One Billion Users: Emerging Trends in Emerging Markets

Browse by Tags

Good Bye MS....hello yum yum games

There comes a time when you look at your world and you say, its time to move on. The memories are great and it was a good experience but something has changed. The Bug triage is not as interesting as it used to be, the conference calls have lost that Read More...

Posted Tuesday, October 02, 2007 7:48 AM by msracid | 3 Comments

How Microsoft won China (or at least changed its public image)

I just recently ran into this article from Dan Brody's Google News Reader on FaceBook (ironic). To be fair, MS has not really won as much as it has improved its position from years past. For the most part, the changes described below are tangible and Read More...

Posted Monday, August 06, 2007 9:12 AM by msracid | 4 Comments

Class divisions in Myspace and FaceBook - Why a FaceBook idea will work in China

China'sFuture MySpace crowd When Facebook opened up their platform to developers and application hobbyists a few weeks ago, they opened up the platform to more than just the geekcore for tools and widgets, they also opened it up to the Friendster, MySpace Read More...

Posted Tuesday, June 26, 2007 10:21 AM by msracid | 4 Comments

MS launches its first game developed in China for the world - Rock Paper Scissors online

Simple, Easy, Fast and Fun. Like a breathmint for your mind. That's why casual games continue to grow. The ATC Casual Games team is proud to announce the launch of of Rock Paper Scissors for Messenger in China (and the whole world). -The first game developed Read More...

Posted Saturday, June 16, 2007 2:44 PM by msracid | 1 Comments

Sure China has a billion people but can they make software (and games) ?

In the ongoing debate of asking if China can make software the answer is an obvious and unequivocal yes. China can produce more software engineers and millions of lines of code in a few months than some Western countries can in years. Strip out the foreigners, Read More...

Posted Thursday, June 14, 2007 10:54 AM by msracid | 1 Comments

Pandamania antidote

I like Pandas but I found this video hilarious. For someone who has traveled to Chengdu, the home of the Chengdu Panda Breeding center in a city plastered with Panda images everywhere, I found Pandas to be well....underwhelming. "cement box..no sky..no Read More...

Posted Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:12 AM by msracid | 0 Comments

The Pace of life between US and China

(If you're in China, you may not see the image above since its hosted on flickr) Every few months I get a chance to travel to the US between Seattle and Beijing and essentially go through culture shock and jet lag both ways each time. However, the biggest Read More...

Posted Monday, June 11, 2007 10:22 AM by msracid | 4 Comments

GDC and WonderCon - Nintendo, Casual Games and China

Get them ready for the facehugger at WonderCon If you were wondering why this blog hasn't been updated for a while its because I have been travelling in the US for work for almost a month. Its great to come back to China after being away for such a long Read More...

Posted Tuesday, April 10, 2007 2:50 PM by msracid | 2 Comments

Does China have too many online games?

I'd rather be a night elf Online games continues to be big business here in China but the ripples on the water are starting to bubble up now. So the answer to the question is yes and no. Yes, there are too many similar online games. No, there is still Read More...

Posted Friday, March 02, 2007 6:32 PM by msracid | 1 Comments

"The Blood of Yingzhou District" wins an Oscar

My friend Sharon who just returned to Australia worked as a production coordinator here in Beijing for a documentary filmed here in China. She just found out that the film had won the Oscar for Short documentaries a few nights ago. The documentary had Read More...

Posted Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:29 AM by msracid | 1 Comments

The big gorilla of user generated content in China is video

When you think of all the bandwidth that is consumed in China by video streams and downloads, we can almost place it in the same class as other forms of traditional broadcast or cable media. At work or at internet cafes, you see many young people watching Read More...

Posted Thursday, February 08, 2007 8:08 PM by msracid | 1 Comments

Discovering China via the Confluence Project

A few years back when the confluence project was young (2000-2003), I had the lucky fortune to be the first person to document the only confluence in Shanghai , another in Hubei and the first one in the country of Cambodia as well. Today, most of the Read More...

Posted Monday, February 05, 2007 7:04 PM by msracid | 2 Comments

Understanding Asian (Chinese) Consumers

How now brown Mao ? Currently, I am reading a great book called The Cult of the Luxury Brand by Radha Chadha & Paul Husband. Although they discuss at length the relationship of Asia with luxury brands, the book really touches upon the roots and semiotics Read More...

Posted Monday, January 29, 2007 1:20 PM by msracid | 2 Comments

Mozilla looking to crash in Beijing with a friend

It looks like other than IE and Maxthon being hunkered down here in Beijing, Mozilla is coming here too. Bejijing is a likely choice since Mozilla's college friend from the states Google has rented an apartment in Wudouoko already and is taking some Chinese Read More...

Posted Thursday, January 18, 2007 2:16 PM by msracid | 1 Comments

China and the digital consumers

June 21, 2004 Cover. No one I know in the US has seen this cover from Newsweek Asia At the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, Microsoft has unveiled more of its digital plans to connect everyone and everything via the digital hub of your living room Read More...

Posted Thursday, January 11, 2007 5:13 PM by msracid | 1 Comments