I found a great pair of articles over at Ars Technica today that looked at fitness benefits of video games. It never crossed my mind before - I enjoy going to a gym - but there is a healthy industry around fitness programs for gaming consoles - moving beyond video tapes to a more interactive and engaging scenario? I don’t think its ‘for me’ but it certainly offers an alternative, like the videos,  for folks who don’t care for formal training or who prefer to exercise in private. Ars’ gaming editor, Ben Kuchera, in fact, took a few programs to task last January to shed around 20 lbs. Not a bad improvement for someone who professes to loath exercise.

The recent article, posted today, takes a bit of a different spin. Apparently UK researchers took a look at the Wii console to see if its interactive games offered any physical benefit to its players. The results were pretty much what I expected - no significant benefit.

The study concludes that the physical activity “was not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children… In a typical week, active gaming rather than passive gaming would increase total energy expenditure by less than 2 percent.”

Bad news for the Wii maybe, but other game makers may have better success. During a recent Christmas excursion with the family, my boys tried out the Fisher Price Smart Cycle Physical Learning Arcade System - ok the name is terrible - but they seemed to really enjoy it.  Granted, It is for younger children (3-6, versus teens) and connects to a television. As the kids ride, they can interact with a number of different games (loaded by cartridge) to keep them engaged / entertained. We didn’t end up getting one - the kids are very active already - but it was definitely difficult to pull them away from it at the store. I guess its another way that parents can encourage their children to be a bit more active.

As a weight loss mechanism, I have my doubts.  Will be interested to see if any studies turn up about it (or similar products).

Tags: general by brent
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If you’re like me, you already have some sort of MP3 and manage a significant number of songs, videos, pictures, etc through a utility on a PC. In my case, its about 10 videos, 50 or so podcasts, and about 2300 songs. I must admit, coming up with interesting playlists is getting more and more difficult because I find that I forget what I have and gravitate to the songs I know and like. Now - alas - I’m getting sick of my favorites. What next?

Walter Mossberg reviewed the Slacker yesterday which may be my answer. Building on the success of slacker.com, an online radio site, the Slacker is a device that plays sets of songs based on criteria you set and streams them to the device via wireless hot-spots.  According to Mossberg’s report:

The player is tied to Slacker’s free Internet radio service, slacker.com, which is already up and running, and allows you to listen to music via any standard Windows or Mac Web browser. Using the service, you can personalize your player by selecting from over 100 canned stations or by creating stations based around any of 10,000 artists.

In addition to some buggy behavior noted by Mossberg of a couple of prototype units he tested, he also offered the following…

Because Slacker is based on Internet radio, it has some limitations imposed by the rules governing that format. For example, you can’t specify a particular song to play, or skip back to repeat a song. And you can skip ahead only six times per station per hour. Even if you create a station around a particular artist, the station will mainly be filled with artists the service considers similar. Songs by the artist you selected will be played only four times every three hours. The player has a “heart button” for designating a song for frequent play and a “ban” button to eliminate the songs you hate.

The devices will run between $200-$300 dollars but the music streams will be free. This is in contrast to the XM and Rhapsody strategy of subscription services for their music.

Wonder if the Zune or iPod folks are thinking about this…Combining a best of breed device / service combo with a capability of picking up this service as well. Perhaps their own song lists or stations? It would certainly save me a lot of time and frustration…

Tags: general by brent
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I’m at Hartsfield this morning waiting to head to NY for the week. I was feeling a bit parched so I stopped next door at the Burger King to grab a beverage.  My expectation of these fast food places is not very high - so I was pleasantly surprised by the new order process - computer based and largely automated. To get my drink, I simply walked through the ‘cattle’ ropes and used an ATM like machine that not only took my order, but also suggested I grab a dessert!?!?! (cannot forget the upsell). I payed with one swipe of a card and my reciept printed in almost real-time. And by the time I walked about four feet, my cup was waiting for me. Completely automated and completely self-serve.  I also noticed that the labor had been realigned. There was one attendant to help people order, only one traditional cashier / food runner, and more people on the supply side in the back. I’m guessing this is probably about the same number (or slightly fewer) that the typical storefront but optimized for significantly better service. Granted, there was less traffic this morning, but I imagine that they have a lot more room and flexibility to deal with volume now that the the production line has been stream-lined.

As technology evolves, I see greater efficiency on the horizon. I’ve often imagined being able to ‘quick key’ my favorite coffee beverage into my phone and dial it in while I’m driving to the café.  My phone could be tied to a digital account that I could manage online - whether I order through my device or at the store, I could debit the account via PIN or via an RF mechanism in the device. 

It is certainly interesting what we are beginning to automate and how that automation impacts our lives. Best experience I’ve had at a fast food establishment in a long time.

Tags: general by brent
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