Retro Tech Tuesday: Streaming video circa 2010

(c)TheDigitalLifestyle.tvThe constant pace of technology is quickening. Need proof? Today's retro tech goes all the way back to the early days of 2010. Gather round young folks for a story of a bygone time. A time when streaming Netflix video to your Nintendo Wii and/or PS3 meant inserting a disc into the system first. Granted this was pretty much merely a provision caused by the exclusivity of streaming to the XBox without a disc, but still, it's an interesting mile marker into how far Netflix has come. Today it streams directly to the Apple TV, dozens of set-top boxes, and even TV themselves. My how time flies.

Retro Tech Tuesday: Robbie Bach and the Xbox 360

We're not setting the wayback machine very far for this week's retro tech voyage. No, we're just headed back to the summer of 2005 as then-chief of Microsoft's Xbox, Robbie Bach (Now in charge of all entertainment devices at Microsoft) laid out the future for the soon-to-launch console. Would people pay to attend tournaments to watch others play games? What other prophecies were right and wrong? Here's a look:

TDL Live 12/14/09

We're into the middle of December, which means tech news starts to slow to a trickle. Other than competing press releases trumpeting sales figures, don't expect anything too groundbreaking between now and the end of the year. Of course, for us, that means more time to talk about Spiderman, Tiger Woods, and a Cougar Cruise.

Have a look:

A few Microsoft E3 ditties

As the internet explodes with fanboy anger over Microsoft's latest E3 coup, we have some thoughts on their lesser debated announcements.

-Full Xbox 360 game downloads coming in August. This along with the new UMD-less PSP and dare we say the iPhone App Store is changing the way we acquire our games. It was nice knowing ya GameStop. Say hi to Tower Records for us at Chapter 11 court.

-Minor update to Netflix. No longer do you need your Mac or PC to update your movie que. Updating is now available from the Xbox dashboard. We say yea to this. Movie subscriptions for the win. Owning content is soooo 2005

-Facebook and Twitter integration. Maybe Microsoft's $250 million Facebook investment is finally paying off. On one hand we think the integration will be a great way for 360 users to meet and play with new people. On the other hand it's another way of Facebook taking over our lives. The Twitter integration is what you'd expect, Twitter on your Xbox and we just don't "get" Twitter.

-Zune Marketplace hits the 360 this fall. All video (and we think music) will be available on the 360 dashboard. Oh yeah, it's 1080p instant on streamed video too. Is BluRay now the new laser disc? Does this force Apple to do something serious with Apple TV?

Introducing Our New Micro Show: Stickies

You know former Mac Genius (can they ever really take the title from you?) Jamie DeGrazio as the co-host of Root Access. Well now he'll also be doing a micro show for us called "Stickies." Just like Stickies" on the Mac, it's a brief look at a tech topic. Jamie will cover a wider range of tech-related news than he can on Root Access.

The first episode is below. It's a work in progress, so it's a little rough around the edges (you know you want an Apple startup chime to start the show) so we look forward to your feedback: