Wednesday, June 25, 2008

WIPI needs to die.

The Iphone clones present and upcoming from LG and Samsung are severely underwhelming. UI on these sad sad puppies are just as clunky as ever

But it is getting idiotic here in Korea. Our culture's propensity to try to average things out in every aspect of the society has led to this deficiency in innovation.

Copy Copy the leader...but don't dare take the risk of standing out...

New Zealand and the "tall poppy syndrome"....

So....they need to not have safe harbor anywhere in the world...so that they are forced to really really execute and design for the customers instead of for production efficiency.

WIPI is a middleware standard enacted by the Korean governmetn which essentially works as a trade barrier. Its enactment in 2003 drove Nokia phones out of the Korean market after domestic companies became fearful of Sony Ericcson, RIM, and other companies joining the fray.

Meanwhile LG and Samsung face no such obstacles anywhere else in the world.

It's amazing how selective the Korean media and popular sentiment is. Complain about unfair or "subpar" products...but ignore or remain silent on the unfair and unequitable trade practices being practiced by domestic companies.

Remain silent how this lack of competition allows price gouging on an immense scale.

Get rid of WIPI. It does nothing for the consumer, nothing positive for the market, keeps things closed.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Cool Diversion from a fellow Seoul based Games involved blogger

Go here http://phantomleap.com. There needs to be more output from Seoul because I am going to be horrified if your only viewpoint on the industry here is:

1) Field of Dreams...wheee they have it so perfect there for gamers! ( any mainstream coverage )
2) It is a place of Grind and lack of innovation ( that's ME own trademarked cranky view)

3) Aren'tyou starving and have nuclear weapons there? (people I so want to...uh defenestrate)

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Interruptus explained

So there was this 2 month interruption:

1) Working on getting ready for my CFA Level 1 exams.

2) Working on getting ready for a 700 + score on my GMAT

3) Interviewed for my perspectives on the Korean game industry ( hmm having a blog in English in Korea on an industry without too many people who can commune in English is a plus)

4) Got some interesting offers I am mulling over.

5) Working on a system where I can accomplish a "Zero Punctuation"-ish review of Korean games and web user apps. Trying to figure out how to use my Wacom tablet in the process.

6) Been working like the dickens in order to be able to attend my friend, Farhan Kazmi's, sad departure from the ranks of bachelorhood in Chicago.

7) Planning a trip to San Fran. London. Maybe Dublin. Logistics and expenses are hell.

8) GTA IV. TF2. COH. COD4. COH. AOC. and other acroynms of shameful distractions. Thankfully LSD is not one of them.

I hope to do a few more cranky overview posts and then expose you to my crank yanked Korean game reviews soon.