experiencing

We have been experiencing a great war between the Xbox and the PlayStation for 25 years. And that’s wonderful: Crossover 1×38

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The clear things and the thick chocolate: I’m from Xbox. I have been almost always, although my first real console was the original PlayStation. Then, for various reasons, I decided to try the original Xbox and loved it, and have ended up owning all of its successors. But that doesn’t stop me from knowing that Spain is a country of Play. I respect and accept it, but what I also value is that this “console war” continues to be so active, because that competition not only allows us some fun and laughter with friends – “Do you really have an Xbox!?!?” – but above all because it has allowed both evolve amazingly. And precisely that war between the Xbox and the PlayStation we talk about in this installment of Crossover, in which both Jose and I We talk about our experiences and the history of these platforms accompanied, of course, by Jaume, who moderates and as always asks the right questions. Thus, we review the birth of the first PlayStation and Xbox and how that completely changed a market that previously seemed dominated by Sega and Nintendo. The latter has never directly entered into competition with Sony and Microsoft, and has chosen a different path and in which it has certainly done extraordinarily well. But what is clear is that the evolution of the Xbox and the PlayStation marked us all and in that review we talk about all those decisions, how each of the generations fared and what the future may hold for us. The final question, “Who won the console war?”may have a valid answer for the current moment, but the best of all is that we are facing platforms that are absolutely alive and that are preparing the most interesting news in the short term. Not only of them, of course, also with promising projects like the Steam Machine. Meanwhile, whether you are from Xbox or Play, we have a single message. Long live video games. On YouTube | Crossover In Xataka | There is brutal competition for our attention. And there is someone losing that battle in a bloody way: the consoles

Germany is experiencing a new “industrial miracle” that it already experienced 90 years ago: that of weapons

