In recent years, newspapers in South Korea have struggled to stay relevant for mainstream readers, many of whom consume news on major portals instead of media websites. The dominance of portals in the news market, mostly led by two heavyweights Naver and Kakao, is unlikely to change in 2021. Rather, they are very likely to strengthen their influence further, an outlook that poses more questions for the embattled print newspaper companies. In an ideal situation, an individual newspaper runs it

Viewpoints Jan. 9, 2021

A host of Google services including YouTube and Gmail were down for about an hour on Monday, leading to the trending hashtag “#YouTubeDOWN.” For those who rely heavily on Google’s productivity services, the outage is a sobering reminder that their digital life is essentially breakable at any moment. At a time when a growing number of people work from home with the help of a wide array of digital devices, sudden glitches of the internet network, core business-related services a

Viewpoints Dec. 19, 2020

Blizzard had prepared a lot for the Nov. 24 launch of Shadowlands, the eighth expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. But it didn’t see the strange mini boom coming in South Korea. Let’s lay out the basic facts before moving to the big question of why the expansion is now the talk of the town among middle-aged gamers here. Whenever Blizzard has put out a new episode for WoW, there has been a logjam in the company’s servers as m

Viewpoints Dec. 5, 2020

Last week, Google announced it would change its storage policy for Google Photos, which is now being used by more than 1 billion people across the globe. Simply put, it will end its free unlimited photo storage service from June, 2021. To back up more photos, users have to sign up for a paid plan. I was neither shocked nor disappointed. I had already seen Google and other big tech companies calling it quits on their “innovative” services overnight. They didn’t -- and never w

Viewpoints Nov. 21, 2020

Evernote, a note-taking and archiving app, used to provide a much-needed free service to users with multiple devices for different platforms. I loved Evernote’s excellent functionality that offers access to my personal data on multiple platforms including desktop PC, smartphones and tablet computers. I have gratefully saved and organized my data in the free version of Evernote in the past 10 years. My data was synchronized seamlessly from my PC at home to smartphones on the go, and I l

Viewpoints Oct. 31, 2020

Genshin Impact, a free-to-play action role-playing game, is evoking a slew of intriguing questions involving plagiarism in game development and the protection of user data. Since the Sept. 28 global release, Genshin Impact has quickly gained a sizable user base in South Korea, thanks to its cute anime characters as well as the beautifully rendered backgrounds and intricate battle system. The game, developed and published by China-based miHoYo, is available on mobile phones, PC and the Play

Viewpoints Oct. 9, 2020

Last Saturday, singer IU’s newest live performance video was revealed on YouTube. It was a landmark event since the video was formatted in 8K resolution, which easily outperforms 4K display. A small number of those who purchased the prohibitively expensive and visually expansive 88-inch OLED TV from LG Electronics were lucky enough to get a glimpse of what the 8K technology could offer, thanks to the stunning image featuring IU’s equally exquisite live performance. Just in case y

Viewpoints Sept. 26, 2020

When technology advances and related gadgets become widely available, what tends to happen is a steady decrease in hardware prices. Mainstream smartphones are getting pricier each year, putting a strain on limited household budgets. Of course, Korean consumers can get popular smartphones from Samsung Electronics and Apple at a discount by signing up for data plans with mobile carriers. But even with such deals, the prices for the latest Galaxy and iPhone series are easily above 1 million won

Viewpoints Sept. 12, 2020

When I was a kid, I enjoyed drawing. I created, in my view, not-so-bad paintings. I won some awards at drawing contests. My classmates said I was talented. I even dreamed of becoming a cartoonist. Full of confidence, I had asked my parents to pay for a private art class. I attended art class far more enthusiastically than regular classes at school, learning various basic techniques from simple drawing to watercolor and oil paintings. Naturally, drawing is one of my main hobbies. Somehow, I h

Viewpoints Aug. 28, 2020

Once in a while, a well-made game hits the market, gets mostly positive reviews from gamers and rakes in handsome profits over an extended period. To achieve this daunting goal, it must have two main elements: deeply entertaining gameplay and responsive communication with gamers. Guardian Tales, a mobile game launched by Kakao Games on July 16, met the first condition, but has failed to meet the second, touching off a wave of disputes in the domestic gaming industry. The once-popular mobile

Viewpoints Aug. 6, 2020

Fashion stylist Han Hye-yeon and singer Kang Min-kyung recently came under a storm of criticism for their failure to reveal that what they promote on their YouTube channels are actually product placements, or PPL. At a time when leading YouTube stars rake in tons of money through promotional events sponsored by high-profile advertisers, some reckon the outpouring of public anger against Han and Kang might have gone too far. However, a closer look at what really happened reveals the flaw in t

Viewpoints July 26, 2020

Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” is deeply profound and almost prophetic even when we read just the first two lines: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both.” Let’s not dig deeper into the entire poem since it will take days, if not months, to talk about various literary interpretations and related ideas. Instead, I will focus on the difficulty in choosing between the two choices, and hopefully a workable solution that ca

Viewpoints July 10, 2020

The act of wearing a mask in South Korea takes on a deeply social meaning. Masks are supposed to protect both the wearer and others from the dreadful COVID-19. But the emphasis is clearly placed on preventing the wearer from infecting neighbors, colleagues and even strangers. If I happen to forget wearing a mask in public places (including office elevators and public restrooms), I am bound to witness angry expressions deepening on the upper half of the faces of people nearby. I bet the lower h

Viewpoints June 26, 2020

Just like the merciless ransomware which locked down my entire hard disk drive overnight, the sudden demise of my refrigerator turned a whole array of food items into something closer to trash. It marked more than the end of a home appliance; my everyday life, aided by the modern gadget, was melting. Literally. When I woke up in the morning early this week, the beloved and always-reliable fridge had leaked a stream of water that was now trickling across the floor. When I opened the door for th

Viewpoints June 12, 2020

Jennifer recently opened a restaurant. She faithfully paid the rent, taxes and other sundry fees. She also hired staff, including a talented chef. She developed an incredibly tasty menu. Not long after she started her long-awaited business, a horde of customers rushed to dine out at the new restaurant. The restaurant became so famous and popular that a great number of people rode buses for hours to visit the restaurant and have a nice meal. Business, all in all, was great, and nothing would st

Viewpoints May 29, 2020