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identixweblimited · 4 months ago

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Upselling vs Cross Selling: Which One Drives More Revenue in Shopify?

If you run a Shopify store, you've probably heard about upselling and cross selling as strategies to increase revenue. Both techniques aim to boost the average order value (AOV), but they do so in different ways. While upselling encourages customers to purchase a higher-end version of a product, cross-selling suggests complementary items to enhance their purchase.

But which one is more effective for Shopify merchants?

In this blog, we’ll break down upselling vs cross selling, explore their advantages, and provide actionable tips to implement them effectively.

What is Upselling?

Upselling is a technique that persuades customers to buy a better, upgraded, or premium version of the product they are considering. The main goal of upselling is to maximize the value of a single purchase.

Examples of Upselling:

A customer adds a basic laptop model to their cart, and they are shown a higher-end version with better specs at a discounted rate.

While booking a flight, the airline offers an upgrade to business class for a small extra fee.

A coffee shop suggests getting a large-sized latte instead of a medium one for a slight price difference.

🔹 Why It Works: Customers are already interested in the product, so upgrading for extra features or benefits feels like a natural choice rather than an additional expense.

What is Cross Selling?

Cross-selling involves recommending related or complementary products to the one a customer is purchasing. Instead of upgrading, this technique encourages buyers to add extra items that go well with their current purchase.

Examples of Cross Selling:

A customer buys a mobile phone, and the store suggests adding a phone case and screen protector.

A fashion store recommends a matching belt and shoes when someone buys a suit.

An electronics retailer suggests buying a wireless mouse and keyboard along with a laptop.

🔹 Why It Works: Cross-selling helps customers get a more complete shopping experience by offering items that enhance their primary purchase.

Upselling vs Cross Selling: Which is Better for Shopify?

Both upselling and cross selling help businesses increase revenue, but their effectiveness depends on the type of products you sell and your customer behavior.

1. Customer Buying Intent

Upselling works best when customers are already convinced about buying a product but might consider an upgraded version with more value.

Cross-selling works best when customers are interested in enhancing their shopping experience with complementary products.

2. Impact on Average Order Value (AOV)

Upselling directly increases AOV by replacing a lower-cost product with a higher-priced alternative.

Cross-selling boosts AOV by adding multiple items to the cart, increasing the total spend.

3. Best Use Cases for Shopify Stores

Upselling is ideal for stores selling electronics, software, or high-value products where customers appreciate better specifications.

Cross-selling works well for fashion, beauty, and home decor brands where accessories or add-ons complement the main product.

Pro Tip: The best Shopify stores use both upselling and cross-selling together to maximize their earnings per customer.

How to Implement Upselling and Cross Selling in Your Shopify Store

1. Use a Shopify Cart Upsell App

Manually setting up upsells and cross-sells can be challenging. The easiest way to automate the process is by using a Shopify cart upsell app. These apps allow you to:

✔️ Show upsell offers inside the cart before checkout.

✔️ Display cross-sell recommendations based on customer preferences.

✔️ Provide bundle discounts to encourage higher spending.

✔️ Personalize upsells with AI-driven recommendations.

Checkout this video on how Icart App help you with Implementing Upselling and Cross Selling in your store.

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2. Offer Limited-Time Upsell Deals

Creating urgency can boost upsell conversions. Try offering:

"Upgrade to a Pro Version and Get 10% Off – Offer Ends in 24 Hours!"

"Buy 2 and Get 1 Free – Only Available Today!"

3. Smartly Place Cross-Sell Recommendations

Cross-sell offers work best when they are presented at the right time and place:

Product Pages – Show related products before the customer adds an item to the cart.

Cart Page – Highlight add-ons that enhance the main product.

Checkout Page – Suggest last-minute add-ons before the final purchase.

4. Provide Bundle Discounts

Customers love value-packed deals! Instead of selling items individually, create discounted product bundles, such as:

A "Complete Skincare Kit" (Cleanser + Toner + Moisturizer) at a special price.

A "Gaming Essentials Pack" (Gaming Laptop + Mouse + Headset) with a bundled discount.

Which Strategy Will Make You More Money?

Both upselling and cross selling are effective, but their impact depends on the type of products you sell:

Choose Upselling If:

✔️ Your store sells high-ticket products that have premium upgrades.

✔️ You want to increase profit margins per order.

✔️ Your customers appreciate better versions of what they’re already buying.

Choose Cross Selling If:

✔️ You want to encourage customers to buy related products together.

✔️ Your store focuses on repeat purchases (fashion, accessories, home decor, etc.).

✔️ You want to improve the overall shopping experience by offering complementary products.

The Best Strategy? Use Both! Shopify stores that integrate upsell and cross sell techniques effectively see the highest revenue growth.

Conclusion

Both upselling vs cross selling play an essential role in increasing revenue for Shopify merchants. Upselling focuses on increasing order value by upgrading products, while cross-selling enhances customer satisfaction with related purchases.

To make the most of these strategies, use a Shopify cart upsell app that automates recommendations, displays offers at the right time, and drives higher conversions effortlessly.

Start implementing these sales strategies today and watch your Shopify revenue grow!

#shopify #shopifystore #upsell vs cross sell #upselling and cross selling #Youtube

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pudding-parade · 1 year ago

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@batsheba and maybe @beatricecrumplebottom

I've got waaaaaaaaaay more to say than will fit in a standard reply, so…

Not gonna lie, Planet Zoo has a learning curve. Quite a steep one, in fact. There are so many aspects to it. There's acquiring animals and managing them and building habitats for them (they all have specific requirements) and breeding them for good genes while avoiding inbreeding. There's building staff and guest facilities and managing staff and guest needs. There's designing the zoo layout as a whole. There's a research tree to unlock stuff relating to the animals as well as different aspects of the zoo, like better power generation as well as different styles of building pieces. And much more.

