Oh Yeah!!! I mean OUYA!!!

Tech blogs and sites are talking about OUYA. OUYA is not a gaming console for the Kindle Fire or the Droid Razr but rather for the “old school” screen, the television. My research shows that OUYA is composed of a slick cube shaped console and a controller.  

OUYA's application programming interface (API) and its documentation, which are accessible via the OUYA website, show that the API clean and lightweight. The system is written on the Google’s Android OS which is written in Java. The OUYA API consists of six Java classes and it looks like the developers will have to develop interfaces on how they want the OUYA console to interface with their games. It’s a smart approach. The responsibility on how a game should interface with the OUYA is on the developers and not on the OUYA staff.

What does this mean for the gaming companies? The companies like ZYNGA and EA will need to have resources who will code the OUYA functionality for all of their games. The companies would also need to host their games. Can we repeat the words, “CLOUD COMPUTING” (again).  

What does the OUYA platform mean for customers? This approach is truly disruptive. This opens up the platform for traditional Java developers like me which in turn means more games will be developed.  

What does the OUYA platform mean for the business world? Businesses can now buy services where specific games can be built for their business needs. Game based learning is rapidly evolving into the main stream business. For instance the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently exploring games to train the next generation of Air Traffic Controllers. With a platform like OUYA, FAA can develop games a lot less cost since Java developers are not that expensive and publish these games to train new Air Traffic Controllers or even get a high school age person interested in managing air traffic.  

Even though the possibilities of OUYA are great, I worry about the security threats with a platform like OUYA. OUYA security access controls are based on its open source Android operating system (OS) and stores like Google Play don’t test the games for malicious code. Unless this policy has recently changed, OUYA may not be adopted by large organizations. If OUYA can provide a secure app store, OUYA’s potential is quite high otherwise it’s to be determined (TBD).  

In closing I will know that OUYA is successful when Stuart Scott to say “OUYA” rather than “Boo Yah” on ESPN SportsCenter.  Here is also a video I found on the OUYA website.

Memo to Tim Cook: It's time to innovate

As you noticed that Apple stock is plummeting faster than a NASA satellite crashing into the pacific ocean.  Why is that?  As a digital consumer, I would say that Apple has not released any new product.  When I mean "new", I don't mean a rehashing of its existing products like mini-iPad or new iPhone 5.  Apple was great in releasing technology which revolutionized how we consumed digital content. What Apple needs is a new Steve Jobs.  A true visionary with savvy business skills.  Tim Cook is not a visionary but rather a good COO with the title CEO.

The big question to ask is what is the next big thing to invest in.  I would say, Yahoo! looks promising but Marissa Mayer, Yahoo! CEO, seems to be taking patterns that she learned at Google and implementing them in Yahoo!  I don't see innovation.  I am loyal to the Yahoo! brand since it led me through the evolution of the internet.  It, however, has not evolved as a company. Yahoo! reminds me of Oracle in the digital content world.  Like Oracle, Yahoo bought smaller companies however Yahoo doesn't know how to integrate them to provide new and refreshing products.

My money is on Bob Iger, CEO of Walt Disney Company.  He understands his management style and the Disney brand and made some brilliant moves. His moves include:

• Acquisition of Pixar - Acquired a popular product and infused into the Disney brand.  He understood that the new generations don't easily gravitate to Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, but to Toy Story characters.  It was a win/win product.
• Acquisition of Marvel Entertainment - Acquired products  that appealed to a certain product and infused into the Disney brand
• Acquisition of Lucas Films - Acquired Star Wars and Indiana Jones and put them in the Disney family

Do you see the pattern?  Bob buys these products on behalf of Disney and uses the Disney brand to make more movies, action figures, theme parks, and sells contracts to McDonald's to sell more Happy Meal toys.

Pure brilliance. Tim Cook is muddling along.  He needs to define what Apple should do.  If he doesn't do it then Apple stocks will continue to plummet. 

Future through my Kindle Fire HD

Recently I purchased an Amazon Kindle Fire HD and I really enjoy using it.  Here are my reasons why:

• It's Green - I don't have to buy books, CDs, DVD or fancy CD/DVD players.  The content in various formats can be accessed by this Information Delivery device. I currently listen to Pandora (internet radio), watch videos on NetFlix, YouTube and Amazon Prime and read books
• It's Mobile - I like it better than an iPad since it's smaller to carry around
• It's flat out cool - Nothing like watching HD video

You may wonder why am I writing about my KindleFire. Is it because of my emotional attachment to my KindleFire? Not really.  The reason I am writing about Kindle because Kindle like devices are the future of our digital world

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Before I get into why Kindle like devices are our future, I would like to say that I, Enoch Moses, became a fan of wrist watches.  The reason is because the marvel of mechanical precision and accuracy cannot be fully appreciated when you work with software, hardware or digital content.  It's cool stuff!

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As a consumer, I love the Kindle because it brings everything that I read to one common device which I am comfortable use.  I don't have to learn how to use a CD player, a DVD player or even carry a four thousand page book.

As a content provider, I can spend more time and resources in looking at the quality of my content rather than how should send my content to my consumer.  A good example is the CEO of a local newspaper who has to worry about the following:

• How can folks access my newspaper? - Home delivery, Grocery stores, Digital
• How much money do I need to spend on raw materials? - Printing machines, paper, ink, delivery of papers

The CEO of the new content company cares about:

• How can we convene our content with more impact?  - He/she doesn't have to worry about traditional constraints like print, voice or video.  The CEO can embed a video in a written piece or have written content in a video/audio format.  Nothing like listening the author narrating his new book.
• Metrics - With digital content, they can see how popular or stale is their content.  This increases agility.

From an infrastructure point of view, Amazon and Google are providing platforms where the hardware and software can reside.  The web browser will eventually be standardized. Outsourcing development will also become a new factor.  This way the business can focus on its business domain while Information Technology (IT) will be commoditized.

I also think there will be a clear break between the domain of IT, Computer Science and Information Science.  IT will be an administrative business function where the CIO will make decisions on which IT services will be used by the business.  Computer Science services and Information Science services will become niche services which will enable businesses to meeting their mission.  For example drug companies will use information science services to mine drug and clinical data; meanwhile companies like Goole and Amazon will use computer science services to further their IT services.

How does this all relate to my KindleFire?  It may not but you may be reading it on your KindleFire.  In fact it does, as I write this content, I am not thinkin about:

• Where do I host this content?
• Is this content friendly for the web, iphone, ipad or Kindle?
• Is anyone reading this content? - I use Google analytics to track this information

I am just worried about this blog entry and this is important.  This was not possible ten to twenty years ago.  Enjoy your