Just heard this news today (via Kotaku). This could mean huge things in the future not only in the films industry but also in the area of video games and theme parks.
I'm sure for now we won't see major changes, but I expect that the changes will be made over the next two years or so to bring Marvel properties in line with Disney's goals.
For now I'd expect all contracts stand and Sony Pictures will continue to do the filming and work on the marvel superhero lineup of films with Disney simply collecting royalties. However I can't see Disney allowing this to stay out of house for long.
Likewise I can bet that video game lisences won't change in the near future and Disney's own studios just arn't going to be up for any massive undertakings just yet (they haven't brought Kingdom Hearts in house yet so we'll see).
However my major interest lies int he fact that Marvel was supposed to get it's own theme park as part of a deal with the developing Dubialand project (a multi billion dollar project out in Abu Dubia that has hit some roadbumps in the current economy). Disney hasn't been a part of this project and mose signs point to Disney intentionally ignoring it. With Marvel now a part of the Disney family this could mean that Disney will pull them out of the project and bring more focus towards its Chinese park expansions.
I also think this could ultimatly be bad news for Disney's theme park competitor Universal Studios. They've developed themselves as the more thrilling alternative to Disney parks and relied heavily on Marvel characters for that image. Spiderman at Islands of Adventure is one of the most impressive darkrides in the US. However with this deal, Disney could force Universal to remove or alter the ride by refusing to renue the rights to Spiderman whenever that contract becomes due.
If Disney were to suddenly to deny renueals of character contracts with Universal that could cripple their competitor as it would take away much of Unviersals fighting strength while simultaniously creating a huge redevelopment demand. At this point Universal could be stuck in a bad spot in Disney's grasp as Disney will likely make for some hard negotiations whenever those contracts end up being due.
As it stands, most of Marvel's animated series are already featured heavily on Disney's XD cable channel so I suppose this marketing move has been a long time in the works.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Dell still thinks Linux has a future on Netbooks
I found this article on Ars Technica quite interesting.
Essentially Dell is arguing that Linux penetration on Netbooks is once again climbing as many companies are finally getting it right. Dell also feels that online sales do Linux based Netbooks better justice then brick and mortar businesses.
I tend to agree with this analyses as most Internet buyers are more educated then your average joe that walks into the store. I also find it interesting that the article notes Dell is looking to use non Intel chips for their new line of Linux based netbooks. It's great to see the company taking risks and playing to Linux's strengths. Supporting more energy efficient chip designs is a good move for netbooks (arm based designs are also the choice of apple for devices like their Ipod/Iphone).
Most Linux implementations done by PC manufacturers have been poor but so far Dell has made the wise choice by pairing themselves with Ubuntu rather then trying to splinter off their own distro. By staying uniform with one of the most user friendly variants and instead sharing the workload, I believe Dell stands a great shot towards a Netbook that anyone can use.
I bought my dad a Ubuntu based laptop from Dell and am quite happy with it's performance and speed (much faster startup then most Windows PC's).
The article does note though that Dell remains a Microsoft centric manufacturer for the foreseeable future. I hope that Dell can eventually splinter off this franchise and work out a whole Linux series of products. The real trick would be to create a kind of designer look and feel to them the way Apple does with their products. This way there won't be as much a comparison made vs Windows but rather it will be viewed in the same light as an OS like OSX.
The future of Operating systems is looking very interesting as more applications enter the cloud and we have yet to see the rise of Google's own operating system chrome (which runs of the Linux kernal but will likely not be handled as a Linux distro)
Essentially Dell is arguing that Linux penetration on Netbooks is once again climbing as many companies are finally getting it right. Dell also feels that online sales do Linux based Netbooks better justice then brick and mortar businesses.
I tend to agree with this analyses as most Internet buyers are more educated then your average joe that walks into the store. I also find it interesting that the article notes Dell is looking to use non Intel chips for their new line of Linux based netbooks. It's great to see the company taking risks and playing to Linux's strengths. Supporting more energy efficient chip designs is a good move for netbooks (arm based designs are also the choice of apple for devices like their Ipod/Iphone).
Most Linux implementations done by PC manufacturers have been poor but so far Dell has made the wise choice by pairing themselves with Ubuntu rather then trying to splinter off their own distro. By staying uniform with one of the most user friendly variants and instead sharing the workload, I believe Dell stands a great shot towards a Netbook that anyone can use.
I bought my dad a Ubuntu based laptop from Dell and am quite happy with it's performance and speed (much faster startup then most Windows PC's).
The article does note though that Dell remains a Microsoft centric manufacturer for the foreseeable future. I hope that Dell can eventually splinter off this franchise and work out a whole Linux series of products. The real trick would be to create a kind of designer look and feel to them the way Apple does with their products. This way there won't be as much a comparison made vs Windows but rather it will be viewed in the same light as an OS like OSX.
The future of Operating systems is looking very interesting as more applications enter the cloud and we have yet to see the rise of Google's own operating system chrome (which runs of the Linux kernal but will likely not be handled as a Linux distro)
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)