I guess, to be honest, I have no idea what the GAMER user base numbers are for Linux and how they compare to MacOS. But if that's the case - that Macs have underpowered GPUs - then I guess it would depend on Linux's numbers. If the base isn't there, I'd probably them just expect them to mostly give up on PCs and focus exclusively on consoles.

Developers will follow the largest user base, so if Windows falls, they will jump to Mac. Maybe, possibly, might make porting to Linux easier, considering MacOS is based on UNIX (if I remember correctly), but I don't know if that will necessarily mean more support for Linux. Who knows? Maybe the fall of Windows would be the stake in the heart for P.C. gaming, if ex-Windows gamers chose consoles over Mac/Linux.

Not sure how lucrative it actually is, but considering Windows is the go-to platform for gaming on computer for most people and Xbox is a big player in the console space, it seems like Microsoft should put a lot of effort into gaming, at least enough to grow their influence and not eventually lose it like they have with other things.

Repairing the Xbox brand would probably be a good start. Investing in some new decent franchises and being somewhat hands-off with it, considering it sounds like they tend to meddle a little too much currently. (Just let people who know what they're doing do their jobs!) Maybe try doing some things with Windows to keep it appealing as a platform for gaming.

Mobile gaming is apparently very big too, so maybe Microsoft needs to focus more in this space too. Make a couple Halo games for mobile devices, give benefits for having an Xbox Live Gold account and tie games together across mobile and Windows/Xbox to give more of a reason to stick with Microsoft.

As I said, I'm not sure how lucrative gaming is (or could be) for Microsoft, so they shouldn't focus exclusively on gaming, but they should try to not lose the position they currently have.

Rumours, misinformation and lies have existed long before Google and Facebook. It's almost like... we need to learn to be skeptical of things we are told, especially for events that just took place, and not believe everything we read. I, for one, would definitely prefer that over big tech choosing what we do and do not see.

Speaking of skepticism, the unnecessary use of words and phrases like of "right-wing" and "racism", as well as referencing sources like BuzzFeed, such as in this article, makes me skeptical, because they tend to indicate ideology, which tends to hold bias. Same as using "left-wing" or "SJW", or sourcing from InfoWars and Breitbart. No idea if that affects this specific article, but I wouldn't feel comfortable giving this article credence without additional research.

Nah. Turns out Apple actually has what I want. Problem solved.

Well this sucks. I just abandoned Google Play for Groove, because I wanted a service with music streaming and support for storing my own music in the cloud. Pretty sure Google Play and Groove were my only options for this, and I don't want to go back to Google. (Amazon might do this, but pretty sure their music service is US-only.) At least we are past the point where you would buy DRM music and lose it when the store shut down...

- Playstation has a huge lead this generation, which means most people are on their platform.
- That lead means Playstation will have the most people online, which will likely include a decent number of people who abandoned Xbox.
- If you're an Xbox hold-out and you want the largest multiplayer pool of gamer and/or your friends have jumped to Playstation, you need to consider Playstation.
But then:
- Sony allows cross-platform multiplayer between Playstation and Xbox games.
- You can play your Xbox games against your Playstation friends and its large player pool.
- You no longer need to consider switching to Playstation, because the only reason you were considering it just evaporated.

I use Google Play Music for my music playing and there's one feature I've wanted for ages: The ability to add YouTube videos as audio-only to Google Play Music playlists. When they merge, I hope this happens!

I'm thinking more of maybe shift work, where I assume there is more flexibility to choose the number of hours you work. There might be other types of jobs too where you can negotiate hours.

If they're earning minimum wage it's probably difficult to survive on less than full time. (I guess we need data to see if there is a specific type of guy working less.) Here (I don't live in the US) we have a minimum wage of ~US$10 and a few years ago I was living decently on ~US$200/week (after tax). This leads me to believe that a guy in most countries (US included) who earns more than $10/hour could probably survive comfortably at 30 hours/week in the right location. Now, I was living in a small city (meaning I could walk everywhere and rent was cheaper) and was renting a house with 3 other people, so there are certainly drawbacks, but if you just want to withdraw from the world and play video games as much as you can, you probably don't care about getting a 2 bedroom apartment for yourself in the heart of San Fransisco, i.e. you can live affordably if you're smart about it.

heh makes sense.

