The $0.05 plastic bag “tax” implemented in the City of Toronto about 24 months ago earns retailers about $2.7 million a year in bonus, free cash. That is about 6 million dollars since it started. Of that amount, 0% is accountable in any way, meaning no one actually follows up to make sure even a penny of it went to environmental initiatives. The policy has reduced the amount of plastic bags going to landfill by 50% but as announced earlier today, the total savings in landfill costs to the city were a measly $100,000 over the time period. That’s it. That’s all.

Why were retailers ever forced to collect this extra money without any commitment that somewhere along the way it  would end up benefiting the environment? If this isn’t the best modern example of short-sightedness I don’t know what is. Of course it wouldn’t have made sense to have the fees go into natural resource projects. Instead, the money may have went to bonuses.

100% of the revenues collected must be directed into a fund for environmental programs immediately. If this bag tax policy is going to persist then we must make the program make sense or people will never stop questioning it.

Jared.

Investors seem to realize that the Playbook experience on a phone isn’t going to be enough to make any headway in the handset battle. The tablet continues to perform poorly so it’s tough to understand why anyone would have much hope for a port to the handset format.

I wouldn’t be surprised if RIM doesn’t get bought up by Microsoft. They are looking at their partnership with Nokia and may be thinking it is time to buy the Waterloo company just to get control of its capable hands on the hardware manufacturing side of the business.

This type of partnership or takeover makes a lot of sense from a number of different angles. It would represent a new chapter in the life of RIM and allow it to focus on a couple of its key strengths, reaching new levels of success.

Jared.

Sad to think about but a really good reason to live each day like it might be your last and to have a good time while you are here!

Jared.

Jared.

Jared.

Jared.

I will randomly select a winner and have final discretion on the details of the quest. We’ll work together to make it work and everyone will see your content in game.

Like LOM2 on Facebook now by visiting this link.

Good luck!

Jared.

Head over here to snag your copy.

To read what is new – and there is a lot! – click here.

Please let me know what you think. I know I’ve had a great time developing the new features and I’m sure you’ll enjoy them, too.

Jared.

We should first note the terrible user interface. With all of the great UI’s on the market now (Windows 8 preview, iOS) there is absolutely no excuse for not at least trying to “feel” familiar. Going it alone in this day and age takes testicular fortitude but it’s so difficult to pull off, you might call it suicide. It is always better to build around the familiarity that users of other products in your category already have. Extend what people already know and the chance of success is much greater. In this case, that’s the smartphone market – unfortunately, a market Sony very obviously didn’t even consider when they set out to realize this new device. The Vita is clunky and annoying at the same time. For example, choosing to enter the System Settings results in a prompt that asks you if you are sure you want to go into the System Settings. Seriously? In 2012? And this is just one example of many. Round icons are another obvious faux-pas.

The lack of features that push the handheld envelope, that raise the bar significantly, that take it to the next level must be noted as well. Sure – you can play with PS3 users but who cares? If I want to play multi-player PS3 games I’ll play with my PS3. It’s a far superior experience and not a major factor that will move this device off the shelves. One of the launch titles has you holding the Vita up to a light to read a message on a piece of in-game parchment, which is a cool use of it’s camera. Is it ground-breaking? Hardly. Will it make you buy one? Nope.

Without a doubt the biggest failing with this package is when the sales guy at your favorite gaming store gets the Vita box out and puts it on the counter to make the sale. You get your wallet out to pay the high admission price and just as you reach for the box the he says “Oh, by the way…the Vita is useless out of the box unless you buy extra accessories”. You stop and scratch your head, wondering what accessories you could possibly need and look at the side of box. Whammo! No on-board storage for you. Predictable from a company like Sony, a purchase of a proprietary memory card is required. Seriously? Unacceptable and not exactly how you want to start your post-PSP relationship with the new handheld you haven’t even opened, let alone purchased yet.

You can figure on $500 to get started with a couple of games, a memory card and the Vita system. That is, until the prices for the gear starts to plummet – and that’s already under way. Amazon has them discounted and used Vita’s are flooding the buy/sell websites. This might have been a success three years ago but not today.

Missing the key Christmas sales season of 2011 was also a fail. Sony must surely know that gaming-related merchandise is most widely sought after during this time period. How many people do you know that gift an expensive handheld for St. Patrick’s Day? Right – zero. It is also worth noting that consumers are more willing to pay a premium price for a new handheld like the Vita at this time of year. A product launch after the biggest selling season just can’t happen – but somehow did. If this was the plan all along then Sony messed up bad. By the time the next holiday season arrives something better – in the form of a smartphone with far more features – will have hit the market and the Vita will be left for dust.

That is if it even makes it that far. It won’t die completely but developers are not going to go all-in with this thing given the above. After all of the trouble Sony has been having with it’s flagship Bravia products, it really couldn’t afford to botch the Vita but it did. Too bad. This once iconic brand better find it’s way soon or it will never catch up to the big boys in it’s industry and ultimately run out of Vita – umm, I mean life.

Jared.

Jared.