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Virtual Gaming Cards From The Continuing Committee And The Holotable!

In the early 1990s, Decipher acquired the licensing rights to several lucrative franchises and developed Customizable Card Games for Star Trek and Star Wars.  As the CCG market changed, Decipher lost the license to Star Wars and then Star Trek.  What Decipher underestimated was the commitment their players had!  That commitment to the game has sprouted The Holotable and The Continuing Committee and the advent of “virtual” gaming cards.

When Decipher changed its corporate direction, it decided to dump the vast online support network it had created for players of the Star Trek CCG.  Undeterred by lack of corporate support, a band of Star Trek CCG players acquired the Star Trek content from Decipher’s significant website and created The Continuing Committee.

The Continuing Committee is an online resource for players of the defunct Star Trek CCG.  More than a reference for what Decipher created, the Continuing Committee has continued developing the game through collections of virtual gaming cards.  The virtual gaming cards present images with game text in the format of the original Decipher cards.  All of the various corners of the Star Trek universe that Decipher did not have a chance to incorporate into the game have been rendered online by a dedicated community of player/developers.  Online, they create “cards” that allow them to continue playing their beloved game well-beyond the static product represented by Decipher’s cancellation of the product line.  The Continuing Committee’s efforts are not a true progression of the game in the virtual world; players are encouraged to print the virtual cards and then play those physical cards.

What is a pretty incredible reimaging of the defunct physical game is the effort made by The Holotable.  When Decipher discontinued the Star Wars CCG, another company launched a Star Wars trading card game.  Players who invested so much time and money in Decipher’s product and game mechanic resisted the other release.  They founded The Holotable.

The Holotable took the idea of virtual cards to an entirely different level.  Instead of simply creating card images that matched the style and game mechanic of the Star Wars CCG, they created an entire virtual play platform.  Registering with The Holotable, players may assemble virtual decks – file folders of their virtual cards – online.  Players then play against one another by connecting through the Internet and adding their decks to a random shuffling program that then allows players to play against one another online with the sense of unpredictability for which card games are known.  Ironically, the customizable card game industry was born out of a desire to compete with video games (the same demographics tend to be targeted for both), but the Holotable has essentially saved their card game by making an exceptionally sophisticated virtual gaming platform!

They may not (usually) exist in the physical world, but the ingenuity shown by The Continuing Committee and The Holotable to transform their beloved games into virtual games online is undeniably cool.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


DragonBot

Every generation hopes the future will be better for their children than it was for them.  Even with that hope, the first generation that was banking on the flying car ended up with the personal computer and the second generation raised to think the flying car was coming developed the Internet.  As two generations lament the lack of flying cars, the future is looking a little brighter for the next generation.  The hope that robots might make life easier and better for the next generation is becoming more of a real possibility because of the DragonBot.

The DragonBot is a robot, though some have diminished it by simply referring to it as a toy.  The researchers at MIT, Northeastern and Harvard who worked together to design and manufacture the DragonBot have called it an educational tool.  With a $1000 price tag, those who are likely to buy the DragonBot would probably prefer to consider it an educational tool as opposed to a toy as well!  While there have been several robotic toys or educational tools on the market in recent years, none is quite like the DragonBot.

The DragonBot is a furry, feathery robot that is over a foot tall.  It looks like a cross between an owl and a cocker spaniel.  The DragonBot is a robot that has two arms, two legs and a tail that has a limited range of motion.  In published tests so far, the DragonBot is able to move up and down and flail its arms.  So far, the little robot is also able to shake its torso.

One of the distinctive aspects of the DragonBot is that it does not have a face.  While initially this might seem horrible, the designers of the DragonBot seemed to think it was time Android lived up to its name and they designed the DragonBot to use an Android-powered smartphone as a controller.  Your Android-smartphone utilizes a special graphics program when you install the DragonBot app.   By activating the app and plugging it into the DragonBot’s head, your smartphone becomes the DragonBot’s face!  The faceplate is fully animated, so when your DragonBot emotes with eye movements or speaks, the face graphic moves!