It's a lot, frankly, and I'm still learning. It does have a mode called Career Mode, where you play guided scenarios. The early scenarios serve as a half-assed (at best) tutorial. The good news is that there are a lot of good videos and tutorial playlists on YouTube made by various people. I've learned the most from these three YouTubers, so I'm linking to the first episode of each of their tutorial playlists, but all of them have lots of other videos, too.

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You can watch a bit before buying the game to help you decide if it's for you. I'll warn you that if you get everything, it adds up to a tidy amount of money. But, it usually goes on sale on Steam's summer and winter sales, and you can buy bundles that way for not too much money. (I got the "Ultimate Bundle," during the summer sale last year, which was the base game plus all the DLCs up to the time I bought it, for I think about 80USD, which was more than half off. The DLCs are 10USD each normally and they usually come with about five new animals as well as a buuuuuunch of stuff for building/decorating.) Also, two of the above linked YouTube creators have affiliations to Instant Gaming that will give you a good discount any time on the base game and DLCs.

As for the building, specifically…It can be very easy. The game comes with blueprints, which are pre-built things that you can just plunk down wherever. They include everything from staff and guest buildings to different climbing frames for arboreal animals to full habitats for all kinds of animals. Many of them are pretty nice-looking, even. You can also download tons of player-made blueprints from the Steam workshop for the game if you get the game via Steam...or even if you don't, if you know some tricks. So, if you go that route, you hardly do any building at all. It's all just figuring out a layout for your zoo (and that can be hard, since you start with just a big, blank plot of land and a pre-built entryway building) and then plunking down blueprints and getting right into the animals.

However, much like in Sims games, I like to build for myself, and the system in PZ is frankly amazing. I wish the Sims games were like it. It can be very, very fiddly, especially if you're a perfectionist, but it's also amazing. You have the "basic" pieces which are wall, floor, and roof pieces made of many different materials and that have different shapes, like for making curved walls. These snap to an adjustable-size grid and form the basis of a building. But from there, there are hundreds (thousands, if you have DLCs) of pieces that don't snap to a grid (but there are controls for them so you can line things up properly, for instance). The pieces that don't snap to the grid can all be moved laterally in all three dimensions as well as rotated on all three axes, and can be used as, for instance, trims on buildings, so you have complete freedom with them and you can do really creative things to decorate your buildings and habitats. This is why I can spend many hours building one frickin' barn. LOL

Everything is keyboard-and-mouse, as the game is currently PC-only, though it's rumored that it's coming to consoles soon. There are many hot keys pre-assigned, and everything is easily controlled with a mouse.

There are lots of modes to the game, the main one being franchise mode, which starts you with a limited amount of money and is connected to an online server. Animals are traded between players. It can be hard because many players set frankly ridiculous prices on the animals they sell, but it's part of the challenge of the mode. There's a challenge mode, which is basically the same as franchise only not online, so if you don't want to deal with ridiculous players and/or can't/don't want to play with the internet turned on, you can. In that, all of the animals you can buy are created by the game, not other players. There's "career" mode I mentioned. There are timed scenarios, which I've never played so I don't know what they're like. Annnnnnd there's the sandbox mode, which has no money limits and no research requirements (unless you impose them on yourself) and has all sorts of controls that you can use to customize your experience. There are always four of every animal (two of each sex) available in the market, which as in the challenge mode are game-generated. (Game-generated animals generally have sucky genes.)

So, yeah, I love the game, and would highly recommend it, especially if you like to build stuff and, of course, like animals. Definitely watch some of the videos I linked, though, because they'll give you a better idea of what the game is like.

#non sims #planet zoo #Youtube

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askthechronoverse · 1 year ago

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The last of four short stories I have written for supplemental purposes. Takes place after everything else I've written so far.

The clicking of a keyboard was the only sound that could be heard in the sterile and clinical lab. A lone figure was the source of the oddly melodic sounds, her paws orange barely visible and her expression stern and focused. Her tail swayed to the rhythm of her typing as she made music with her large computer. Her music was visual, displayed on the monitor as various graphs, charts, and figures. Most of it would make no sense to a passerby, save for the images of two people. One was a man with wild dark brown hair who's eyes reflected a deep, almost spiritual tiredness. The other had dark grey hair that was adorned with a simple grey pillbox hat. His expression was neutral, almost bland. The fox tapped a mouse with an impatient paw, clicking into a diagnostic screen for a Project Daffodil. She clicked her tongue as she went over the diagnostics, a smirk slowly sliding onto her face. It was working. She should have guessed it would: doing this kind of task was just a normal occurrence for a scientific mind like hers.

She took her paw off of her mouse and sauntered to a small, nearby capsule. The capsule was smooth and black, several different kinds of tubes and wires making it look like a baby kraken in the dim light. The fox tapped the glass with her paw, the blackness parting to reveal something moving in water. She shook her head, ear twitching at the rapid movement. It was almost time, but her special project had to be patient for just a little longer. Perfection takes time, after all. She shuffled over to the console again and grabbed a jar. The jar had only two objects in it: a dim grey heart and a bright green heart. Both seemed to glow softly, ebbing in time with each other. She watched this dance for a moment, smiling at how coordinated it all was.

She looked back at the capsule, seeing the movement once again. The end was near. She could take her time with this, however. She had so much to prepare first, so much to do before the time finally came.

A soft hum made the fox sigh. She glanced back at the two hearts. The memory of gathering the samples was vivid as she looked back. They were symbols of pure love, created when the two men on her large monitor kissed for the first time as a married couple. She had been studying what she can do with these totems for a long time and this was the best thing she could think of doing. Grabbing the jar, the fox headed once more to the capsule, opening a small hatch. She carefully put both hearts into the hatch, closing it quickly.

Now to wait, the worst part of the process. She went back to the monitor and watched the screen. After what felt like an eternity, an alert flashed on her screen. The end was here. She typed some commands in the keyboard and rushed to the capsule, which was already open on her approach. A long cry cut through the evening air, coming from a bundle wrapped in soft, blue fabric with yellow stars creating a cartoony nebula in the open container. The fox peeked in to see the result of her careful testing.