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Germany has been living a transformation silent but very deep. The country that saw the birth of the industrial miracle of the automobile is seeing something similar again, but from a perspective completely different: rearmament, which until recently was a political taboo and a social discomfort, has become a great industrial and labor accelerator. War as a driving force. The country, pushed by the russian invasion of Ukraine and the feeling that the American umbrella is already It’s not so automatic As before, it has been shifting its center of gravity towards defense with a mix of strategic urgency and productive ambition. And that mutation is measured in something very specific: employment, factories, supply chains and a demand that is no longer described as temporary, but as a new normal that promises to last for years, with orders that come in like a wave and companies that prepare to produce at scale, with war economy rhythms without the need to call it that. Mass hiring. German defense contractors have entered into a veritable hiring feverincreasing its workforce by nearly a third in just four years. The data provided by a representative group of large companies and start-ups shows a jump from around 63,000 workers in 2021 to almost 83,000 today Within its defense-focused divisions, a 30% growth which reflects the extent to which the industry is expanding at real speed. I remembered the financial times that, although these figures do not cover the entire sector and there are large companies that did not participate, the portrait is enough to understand the direction of the country: Germany not only buys more weapons, but is rearming its industrial muscle to manufacture, sustain and modernize them, with a labor market that is beginning to reorganize itself around this new priority. Rheinmetall Panther KF51 The budget turn. The great fuel for this expansion is public money converted into contracts. Since 2022, the German Ministry of Defense has signed arms deals worth of 207,000 million eurosand last year alone it concentrated 83,000 million, a figure that contrasts with the 23,000 million in 2021 and that summarizes the break with the previous stage. The most significant thing is that the trend does not aim to stop: Chancellor Merz, in office since May, has relaxed the strict debt rules to allow the level of spending needed in defense, a message that, beyond politics, works as an industrial signal: there will be stable demand, continuity and visibility, just what companies need to invest, expand capacity, hire and plan for the long term without fear that everything will freeze with the next electoral cycle. The real size of the sector. Even with this boom, the German defense industry remains a relatively modest player in terms of employment when compared to the country’s historical giant: the automobile. The Ministry of Economy itself cited around 105,000 jobs direct in defense in 2022, and although the figure will have risen since then, it remains far from the approximately 700,000 workers in the automotive sector, today hit by layoffscompetitive pressure and technological transition. This comparison is important because it cuts to the root a repeated idea: that rearmament can “replace” the car as a great work cushion. Defense can grow a lot, even draw on industry and attract talent, but due to volume it does not seem capable of absorbing the size in the short term. of the engine crisisat least not quickly or massively. Airbus and Reinmetall. Within the employment map, Airbus stands out as the largest employer, with around 38,000 people working in defense worldwide and just over half in Germany, manufacturing key pieces of European military architecture such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and the transport plane A400M. right behind Rheinmetall appearswhich has become the most visible symbol of the boom: the producer of tanks, artillery and ammunition has grown from about 15,400 employees in 2021 at 23,500 todaythe greatest absolute leap among the companies analyzed, and its CEO, Armin Papperger, has even projected a target of 70,000 employees in three years. In parallel, Rheinmetall has begun to experience something that in Germany is a cultural indicator: social attractiveness. He speaks of hundreds of thousands of applications in a single year, as if defense had stopped being a dark or secondary sector to suddenly become a bet for the future for engineers, technicians and industrial profiles. Military startups. The big relative surprise is in the new scene of military start-upsyoung companies focused on surveillance systems or weapons not always publicly detailed, that are raising hundreds of millions in financing and growing at a rate almost unthinkable a decade ago. The most striking case It’s Helsing.which makes armed drones and whose workforce has grown 18-fold in four years after evolving from an artificial intelligence software approach to hardware productiona leap that involves going from selling algorithms to build real objects with parts, assembly lines, logistics and maintenance. This movement is, in itself, a statement: European defense no longer wants to depend only on digital innovation, it wants to convert innovation in physical and deployable systemsand for that you need companies capable of manufacturing and scaling, not just programming. The State accelerates. From within the sector, the discourse is one of sustained takeoff. The BDSV employers’ association, in the voice of Hans Christoph Atzpodien, insists that growth will accelerate because Germany has streamlined processes purchase and has given more visibility on future demand, which allows capacity planning with less uncertainty. The phrase is almost industrially literal: now everything is placed so that large orders “arrive at the doors” of manufacturers. If you want and how do we countthe scenario describes a change of era: for years Europe talked about spending more on defense, but it did so with administrative slowness, political doubts and eternal programs; now the feeling is that the system is being reconfigured to buy and produce urgently, because the threat is perceived to be close and the margin for improvisation has been exhausted. The great temptation: “steal” the car. … Read more