What is most remarkable about the DragonBot is that it learns from the experience it has and from the experience of every other operating DragonBot.  The DragonBot runs using a Cloud-based program through the Android network.  As a result, when one DragonBot learns not to smack a dog in the eye, every DragonBot everywhere learns the exact same lesson!  While this might have vastly different results – one need only consider the neighbor child in Toy Story to posit that an entire generation of DragonBots might be raised to rightly fear children – the idea is a very cool one.

For those who love expensive gadgets, toys that learn and their Android smartphones, the DragonBot provides a must-have toy for children and adults alike!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


For Marvel Comics Fans Only: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited Is Everything You Could Want!

As the publishing industry changes with technology, it is no surprise that digital comics are becoming an important part of the lives of comic book readers everywhere.  Comic book fans have often been maligned as either being oddly illiterate (requiring pictures to actually read books) or obsessive compulsive collectors who do not even read their mint-condition books.  Digital comics confound those prejudices by giving the collectors a virtual product that allows them to enjoy the stories they love and illustrating that most comic readers are not only literate but tech savvy.  While digital comic book programs like the one from Comixology have their benefits, for readers of Marvel Comics comic books, there is no substitute for Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited is a comprehensive premium subscription digital comic reader that has been around longer than any other mainstream digital comics program.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited service is both a first-run digital publication service and the most incredible archive a Marvel Comics fan could hope for.  For $9.99/month or $59.88/year, you have access to the incredible Marvel Comics vault as well as all new comics in a digital form.

When you subscribe to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, you get unrestricted access to the Marvel Comics vault.  Every day, Marvel adds many vintage comics to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited collection and the stated goal from Marvel is to have every single issue of every single book Marvel Comics ever published available in a digital form in the vault.  Already, there are tens of thousands of Marvel Comics available from the service.  Each comic book in the collection is rendered as a Flash program.  As a subscriber, you may open any available comic book on your computer, smartphone or tablet computer to access read the book.  The Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format guides you from panel to panel of each book, so you read at your own pace, but in the order the author intended you to read the book.  This format is especially helpful when reading comic books where the illustrators awkwardly arranged the panels of the book on the page; the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited format eliminates that issue!

Marvel releases new comics in the same format, so there is consistency between old and new comic books.  Marvel publishes each new comic to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program a few months after their initial print publication.  This, they argue, keeps the print medium relevant while still encouraging subscribers to the Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited program.

With the rising costs of graphic novels and comic books, a subscription to Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited may be the most cost-effective way to keep reading comic books old and new!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


Get To Know The Guy Who Was Always Your MySpace Friend, Tom Anderson.

Back in the day, Myspace.com was the dominant social network on the Internet.  MySpace was cool and it was fun and it introduced most of the United States to the very concept of Internet social networks.  While everyone who ever visited MySpace might have a different perception of it or vastly different experiences on it, MySpace had one essential constant.  That constant was Tom.

Tom – Tom from MySpace, MySpace Tom, everybody’s friend Tom – is Thomas Anderson.  Thomas Anderson appeared as Tom on every single person’s MySpace page when they first signed up for an account from the creation of the site through 2010.  You remember Tom, right?  He was the one in the white shirt, smiling looking over his shoulder.  He was your first “friend” on MySpace.  He was everyone’s first friend on MySpace because Tom was the default friend.

Did you ever wonder just who Tom was, though?

Thomas Anderson was a bored genius as a child.  Deeply interested in computers, Thomas learned to hack at a young age and when he was a teenager, he was known in the hacking community by his online moniker Lord Flathead.  As Lord Flathead, Thomas hacked into Chase Manhattan Bank’s security system, which brought him to the attention of the F.B.I.  After studying at the University of California at Berkeley, he drifted for a while.  Thomas Anderson was the lead singer of the band Swank before spending an extended period in Taiwan.  When Thomas returned to the United States, he began Master’s studies in Critical Film Studies before becoming a product tester and copywriter for XDrive.