"Success," was all she uttered as she picked up the noisy bundle. "Now. Normally I would dispose of you, but you are special." The fox bounced, the noise stopping in due time. "Let's not wake the castle. We'll go for a walk." She held the bundle in her arms and shuffled out the door, a small square robot following behind her.

The fox passed through the town, which was clearly getting ready for Halloween. Posters advertised a costume party for Halloween night. Leaves playfully circled her feet as she walked toward the woods, the smell of nature in fall making her nose crinkle. Nature. She wasn't a fan of nature. Why did they have to live so far into the woods? Oh well. It didn't matter, she supposed. She wasn't going to be there long. She'd just have to distract herself with mathematical equations and calculations for her next major experiment.

While the fox made her trek, the man with tired eyes was busy in the kitchen. He whistled a song he'd thought he'd forgotten as he mixed a white, creamy liquid in a pot.

"Hey, babe? We goin' to the party? I know ya gotta go, but are we goin'?" He grabbed a cutting board and waited for a reply. He soon got one from the grey haired man, who floated over to the maplewood bar and watched the other work.

"I would love nothing more than for you to go, my beloved. We could do a themed costume, if it isn't too late for that." His bright smile was the most expression he was giving, as his voice gave nothing in that department. "Would it be too late to attempt that?"

"Nah, it's never too late to beat Brock and Frown for the best couple costume award. They were stiff competition last year, but we just needta be clever ta beat them. Ya got something' in mind?" As Rex spoke, he began to chop some carrots and potatoes.

"We could dress up as the characters from that movie I showed you the other day. I'm surprised you stayed awake until the end. I know you prefer action films to period pieces." Richard floated behind his boyfriend, willing his feet to touch the wood flooring. Rex turned around and leaned down to kiss him softly.

"I almost did, babe. But, we can do that. Am I gonna be Lady Pemblebrick or Lord Bricklebottom? I should have time to grab some very period accurate pieces after work tomorrow." He turned back to the pot, adding some herbs to the stew.

"You know I look better in a corset, but you have her passion and hair type. If we want to win, you will need to tame that cowlick of yours, but if I'm Lord Bricklebottom, we can easily win." There was a twinkle in Richard's eye as he spoke, his voice still monotone. He floated to the counter, perching there with crossed legs.

"I find it hard to say no to you, babe. I'll even wear the heels. We gotta win this year. It's gettin' embarrassing to get beaten by those two!"

A loud knock from the front door crashed through the banter, Richard sighing softly as he floated toward the door to open it. Just before he reached the door, it swung open with sizable force. This startled both occupants of the cabin, a green exclamation mark appearing over Rex's head.

"Oh! Doctor Fox! Did you walk all this way? It's supposed to start raining soon." Richard saw that Doctor Fox and the robot were already wet and the rain was coming down heavily. "Come in. You'll get a cold."

"It's not me you should be worrying about." The words ominously hung in the air as she entered the cabin, the bundle she held close to her chest starting to stir.

"Who else would we worry about, Doc? The robot?" Rex went back to the pot on the stove. "We should have enough stew for ya if ya wanna stay a while." Doctor Fox sat at the counter, Richard once again perching on it.

"I was just planning on dropping something off and leaving." She put the bundle down on the counter and started to leave. She didn't get far before Richard picked it up and unwrapped it to reveal a round little face, dark eyes staring up at him with a blank calmness. His heart stopped as he stared back at the thing. He whistled for Rex to turn around, which he did. He walked over to his husband and was handed the bundl with shaking hands.

"What... what is..." Richard spoke breathlessly. "Why us?"

"It's a girl and she's yours, genetically speaking. I wanted to see if your DNA would be compatible, since you still have traces of your brickness and Rex is something else altogether. It worked." She looked at the couple for a sign of a possible compliment, but all she got was a shaking Richard and a Rex on the verge of tears. "You could thank me or something, guys."

"... Our daughter? This is our daughter?" Rex swallowed, eyes solely on the little girl. She made fussy little sounds, squirming a little.

"Doctor Fox, you should have said something first. We don't have room in this cabin for a third person and we both work. One of us will need to take time off to take care of her until she is out of infant-" Richard looked around and saw that Doctor Fox had left. He shook his head. "Rex, what are we going to do?"

"Rich. We can do this. I can renovate the cabin and I can afford to take time off." Rex held the child close to him, almost afraid she was going to vanish if he let go.

"Rex. You just got the Royal Chrononauts off the ground and financially viable a year ago. You can't afford to lose that momentum." Richard urged, worry and fear framing the monotone in his voice.

"You and I both know ya ain't gonna be the one to stop working for that long. I can afford it. Besides, the one picking up my slack would be the exact person who put us in this... amazing position." The tears continued to flow as Rex walked to the couch and grabbed a clean blanket and rewrapped the baby in it. "We get back at her for throwing this on us, I finally get time off work that isn't for some science talk or to visit Emmet and we get to... to start a family." Rex moved back to his husband, who had taken the stew off the burner.

"...You know, you can tell she's our little girl. She has your eyes." Richard floated by Rex's side, watching the little girl fuss in her tight wrappings.

“Well yeah. She has one of your eyes too. Two different colors.” Rex chuckled as he loosened the blanket a little for her.

"If you're ready, I'll be as well.” Richard whispered. “I do recall that Lady Pemblebrick and Lord Bricklebottom had a child at the end of the novel the film was based on. We may have to just compete for best group costume this year.