four years later it is experiencing the biggest audience crisis in its history

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Telecinco has lost its way. Since the disappearance of Sálvame from his grill and the definitive closure of the Vasile era, the chain seems to have been left in no man’s land. The initial idea in summer 2023 was clear: Ana Rosa would take over the afternoons of that audience that was orphaned without Jorge Javier’s farmhouse. On the other hand, that was the first setback and what led to the fact that, faced with more than discreet audiencesthe presenter returned to her comfort zone, recovering the morning space. From then on, the situation did not rather than getting worse. With Joaquín Prat becoming the currency of the chain, the commitment to new contests and a weekend that, despite a rebranding constant (‘Viva la Vida’, ‘Ya es Verano’, ‘Fiesta’…) belongs for life to Emma García, the data remains unrecorded; In fact, the new stage of its news programs led by someone very established in that space within TVE has not even worked, as is Carlos Franganillo. The numbers show how little benefit the change of direction and this replacement of the Mediaset leadership is. And it is not only the new CEOs who have been unable to turn it around to the situation, but, paradoxically, the only thing that holds the chain is the Vasile inheritance. The audiences are clear: Telecinco finds it difficult to exceed 10% of the daily share and has been in decline for four years, with a historical monthly low 8% in August 2025. What is happening? Vasile continues to keep Mediaset afloat If we review what Mediaset has defined through its flagships, we can get an idea of ​​the type of programming that the audience wants and expects from the network, in addition to its editorial approach. During Valerio Lazarov’s era the ‘Mama Chicho’ led; Maurizio Carlotti will be remembered for promoting series such as ‘Family Doctor’ or iconic formats such as ‘Martian Chronicles’; and in the Vasile stage we remember that essence ‘Save me’. However, what stood out in its content management was the firm commitment to reality television and circular content, a move that was undoubtedly key to the chain’s success. The contestants of the latest edition of GH. ‘Big Brother’, ‘Hotel Glam’, ‘The Farm’, ‘Survivors’… The choice of this type of format may have seemed at the time a risky maneuver to boost the audience, but the truth is that the active participation of the public, its involvement in the personal plots of the contestants and the enormous amount of associated content that did nothing more than regurgitate the realities (debates, gatherings, 24-hour connections…) managed to keep an audience tremendously dedicated to reality television hooked and in suspense. Maybe the concept reality It was moving away from the classic contest format, but its essence remained intact and it was consolidated for years as the driving force of the network. ‘Women and Men and Vice Versa’ or ‘Sálvame’ were still, deep down, a 2.0 version of reality television. To understand and stay up to date with the cameos, the cross accusations and the melodramatic plots, it was essential to follow the different spaces spread throughout the grid, where the contestants, journalists and collaborators were part of the same network, which ended up building an extraordinarily loyal audience. Now we are in the middle of 2025 and after the debacle in hearings and the futile attempts to overcome the sharewhile the new management intends to more than shelve the Vasile stage, the only thing that it seems to still work as a claim to the public it is ‘Temptation Island’. A format that is still the natural evolution of Telecinco’s original reality television, more current and oriented towards young audiences, although keeping intact the philosophy of entertainment and controversy that defined the Vasile era. And this is not an isolated case: the other space that maintains acceptable figures in the chain is ‘Friday’a show that wants to appear whiter and more moderate in tone but is still another variant of the heartfelt programs that historically always triumphed on Telecinco during the reign of Paolo Vasile, such as Salsa Rosa or Sálvame Deluxe. Was this the revolution? Therefore, everything seems to indicate that the more they want to clean the slate, the more they need to resort to the ghosts of the past. As a way forward they wanted to rely on a format like ‘Big Brother‘ but this only highlighted the key deficiency: we have a Mediaset without a soul. There is no longer a synergy of programs with the same zeitgeist which in its day provided, for example, ‘Sálvame’. Without that transversal ecosystem that was nourished by that reality television, it is very difficult for a format like Big Brother to once again have the success of yesteryear. The contents appear too dispersed, without a clear common thread and, thus, the grid lacks cohesion. It seems that the solution and innovation proposed by the new management is based on decisions that go from bad to worse. When the debate on ‘Temptation Island’ (remember: its star program with three (!) weekly broadcasts), is relegated to the ‘Mediaset Infinity’ platform and on the contrary, they insist on broadcasting the debate of a program that gave his last blows like ‘Big Brother’ mean that the viewer was not surprised by that “sudden” cancellation of the format with an express final. The combination of a worn-out program, increasingly stronger competition, changes in consumer habits, the questionable selection of anonymous contestants and a fragmented programming has sentenced an edition of Big Brother with data that do not reach 10% of shareand confirming that the reality emblematic no longer connects with the audience like before; also entering into direct contrast with the wonderful data of ‘Temptation Island’; a fresher, viral and intense format that challenges the viewer. Only ‘Temptation Island’ saves the furniture. Mediaset only has to analyze how it is possible that a format like ‘The House of Twins’ has eaten the toast of his GH edition; … Read more

