Yeah I noticed that too. And on top of that, my cable bill actually went up by $2, first time it's changed since I got it almost 3 years ago.

My mother is living in the UK now, and she was saying the other night on the phone that Woolworths have closed all their stores, with over 50.000 jobs lost... and that doesn't count Marks and Spencers, who has laid off a 1/3 of its staff, with more likely in the near future.

It's a global recession which, by all accounts, given worldwide mass unemployment, may yet become a global depression... unless World leaders (like Obama) can implement meaures to counteract greed, particularly that of banks, and get onshore manufacturing industries going again.

Well...the first thing Obama should do is stop the bailout of the car companies. What's the point of bailing them out so they can build more cars very few of us can afford as it is. I understand the reason they give for it is to preserve jobs...but lots of other companies are going under...why aren't they being helped? I  mean seriously...if you showed up at my door in a stretch limo or private jet asking for money...I'd have you thrown out on your ear. They need to sell assets and regroup...if some jobs are lost in the process...welcome to the real world.

But they got him elected to get that money - not good to make promises you can not keep!

We have been looking at skinning from the consumer side.

There may be more opportunity on the commercial side though.

If people are buying less, when they do buy they are looking for the best value and maybe looking to keep that same PC longer.  So companies like Dell (who have the DellDock based on ObjectDock technology and design) are looking to differntiate themselves and skinning may be one way.  I'm seeing many more "fashion" laptops that seem to be begging for matching skins.

That would be great gor skinning and skinners.

starker's, Woolworth had a nail in the coffin for year's they went under her in Canada basically in the early '90s recession. Your comment abour perishables was good but, global food production was the lowest in 50 years last year. If it continues to drop when the recession end's there will be substantial inflation in the average person's grocery bill.

Zubaz mad a good point. Last year laptop sales passed desktop sales, though with the economy I'm not sure that will be true for 2009. The other big area for skinner's to look at would be the smartphone segment.

No matter which way you put it, Stardock apps and skins in general are luxury items.  No one really needs their desktops to look nice; you're not going to die without them.  As long as the interfaces are functional, people will survive.  Skins are bling for your PC and thus not considered essential.

If a worsening situation forced people to make real tough decisions about spending, you can bet Stardock/skinning would suffer.  It is NOT a recession-proof market when it really comes down to the crunch.

Put it like this:  if it came down to either renewing an ODNT subscription or keeping food in your family's mouths and a roof over your head, what would you choose?

Consider also people outside the US who have to deal with exchange rates when purchasing goods/services.  They'll only continue to do so while they can justify the expense. 

I, thankfully, still have enough of a disposable income to be able to afford my luxuries and keep up on my savings. 

Well....if you ever need to dispose of any let me know.

Glass half empty I see... well, I think a little differently.. in a recession, sure things get a little tougher.. sure some folks have trouble keeping food on the table, conversely.. I am also sure that another large group of people are not starving, but, still not as willing to spend on high ticket items, or going out to movies, expensive eat-out food etc...

Ergo, more time spent at home... more time spent on PC... more likely imo to indulge instead in PC based activities.

Possibly an increase in business for skinners ... imo.

Now.. when we get into a world...'depression', things are likely to adjust.

For right now.. I'm gonna keep my glass half full.. or more.

Interestingly enough . . diring the last depression movie sales skyrocketed.  Peopel wnat to escape to a better place.

I agree with vStyler though . . buying a skin or skinning engine doesn't codt much but might jsut scratch that itch of buying "something".  I know the last time my wife (then girlfriend) got laid off the first thing she did was go shopping. 

Lets also remember that "recession" is also a term often used by various media outlets to make the situation much worse than it really is.  I'm not saying there isn't a recession and all that, but it doesn't affect 100% of the population. 

Doesn't seem to have much effect.

This year will be the best year for ODNT users in years. 

The only effect the recession is having on me is I have more money to spend. Petrol has dropped from £1.20 a litre to 0.82p a litre, saving me £10 per week. Nearly everywhere has massive sales going on.

The downside is I'm not getting as much interest on my savings and the value of my house has dropped by £40k in the last year. At least I still have positive equity, unlike a lot of people.

That may have been so for Woolworths in Canada, going guts up after the US operation collapsed, but in the UK and Australia it had been going reasonably strong until the current financial crisis.  In fact, Woolworths is the largest retailer here in Oz and continues to dominate the retail sector, owning such sidelines as clothing, furniture and electrical stores, liquor and fuel outlets, and etc, etc.  So no, Woolworths here isn't going under any time soon.