#raptorclip #the newspaper isn't antiquated •||• written works

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linuxgamenews · 1 year ago

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Aground Zero: Mining & Building Your Way to the Surface

Aground Zero voxel colony sim and base building RPG game for Linux and Windows PC hits Early Access. Thanks to the imaginative team at Fancy Fish Games for bringing this adventure to life. Available now via Steam Early Access with 85% Positive reviews. Fancy Fish has just rolled out their latest project, Aground Zero, the voxel colony sim. This isn't just another typical release; it's a unique base building RPG that's diving into Early Access for around a year. The world as we know it has crumbled. You find yourself deep underground, with nothing but isolation and a friendly AI companion for company. It's a scenario straight out of a sci-fi flick, but here's the twist – it's up to you to claw your way back to the surface. You'll be mining, building, and scraping together a survival strategy. But that's not all. There's a glimmer of hope in this bleak world – other survivors are out there, waiting for you to find them. The journey from being stranded in this subterranean nightmare to establishing your own underground base is just the beginning. You'll be piecing together vehicles, rescuing fellow survivors, and eventually, making your way to the surface. But what awaits you there? That's the big question. Fancy Fish isn't just stopping at the voxel colony sim release, they have big plans for Aground Zero. Think along the lines of crafting the first spaceship, exploring new areas, and even constructing a moon base. It's clear they're not just thinking big; they're thinking cosmic.

Aground Zero voxel colony sim release Trailer

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Now, here's where it gets even more interesting. This underground world isn't just about mining and building. You're not alone down there. And I'm not just talking about other survivors. There are creatures lurking in the depths, the kind that don't belong on Earth. It adds an exciting, albeit slightly chilling, twist to your quest. But fear not, the AI companion is not just a bundle of code. It's your guide, your helper, and in these dire times, perhaps even your savior. All it needs is a bit of assistance from you, the human touch, to steer humanity towards safety. Aground Zero is more than just a solitary voxel colony sim journey. It's got a local split-screen multiplayer option, but here's the catch – only one player can use the keyboard and mouse. Everyone else? You're going to need a controller. And while it supports up to four players, everyone can opt for controllers if that's more your style. This game isn't just a sequel or a rehash. It's a 3D spinoff of the wildly successful Aground (2020), known for its engaging pixel-art mining and crafting gameplay. If you haven't played the original, no worries, jumping into Aground Zero requires no prior knowledge of the voxel colony sim. It's a standalone experience, set during the same events but with its own unique twist. Aground Zero is shaping up to be an exhilarating, engaging, and utterly unique voxel colony sim. Whether you're a seasoned Linux gamer or just looking for your next big adventure, this is one journey you won't want to miss. Available now via Steam Early Access. Priced at $19.99 USD / £16.75 / 19,50€. Along with support for Linux and Windows PC.

#aground zero #voxel colony sim #base building #rpg #linux #gaming news #fancy fish games #ubuntu #windows #pc #Youtube

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arthurhwalker · 2 years ago

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Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Review

The hype for this device is warranted. That said, some of the features are incomplete, or "coming soon." There's a lot of really great reviews of the device that talk specifications. In short, the specs are great. This review is going to about how the device fits into my own use case, and the features that mattered to me most.

Yep. I'm going to make it all about me.

Text Entry

Being able to use two screens in landscape, one above the other, or side by side in portrait mode is a show stopper. It's really difficult to have that set up, and have it fit comfortably in your daily carry bag. Being able to set a document window to cascade between both screens in stacked landscape mode is done by tapping five fingers on the screen. It's so good.

Also, it comes with a Mystery Triangle. No idea what it's for, but it is magnetic and has instructions on it for assembly. I found at least one thing it can do, but probably isn't intended for.

Pen holder?

Pictured below: 65w Charger, Lenovo 2-channel quiet Bluetooth mouse, keyboard accessory, stylus, and Mystery Triangle.

The Bluetooth keyboard accessory is excellent. Best of all, the keyboard is included. Literally, the best travel sized/weight Bluetooth Keyboard accessory I've seen is just quietly bundled with the Lenovo 9i.

Key travel, latency (I type very fast if I want to), and feedback are great. I know the device is designed to take pen input, but I love making text with it. They way the keyboard rolls up into the stand to protect the keys from havoc while traveling in my bag is really nice. A lot of thought went into the accessories for the Yoga Book 9i.

The effort paid off.

Pen Entry

You make some sacrifices here, but I'm not convinced it is Lenovo's fault. Being able to draw on the deck display while using the lid display to view your reference material is awesome. Pen input is pretty good, but I'm still wrestling with getting tilt and other functionality to work as I'd prefer. It doesn't seem to matter which application I use, there is a little jitter.

The device will take pen input on both screens simultaneously but that experience is heavily dependent on the applications, and what pen protocol they are using. Overall I'll be doing my finishing work at 300 dpi at home on my Thinkpad with a Wacom Cintiq. Will I do front end digital art, pixel art, and sketching on my Yoga Book 9i?

For sure.

It's an 8.5 stars drawing experience that feels like a 10 because the displays are both OLED, and vary closely matched in both color and brightness. I haven't applied any film to the deck, but the included stylus has pretty good resistance without it. My other favorite stylus works great, too.

User Experience

Microsoft's software products have been in steady decline for over a decade. I didn't think Microsoft had anything left to ruin after Windows 10, but they broke new ground with Windows 11. User experience isn't anywhere on Microsoft's list of priorities these days, and anything Windows 11 does well feels accidental.

Fortunately, Lenovo goes all out to smooth things over wherever they can. They have software running that helps curate the experience for the user. In some cases it does better than put lipstick on the pig that is Windows 11. With screen gestures and touch input particularly, I forget the pig exists.

There are many "coming soon" features that promise to make the experience great, utilizing both displays for function and neat visual aesthetics. If Lenovo does all they've promised with regard to features, the user experience would go from good, to great.

The bad news is that the display scaling is kinda stuck at 200%. You can change it, but you have to change it for each display, every time you log in. When you turn your computer on in the morning to get started working, you'll be changing the scaling, if you don't like it at 200%

For me, the 200% scaling is perfect, and I imagine it will be a for a lot of people. If that is not ideal, it becomes an arduous daily chore to open the display settings, and change the scaling to the desired amount. It is likely that Lenovo will fix this with an update.