It was at XDrive that Thomas met Chris DeWolfe.  Within four years of meeting, Thomas Anderson and Chris DeWolfe would create MySpace.  While DeWolfe focused on the business end of MySpace and the pair programmed together, it was Thomas Anderson who was primarily responsible for the development of MySpace.  As a result, it was Thomas who fixed bugs and also made MySpace cool.  Promoting MySpace in the programming world, Thomas encouraged computer programmers to develop applications for the MySpace platform.  Under Thomas Anderson, MySpace became one of the most profitable Internet start-ups of all time.

Thomas Anderson remained one of the key executives of MySpace through the website’s sale to News Corp.  Thomas remained with the company until 2009, when he stepped down as President of MySpace.  Shortly thereafter, MySpace underwent massive layoffs and lost millions of users.  Without Tom, MySpace just couldn’t survive!

Now, Thomas Anderson is retired (at age 41!), though he is a prominent presence on Facebook and the emerging Google+.  You know a social network is promising when Tom shows up on it!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


The Changing Industry Of Video Games

If you are a video game enthusiast, 2012 promises some incredible developments.  If you have not been someone who traditionally plays video games, the prevalence of handheld computer devices like smartphones, e-readers and tablet computers may be getting you curious about what video games have to offer.  The way portable computing devices have permeated every strata of U.S. society has eliminated many barriers between subcultures, so video game geeks are hardly a fringe group any longer.  In fact, game manufacturers court adults far more often for serious video games now and if you have not considered video games recently, here are some of the fundamental changes in the market in the last few years:

1. Graphics are vastly superior. If your perception of a video game is based on early 1980s Atari graphics or even mid-1990s Nintendo graphics, the video game world will absolutely dazzle you now.  Some of the least sophisticated programs on the market, like the free program Angry Birds have animation that is in league with cartoons as opposed to those classic video games!  Many games now have such sophisticated graphics that on non-HD televisions, they look like real environments and people!

2. Gameplay is more sophisticated.  The video game industry is now a multibillion dollar industry.  To keep competitive, video games now employ extensive casts of actors, have long segments of backstory and dialog and many even begin with a short movie.  The new Star Wars: The Old Republic game used one thousand actors and came online with three hundred gaming hours of play programmed in.  Considering that the Star Wars film saga totals approximately thirteen hours, you can see how much more complicated the one game is than the entire film story!

3. Cartridges? What are cartridges?! If you recall cartridges, you haven’t played video games in a long time!  Games now come on DVD-Roms and other discs reminiscent in form to CDs.  Controllers are very different, too.  Some of the most popular video games on the market even use controllers specially designed for only their game.  Some of the new systems even use scanning technology to scan your body and movements, making you the controller!

4. Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.  With the prevalence of so many computing devices, massive games have sprouted up that allow players to play in complex virtual worlds over Internet connections.  You create a character and enter a virtual world where you are either a fantasy character, interact with super heroes or fight in great space wars.  Regardless of the platform, MMORPGs are subscription service video games where the longer you play, the more experience you build and the more powerful your character becomes.  Unlike the days of Super Mario Bros., there is no finite end to MMORPGs.  Video games, like life, never seem to end!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


Sony Tablet S: The Tablet For Those Who Want A Real Alternative To The iPad!

With the iPad dominating the tablet computer market, it is very hard for Apple Computers to claim fiercely individual people as their key demographic any longer.  Such is the price of fame; if you market to the outsiders and your product becomes mainstream, it is virtually impossible to win back the demographic that built or revitalized your company.  As those who value their sense of individuality depart from the Apple brand, they are left to figure out what company’s product will fill the same niche.  The best choice for tablet computers may come from Sony, which is ironic considering how massive a company Sony is.

