Here are my weekly notes:
- My Dad was in town this weekend, for some shopping and other stuff. We had the experience so many others have had – should we buy HD-DVD or Blu-ray? I’m looking forward to his post(s) on the topic (he ended up buying HD-DVD).
- In five years it may be common to think of Starbucks and McDonald’s as competitors. SBUX is adding sandwiches and other food items to their menu, and MCD is gearing up to add premium coffees to theirs.
- I haven’t read this article yet, but it looks fascinating – 23AndMe Will Decode Your DNA for $1000. Welcome to the Age of Genomics. Give it two years and this will cost a couple hundred bucks. I’d pay for that.
- Inuvik, the 3000 person town I used to live in, has passed a bylaw imposing a curfew for anyone under the age of 16. So glad that didn’t exist when I lived there!
- Is Blockbuster dead? I think the writing is on the wall. Digital distribution is the way movies are going…or rentals a la Netflix. Blockbuster isn’t going down without a fight, though. CEO James Keyes outlined his company’s vision recently, and it is all about embracing technology. Too little too late?
- One of the popular memes this week was the death of email. I say bring it on! I hate email. Scott Karp wrote a response, essentially arguing that email is not dead because everyone has it. He also says that spam demonstrates the power of email. To that I say: what a load of crap! This is 2007 not 1997…we can do better, and we will.
What I’m Listening To: Paramore
I’m addicted to Paramore! I first heard them on MTV Canada (which is funny, as the channel almost never shows music videos). They’re an extremely young group of four (age range is 17-22), fronted by the bright-orange-haired Hayley Williams. My favorite songs so far are "Crushcrushcrush" and "Misery Business" off their newest album Riot!. I also quite like "Emergency" off their first album, All We Know Is Falling. If you hear anything about them coming to Edmonton (or Canada, for that matter) let me know!
MasterMaq's Blog 
I hate email too, and would not miss it at all! The only thing that can make a Monday morning worse is having 50 emails to weed through. I much prefer friends message me on Facebook (spamless)! To me, email’s *only* purpose is business-related communication.
I completely agree! Email has become a very formal method of communication for me. I almost never use it for friends, and certainly never for family.