If you're having this issue, head to Lenovo's Forums and hit this post. It has some work arounds, but also reply in line. Bump it up. Thanks.

I'll update this review if I find a silver bullet or if Lenovo issues and update that fixes the issue.

Darkness

During the Pandemic my spouse was ill (not with COVID, something else). Being able to sit next to her in the dark, and continue my work without disturbing her was pretty important. At the time I had an Thinkpad X1 Carbon that I had Lenovo's power management settings on it. With the screen brightness bottomed out, and the machine set to run quiet as I could get it, I was able to continue working.

After my spouse's recent surgery, I found myself in a similar situation. She basically needed to sleep for a month to heal, and I needed to be able to watch over her, and continue my work.

Using the Yoga Book 9i in a dark room to make text is great. With the backlighting turned down to nothing, the software keyboard (Lenovo's, not you Microsoft) is perfect. It can be set to give feedback, and a little noise, or nothing at all. The OLED displays turned all the way down are perfect for viewing text, without adding enough illumination to a room to disturb a sleeper.

It's also really cool looking in the dark. Perfect for writing science fiction.

My ears ring constantly after having COVID, and now I'm pretty sensitive to coil whine from devices. The Yoga Book 9i is almost as quiet as a fanless ARM SOC. Almost.

Sound

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i can be really quiet, but it can also be really loud. If you were using it to run Dungeons & Dragons at a venue, and needed something to play music and sound effects, this device has the best sound on a portable device I've heard. I have one other Lenovo Yoga with a sound bar hinge from a couple years back. The sound on it is really good, but nothing like the Yoga Book 9i.

You can take the Bluetooth speaker out your bag if you're carrying one.

That said, make sure you fully update all the sound drivers. My Yoga Book 9i came with a lot of crackle pop out of the box. Once I updated all the drivers, the sound was perfect. I didn't need to touch a thing.

You will absolutely annoy other people at the coffee shop while watching cat videos on YouTube.

Mobile Workspace

I've been carrying a Thinkpad X12 Detachable Tablet, a Thinkvision M14 portable display, Lenovo Pen Stylus, and Lenovo Bluetooth Mouse as my standard portable workspace. It sets up nicely on a coffee shop table, and let me do my things while I'm traveling.

It's a really nice set up, fits well in my bag.

The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i does the same thing without all the hunting for accessories. Everything you need comes with it. Also, you aren't stuck with two landscape displays stuck side by side, or with extra stands to make your preferred viewing experience work.

It also takes up less space on the table, and I don't have to bring another keyboard as a sidecar to render digital artwork with the pen.

I haven't run into battery life issues with the Yoga Book 9i. I really expected to find myself searching for an outlet more often, but it hasn't been a thing. I assumed the magnetic stand and keyboard accessories would mess with it my bag, and I'd find the device running fans and being crazy in standby mode. Nope, it's been fine.

If it sounds like my expectations were low in terms of the hardware, it is because they were. I was pretty sure I'd buy one, review it, and return it. I'm keeping mine, and riding out the bumps as Lenovo updates and completes software features. I think it'll be worth the wait.

Accessories

All that's missing is the perfect bag or sleeve for the Yoga Book 9i. I'm using a Waterfield Designs Sutter Tech Sling right now, and it is pretty ideal. I have a number of Lenovo's other two-compartment cases that worth pretty well, but nothing that is "the one."

Other than that, carry an extra big microfiber cloth. With three Thunderbolt 4 ports I haven't found the need for dongles or docks unless I'm at home.

Bundled Software

Lenovo ships this device with a Smart Note and Journal application. You can take a Smart Note on the Lock Screen, save Bookmarks, and there is a Smart Reader app in the works. I usually dismiss bundled software, but Lenovo gave these apps some great features.

I might not use Journal, but I will be using Smart Note.

Branding

I've owned or laid hands on every version of Lenovo's Yoga Book devices over the years. My Yoga Book Gen 1.5 (Ruby Red) and Yoga Book C930 still get used, because they are that good. I've had the Android version of the Gen 1, Windows Version of the Gen 1, and used the LTE (Eurozone) Yoga Book C930.

Is the Yoga Book 9i a "Yoga Book" as Lenovo has defined them? Yes, and no.

The Yoga Book 9i is not a 10" ultraportable that defies the traditional categories of clamshell vs. tablet / detachable device. It is a 13" clamshell laptop that comes with the best wireless keyboard and mouse offerings, and the second best stylus Lenovo offers. The stand accessory that bundles everything up is awesome.

It does not fit in my vertical computer bag designed for 10" - 12" form factor devices. It would be unwieldy to hold like a book, in hand, and read text from the displays.

It does provide a computing experience you can't get anywhere else. Lisa Gade didn't even try to explain this in her review. You'll either look at this device and wonder who it's for, or know instantly that you need one for your use case. Like other Yoga Books of the past, there is nothing to compare the 9i to.

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There are other dual-screen devices, but they don't compete with the Yoga Book in my opinion. They are not necessarily better or worse, they just don't provide the same experience.

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veebs-hates-video-games · 1 year ago

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I'm glad I waited until the last minute to figure out how I felt about the games I played this year because there were some surprise changes right up until the end. I think I managed to get most things I played this year that weren't just demos onto a list and will have opinions on them.

There will potentially be too many to tag properly, but maybe I'll try linking the game titles to the tags and see how that goes, which should bring up any previous posts about them with more detail (although I still haven't finished updating all the old posts to the new tags yet as of writing this so they might not all work right away).

Also except for the final category stuff within each group isn't really in any particular order, and there's no hard boundary between some of the categories where I think everything in one is definitively better than everything in another (e.g. I think Aria of Sorrow is better than at least some of the stuff in the "pleasantly surprised category", but I liked it exactly as much as I expected to so it is where it is).

