As I read around the informational quagmire that is the Information Super Highway, I often come across bits and pieces that I want to write about here, things which I feel should be read by as many people as possible.

For some things, I can write a useful commentary which I feel adds something to the linked content in question. Many times, however, I will start to write and realise I’m regurgitating the article’s content. For these stories, articles and entries, I’ve decided to go the path many have treaded before me — start posting link-blogs. Of course, I shall also continue writing proper content — link blogs feel like a cheat to me. Perhaps, therefore, this will be the first of many or a style that, for me, will sink without trace.

The vista_cost paper I linked to a couple of weeks ago has obviously caused some consternation at Microsoft HQ, as they’ve taken the time to write a response on the Windows Vista Team Blog.

What is most interesting about the reply is that it makes no attempt to discredit any of the assertions in the original paper &— which is indicative that most, if not all, of the statements about possible problems with Vista’s DRM restrictions are accurate. Especially, and tellingly, there is no denial that adding these restrictions will have a cost that will fall on device manufacturers and, therefore, be passed onto consumers. That is, you have to pay both financially and in the function of you computer.

I think that this is probably one of the better deals I’ve seen in a while. Check out the image in case the page has changed :) I think that it is a move which creates a major differentiating feature in the low-profit PC market.

I wonder if this will be taken up by other manufacturers. I can imagine Dell going for large but boring countries and Apple going for odd places like Togo or Andorra.

News just in:

With new Web 5.0 Technologies, including HP Smell-ternet, Microsoft Smell-ternet Explorer and Mozilla Smell-erfox, users can experience new multimedia experiences via visual-audio-smell combinations! Smell the dung in your virtual safari (www.smell-afari.com)! Experience the smog in London: A nasal tour (www.alondonersnose.co.uk) and get yourself hungry on the morning after at www.greasy-spoon.org!

Web 6.0 alpha 1 includes pins in your eyes and the taste of rancid frogs (low-bandwidth prototype).

Microsoft have a page on design and how it effects the experience a user of software. It’s actually reasonably insightful, showing the experiences of creating the XBox 360 and Zune are being gradually rolled out within Microsoft. The obviously now realise that a user’s experience is key to being successful in future — and they cannot rely solely on an entrenched position to provide the impetus for selling their products, as in the past.