PS4 or XBOX One - Who wins the Console War this Christmas?

So, after a bit more than a year on the market, who is leading the console game war – Sony’s Playstation 4 or Microsoft’s XBOX One? Set aside for a moment the notion that console gaming is on borrowed time. In fact marinate on this: between the two, the gaming answer to Hatfield and McCoy have sold a whopping 24 million units … in the first year alone. Before you say, “well, really, how many is that,” think about this – that’s a 70% increase over the sales of the equally lauded PS3 and XBOX 360.

 

Here’s the thing…the race for supremacy isn’t, at this point, very close. To date, Sony has sold about 14 million units while Microsoft has shipped roughly ten million. Why the gap? Well, the knock on XBOX is that it’s too general of a machine. Sony went after gamers primarily while Microsoft chased the larger streaming entertainment audience. Nobody needs to tell anyone just how crowded that particular marketplace is at the moment. Also, let’s not forget that the One cost $100 more than the 4 when it hit the market. Sure, XBOX eventually relented, offering a cheaper version without the Kinect camera – which is actually pretty cool, but nobody really cared overmuch about.

 

Slowly, Microsoft began to catch up. Now, with the 2014 holiday season looming, consumers who decided to get another year out of their PS3 or 360 might be tempted to upgrade. Still, that scenario offers no clear favorites. For every Only One Console Halo or Bloodborne, there are a host of games whose designers have refused to be relegated to only half the market.

 

But what could give one or the other the advantage this holiday season? Well, first, consider Sony’s new “Playstation Vue,” which is planned to compete with standard cable. Sony hopes this will entice gamers to use their PS4’s even more and to encourage non-gamers to buy into what Sony is offering from a streaming platform.

 

But the real question will once again be just how ready the market is to give up on gaming consoles altogether. Is the age of the mobile-gamer finally here? Will both Playstation and XBOX be as current as Sega come next January? Don’t laugh, both GTA5 and Destiny had strong digital download numbers, and other games maintain strong fan followings. Wherever the market turns, one thing is certain: both Sony and Microsoft will have to weather the onslaught of wireless gaming while keeping an eye on each other.

What makes a great leader? Inspirational Quotes Curated by Gennady Barsky

Leaders aren't born, nor are they made over night. If you study the great leaders - you can establish the Do's and Don'ts for becoming a leader. We have invited Gennady Barsky to curate the best quotes on What makes a Leader. Hopefully this will provide great inspiration for those who want to be leaders of people.

What constitutes a great leader – here are some quotes on the issue:

·        “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Warren Bennis

·       “Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.” Norman Schwarzkopf

·       “Leaders do not proclaim themselves as leaders – they simply are that.”  Jonah Engler

·       “Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.” Peter Drucker

·       “I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Ralph Nader

·       “The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” Kenneth Blanchard

·       “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.” General Dwight Eisenhower

·       “Education is the mother of leadership.” Wendell Willkie

·       “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy

·       “Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise.” Woodrow Wilson

·       “To have long term success as a coach or in any position of leadership, you have to be obsessed in some way.” Pat Riley

·       “True leadership lies in guiding others to success. In ensuring that everyone is performing at their best, doing the work they are pledged to do and doing it well.” Bill Owens

·       “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” John C. Maxwell

·       “The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.” Tony Blair

·       “Leaders simply go out and make it happen.” Gennady Barsky

·        “The challenge of leadership is to be strong but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not a bully; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.” Jim Rohn

·        “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” Stephen Covey

·       “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” John Buchan

·       “Leadership is intentional influence.” Michael McKinney

·       “Leadership is the ability to establish standards and manage a creative climate where people are self-motivated toward the mastery of long term constructive goals, in a participatory environment of mutual respect, compatible with personal values.” Mike Vance

·     “The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet.” Father Theodore M. Hesburgh

New York Tech Scene Hype

New York City is considered by many business enthusiasts to be the new mecca of technology start-ups. Techies are even calling it the Silicon Valley of the East, much to the chagrin of people who see more successful Boston and Seattle-based companies as proof that the Big Apple could never compete. Yet progressively more business-minded hopefuls are relocating to New York City each year. Is the resounding hype on this city's tech market going to produce fruitful business? Or will everyone escape to a more profitable area after a thousand more failed start-ups?

Let us examine the evidence surrounding the techie hype. Thus far, New York City has produced only one start-up company that has gone public with a value exceeding $1 billion. That particular company is Tumblr, a blogging website purchased by Yahoo in 2013 for approximately $1.1 billion.