So starting from the worst:

Fate/EXTELLA LINK was the least fun I had with a game all year. It's like what if a Musou game felt worse to play and also had an extremely uncomfortable level of pandering to weebs and their waifus in the writing. Blech.

Diablo 2: Resurrected is literally unplayable without creating an account and being online even though D2 has always had offline single player. They don't actually mention this. I only have it because it was cheaper to get the bundle with D2 and D3 than D3 by itself.

Super Mario 3D World is the least fun I've had with a Mario game in literally decades. 3D movement with a fixed camera is awful. I still like the full 3D games and the 2D ones, but this is nope for me.

Pendula Swing is honestly probably fine on a different platform (read: with a mouse and keyboard), but the Switch version is borderline unplayable. The idea seemed interesting but it was so clunky I couldn't get into it.

Ys Origin just hasn't aged well. I played it a long time ago and it was in the "fine, I guess" category, but trying to replay it after some of the newer ones (which will be further down the list) was rough.

And then games that were mostly just disappointing to me:

Diablo 3 is one of those things everyone kept saying at least feels the best to play out of all the modern ARPGs for years, so I finally gave in and tried it to see what all the fuss was about. It feels like Torchlight 2.5 with a bigger budget and was kind of uninspiring overall.

The Outer Worlds was something I was really hopeful about, but I just didn't find anything at all about it enjoyable.

Pokemon Picross is just a bunch of free-to-play bullshit ruining something that could've been fun. The world is better off with the eShop shut down so no one can play it anymore.

Persona 5 Royal is another one I was really looking forward to that I just did not click with at all. The first few hours were full of minor annoyances and did very little to win me over.

AI: The Somnium Files had potential and sounded interesting, but moon logic for solving puzzles should've stayed in the 90s and I could do without all the random horniness.

The World Ends With You: Final Remix and NEO: The World Ends With You are frustrating because they have so many interesting ideas and a neat presentation but just aren't any fun to play, especially the first one.

Tales of Vesperia just hasn't aged super well I think. I know there are people who like it, and I was looking forward to it, but I think I would've had to play it closer to stuff like Tales of Symphonia to appreciate it.

Inscryption is not my thing at all. It's a shame because I loved Pony Island, but I just couldn't get into this one.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a Donkey Kong Country game, which have always been just ok to me. I should've remembered that and not bought into the hype over the years.

Next is stuff I liked the idea of but didn't really like playing enough to stick with it:

Titanfall 2 has really neat movement and stuff, and I've heard the later levels do some interesting stuff, but beyond that the actual combat wasn't really my thing.

Ori and the Blind Forest had too many frustrating bits to keep me playing through the parts I did like.

Disgaea 4 seemed fun and like it had a lot of potential, but I always find that kind of SRPG way too fiddly, ever since I tried the original Final Fantasy Tactics.

Marenian Tavern Story: Patty and the Hungry God is just a worse version of Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom (see later on the list), which is understandable because they made it first.

Bravely Default I mostly played a couple years ago, but this year I put another dozen hours in and finally gave up on it. I really like a lot of stuff about it, but there were just too many things that frustrated or annoyed me.

They Bleed Pixels seems like fun and has some good pixel art (mostly the story stuff outside the gameplay segments), but I don't think it's for me.

Hero Hours Contract is an amazing idea and I love almost everything about it except for actually playing it.

Luckslinger took forever for me to get around to. The idea of luck being a consumable resource you have to manage is really neat, but I wasn't really enjoying the actual game, even if "pixel art hip hop spaghetti western" sounds great on paper.

Carto is one I don't really have anything against beyond apparently glitching it into an unrecoverable state and not being invested enough to start over.

Cris Tales is another one of those ones where I like a lot of stuff about it except for actually playing it.

Anarcute was a lot of fun for a little while, but it started introducing more elements I tend to not really like. Definitely one of the cuter games on the list with one of the best theme songs though.

Followed by things I had mixed feelings on or the "fine, I guess" category:

PixelJunk Eden 2 was fun enough, but they changed things from the original in a way that seems to be to make it more suitable for mobile, and I feel like most of them made it worse.

Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars didn't quite stick the landing. I loved the idea of everything being cards on a table with a single narrator/GM running everything, and the world and characters were interesting enough for a while. It didn't quite hold up for me all the way through to the end though.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is...better than Breath of the Wild, at least? It's smoothed over a lot of my biggest annoyances with that, and it's amazing that half the stuff in it even works at all, but it still doesn't feel like Zelda to me and has been pretty low priority to get back to and finish.

Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness and the Secret Hideout has one of the worst openings of any game I've played in years and absolutely awful pacing. It did seem to finally have opened up and gotten potentially rather good where I left off (and might get back to one of these days), but it shouldn't take half a dozen hours for that.

Yoku's Island Express is a clever idea and was a pretty good time for a while, but it's also one of the buggiest things I've played in the past year, and that's what drove me to stop playing.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age is frustrating to go back to. I loved the demo when I played it a couple years ago, but redoing everything now because I'm playing the full game on a different platform kinda sucks because of how slow the start is.

Will Die Alone has an interesting premise and way of interacting with it, but it stops short of quite saying as much with it as I would've liked.

Chaos;Head Noah had so much potential that kind of got wasted in the end. I really liked a lot of stuff about it along the way, but it's also kind of a mess. Hopefully when I get around to Steins;Gate they'll have learned to do it better because the anime for that one was great.

I'LL KILL HER is basically an interactive comic book, and the main strength is the art. The rest is fine I guess. Every content warning for this one.

Murder by Numbers is a constant mix of mildly amusing and mildly annoying. I hope they can even things out if they make more games in the future.

And then games that were pretty good but not my favorites:

Kuukiyomi: Consider It is a silly idea and doesn't overstay its welcome. I haven't felt an urge to play the sequels so far though.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line is definitely the best in the series and has tons of great music, but I still have some issues with this style of music/rhythm game that keep me from completely loving it.

