that setting in the trend of “There go my people. I must find out where they are going so I can lead them” and the left billion on the floor all relying on the AI hype. I was thinking on that last week, there is no AI and I see it as NIP, Near Intelligent Parsing (making it NIP avoiding the confusion with IP). A setting that is overlooked, because as there is no AI, they all shout, so what is it then? Well, it is near intelligent, there is no real intelligence at present and it is set to the programmers who are parsing data and ideas into new (flawed) data. You see, a lot of this is intelligence and it almost get you there, but not entirely, the training models are set to more and more likely outcomes but there are percentages that are off and that is where the shoe becomes the wrong fit and I reckon that when these errors hit ADNOC and ARAMCO both will want some legal satisfaction and it might be a few years away, but it will happen, because the distance between real AI and NIP will be the size of the Grand Canyon (which these AI proclaimers will deny) and as they throw more complex legal documents at the customers they will get out to ‘their’ field retired and non-accountable to any legal discourse. It is almost like bad mortgages sold (or swapped) to new owners and they get out. Yet this field is the new wild west and I refuse to become part of it. And what happens, I saw the new stages of income based on old software. The Atari 600/800, Atari ST, CBM64 and CBM Amiga gave us over 10,000 games between 1983 and 1999. So if we only take the highest scoring 10% we get 1000 games. Now 30%-50% have IP protection, but I saw the override in new IP in a few ways and these are valid options as I see it and that implies that that ‘great’ (not really) game brand Microsoft, left thousands of options on the floor whilst they went to spend billions on something that I not panning out. You see, where it all becomes a new kind of hustle, all whilst for over two years I have written on other means to get revenue? And I am not done yet, because as I see it, the more I write here, the more revenue I show and the more IP I give here, the weaker the bog tech firms show themselves to be. A simple setting with simple outcomes and the best gig becomes that should someone copy the IP I set here, the bigger the losers biotech becomes. A simple equation to the question what makes for a good game?

That leaves me with the question, is there a mental setting to Twinkletoes? It is merely a mental thing in me, the question I cannot answer has a larger appeal than most other things in life. Have a great day and if you wonder what bag I left here? I do some things with intent, you can’t give away the game and here is the setting. In November 2018 I wrote ‘It’s about time, slappers only’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2018/11/29/its-about-time-slappers-only/) the premise to Watchdogs 4, and the larger player would be the one with Meta Glasses, before Meta even had glasses, I call them Google Glasses. As such I was ahead from META by years. And as I see it, I have done so a few times with games and when we see Software companies make ‘innovative’ claims (hardware suppliers too) I get to be front and central in their claims showing them what I had created years ago. I reckon that I am mere steps to show what I had months if not years from what Bernard Arnault apparently had created whilst I had the setup in my bog (and more) close to a year before they made their AR (Augmented Reality) claims through LVMH. I was a few steps ahead of them and I made it common goods in my blog before March 21st 2023 in ‘The unplanned story’ (at https://lawlordtobe.com/2023/03/21/the-unplanned-story/) and all the wannabe innovators (no referral to Bernard Arnault) can go suck an egg. As I said, have a great day with an optional game or two, because gaming makes the brain go in innovative mode.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, Gaming, IT, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

March 17, 2025 · 21:50

The what? Cry me a river.

Yup this happens. I am in the mindset to cry a river as Cookie Tim (apparently the CEO of Apple) screwed up the application design of Apple products to such a degree that several apps are now lagging and giving me less joy and appreciation of what Apple does at present. In Music, Keynote, And Photos and a few more items. These three hit me personally. So as such if I can give Cookie Tim a hard time I will. As such when the BBC gave us ‘Global smartwatch sales fall for first time’ I was interested in reading that ‘news’. News by Imran Rahman-Jones. So first we see “Global sales of smartwatches have fallen for the first time, new figures indicate, in large part due to a sharp decline in the popularity of market leader, Apple.” That is nothing short of weirdly imaginative and a lack of reasoning has applied. Then we get “Market research firm Counterpoint says 7% fewer of the devices were shipped in 2024 compared to the year before. Shipments of Apple Watches fell by 19% in that period, Counterpoint says.” And the first thing I wonder is where is the data? I am decently convinced (like 80%+ certain), I could drill holes in that, possibly the size of the grand canyon. So where is my view? Well, the general setting is that “Samsung introduced a rectangular smart watch, the Samsung Gear, in 2013, two years before the first rectangular Apple Watch.” And yes, Apple ruled that market in the beginning. As I personally see it I reckon that in a short time Apple had that market for about 70% and Samsung for 30% And when you consider that in 2025 Android has 71.75%, IOS has 27.78%, So there is a large abundance of non-Apple systems. So Apple did something extremely right in those days. The larger setting that the BBC seemingly overlooks is that the consumer gets a watch once and then some time later another one. You see, these bad boys cost a few shillings and as such plenty of people cannot afford one. So I bought my Smartwatch last year and I expect that this device will last until at least 2027 and it is not as expensive as the Apple variety (and I am an Android fan). As such, at present we have iTouch, Garmin, HardHat, GadPro, Nexus, Huawei, Withings, Amazfit, Xiaomi, Imoo, HiFuture (all iOS options) and some of these are being marketed as ‘the economical choice’ the iTouch is less than $50, whilst the Apple Watches come at well over 1000% ($500+). As people cannot afford a lot of stuff and some are still new in the Smartwatch category, Can you blame them for selecting the cheaper option at present? 

As the article is blatantly short on ‘data’ can you blame me for not believing a word that the BBC prints here? That is besides the lack of the words ‘pricing’, ‘price’ and ‘expensive’ in this article. Another reference is “Another large contributor to the global sales drop was India, which fell from 30% of the market to 23%.” It seems like an issue that is until you realise that in India “In 2023, Android held a share of 95.17 percent of the mobile operating system market in India. This was followed by Apple’s iOS, a distant second, with 3.98 percent market share.” (Source: Statista), so when you consider that a 7% drop over a market they only have for 4%, the drop is negligible. But the BBC wanted something to write about, how about we write about the lack of data in this setting? Oh, wait they are already screwing this up in regards to the Hamas setting. As such this lack is merely laughable. 

Another setting I dropped over (not in this article) was “So, it makes sense for users to buy an iPhone, especially if they already have a Mac, iPad or even the Apple Watch.” Now this isn’t a given, but I reckon that a smartwatch lacks vision if you do not have the proper smart phone. 

So is there a real setting?
Actually the article gives us that “the fact a rumoured high-end Ultra 3 model never materialised.” This could be a reason, but that implies that these customers from 2024 are merely waiting for a release in 2025, so they aren’t gone, there are merely set in a waiting pattern awaiting the go signal. I would be in the same setting with the MAC Studio (if I could afford one). Why select the M4Max over an M3Ultra, it would make more sense waiting until the M4Ultra comes (and perhaps at that time I could afford one). So we have two settings, the affordability (in this economy) and the technology when it comes available as well as the realistic option that there is a market saturation, or near that setting and with a dozen brands Apple will lose a few notches and that too is missing from the article. It gives us ‘how great’ Chinese brands are doing, but there is more than China. There is a flood of brands coming to the customers now and as Apple staff (in their shops) are ‘indoctrinated’ to do the Apple talk in a few ways, they are losing market share there too. I reckon that it is the price of depending on teenagers doing the job because they look fresh and appealing. I reckon that it is costing Apple more than they realise. It is a choice and I reckon it is no longer the better choice.

Still that doesn’t excuse the BBC article, it is as I personally see it shoddy all by itself. 

Have a great day this Monday.

Leave a comment

Filed under Finance, IT, Media, Science

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,