China is already experiencing it

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Is it worth ordering three family pizzas to take advantage of a 3 for 2 promotion? The answer is: it depends. It depends on if you are ordering just for yourself or if you are going to share them with four or five friends, although my friends would say that three pizzas for five is not enough, but that is another story. Be that as it may, the logic is overwhelming: better price, more people among whom to divide the expense and payment for a single shipment. It makes sense. Now let’s raise this, but with all the neighbors on the block or colleagues in the office. The savings would be considerable, especially if everyone orders the same thing from the same site. Well, in China this is an increasingly popular trend. Context. He increased cost of living It is not something that affects only us. He house pricehe rising prices of consumer goodsthe stagnant wages and other factors that make your hair stand on end mean that you have to tighten your belt and take action. In China, where eating out is practically a religion, it is acceptable A menu costs between 20 and 30 yuan (two-four euros, more or less). Meituan delivery driver | Image: Meituan Inequality. The problem is that salary inequality is absolutely brutal, to the point that the average really tells us little. What they tell us the data is that the top 1% of China’s earners have a larger share of the country’s wealth than the top 50%. Or what is the same, if 100 people lived in China, only one person would have half of the wealth of the entire country. Therefore, it will not surprise anyone that with the average salary of 353,000 yuan per year, about 45,000 euros at the exchange rate, it is difficult to live in many places. Eat out. It is, as we said, something common in China. The question is: how can we make menus cheaper? Indeed, asking for a lot of the same thing from the same place. That idea is the one that applied Meituana Chinese shopping platform for consumer products and local retail services, to the delivery industry. 拼好饭. Or translated into the language of Cervantes, “group food delivery.” It is more or less the same premise that we proposed when eating this text: recommendations of popular dishes, group orders and a single delivery. This system It allows certain authorized establishments to prepare food in batches and for delivery people to make several deliveries in a single trip, since everyone is nearby and has ordered the same thing. Image | Meituan Coordinating. It requires more coordination and the food may take a little longer, but it allows you to save up to 50% on certain menus, as explained from Sinica Podcasts. “In central Guangzhou, a roast duck leg with rice usually costs 28.8 yuan if ordered individually, but drops to only 11.2 yuan with the group takeaway option,” they say. The cost of shipping represents up to 80% of the cost of the order, so adding dishes to the order dilutes the price for more people. and it works. It is clear that users are willing to wait a little longer for food if it is much cheaper. Meituan began testing this system in 2020 in poorer markets and by April 2023 had already established a department dedicated only to group orders focused on first-tier cities. Only in 2023, Meituan processed 1.16 billion group orders, which represented 6% of all orders. And in Spain? It is not a very widespread or popular thing, at least at the user level. Yes, it is possible to take advantage of promotions and share food to dilute the shipping and make the price per head better, but there is no proposal similar to the Chinese one. Companies like Uber do allow something similar, but it is focused on small groups of people or companies, not so much on large volumes. But perhaps it is a matter of time, especially in large capitals. Cover image | zhang kaiyv In Xataka | China has found a huge health problem in its kitchens: record per capita salt consumption

The geopolitical irony that we are experiencing in the chip war has an unexpected beneficiary: Russia

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The technological and trade war between the United States and China continues to open new fronts of debate. The last one, derived from the singular Nexperia situationis beginning to point to a future in which European decoupling from the Chinese chip industry may end up having an effect that is especially disturbing. Or dad, or mom. The strategic semiconductor sector has become the absolute focus of this trade war, and here Europe has traditionally been a security ally of Washington, but at the same time a key economic partner of Beijing. The problem is that the old continent has been forced to choose sides. US pressure for technological “decoupling”, coupled with concerns about national security, has forced the European Union to harden its stance towards Chinese investments and companies. Risk for Europe. This European effort to decouple its chip industry from China, far from shielding the continent’s security, could end up being counterproductive and self-destructive. With this decision, Europe would be assuming enormous economic and supply chain costs to align with Washington, putting at risk the future of its own industries, such as automotive or electronics, which are highly dependent on the Chinese market and production. The Nexperia case. The recent epicenter of this conflict is the aforementioned Nexperia case. In late September, the Dutch government invoked an old national security law to take effective control of Nexperia, a Dutch automotive chip company. That company is actually owned by the Chinese firm Wingtech, and the intervention marked a dangerous turning point, transforming China’s acquisition of technology from an economic issue to one of geopolitical security. Beijing’s revenge. The Chinese government did not sit idly by. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce banned the export of certain finished Nexperia components from China to Europe. Those reprisals They stopped the delivery of key partsthreatening to provoke a new chip crisis in Europe, and especially affecting to automakers in Germany and other countries that depend on that supply. Russia rubs its hands. If China’s chip industry is forced to operate under strict separation from European markets (decoupling), and Europe ceases to be a viable destination or supplier, China could find it easier to supply those chips to Russia, which desperately needs them for its weapons programs, especially in the wake of severe Western sanctions. Strategic irony. The situation is paradoxical. European “security” actions aimed at containing Chinese influence may end up resulting in a transfer of technological supply capacity to Russia. Thus they would inadvertently strengthen the war machine of what is Europe’s most immediate adversary in the Ukrainian conflict. History repeats itself. In reality, the curious thing is that it is suspected that all these events are part of a historical pattern. Europe is dragged into a conflict by the US (first Iraq, then Afghanistan, now this decoupling) only for Washington to withdraw or change focus later, leaving Europe alone to bear the impact of broken supply chains. It does not appear that there was much strategic thinking on the part of the EU and the Netherlands when making that controversial decision with Nexperia. USA also wins. This dynamic seems to further strengthen the leading role of Washington, which if it pushes Europe towards decoupling, not only restricts a rival (China) but also causes European countries to massively increase their defense spending. An expense that would obviously fall on the US military industry. a crossroads. Europe faces a colossal strategic problem. Its security depends on the US, its economy is closely linked to China, and at the same time it seeks its own autonomy. Restrictions on semiconductors put Europe at risk of sacrificing its own long-term economic prosperity in favor of a strategy that could be abandoned by its main ally. Long term consequences. If this trend that began with the Nexperia case is consolidated, European value chains dependent on Asia will be destroyed, in addition to an increase in inflation due to the cost of decoupling and a possible strengthening of relations between China and Russia. What is happening with Nexperia is no longer just a corporate dispute, but the symbol of an EU that is being governed without a clear vision of its own long-term interests. Image | Nexperia | Kremlin In Xataka | China is taking a giant step in its quest for technological self-sufficiency: its own EDA software

