Desktop Consulting Service (DCS) Weblog

I’m a sucker for an easy bet.

Back…oh, 6 or so months ago, I wondered who’d win the high definition DVD battle;

Toshiba HD DVD or Sony Blu-ray.

What prompted me was an article I read where Netflix had wholly endorsed HD DVD…or something to that effect…I don’t remember the details. Regardless, I thought HD DVD was a sure thing for that reason, plus Microsoft backed it.

Be glad I’m not a day-trader working your money;

Toshiba officially threw in the towel and the now ubiqutious Blu-Ray will rule the day. Naturally, former supporters moved quickly to Blu-ray, notably Wal-Mart and Netflix. Target and Blockbuster had already made the decision earlier. Meanwhile, Microsoft eschews the obvious.

Blue Morning, Blue Day

I recently headed west to visit my son in Palo Alto, California, home of Stanford University. The lodging costs in Palo Alto and nearby towns were very high, so my wife and I decided to stay a little farther south in Santa Clara, one of the many pulses of Silicon Valley.

Right outside my door were the headquarters for Sun, Yahoo, and Mcafee. Up the street in Mountain View were one of Microsoft’s California offices, and the mother of all search engines, Google.

I expected a monolith tower to the mighty Google god, but instead found a quiet business park as non-descript as any other you might find in San Antonio. They did occupy quite a few buildings, so it was more akin to USAA’s campus.

Nothing remarkable on the outside, but a world of innovation on the inside. I guess that sums up the whole Silicon Valley experience. But I’ll have to find out for sure another day. This time it was just a quick peek as I wandered around Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay area.