Because you have a lot less money if you have a child and if you are supporting a partner. And having a family to support puts pressure on you, not just to work full time, but to work as much as you can to provide them with the best life possible.

Also, if you're socially isolated and drifting away into virtual worlds, you are less likely to care about society, so if you're not contributing then you probably won't care. Besides, the article doesn't say that these men are pulling out of the work force or working less than required to support themselves. As far as we know, all the men who are working less and dragging down the average are those who were already earning more than they needed to survive and decided to reduce their hours for a little more breathing room.

I wonder if lower marriage rates has anything to do with this. Not being married, having a kid, etc. means less pressure to work and earn as much money as you can. And if people aren't getting married, then there's a chance that this would affect the mood of these men and they would need a vice to fill the void. Video games are easy to access, don't really have any downsides and are completely legal. (I'd wonder if this was just because of the relationship landscape overall, but I don't know if people coupling up is less than it used to be.) The fact that more women than ever are probably working also means there might be less pressure on men to work themselves to death. Two pay checks and gender equality means less necessity for men to be the breadwinner. That said, I'd also put my money on video games being the drug of choice for men to spend their spare time with as opposed to men finding ways to increase their spare time to facilitate their gaming habits. (Not that I wouldn't take a day off from work for a new game now and then.)

This is how business works: Try to create maximum profits. To do this you take your product or service and figure out how to get the manufacturing/running cost down and appeal to the widest (or wealthiest) consumer base possible, while not inadvertently losing profit by driving away too many people. This is why Hollywood makes movies PG-13 that should be R, why soda companies use HFCS when people prefer cane sugar, why companies use foreign companies for phone support even though people prefer local and why reality TV was (and probably still is) so big even though people (I assume) prefer scripted T.V.

Businesses don't try to make the best products they can; they either aim for the cheapest price point they can achieve with an acceptable quality, or for a product that is better enough than a competitor's product at a given price point, or, if they don't have competition, the cheapest product that people will accept for the highest price they will pay for it. Movies are getting worse because we are willing to pay to the level of quality they are giving us.

From least to most important:
5. Facebook: I gave up on Facebook several months ago, I don't use WhatsApp and barely touch Instagram. The only service of theirs I use is Messenger and even that is hanging on by a thread, with only a few friends I use it to talk with. Opinion of company: Low.
4. Apple: Apple is not my first choice for devices or services. While I do have a handful of Apple devices, they barely get use and my life would hardly be impacted by abandoning them. My only interest in Apple would be as a platform to develop for, considering its large install base. Opinion of company: Medium.
3. Amazon: Because I do not live in the US, shipping from Amazon is way too expensive for my taste, so Amazon is a last resort. I usually get my products from my local online megastore, and if that fails, I usually choose Ebay before Amazon. If shipping to my country was free or comparable to local shipping, I'd be tempted to put this at #2. Opinion of company: High. (I'm sure they're evil like every other big company, though.)
2. Google: I don't use Gmail. I would be fine using Bing. I am contemplating getting an Android phone, but only because iPhone 7 was disappointing and Windows Mobile is dead. And Google+? LOL! Only reason Google is so high is because I can imagine abandoning all products and services from Facebook, Apple and Amazon before I abandoned YouTube. (I am not loyal to the YouTube brand; there's just no decent YouTube competitor. If one appears, I will be more than happy to jump ship.) Opinion of company: Medium.
1. Microsoft: I use Windows for my OS, Outlook for my email, OneDrive for my cloud storage, Xbox for my console gaming, Visual Studio for my programming, and if I were rich enough I'd have a Surface Book and a Surface Laptop. And, while none of these are perfect, I am perfectly fine with these products and services. The only Microsoft product I use and will be abandoning is my Windows phone. Opinion of company: Medium-High. (I enjoy their products, but when they don't have competition, they tend to suck. It just so happens to be a point in time when they have a lot of competition.)

This will only accelerate my purchase of a new phone, and it won't be Windows this time.