The Sony Tablet S is the best option for those who want a tablet computer that offers a lot of the computing power and style of an Apple iPad without the expense or issues that accompany the iPad.  Sony Tablet S tablet computers start at the same price as the equivalent iPad, though Sony puts them on sale with greater frequency than Apple discounts the iPad.  The Sony Tablet S is about the same size and weight as an iPad.  The Tablet S features a bright 9.4” (diagonal measurement) touchscreen.

Sony’s Tablet S has a 16 GB storage capacity, though the higher-end Tablet S has 32 GB available storage space.  The Tablet S has an innovative design as it almost appears like a magazine rolled back on itself.  Thus, the thin screen rests on a thin platform.  This design serves two very cool functions.  When the Tablet S is oriented in a landscape orientation for watching movies, surfing the web or composing written works, the rounded, raised top helps reduce neck strain.  When using the touchscreen keyboard in this configuration, the design also reduces finger stress like an ergonomic keyboard would!  When oriented in portrait orientation, the design of the Tablet S makes it very easy to use as an e-reader.  The rounded side is comfortable to the grip, especially when you are holding it that way for long periods of time.

Perhaps the key selling point of the Tablet S is its compatibility with Android smartphones.  As the Android OS has become exceptionally popular, many programmers are using the OS for their new apps.  As an Android-compatible device, the Sony Tablet S has a wide array of apps currently available and many, many more in development.  Because of the stability and popularity of the Android platform, the Tablet S will remain a relevant tablet computer for years to come!

The Tablet S is able to stream movies and music from the Cloud, offering you an incredible selection of available media works.

The Sony Tablet S allows anyone who already has an Android-powered smartphone to synergize their tablet for a powerful computing and communication’s tool.  For those looking to get away from Apple, Sony and Android present great options, with the Tablet S as the tablet computer cornerstone.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


Saving The United States One Business At A Time: Lynn Tilton!

The business world continues to be mostly male-dominated.  Even as social conventions have changed, the business world has adapted less quickly than others, even in emerging markets.  Many new giants in the marketplace like Twitter, for example, have no women on their Boards of Directors.  The long odds of running a multibillion dollar company never intimidated Lynn Tilton, though!

Lynn Tilton is a pioneering businesswoman who is the CEO of Patriarch Partners.  Patriarch Partners is an umbrella company that invests in and takes over failing businesses in the United States.  Tilton searches for companies that have good ideas and good products, but are failing in the marketplace.  With Patriarch Partners, she invests heavily – usually becoming a dominant shareholder in the company – in the failing company and restructures it to make it profitable.  Companies that Patriarch Partners has rescued from the oblivion of bankruptcy include Arizona Iced Tea, Performance Design Products, Rand McNally (yes, the famous map company!) and MD Helicopters.

While usually an outsider coming in to “restructure” a company is cause for grave concern, Lynn Tilton does not operate like the stereotypical corporate investor.  Instead, Tilton has two very simple philosophies.  The first guiding principle she uses to run Patriarch Partners is that social responsibility is not antithetic to having a profitable company.  Working hand in hand with that idea comes her absolute belief in the importance of preserving jobs, especially manufacturing jobs, in the United States.  With saving American jobs and making U.S. companies profitable as her guiding principles, Tilton and Patriarch Partners have spent ten years saving 150 companies and an estimate quarter of a million U.S. jobs!

Lynn Tilton’s story is, in many ways, a classic “rags to riches” story.  While many doors were opened to her as a teenager when she became a nationally ranked tennis player, she pursued her education at Yale where she graduated with a B.A. in American Studies.  While attending Columbia Business School, she worked for Goldman Sachs and received a practical education in corporate finance.  When her marriage fell apart leaving her as a single mother, Lynn Tilton did not lose sight of her professional goals.  Instead, she completed her education, worked one hundred hours a week and provided for her daughter.  In that time, she became an expert on distressed debt and developed the philosophies that would allow her to create Patriarch Partners in 2000.

