I'm not sure what your expectations are of a PR piece...do you want to see EA's KPI dashboard and development roadmap? Shareholders don't even see that, so why should you? And to be fair, I think a specific thing they mentioned was giving away SimCity for free to 900k users, that's not trivial.
I actually really appreciated the honesty of this piece because I think it shows some integrity on EA's part to be willing to admit fault. How many companies have driven themselves into irrelevance and destruction by thinking they were right every time?
I don't think it's worth talking down their numbers either, consumers vote with their wallets. If you really though a product was crap, you'd find something else, otherwise there's clearly something of quality there that keeps you coming back.
I work in the newer side of the games industry and see in painful detail how far EA has to go to catch up with recent trends and regain their dominance in the marketplace, but as someone who's also had my fair share of memorable experiences from EA games, I'm pulling for them.
Really interesting article on the history of coffee in Muslim culture. Needless to say, I don't think any of us would be awake right now if it weren't for the consistently revered reputation of this humble seed.
If you find that interesting you might also consider reading into the controversial use of khat in the middle east.
For those that don't know, Khat is a leaf which releases an amphetamine like product when chewed. Traditionally scholars would consume it to help them stay up at night and pray or study however, like all good things, its beneficial uses gave way to its degenerative abuses.
Now Khat is considered Haram (banned from an Islam legal perspective), because its misuse over rides any benefit. Its sad to see some countries though (Yemen, Somalia) have not been able to overcome the addictive and economically lucrative product. Large swathes of Yemen for instance grow the product, which means large aquifiers are redirected primarily to this crop, depriving others from growing staples and other produce. This in turn contributes to a lack of food within the country, resulting in reduced health (particularly in young children). The other knock on effect is that once peopel start chewing it (around lunch time) the whole city shuts down. Someone should really do a case study on it.
Marijuana is also another interesting psychostimulant with a (tenuous) link to Islam. The original assassins (Hashashins), though considered an extreme sect with barely any resemblance to traditional Islamic orthodoxy, relied on Marijuana to produce what we know term assassins!
I'm glad for this piece to have come out of Pycon. After all the damage to the community, it's great to see how much good still came out of this event.
I imagine it varies a lot by category/board. Cat boards (which is what I use it for) = no intent to buy. Cooking implements = high intent to buy. Women browsing $20k dresses, somewhere in between.
It seems like the pace of cyberattacks is accelerating...will be interesting to see how the US responds, and especially if it's even possible for massive government organizations to adapt quickly enough.
I actually really appreciated the honesty of this piece because I think it shows some integrity on EA's part to be willing to admit fault. How many companies have driven themselves into irrelevance and destruction by thinking they were right every time?
I don't think it's worth talking down their numbers either, consumers vote with their wallets. If you really though a product was crap, you'd find something else, otherwise there's clearly something of quality there that keeps you coming back.
I work in the newer side of the games industry and see in painful detail how far EA has to go to catch up with recent trends and regain their dominance in the marketplace, but as someone who's also had my fair share of memorable experiences from EA games, I'm pulling for them.