Youtube Rentals

So Youtube announced on their blog today that they are going into the movie rental business. Five films from the Sundance film festival (2009 and 2010) will be available on the Youtube rental site over this coming weekend.
Their deal seems interesting, especially for fledgling, independent movie makers because they promise complete control over the distribution of their films on the site down to the price and rental duration.
So what do you think? Is Youtube the next big challenger for the movie rental throne? Do they have enough to seriously compete with Netflix or RedBox?
Discuss...

All of Google out of China? Really?

By now we've all heard of Google's threat to pull out of the Chinese market due to the recent hacks into its email systems. If you haven't, then here's a short article that gives the main points.

http://tiny.cc/mP66s

So, what are the consequences of Google pulling out of China? A recent article in by Seth Weintraub of Computer World poses some interesting questions regarding all that Google is and the effects of a complete retreat from the Chinese market.
Since Google is no longer just a search engine it has to consider all of its different components and the effect it will have on its stake of the global market. Like the new Android smart phone or Youtube. With China being such a major player in today's global economy (and certain to be even more important in the future) what will happen to Google? Will it destroy the Android's chances against an already empowered Apple? Will companies using Google apps for business in the Orient have to look for other alternatives? And what about Youtube's promise of a global sharing center?

Discuss

http://tiny.cc/3D9kh