Cadence of Hyrule was kind of annoying when I first started playing the demo, but once I got the hang of it I had a pretty good time mostly. The huge difficulty spike at the end left me less happy with it than I was for most of the game though.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow is probably the best game in this category, much better than most of the others, and my favorite Castlevania game, but it's a little short of being one of my favorites overall this year.

Syrup and the Ultimate Sweet is probably my second favorite in thie category and rather cute and silly.

One Night: Burlesque is the "worst" game in this category and doesn't entirely succeed at what it's trying to do, but I appreciate the effort and the overall vibes.

Gunma's Ambition -You and Me Are Gunma- is literally just a single joke drawn out for like an hour, but they lean into it enough to make it work.

LOUD: My Road to Fame has a couple weird design decisions that make it a bit frustrating toward the end, but up until then it's a surprisingly fun music/rhythm game with decent original music.

Lara Croft GO has some pretty decent puzzles in it and is probably my second favorite Tomb Raider game at this point, but I also had some Issues with it that held it back a little bit.

Next are the ones that I was pleasantly surprised by that were better than I expected:

Pixel Puzzle Makeout League was not what I expected. I figured it would just be picross with a silly dating sim on top, but I had no idea about the themes and ideas it would go into, and the entire ending section of the game in general was great and totally unexpected.

Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom really surprised me. I had zero expectations going in, and while it isn't quite great at anything it's good to very good at a lot of things and was pretty satisfying in the end.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is the most Zelda-like game I've played this year (with close competition from another game down the list), and an actual Zelda game came out this year. Exactly as long as it needed to be and went in a more interesting direction than I thought it would.

Majotori is something I accidentally stumbled on because it was on a list of games that at least tangentially have lesbians in them, and it's delightfully silly.

Death end re;Quest really surpassed my expectations, even if I have significant enough issues with it that it's hard to recommend without caveats. it did some surprisingly interesting things though, and I keep thinking about it from time to time.

Rabisco+ was an impulse purchase because it randomly came up and was very cheap and I had no idea what was going on in the cover art. It turned out to be a short but pretty fun arcade-style puzzle game.

Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana was the first Ys game I played since Ys Origin first came out in English, and the series has really come a long way since then and is much better these days.

Demong Hunter was basically an impulse joke purchase because I had to know what makes a demong different from a demon. I still have no idea, but this was way better than I expected from what initially seemed like a cheap mobile game.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox wasn't quite as good overall as the previous game in the series, but I still had a lot of fun with Goth Adol, and all the new movement abilities added a lot to it.

Perfect Gold did a surprisingly decent job of having flawed characters who worked through problems in their relationship without making them annoying or unlikable like often happens.

Trigger Witch is the other most Zelda-like game I played this year. I totally grabbed it because of the cover art and it was on sale, but it's a pretty solid twin-stick shooter mixed with the LttP/LA era of Zelda.

Will You Snail? was pretty unknown to me before I started playing because I somehow avoided anyone else playing it or talking about it, but it turned out to be a pretty good precision platformer with a fun gimmick, which is hard to pull off for me because I can be kinda picky about how platformers feel to play for some reason.

Vivid Knight managed to absorb nearly all my game time until I finished it, which I did not see coming. I did eventually start to see the cracks in the systems and stopped enjoying it as much, but up until then I got pretty wrapped up in it.

And finally the ones that were probably my favorites, not necessarily in order but with the best generally toward the end:

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition and Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected would be more toward the top of the list except this was a replay so I'm disqualifying it. I played the Wii version originally, and they sure did improve almost everything in an already great game in this version.

Bowser's Fury was about as enjoyable as Super Mario 3D World was unenjoyable. I'm not sure it would quite work for a full size Mario game, but there were some good ideas in this one.

Trials of Mana really polished up an older game that I thought was kind of underwhelming back in the day and turned it into something I had a great time with. Between this and the recent announcement of the new game I'm cautiously optimistic about something good in the Mana series finally happening for the first time since the PS1.

Harvestella really caught me off guard. I was expecting a farming sim with some Final Fantasy-style nonsense on top, and it turned out to be 85% JRPG with a story I liked more than anything FF has done in years.

Can Androids Pray is the most last minute addition to this list on December 30th. When a short story (in any medium) really focuses in on a single relationship or conversation or event or idea so well that it implies the existence of the entire rest of the universe around that my brain just starts vibrating. This is one of those.

The House in Fata Morgana takes a long road to get to its ending and the characters earn every step of the way there. It also surprised me by being a totally different flavor of queer than I expected.

Unpacking wins the award for best vibes. I had a lot of feelings about this one, probably including some they weren't expecting people to have when they made it, and it does a better job telling a story than most stuff on this list despite having no visible characters and almost zero dialogue.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim I think wins for my favorite story/writing this year. People said it was a great sci-fi story, and not just for a video game, and they were right.

Fire Emblem Engage is the winner for my favorite gameplay. They absolutely nailed a lot of the mechanics and systems on the game design side of things, and it's my favorite Fire Emblem game at this point.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed gets this spot for my favorite overall. They polished the already great gameplay of XC3, introduced some great new characters and brought back some old ones, and managed to expand on a lot of the story from the entire trilogy and tie up a bunch of stuff all at the same time.

And I guess that's finally that. There were some pretty big disappointments for me, but there were even more really great games I played and ones I had no idea I'd like as much as I did. I think I'm just going to tag stuff in the final two categories (since that's what'll fit) and call it a day.

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nickgerlich · 2 years ago

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Charged Up

One of the most frustrating things that happens to consumers, especially when it comes to tech products, is to find out that something you own is now obsolete. It happens all the time, but one company—Apple—has been notorious for doing it. Worse yet, the obsolescence affects one of the most mundane aspects of the product, yet also one of the most critical: the charger cord.

