Rupert Murdoch seems confused when it comes to Myspace.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. purchased Myspace in 2005 for $580 million. Six years later, the site is losing money, and is reportedly for sale. The price? Likely between $20 million and $30 million. That was a spectacular failure, if I’ve ever seen one.

In 2005, Myspace had a huge advantage in the social networking market. Now, it’s just a footnote in the short history of the industry. As I think about the sale of Myspace, I can’t help think about the AOL Time Warner merger. That was another case of a traditional media company failing to blend with an online entity. AOL still has a pulse, and has some potential for future growth. As for Myspace, I hope the next owners are creative.

The key to turning around the site will revolve around removing intrusive ads, becoming integrated with other sites, becoming mobile friendly, and finding the secret to reinventing the field it created. Personally, i have my doubts. If the new Myspace owners try it, Facebook has probably already thought of it.

If you check out the reviews, customers have only rated it 3 stars, and there are some criticisms. Personally, I haven’t experienced any problems. I was able to access my instant queue, add movies, and watch movies without any problem. Functions such as rewinding and fast forwarding also worked flawlessly. I’m not sure what’s going on with the other users, but it works just fine on my iPhone 3gs.

The best part is that the app is free and you can link your current Netflix account without any additional charges. It really is amazing. Think about it: For your regular $8.99 Netflix membership fee, you can stream tens of thousands of movies, TV shows, concerts, and documentaries straight to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. I’ve had it a day, and it’s already my favorite app.

There is one thing I should warn you about: If you don’t have an unlimited data plan or wifi, use it cautiously, or you will get a huge bill.

The new model will be available on June 24th, and will be available in a 16gb model for $199, and a 32gb model for $299 (both with a 2 year contract). To top it off, Netflix also announced a new app that will be available this summer, which will allow users to stream movies on their phone. Unfortunately, the news isn’t all good.

If you’ve been following tech news lately, then you know that AT&T is going to eliminate their unlimited data packages. That leaves new subscribers with a choice of a $15 package which includes 200mb of data, and a $25 package which allows 2gb of data. AT&T claims that the vast majority of its users are below the 2gb level, but with apps like Netflix, more people will undoubtedly be joining the 2gb+ club. It’s unfortunate that AT&T’s changes to its data plan has put a damper on Apple and Netflix’s good news and innovation.

If you currently have an unlimited data plan, you will be allowed to keep it. If you don’t, do your best to use wifi!

Online news sites benefit from type-in traffic and links from sites like Yahoo, Google, and the Drudge Report. Once sites require subscriptions, those links will disappear, along with the resulting traffic. What they’ll be left with is a small group of loyal readers willing to pay a reasonable fee for news that they could readily read at one of several free web sites. Let’s also remember that those links provided by news aggregators brought in visitors who clicked ads. When the traffic goes down, the ad revenue will probably follow. After all, do you want to advertise on a site that isn’t viewed much in comparison to its peers?

If you think a subscription model makes sense, and is the wave of the future, I have a scenario for you. What if every news site in the world charged, except one. That site would see a rapid increase in readership, increased ad revenue, and would have lots of interesting ways to monetize their content. The subscription sites? They would probably slowly die one-by-one, until they smartened up and moved back to a free format. Sure it’s a simple example, but it illustrates an important point: As long as there is one free source, readers will flock to it.

During the announcement, Steve Jobs spoke about how the iPad fills a void between the iPod/iPhone, and a typical notebook computer. He also criticized netbooks as cheap laptops. There’s no doubt the iPad will be a huge success, especially for people who want it for media or entertainment purposes. The larger screen is superior to netbooks for movies, viewing pictures, and games. Of course, there are always going to be people who want to push actual buttons especially when typing a paper or writing an e-mail.

So, how much does this cost? The 16gb model will sell for $499, 32gb for $599, and 64gb for $699. Unfortunately, those aren’t 3g models. If you want to add 3g, you’re looking at another $130, which boosts the prices to $629, $729, and $829. There is also a keyboard adapter and stand, for those who anticipate doing a lot of typing. The iPad looks like a fun gadget, but do you really want to spend almost $1,000 for a “computer” with just 64gb of storage?