Many traditional powerhouses in the business world have begrudged Lynn Tilton for her untraditional, yet successful, approach to protecting and restoring American manufacturing.  But as those old guard businessmen layoff, outsource, or fire workers, and cash in huge bonuses while their companies illustrate less long-term viability, Tilton is helping to save the United States from economic collapse.  With Patriarch Partners and Lynn Tilton as the new models for successful enterprises in the U.S., workers here will thunderously cheer, “Out with the old; in with the new!”

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


The Best Browser Competition

It seems that no matter whom you talk to recently, everyone has his or her favorite browser. If you express any other opinion, you may find yourself in a debate over which is the best browser, but how can you know which is the best browser if you do not know about the different choices?

The four most popular browsers are Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, and Safari. Internet Explorer, commonly shortened to IE, has the most users with a market share of 52%, according to NetMarketShare. IE is the default browser preloaded onto most computers and many people simply use it out of convenience, however, it is by no means the fastest or sleekest of the choices. IE does not have the internal spell check function that the other three have, and it is the only one that does not support Macs.

Firefox is slower than IE in start-up time, but faster in navigation time and with 22% market share, Firefox is the second-most popular browser available.  One of the downsides of Firefox, however, is that it does not use thumbnail previews to allow users to preview pages by hovering over the tab.

Google Chrome, the newest of the popular browsers, has been rapidly growing in popularity. Chrome’s market share is currently at 19 percent after only three years. The best features of Chrome include its speed, simple design, and the Omnibox, which allows users to search directly in the address bar.

Safari, made by Apple, has the smallest market share of the popular browsers with only 5%. This could be because its main market is Macs. There is a Windows version, but with the other great browsers available, it is possible that PC users have already made their choice. The best things about Safari are its great look and the convenient gallery of most-browsed sites.

The best choices in terms of Internet security are Firefox and Chrome. Firefox has a ‘private mode’ that can be turned on, in order to increase your Internet security, which does not affect how your browser appears. Chrome uses ‘sandboxing,’ which means that each tab runs on its own and therefore better contains any threat to your Internet security. IE has good security, but it is not quite of the innovative quality of Firefox or Chrome. Safari does not have a private mode or anti-phishing capabilities, according to NetMarketShare.

Overall, there is no ‘best browser’ out there. Each one features different benefits, so choose one based on what you want out of your browser. Chrome fades into the background, Firefox is the fastest, IE is the most popular, and Safari has the reliability of Apple. Each one is unique and targeted at different browsing needs, but there is no rule that says you only have to have one. Try them all and keep whatever works for you, or use different browsers for different things – it is all up to you.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


Bringing Etiquette To The Internet: Daniel Post Senning!

The name “Emily Post” is synonymous with “etiquette” the whole world around.  But few people stop to consider that Emily Post was the name in etiquette for most of our grandparents . . . how is it she still dictates the rules of society after almost ninety years?  The answer, of course, is that Emily Post, the original author of Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage, does not; others continue to use her name.  Since 1946, etiquette has been dictated in Emily Post’s name from The Emily Post Institute.  The great-grand and great-great-grandchildren of Emily Post currently run The Emily Post Institute.  The member of the Emily Post Institute that is making etiquette most accessible to the current generation is Daniel Post Senning.

Daniel Post Senning is the great-great-grandson of Emily Post and he carries on her legacy still at the Emily Post Institute.  As the Manager of Web Development and Online Content, Daniel Post Senning is responsible for bringing the Emily Post Institute into the 21st Century.  While being born into the Post Dynasty might have gotten Daniel Post Senning his start, it was his ambition and technical acumen that made him into such a great asset for the Institute.  As a graduate of Pomona College with a B.S. in Molecular Biology, Daniel Post Senning had many doors open up to him.  He chose to return to the Emily Post Institute to ensure that the Institute would remain relevant in these turbulent times.