Besides Tumblr, New York City shows no signs of other legitimately profitable tech start-ups, at least, none that have been venture-backed. Of course, there are a few other companies in the city such as AppNexus and Buzzfeed valued at more than $1 billion on paper, lifted up by certain investors and venture capitalists. But paper value can drop in an instant; the companies Foursquare and Fab are just two examples of this unfortunate fact.

When you take a look at the most recent exits worth $1 billion, it becomes clear that New York may still have a long way to go in matching the hype. An e-commerce company based in Boston, Wayfair, is raking in the dough; it went public on October 2 at a whopping $2.4 billion, an amount that demolishes Tumblr's achievements. Wayfair closed the day with more than $3 billion, a true testament to the effectiveness of start-ups in competing cities.

Another example of more valuable companies in other cities includes TripAdvisor, a company based in Newton, Massachusetts. It is publicly worth $12 billion and represents just one of the many successful companies based in tech-savvy Newton. If you need even more evidence, take a glance at Austin's company roster with the company RetailMeNot.

Many believe that New York City should instead be compared to Chicago, a smaller city in terms of tech start-ups. But even Groupon, a Chicago-based company with dwindling profits, has a value that quadruples Tumblr's selling price. Let us not forget about Atlanta, Georgia, which is also more logically compared to New York City. Even Atlanta is home to more publicly valuable companies with VMWare at $1.5 billion as just one example.

We are all rooting for New York City to catch up, but with the evidence contradicting the claims, it looks like the Big Apple has a lot of work to do if it wants a shot at being the real Silicon Valley of the East. It is undeniable that New York City is home to publishing empires and hundreds of extremely profitable businesses. However, can it live up to the hype of its tech start-ups? Or is the hype already over in the face of more successful start-ups in other cities?

Texas Vote ID Law

Texas Governor Rick Perry signed SB14 into law in the summer of 2014. The new law was struck down as an unconstitutional poll tax by federal judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, then upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. In an unexpected move, the Supreme Court ruled that the new voter ID restrictions can be exercised and applied during the 2014 midterm elections.

This misbegotten law has served to lock out about 600,000 people in Texas, preventing them from exercising their voting privileges. Many residents live in poverty. To obtain one of the six forms of acceptable I.D., they would have to spend money they don't have, take a day off of work and visit their Department of Public Safety to obtain an Election Identification Certificate or EIC.

Think about the roadblocks that Texas residents face in getting an EIC. Eric Kennie is one of these Austin residents. He collects recyclables for a living. At the end of an average month, he earns a little more than $620.00. What forms of ID does he have?

º Personal photo ID that expired in 2000
º His voter registration card

Because neither of these is an acceptable form of identification that would enable him to obtain an EIC, he won't be voting on November 4. Well then, what about his birth certificate? That won't work either because his birth certificate lists him as "Eric Caruthers," not Eric Kennie. "Caruthers" is his mother's maiden name.

What's more, Kennie has never even left Austin, his hometown. He has never driven. He has never held a U.S. passport. He has never been in the military.

Texas residents trying to obtain their EICs so they can comply with the law and vote are also faced with some considerable hurdles. If they don't own a car, they have to take a bus from their home to a DPS office. They have to wait for their turn – and hope that the forms of ID they have brought with them will be acceptable.

In a real statement of irony, this law, which by the way, is the strictest voter ID law in the country, would have forced Kennie to use the identity on his birth certificate. That action would defeat the "purpose" of this law, which is supposed to defeat voter fraud at the polls. Kennie won't vote this year. Once the election is over, he will resume his fight to obtain an acceptable form of photo ID.

AT&T rolls the dice on virtual school

Is online education the wave of the future or is it merely a band aid for schooling today – the present and cost-effective way to get a substandard education? While the answer to that particularly loaded question might not be conclusively answered for some time, there’s no doubt many tech companies are looking long and hard at the profit potential of virtual school. Now AT&T has entered the market – at least tangentially.

Recently, Georgia Tech University began offering a major accredited online education program that is substantially funded by AT&T. While some claim that the company is not directly benefitting from the program, AT&T will certainly come out ahead should GTU’s program succeed.

AT&T is not trying to answer the pending question about what virtual schools offer today’s students. Instead, AT&T is poised to pick up where traditional schooling leaves off.