It was eleven years ago that Apple introduced the Lightning connector for its iPhones, leaving the much clunkier 30-pin connector to fade away. While it was a net improvement, it meant that all of our household and car chargers were done. They also did a similar move with charger cords for their MacBook line of laptops. And don’t get me started about when they eliminated the headphone jack back on iPhone 7 in 2016. It was clearly a move to bolster sales of their wireless AirPods.

Now they have done it again. At their big media announcement earlier this week, Apple announced iPhone 15 among other products, but also had to tell us that—here we go again—the phone’s charger cord would now be USB-C. It’s just that this time, Apple is not trying to pull another fast one, because they have been forced to change.

While it is convenient to think that the US rules the world and we set the standards, we are quickly waking up to the fact that the EU—European Union—has significant clout. The General Data Protection Regulation that was passed in 2018 ensures that European users have much higher expectations of data privacy online, and while they can opt-in to cookies, they are not the de facto setting. We can thank the GDPR for all those annoying questions we face on many websites today asking us if we would like some cookies.

The EU is at it again, with charger cords the next item to come in their cross hairs. Starting next year, all devices sold in Europe must have a common connector. USB-C was chosen as the standard. In both cases—the GDPR and charger cord—American firms have decided to go with the flow, and not fight it. Rather than have two websites, one for the EU and the one for everywhere else, they opted for one. As for Apple, it had no choice but to yield, if it wants to sell phones there.

Of course, this once again puts consumers in a bad place, because we still have legacy products that require the Lightning cord. At my office, both my keyboard and mouse are charged by—you guessed it—the Lightning cord. And my two Apple MagSafe external batteries also require that connector. Even when I upgrade my phone from 12 to 15, I will still have to keep some of these old cords around, while also changing out my home and vehicle charger cords.

Lovely. I will be using two systems at the same time. I see a tangled mess of cables in my future.

It can be argued that Apple should never have stuck with proprietary connectors in the first place, that it wasn’t being a good corporate citizen. But there is a monetary explanation. On Wednesday’s Morning Brew Daily podcast, they reported that Apple makes $5 billion a year either selling its own cords, or licensing their manufacture to third-party companies. That is a significant revenue stream that is now gone.

I am also perplexed that Apple had already adopted the USB-C standard on its own for MacBooks and iPads. It’s enough to make me pull out my hair. Well, if I had enough to pull.

Yes, I am an Apple fan boy. I made the switch in 2005, and have not looked back. While I do not own an Apple Watch or AirPods, I have phone, laptop, office iMac, and tablet, and I love the eco-system. Everything plays well together, which makes it a powerful bundle not replicated elsewhere. I’m good with paying the so-called “Apple tax” to own these products.

Sometimes, though, I admit to the frustration you get when you feel like someone is just yanking you around. This time Apple is getting yanked around. It lost the battle in Europe, and had to concede the world. I’m happy, because there really never was a good reason to have unique connectors other than extra revenue. In fact, this is something that has been going on for years in tech products, from cords to batteries. I can show you a bunch of incompatible camera batteries within both the Sony and Canon lines.

It’s just that Apple is the one getting the black eye for it now. It’s going to be a wobbly transition period for a while until we wear out all of our older products that still use Lightning, but we’ll get there one day.

And we can then add those old charger cords to that box everyone has in their home. Heck, mine still has Cat-4, RS-232, RCA, and land-line phone cables in it. Just in case, you know.

Dr “Of One A Cord” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #Apple #USB-C

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potatotalksculture · 2 years ago

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The brave new world of keyboard gaming

It's been something over 2 years since I got into video games. Most of the games I've played since, I've played with a controller.

My partner got me into games. We played a few highly frustrating hours of Octodad. I tried my hand at Magicka till we've reached the boss my partner couldn't fight alone and I wasn't of much help because I was still struggling to remember which button does what and where is it on the controller. Then some day he showed me The Stanley Parable and I have lost my mind, played it through a couple of times, revived my love for ontology, got the Ultra Deluxe on his Steam account, played through the Ultra Deluxe, showed it to all my friends and family, got a gaming PC, my own Steam and Humble Bundle account. And there I was. Still only using a controller.

Portal? Controller.

Portal 2? Controller, till I got to this one chamber where I was trying to get a pixel perfect jump for two days and then I switched to mouse and keyboard to spent another two day in the same chamber until I made the jump. And according to the internet there is no glitch there, it's just an asshole of a chamber.

Hades? 200+ hours and counting, controller only.

Fez? Controller.

Antichamber? Controller.

And so on until I watched my partner play Control. It is a beautiful game with an interesting story. And it's not too scary for me. (I quit playing Soma at the easy mode cuz the screen distortions freaked me out too much.) It also helps my easily frightened little soul to know how the games looks like from the beginning to the end, and if there are any jump scares. And Control we kind of played in coop: My partner was playing and I was watching and googling walkthroughs for the parts we couldn't figure out together. It was fun few days. And now I know what to expect.

I started playing it with a controller and it was miserable. So I switched to keyboard and kept pressing E instead of W and got frustrated pretty quickly. So I've decided to use the controller for walking and exploring, but then the fights were impossible to get through even with aim assist. Nothing can aim like a mouse. So I decided to use this game to learn how to play with keyboard and mouse only. Was it a good idea? No. I've reached the final boss and after losing to him for a few days, even with the aim assist on, I gave up. For now...

Disco Elysium helped me in getting the gist of making my character walk without using a game pad. The slow pacing helped, of course. (And oh, the trumpets...)

So we arrive in today's world. A friend told me about Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and how it could be great game we can all play together without leaving the comfort of one own home. Sounds great to me! I got the game, I got overwhelmed by the stats in character creation, I got over it, I did a trial run cooping with my partner only. It was fun!

Now I'm a Lvl 8 spore warden with a shroomy companion following me everywhere and hurting the enemies with its farts. I'm in. Brave new world of keyboard and mouse, here I come!

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