Jason Unger

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If you've been paying attention, you might have noticed a major shift in the attitude toward two of the biggest technology companies by a few of the Web's biggest publications/communities.

Last week, after Bill Gates delivered his presumed final keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), most of the conversation on major tech sites like Digg and Engadget focused on how much Gates has done for the industry, how he's not as bad as his reputation, and generally what a decent job he's done at Microsoft.

It's surprising, especially with the number of Apple fanboys that visit both sites.

On Tuesday, Apple announced a number of new products at MacWorld, many of which have already received criticism and skepticism.

Apple's decision to charge $20 for standard apps for the iPod Touch has a lot of Diggers pissed off.

Spartan225:

This is stupid. Didn't they learn anything from the iPhone price drop? Like honestly how do you justify this? There is no NEW hardware it is just a software update! It isn't even a price reduction like the iPhone, they are flat out saying…hey these guys get this for free….but you guys you have to PAY. This is just ridiculous.

derekvof:

That is absolutely obnoxious that after just spending $400 on a frickin iPod Touch a couple months ago, they want me to drop $20 on apps that should have been there in the first place. It's not about the $$ as much as the insult to those of us who went out and supported them with our hard-earned money in the first place, dealing with all their f!#$@# bugs in the software, and offering feedback and advice on how to make the product better. We damn well DESERVE to get these applications and it royally P*SSES ME OFF!

The new Macbook Air, the super thin laptop with no replaceable battery or optical drive, has CrunchGear's Devin Coldewey arguing that the system is "basically useless."

This is a pretty big shift in online sentiment. Microsoft has always been the big-bad company, suing startups and putting out crappy products, while Apple (and Steve Jobs) are icons to be emulated.

So what's going on? Why has the mood shifted?

My two cents is that Apple isn't thinking enough about what the consumer wants. For so long, they've basically been able to build their products the way they want to and get a relatively small user base to open their wallets, no questions asked.

But the whole iPhone brickgate, lack of commitment to Apple TV, and continued problems they have pricing their products has their users riled up … and looking to Microsoft? Hell, the Zune 80GB has gotten a lot of good reviews.

I got back from CES yesterday, taking the red-eye into Dulles and spending most of the morning asleep in bed.

Overall, the show was okay. Like every year, it's busy, but due to the amount of "news" that comes out, I spent most of my time in the press room, writing up stories and turning around slideshows.

From when I arrived on Saturday night until Wednesday evening, I literally spent most of my hours working. Yeah, I slept some, but from the West Coast timezone (gotta get stories live for East Coast ASAP) and the events at night, CES makes for some long days.

The work obviously pays off, as CE Pro had a number of good traffic days.

Besides the reporting, it was nice to meet a few people in the industry. I had a nice chat with Patrick Norton of Tekzilla, caught up with Dave Zatz and met Ben Drawbaugh of EngadgetHD (and team).

Outside of the industry, I got my picture taken with Big Papi David Ortiz and saw Brian Williams do the nightly news.

Thankfully, there aren't any tradeshows coming up for me … at least not until EHX Spring, March 11-15 in Orlando.

At the DLP booth, there's a "retro gaming" display set up with one of the all-time classic videogames: Street Fighter II.

When SFII is called retro, I feel old. The game came out in 1991 — at least the first version — and was one of the games I played to death on my Super Nintendo.

In fact, I think my parents have a Polaroid of me hanging up on their fridge playing SFII.

So when I saw the station, I had to play. Thankfully, I didn't have to put up a quarter.

The guy in the back promptly kicked my ass. I didn't have a chance.

But it was fun — and isn't that what matters?

There's no question that this CES hasn't gone as planned for Toshiba.

Last Thursday night (the day before the official news broke) Friday, the company found out that Warner Bros. would only be releasing titles on the Blu-ray disc format, the main competitor to Toshiba's HD DVD disc.

As Warner goes, so goes the war.

New Line followed Warner out, as did HBO.

Now reports are coming in that Universal and Paramount are contemplating switching, but can't confirm any rumors.

HD DVD has essentially been declared dead.

I spent some time this afternoon talking to Toshiba reps, and the mood is gloomy. They're obviously trying to spin it positively, putting out the message that their retail partners will continue to sell their HD DVD players.

But beyond that, they aren't saying much. In my sit down with a company exec, nearly all of my questions — which were not that hard hitting — got the talking points treatment.

Q: "When did you find out about Warner's decision?"
A: "Roughly the same time you did."

Considering that I didn't find out until Saturday night, I'm hoping that he misspoke. (A Toshiba PR rep let it slip that they found out Thursday night.)

They acknowledge that Warner's decision is a "setback," but they wouldn't answer my question about any fears of other studios leaving.

Q: "So you're not afraid of other studios leaving?"
A: "I didn't say that."

They're also pushing the idea that the final decision is up to consumers, but won't talk about them choosing Blu-ray.

Q: "What happens if consumers choose Blu-ray this year?"
A: "I won't speculate on 2008."

I feel for the HD DVD camp, but in the end, one format is the best for consumers.

I've asked both sides where they thought it went wrong; at some point, the two sides could have agreed on a unified format. The Blu-ray camp has said it was a capacity issue. The HD DVD/Toshiba side didn't say, but says that capacity was "a big thing in the beginning."

We'll all look at this CES as a turning point in the format war. For HD DVD, it's starting to look like a slippery slope down the hill.

Update: Toshiba has clarified that they found out about the Warner decision when the press release hit on Friday, not Thursday night.

I've got a Pioneer plasma at home, and I've never been shy about professing my love for it and how much better it is than nearly every LCD I've seen.

But, damn, Pioneer is blowing my mind again.

Here in Las Vegas at CES, Pioneer is demoing their "Extreme Contract Concept," which has the blackest blacks I've ever seen.

The picture above doesn't do it justice, but basically they're comparing this concept technology with their current line of Kuro plasmas. The Kuros are probably the best plasma I've seen, and this technology blows it away.

On the concept model, the blacks are just as black as the TV's bezel. The Kuro looks like it has a gray background.

On the concept, the picture floats. When the content on the concept doesn't fill up the whole TV, it literally looks 3-D.

It's just floating in the air. And my mouth is hanging wide open.

Since it's a concept, there's no launch date or pricing, but this is definitely going on my technology wish list — whenever it's available.