As Manager of Web Development and Online Content, Daniel Post Senning designed and brought online the Emily Post Institute’s robust website.  The cornerstone of the new website is the etipedia, which is an encyclopedia of etiquette articles available for free on the Internet.  Daniel Post Senning designed the etipedia with a robust search engine so that users could find articles fast and easily.  The ease-of-use of the etipedia has made it an indispensible online tool for journalists as well as citizens searching for etiquette information.

Not content to simply design the website and establish the Emily Post Institute as the leading online source for etiquette articles, Daniel Post Senning is also a significant content contributor to the website.  Daniel Post Senning writes extensively about etiquette on the Internet and he is responsible for the Facebook and Twitter content from the Emily Post Institute.  As a content provider for the Emily Post Institute website, Daniel Post Senning hosts one of the most dynamic features on the site; his video blog!  With his performer’s personality and wit, Daniel Post Senning frequently updates the Institute’s website with interviews and presentations that are as entertaining as they are informative.

Proper etiquette is never passé and Daniel Post Senning is ensuring that the Emily Post Institute remains relevant to teach etiquette lessons to the next generation!

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


The NPD Group Needs A New Methodology

Virtually anyone can manipulate statistics in so many different ways that it is sometimes funny what passes for news using statistics.  As the annual Consumer Electronics Show launched in Las Vegas this year, the NPD Group (formerly National Purchase Diary Group) came out with what appeared to be ominous financial statistics for the technology sector.  This was treated as potentially devastating news among many members of the technology press, most of whom were off covering the Consumer Electronics Show.

Is it possible the technology reporters and bloggers did not actually read the NPD report?  Is it possible that the mainstream media that picked up the story did not understand it?  Either way, the tech sector ought not to be reeling from the NPD Group’s assertion that holiday consumer electronics spending dropped six percent during the holiday shopping season in 2011.

This would actually be news . . . if it were true.

The NPD Group’s methodology in determining that consumer electronics sales dropped is a flawed one.  In fact, they use methodology so flawed as to make the results meaningless.  The NPD report states that total consumer technology sales “excluding cell phones, tablets, e-readers, and video games” dropped.  What?!  Why is anyone taking the report seriously when it excludes some of the biggest consumer spending items of the holiday season?!  Every major poll in every single respectable publication put the Amazon Kindle Fire at the top of both “most wanted” and “most purchased” gift lists.  The Apple iPad was also a highly sought-after and delivered gift.

Saying that consumer electronic spending is down without including tablets, e-readers and video games, is like saying that cars are being pulled over less by police . . . when red and black cars are excluded.  Given that red and black cars comprise the greatest number of cars on the road in the United States, any statistic correlating cars and car color is worthless without including them.  So, too, is a statistic about holiday spending on consumer electronics that omits the most popular consumer electronics of the holiday season!

Why did the NPD release such a worthless statistic?  To be fair, the data is virtually impossible to come by.  Amazon is notoriously tight-lipped about how many of its e-readers have sold, and, with the Kindle Fire, they have been characteristically opaque.  Apple is also less eager to release its sales figures on tablet computers, though it is widely predicted that when you consider tablets a personal computers, Apple is now the largest PC manufacturer on Earth.

Regardless of what the NPD wants consumers to think, ten days in the 2011 holiday shopping season saw billion dollar sales, which is more than any other holiday season ever before.  To think that consumer electronics like tablets, e-readers and video games did not contribute tremendously to that is naïve.

About RESCUECOM:

RESCUECOM provides computer repair and computer support, 24/7: Meeting every tech support need including data recovery, virus removal, networking, wireless services, and computer support for all brands of hardware and software. For computer support or information on products, services, or computer repair, visit https://www.rescuecom.com or call 1-800-RESCUE-PC.

For More Information, Contact:

David Milman, CEO

315-882-1100

david@rescuecom.com


321-330 of 1857
© 1997-2024 RESCUECOM Corporation
Patented - Patent Numbers: 6,898,435, 8,832,424 and 9,477,488
Additional Patents Pending