As for the comment I made on perishables, I was speaking with the local Woolworths store manager regarding the very issue of dumping perishable food items when they could probably have been sold with a price reduction, and he stated that he would prefer that option but it is NOT Woolworths policy to reduce prices across the board on perishable stock to make it sell.... thus, tons of food is dumped every week while people are having to go without due to inaffordability., which totally stinks when they can make predatory price cuts to put smaller operators nearby out of business.  So it's not like they can't cut prices, but rather that they WON'T.

Food production has dropped in the last 50 years because large corporations (like Woolworths) have priced the small producers out of business with predatory pricing, wholesale and hostile takeovers and refusing to buy their produce if they didn't cow-tow to company policies.  Hence, we have corporate farmers who control pricing, distribution and what is marketed... meaning some items disappear from the shelves and consumers lose variety/choices.

So yeah, there will be wholesale inflation to the average person's grocery bill, but before AND after the recession, because of corporate greed and many more small producers going to the wall during the recession/depression.... and things are gonna get a whole lot uglier before they get ANY better.  And this does not gel well for companies putting out luxury and non-essential goods and services: ie, Stardock... because people will use their shrinking and devalued disposable incomes to feed, clothe and house themselves and families... because trade emissions schemes are driving electricity costs up (mine has risen $90 - $120 per quarter as a result of emmisions trading) and people won't have their PC's on for endless hours at a time, and then it has to be considered if they can afford to buy/run new computers AND customise them.

The media may use the term "recession" to grab headlines, but there is no doubting there is a very real recession going on worldwide right now... and while it may not be affecting 100% of the population (there's a wealthy 5% who will carry on regardless), there is a growing number of people suffering it's effects each day... and the more that suffer it the more that will, because societies are interdependent and rely on one section to support another, which supports another and so on.  Sure, the US would adapt and survive it one of its automakers went down, but this is far, far bigger than that... we're talking several automakers and major businesses going guts up worldwide.... and that is not something any small entity dependent on the viability of others can dismiss as not affecting it/them, because it does and will.

It's one thing to be optimistic and remain positive in difficult times, but another to get too cocky and turn a blind eye to that which can destroy you... the bankers did it, and now look at where we are.

I sincerely hope you're right.  However, it is worrying to read that many people are saying they can't afford to renew their subs due to the financial squeeze.  I myself am not stuggling to put food on the table, but with the current exchange rate dictating that I pay almost double that of last time, I'm finding hard to justify upping my sub at AUD$104 when my electricity costs have risen by around 30% and other priorities may well arise.

No offense to anyone, but I'm not reading this entire topic, NO, nothing is recession proof.. that's a no-brainer

The bankruptcy courts probably are... in fact they'll be thriving quite soon now.

I was referring more to a worst-case scenario.  As in, when facing the reality of going hungry or losing your home, would one buy a skin or renew their subscription or buy food or pay a bill?  Skinning is not a necessity.

I think when most, if not all, of your income comes from the afore-mentioned industry, you almost have to keep a positive outlook.  Not that that's a bad thing at all.  My outlook was not based on pessimism or a negative outlook at all, simply a realistic world-view. 

With that said, keep skinning, by all means!!

starkers, I meant, it's like asking if something is completely bullet-proof...or..something

The security guys are booming.

The entire Bush admin just stole trillons of dollars from you. They are doin pretty well also.

I suspect gaming will fluorish as well due to people looking for more home entertainment.

The cable companies will gouge....hard.

Sure, some things are.. thats why recession proof is a term, NT mentioned a few good ones, I'm hoping skinning will be among them.

I guess i am fortunate, I am a retired law enforcement officer,(retired at age 45, 23 years of service) receive a pension check each month and health insurance for the rest of my life, but I also work now a full time job, with disabled and autistic children(a lot of job satisfaction going on here) but i see friends and family members being laid off their jobs, and struggling to make ends meet, so once again I do have to thank President George Bush for this wonderful predicament we are in. thanks a lot dubya,

Here's to THAT!

Is that the users or the product? 

As a retired person, I have a fixed income but own no one, so I have no problems doing whatever I want as long as I keep it reasonable.

Blame Bush if that makes ya feel good but it started under Clinton.  His cronnies let the Fannies and Freddies start selling to all those underqualified people.  More companies moved to China so the people here had to settle for less paying jobs in a shrinking market.  There are many reasons for the shape of the economy and congress controls most of what goes on and whatever president gets the blame or the praise. 

Its real hard to shop for non food items and find something not made in China.  Try it.  A few cloths items are from S. America.  Oh well.......