They are not experiencing their same audience crisis

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Awards deliveries are falling in a fallen layer. The Oscars sink into historical minimums, other relevant awards such as the Emmy or the Grammy fall every year. It could be said that the awards for the best cultural proposals of the year no longer interest. However, The Goya They endure firm, with more or less stable audiences except for occasional and understandable ups and downs. Decadent awards. In audiences at least, as seen In this axios picture. And not in all cases: Emmy For example, they had their best audience in three years (6.8 million viewers), and the Grammy They are also experiencing in the last four an ascending curve to pre-pandemic levels (17 million), but all within a context of generalized fall. Worse are the Gold balloonswhich are maintained after the spectacular fall of a few years ago (9.3 million) or the Oscars, these yes in clear free fall, after a historical minimum in 2021 of which They have not yet recovered. In Spain they work. Goya audiences They have experienced the high logic of the circumstances of each moment (in 2021 they fell to historical minimums, such as the Oscars, because of the Covid and a ceremony where all the nominees were in their homes), but in general, they have remained since 2009 Always around 20 and 25% of Share. They are figures that involve few variations in interest. Post-pandemic television. It is true that there was a time, between 2009 and 2011, in which the Goya exceeded four million viewers, and now they are rather around two and a half million, but it is a fall that is part of the Disappearance of the general chains as the main entertainment of society, along with the consecration of the platforms of streaming Around the Covid years. And of course, with the generalized descent in television consumption in recent yearswhich makes the 2024 gala the least seen in 18 years, in the context of the audiences of that year it was a good percentage According to RTVEwinning fee, going up to the previous year and being the most watched that day in Prime Time. The secret: few changes. If you think about possible reasons for Goya to continue maintaining their form, it is precisely the few changes they have experienced over time. Since its first edition, in 1987 (televised since 1991), it has followed the awards codes such as Oscars, with very scarce freedoms. The format of one or two presenters has only broken three times, in 2001 with six, in 2002 with the animal group and at the 2022 choral gala. The statuet has not changed, the rules to be nominated and awarded have barely experienced Evolutions Classics without risk. A statism that at the moment seems to benefit them: this year, the gala will be presented by two classics without risk such as Leonor Watling and Maribel Verdú, and has already promised, in advance, a gala without controversies and Without politics. That is, the desire and intention is that, for the moment, everything remains the same. At least, as regards the audiences. In Xataka | Karla Sofía Gascón has achieved more than endangering her own Oscar: jumping all Netflix alarms

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