We had a different comic ready to go up this week, but with all the excitement in the air over Microsoft's Betamax killer we figured we would pump this one out so as to be topical.

Xbox One. Always on. Always ready. Always listening. Always watching. Wow. Just WOW.

No thanks man. I mean, if exhibitionism is your thing, more power to you; I'd rather people not know where I hide my honey stash, thank you. I try to be discreet for the sake of personal security, but if someone really wants information on you, they WILL get it. Caution rules the day, but paranoia is sorta pointless in a post 9-11 world and where hackers are so incredibly skilled. Just gotta go with the flow.

Conspiracy theories aside, the biggest deal about the system is its contribution to a console generation that continues to underwhelm. Six months in and Nintendo still hasn't shown anything groundbreaking. Sony neglected to back their Move, instead going with new tech that seems gimicky and will probably be shoehorned into games awkwardly. Finally, Microsoft has made it pretty clear they don't care about gamers in favor of pushing a glorified Blu-Ray / Cable / Netflix player, their so called unified set-top-box, which is fine. I'm not really their target demo and I get that.

Coming from a techie background, I rather enjoy seeing new innovations. Going to a convention like CES is fun for me. Living as a creator now sparks my curiosity for tech even more because cool gadgets means making and imagining cool new things. The modern day magic that programmers and engineers can wield is always interesting. My problem with tech innovations in consoles is that it needs the vision to back it up. If you don't have software developers that can make your hardware sing, it's going to fall flat no matter how cool it is.

Increasingly, the console must-buy exclusives are coming later into the systems life and dwindling in numbers, making the cost of ownership less and less justifiable in comparison to alternatives. It feels as if companies have learned that it doesn't take very many killer apps to move systems, which is pretty shameless. But it isn't just the lack of an extensive library; it's all the other restrictions they impose on users that they expect to swallow wholesale. The important takeaway from all of this is that PC gaming and portables will be the greenest pleasure pastures for the foreseeable future - excluding older systems, naturally.

So start upgrading your computer on a console-cycle basis, slap on a wireless keyboard and mouse, hookup a wireless controller, perhaps get fancy with a Leap Motion device and plug that baby into your TV. Now enjoy Steam in Big Picture Mode for the next 5+ years in current-gen console hibernation until libraries grow or new systems with amazing games come out.

Did I mention with a PC you can get Netflix, Skype, Hulu, the Internet, as many cute cat pictures as you can handle and you can even play nearly all of your old PC games?! OH! And with the right sophistication, you can even order pizza and watch sports! You won't even need a Live Gold account to do it, either. Amazing, I know.