In today’s fast-paced, tech-saturated marketplace, job seekers and those interested in increasing their career prospects must have continuing education. AT&T wants to be on the forefront of providing that education and it wants to offer that product to potential students virtually. It’s a dynamic that takes one of online education’s worst commercial flaws – that it ends abruptly – and eliminates it. Instead of pushing through one group of students and then going after another group, in an endless cycle of marketing and obsolescence, online continuing education providers are hoping to gain customers and keep them coming back. Perhaps not constantly, however, in some form or fashion of continual education.

For now, AT&T funded the Georgia Tech University initiative to test how well the program can train the skilled workers of today and tomorrow. Once they have that down, they can begin working on what comes next. Because what is to come is the one and only certainty in technology – it will definitely change – and someone will need to be there to explain it.

Cola Wars Go Green?

Ronn Torossian believes it had to happen sooner or later. The world’s two top soft drink companies have gone green. But not in the way you might be thinking. Recently, both Coke and Pepsi have introduced new low-calorie drinks with one thing in common – Stevia, a natural-based sugar substitute sweetener. Something else these products have in common? Green labels, presumably to echo the “natural” nature of these soft drink options.

PepsiCo has announced that it will launch Pepsi True in mid-October, though it likely won’t be rolling out in stores anytime soon. For now, consumers ccccr US debut last August, and that was in a very limited capacity. But this November, Coca-Cola Life will be available nationwide.

Pepsi True will be available in the familiar 12-ounce cans. Coca-Cola Life will come in both cans and 8-ounce bottles.

Torossian says it’s important to note that, although these are “reduced calorie” offerings, they may not necessarily be able to be marketed as sugar free or “diet” soft drinks. It’s an interesting strategy for both companies. Finding a niche between niches, so to speak. Consider, the new offerings might appeal to regular Coke and Pepsi drinkers who are looking to reduce their sugar and calorie intake. And it might sound good to current diet soda drinkers who just can’t get past the taste.

Coke and Pepsi are hoping to attract consumers from both of these groups to create a market overlap that currently doesn’t exist. Sure, many folks will take either diet or regular in a pinch, but for the most part, these groups are strictly delineated … and by their own choice.

Torossian says that leads to yet another difficult PR risk. Both companies are risking splitting their own customer base. This is not the same as splinter groups, such as Mountain Dew drinkers or Mr. Pibb drinkers. How will the companies address the intentional sacrifice of both regular and diet customers in order to build a market for their stevia brands? It’s an interesting PR and marketing conundrum, but look for the market to provide an answer – and likely in a short period of time.

Like Crystal Pepsi and New Coke before them, new soda ideas that don’t immediately produce generally have a short shelf life.

GM woes: Now the Corvette???

It might seem like piling on, but really, Ronn Torossian said GM is doing it to itself … and that may not be a bad thing. Aside from the Silverado truck, if anyone had to name an iconic GM model, there is really only one top contender. The Corvette. But now, the auto manufacturer has announced it will stop selling Corvettes. At least temporarily. Yes, seriously.

Sure the latest ‘Vette can go 0 to 60 in less than four seconds, but as far as driving one off the lot … well, you’re pretty much at a stand still. According to a recent press statement, GMhas told Chevy dealers to stop delivery of about 2,000 Corvettes in order to inspect them for a, quote, “suspicious part” that, apparently, has something to do with the driver’s side airbag. Further, GM has also stopped shipments from its Bowling Green, Kentucky plant, the place that has been building Corvettes for three decades. This issue has to do with the parking brake, which “must be inspected to ensure it works on both rear tires.”

Come again? The breaks don’t work and the airbag might be faulty? Oh, and this just in, the Corvette only makes up a few thousand of the 270,000 vehicles GM currently has on recall for a plethora of reasons.

Now, there might be two sides to this PR nightmare. Side one, GM is in it deep. Simple, and it’s likely the tactic Ford and Chrysler will approach. However, that’s not exactly a fair assessment. At the heart of all of GM’s recent troubles has been the fact that they were clearly lax and tardy in resolving an issue that has claimed (at least) nineteen lives. HOWEVER, here they are voluntarily recalling their MOST ICONIC automobile. I’d say that’s cause for an “atta boy.” Yes, recalls are common, and yes, recalls are responsible. But by now, even GM’s top brass have got to be thinking, “What now?”

No matter how they spin it, this will be difficult treading from a public relations perspective. They knew this before they released the statement – but they made the statement, anyway. This is clearly the action of a company that has seen its errors and is working hard to rebuild public trust.