Austin Hamilton’s Blog

Buckled Down And Bought A Wii, originally uploaded by Austin Hamilton.

I went on a leisurely trip to Wal-Mart with my roommate and came back with a Wii. They had them in stock and I couldn’t resist.

Amazon launched a new service called Amazon TextBuyIt. This service allows consumers to text “Amazon” (262966) a product name, UPC code, ISBN code, or search term and almost instantly be notified with Amazon’s price, as well as buying options.  They even give users the option to receive a phone call to complete the purchase on the spot.

This a great step forward in integrating SMS messaging with purchasing products over the internet, without the need for a computer. Next time I’m at a Brick and Mortar store I will probably double check with Amazon’s TextBuyIt to see they are offering a better deal.

Four Games At Once, originally uploaded by Austin Hamilton.

An HDTV and three laptops. Thanks to CBS for streaming the games online.

Thanks Windows!

Google has officially released a desktop application that syncs Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar. Thank you Google! Now I don’t have to keep looking for 3rd party applications, which rarely work, to sync my data.

Most internet movie rental sites such Apple iTunes and Amazon Unbox, use a business model that lets you keep movie rentals for 30 days after you’ve completed downloading it, and let you watch the movie for 24 hours once you press play. You may watch the movie as many times as you want during the 24 hour period, but once the 24 hours is up, that’s it.

This model works, and I have had no complaints with it so far, but here’s a thought. Why not extend the window to watch the movie from the point you press play to 30 hours? Realistically, if you only have 24 hours to complete the movie, you will most likely not have enough time to begin watching it one evening, and resume the next evening. Say you start watching it when you get home from work one day at 6:00 PM, if you don’t finish it that evening, you will have to leave work early the next day in order to finish it in time.

Why not implement a model that allots 30 hours instead of 24? That means that you can resume the movie the next day at the same time, and still be able to finish it before it expires. Or what would be nice is to make a policy that gives you a 24/30 hour window to watch the movie or 48 hours to finish one complete play. That way you can watch the movie as many times as you want in the 24/30 hour window, or watch it only one time within 48 hours.