Opening the stacks
Opening the stacks
Nintendo's overwhelming success in handheld gaming shaped market perceptions and overshadowed competitors like the Atari Lynx.
3 chapters across 2 books
The chapter explores the innovation and market dynamics of handheld gaming devices, focusing on the Playdate's unique crank input and reflective monochrome display designed for battery efficiency, and the Atari Lynx's advanced but commercially unsuccessful color handheld with ergonomic design. It also examines the Evercade's nostalgic revival of physical cartridges and licensed retro games, alongside the Mega Duck's failed attempt as a budget alternative to the Game Boy, highlighting diverse strategies in handheld console competition and user experience design.
The chapter explores the complex interplay between Amazon's digital platforms and local economies, beginning with El Paso city officials promoting Amazon Business as a tool for local economic growth while local suppliers express concerns about hidden costs and impacts on procurement. It contrasts individual entrepreneurial experiences, highlighting Carlos Gandara Jr.'s embrace of Amazon's fulfillment model alongside Nathan Grayson's struggles against systemic racial barriers and community resilience in a historically Black neighborhood. The chapter concludes by revealing the physical infrastructure underpinning the cloud, focusing on Amazon's dominance in data centers and cloud services, and framing the company's market control as a form of corporate extraction akin to a privatized tax on digital commerce.
The chapter explores the tension between the powerful influence of data center corporations and tech giants like Amazon, and the lived realities of urban communities facing demolition, displacement, and economic hardship. It highlights the political and corporate narratives promoting technological growth and renewable energy, contrasted with the environmental and social costs in neighborhoods like Baltimore's Broadway East. Congressional scrutiny reveals Amazon's monopolistic practices and conflicts of interest, while the narrative connects these corporate dynamics to broader issues of housing affordability, urban inequality, and the concentration of wealth.