Playstation 3

With all of the competition these days between video game company's, Sony is the latest to come out with their big new product, the Playstation 3. It is said to be able to "do everything", but does it really live up to the hype? First off, the console was released much later than any of the other video game consoles, and does not seem to have any features that are much different than the others. Along with that, the starting price for the full console was a whopping $600. A cheaper console was available for about $400, but did not include everything that the full one did. So the question still lingers, is the Playstation 3 as good as the Xbox 360 or the Nintendo Wii? And, is the console itself worth all of the money that the buyer must spend for it? I personally have never played it so I don't know the answer to those questions.

iPhone vs. competitors

As everybody knows already, the iPhone is completely dominating the world when it comes to cell phone technology. Apple is making extremely rapid advances with the iPhone and it seems as if everybody will soon have one. But what about its competitors? How close are they to catching up with the iPhone and all of its applications? Apple was asked this question and they replied stating that some other phones are close, and maybe even as advanced, to the first iPhone that was released, but that they have moved way beyond that technology with the new iPhones. They also stated that the new Droid phone could be the toughest competitor that the iPhone will have to face. Will there ever be a phone as easy to use or as advanced as the iPhone? Who knows.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/19/apple-on-its-iphone-competitors-theyre-still-catching-up-to-the-first-iphone/

Video games and obesity

I think that childhood obesity is getting way too out of hand today. Most of that has to do with the diet that kid's are used to and the foods that they are eating every day of their lives, but I also think that the lack of exercise that children are getting can lead to the problem of obesity. An article shown in Obesity Research states that a study found that children who play video games excessively may double their risk of obesity. I feel that this needs to turn around fast or there will be major health problems for these children later in their lives. With all of the video games advancing as fast as they are, it does not look like the conditions will get any better in the near future.

http://children.webmd.com/news/20040702/video-games-tv-double-childhood-obesity-risk

Penalties for illegally downloading music

Everybody knows the penalties for illegally download music, but why do people still do it? Music is available to purchase on the internet and also on itunes. Although illegally downloading music is easy to get away with, the consequences, if caught, are outrageous! On June 18, a 32 year old lady in Minnesota was caught downloading music and was fined $80,000 for each song. Even though she only had 24 songs, she had to pay a total of $1.9 million. Even though I agree that illegally downloading music is wrong and is technically stealing, i strongly disagree with the consequences. I feel that whoever is in charge should stop the downloading at the source and not penalize people so much for downloading. To be honest, I would still be downloading music if i wouldn't get my internet taken away by the school.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/18/minnesota.music.download.fine/

Mac or PC

Now that I am in college, everybody i see is always using a laptop. The debate arises several times a week... what is better, a mac or a pc? I have always had a pc and find them much easier to use than a mac, but I seem to be in the minority here at school. Everybody seems to think that Macs are much easier to use than PCs and are much faster. I have never owned a mac so I feel that nothing can get easier than a PC. The Mac commercials have basically turned the mac/pc debate into a competition. I'm not sure which one is faster, cheaper, or better, but since I am more comfortable with a pc I think I would always go with that and not a mac. Which one would you choose?

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews/4258725.html

Evolution of social networking

I feel that everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has a Facebook now and relies on it for just about everything. Social networking has never seemed so popluar as it is today, and I feel that people are becoming less and less social in face to face conversations. When I was younger, the only way of online communicating that i was aware of was AOL instant messenger, Yahoo messenger, and of course e-mail. Eventually it turned to myspace when I was in middle school and in the beginning years of high school. Then Facebook came around and was all the rage. Everybody got a facebook and that was the end of actual live conversation. Even phone calls aren't popluar anymore, everyone just uses text messaging. The most recent of these communicating tools online is Skype, which is the closest to actual conversation, and is actually very useful when communicating with somebody who is not within talking distance. Social networking sites have come a long way in the past decade from email and blogging to video conversations, but I feel that they are taking away peoples' abilities to hold a face-to-face conversation.

http://www.sociableblog.com/2009/05/20/evolution-of-social-networking-sites/

iphone popularity

Tonight at dinner, a conversation between two of my friends arose about how each of them liked their iphones. This conversation made me wonder what the appeal to the iphone was compared to other high tech phones. I have never used an iphone in depth so I'm not very familiar with the apps or other programs that are available for them. To me, the iphone seems no more high tech or any better than a phone such as the blackberry. I have been told that what makes the iphone so much better than all the other phones are its features that other phones don't have. Features like a touch screen, Google map, weather, notes, and what seems to be an endless amount of games that are available for free or for purchase. The fact that the screen on the iphone basically takes up the whole phone is also very appealing. It's not like any of the other phones that have small screens, this screen makes it very easy to see everything. Another pleasing feature of the iphone is that everything is so easily accessible. Every application, contact, or song is right at your fingertips and can be reached with one touch of the screen. After reading about the iphone and being shown all of the features, it is easy to see the appeal in them over any other phone. They are basically computers, mp3 players, and phones all in one device.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/4060195/Broad-Appeal-Of-iPhone-Applications-iPhones-are-one-of-the