Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report. This week: the surprise must-have
phone of the season, Yahoo's sinking ship, and grey, half-naked 20-somethings. But
first?it's the Gadget of the Week.
The Gadget of the Week is the T-Mobile G1, the Android phone. And if you saw the
September 26 show, you know this phone has already been the Gadget of the Week. But
that's before it actually came OUT. And now...it's REAL. And people are LINING UP
FOR IT. And it's still being given this honor for the 3G and GPS and the Wi-Fi and the
slide-out keyboard and the Amazon MP3 store. But even better...this time, it's REAL.
And that makes it better than some other phones I've been hearing so much about, such as
the BlackBerry Bold, the Storm, the HTC Touch Pro for Sprint (delayed)...So, say what
you will about the G1's form factor and lack of a standard headphone jack and lack of
real software support just yet...in terms of sheer REALNESS, the T-Mobile G1 is a
winner!
And now for the news. It was earnings report week in the tech industry, and Yahoo
reported utterly dismal numbers and confirmed it will lay off nearly 10 percent of its
workforce--or more than 1,400 people. Some tech analysts say that might not be enough
to save the company, and more layoffs could come. And there is NOTHING funny about
that many people losing their jobs in this economy, so I have to say that it's really
upsetting to consider the possibility that Yahoo is in this position because Jerry Yang was
simply too proud and stubborn to sell to Microsoft when they were offering 33 dollars a
share. THIRTY THREE DOLLARS. Yahoo is now trading for around TWELVE dollars
a share. And sure, the Microsoft thing might have involved layoffs, but at least people
would have gotten stock-option payouts ... at THIRTY-THREE-DOLLARS A SHARE. I
know, Jerry, you said you had a plan for turning this thing around, but dude? What did I
TELL you about taking the ring?
In other news, Apple has released a new set of ads that make fun of Microsoft's
advertising decisions, and also suggest that Vista is a dirty word. Because boy, we just
cannot get ENOUGH of negative campaign ads these days. REALLY refreshing stuff,
Apple. Thanks.
Moving on...remember E3? The electronic video-games expo that used to be pretty much
the highlight of the year in terms of sheer trade-show awesomeness until they gutted it
and turned it into, like, a tiny, hushed, depressing walk down conference-center lane?
Well, this week the Entertainment Software Association reported that E3 is coming
BACK, and it's going to be BIGGER AND BADDER THAN EVER! See, they can do
that now that video games seem to be the only recession-proof industry left in the world.
So, go crazy, E3. I'm sure no one will resent that at ALL.
Ooh, speaking of which, let's have a look at what's Clogging the Tubes. The Internet had
a FIT over video of some rich venture-capital kids and a Wall Street Journal reporter
cavorting at an infinity pool in Cyprus and lip-syncing to Journey's "Don't Stop
Believing."
(music)
The video's been out for a couple of weeks now, but people just can't stop being outraged
at this naked display of indolence and excess. And I'd like to have some perspective and
say something mature here, but I gotta admit, I hate those little *** just as much as you
do.
AND that's the Buzz Report for this week, everybody! I'm Molly Wood and thanks for
watching.
