9 April 201316 April 2018Technology EditorialsBy Olin Coles

Sony PlayStation and Microsoft XBOX Game Consoles Could Save AMD From Collapse

The future of Advanced Micro Devices crucially depends on development partnerships for next-generation Sony PlayStation4 and Microsoft XBOX ONE console systems By Olin Coles One year ago Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) company stock was publicly trading for $8.20 per share (16 March 2012), the highest point since trading at the same level a year prior (March 2010). Since then, AMD stock has sunk to as low as $1.86 per share, performing far worse than other stocks within the same industry. Analyzing the graph charted below, you can see that the Dow Jones Industrial averaged a 12% gain over that same one-year period from late March 2012-2013. Microprocessors company ARM ($18.6B current market capitalization) enjoyed a 51% growth over Dow […]

22 January 201316 April 2018Technology EditorialsBy Olin Coles

Desktop PC: Intel Says the End is Near

By Olin Coles Back on August 2010, I made a prediction: desktop PCs have an expiration date, and that time may not be far off. I followed-up that article with several more editorials, arguing on both sides of the position that enthusiast desktop PCs would be killed by unnecessary overclocking products, but might later possibly be saved by enthusiast-level overclocking products. Both had their points, and both contained plenty of truth, but when I published the statistical obituary a few weeks later our readers commented in revolt. Even some of my industry peers said I was pessimistic, and that the enthusiast desktop PC industry would continue to thrive and grow. We disagreed, even as mounting evidence supported my claims. Intel’s […]

1 November 201216 April 2018Technology EditorialsBy Olin Coles

Personal 3D Printing vs Patents and Gun Control

As affordable personal 3D printers achieve higher resolution, creating copies of protected products and controlled weapons will become a legal challenge By Olin Coles During the past three years, 3D printing technology has progressed beyond prototyping and developed into consumer production. What was once an expensive process that enabled quicker proto-fabrication has now become an affordable means for regular users to construct or duplicate any object of their desire. Inventors have championed 3D printers as devices favorable to their pursuit of product development, but the same technology will allow consumers the ability to copy their patented work or firearms without consideration. The resulting dilemma will play out in courts around the globe as 3D printing devices and the software that […]

2 April 20128 March 2025Lifestyle EditorialsBy Olin Coles

How to Cheat eBay Sellers and Scam PayPal Buyer Protection

When eBay Buyer Protection is abused, PayPal punishes good sellers with bad policy. By Olin Coles Most people are familiar with eBay, the web community with an endless catalog of items ready and available for purchase from across the globe. Like many who browse the auctions, I’ve needed to purchase a hard-to-find or out-of-production item and found it listed by hoarding collectors and International sellers. I also occasionally use eBay for selling random unwanted items to help fund the upgrade or repair of another product. After nearly three-hundred transactions spanned over ten years my overall experience has remained positive, but very recently my opinion of eBay and its online banking service PayPal have significantly changed. Packed away in boxes and […]

9 March 201218 November 2025Technology EditorialsBy Olin Coles

Sony PlayStation 4 and Microsoft XBOX ONE Gaming Consoles To Revive PC Video Games

By Olin Coles Electronic video games have come a long way since the Golden Age of Video Arcades to become an industry generating nearly 1-trillion dollars in annual revenue (according to Gartner – 2011). Once video games made the leap from quarter-gobbling cabinets to console and later PC, home entertainment turned into big business. That business was dominated by the desktop PC platform for decades, later shared with Windows notebook computers. But once seventh-generation Sony PlayStation and Microsoft XBOX gaming consoles debuted, PC market share quickly diminished to a point where software developers were forced to shift platform priority. Now many years later, modern mobile devices such as SmartPhones and UltraBooks are poised to grab the market away from what […]