I would like to have an iPad, but at the current price and specifications, I think I’ll wait. It’s a great entertainment device, but not too impressive when work-related tasks are taken into consideration. As someone who uses a 17″ laptop for work and a 10″ laptop when i’m on the road, I don’t see the benefit of spending the extra money for the iPad. With a 250gb hard drive, bluetooth, 10 inch screen, 9 hours of battery life and a $360 price tag, I think I’ll keep my “cheap” netbook.

You might think that message is simplistic and goes without saying. If you feel this way, you probably have an IQ over 50. Unfortunately, there are too many people in the world who are terribly out of touch and don’t understand the reality of the world. This type of (or lack of) thinking is displayed perfectly on the topic of using body scanners at airports. As you may know, a terrorist linked to Al-Qaeda attempted to blow up a plane with 300 people on Christmas. You would think that this act would be enough to convince people of the dangers we face, but obviously, it’s not enough.

There have been those who criticize body scanners because of the pictures that are shown to a security guard located in a distant room, who never come in contact with the person being scanned. The criticism is even more ridiculous when you consider that the picture is nothing more than a ghostly outline. Despite this, many are up in arms over what they perceive as privacy issues. I didn’t think it could get any sillier than that, until I read that some in Great Britain believe that the scanning of children could result in child pornography. Yes, you read correctly.

Some feel that the scanners violate child porn laws, and are nothing more than “virtual strip searches”. Terri Dowty of Action for Rights of Children believes the scanners violate the 1978 Protection of Children Act, and that exemptions built into the law shouldn’t apply:

“They do not have the legal power to use full body scanners in this way,” said Dowty, adding there was an exemption in the 1978 law to cover the “prevention and detection of crime” but the purpose had to be more specific than the “trawling exercise” now being considered.

Don’t you just love the attitude? A “trawling exercise?” It seems like Ms. Dowty has no idea what is at stake. I wonder how many more people have to be killed by terrorists before Ms. Dowty and people like her think these types of searches are necessary.

As for children being scanned, they should not be allowed to board a plane without also passing through the scanner. To some, this may seem ridiculous, but it is necessary. If children are exempted from the rule, Al-Qaeda will almost certainly take advantage of this security breech and use children to smuggle explosives. To believe differently is naive.

I’m not sure how the Nexus One stacks up to the iPhone, but there’s no doubt it is a game-changer for the wireless industry. Those who purchase the phone can buy an unlocked version that can be used with any carrier. Of course, that will be pricey, since the initial price will be $529. For those who are a bit more frugal, there is also an option of signing up for a 2 year agreement with T-Mobile and paying just $179.

I don’t see myself paying more than $500 for a phone, but a trend toward unlocked phones is certainly a positive for consumers. As for Google, this is definitely a big step for the company. Do you remember when they were just a search engine?

Ford’s recent innovations seem to be far ahead of both Chrysler and GM. Is it merely a coincidence that the most innovative American car company is also the only one that is profitable and wasn’t bailed out by the federal government? Perhaps GM and Chrysler should take notes.

The phone could be a game-changer in many ways. For one thing, the phone will be unlocked, so it can be used on both AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s network. It will also be sold in retail locations, and with the iPhone’s exclusivity agreement with AT&T about to expire, it could open up a potentially interesting competition. As for features, it will have a touch screen, two microphones, and voice-to-text, for those who don’t like typing on a touch screen.

This could really heat up competition with the iPhone, and possibly change the marketplace for cell phones. Right now, phones are typically purchased at a carrier’s store and linked to their service. With this business model, the purchase of the device and the service are separated in a way which should encourage competition and encourage other equipment makers to give this model a shot.

There’s no question the Google Phone has the potential to be revolutionary from a technological perspective, but its greatest impact could be on the cell phone industry’s business model

Each ticket would enable a passenger to receive three days of training, a voyage that is about 2 hours or so each way, and 5 minutes of weightlessness. Not bad for a mere $200,000. Just in case you’re wondering if anyone would be willing to spend that much for a five hour trip that will result in just five minutes in space, Branson claims to have received 300 deposits. We are in a recession, right?