February 2, 2010
January 22, 2010
The spigot is gone.
This blog suffers from bad blogging practices according to ‘the experts’ – - not posting enough. But have been a bit bored with the subject at hand.
Other sources are keeping much better track of the details of the decline. And I’m still watching the different ideas bubbling up about what the future media world might bring.
The old media business models are still in decline. Most have been participating, but are struggling, in the free web content model supported by advertising.
The ad revenue generated by the same content on the web is one tenth of what old media makes by the print version. There’s only so much ad money available, and there’s an abundance of choices for advertisers.
Some are combining advertising with subscriptions for premium members in varing doses.
And then there’s Google, who considers itself a media company, and generates lots of money from advertising.
There are those like Rupert Murdock who think there is a need for a stronger subscription model and less reliance on advertising. He doesn’t like the idea that Google has access to his news company’s content and can serve it up on their search pages with their own advertising.
And the New York Times web site is considering going behind a ‘wall’ of paid subscriptions. In an era of abundance, they’re considering scarcity.
Old media used to own the talent and the spigot to their audience and could charge a fee for access. As well as charging a fee to advertisers for access to their audience.
Now there is no more spigot. The audience is not captured nor is the talent. They have both been set free and the flood gates are open.
January 14, 2010
January 13, 2010
January 6, 2010
Use your iPhone as a cockpit.
Pretty cool idea from Parrot.com! Now you can use your iPhone to fly and you don’t even need a pilot’s license! James Bond would be jealous.
A video game for the real world with nice use of augmented reality.
November 19, 2009
October 23, 2009
October 2, 2009
August 27, 2009
August 25, 2009
The end of CD’s enables a new way to blow bubbles.
Been way too busy this summer! But have found a way to recycle all those CD’s you don’t use anymore now that we do all that stuff online.
June 1, 2009
Boone Oakley now lives on YouTube.
Who needs a site when you have YouTube? Ad agency Boone Oakley (sounds like a Wild West show) certainly doesn’t do what everyone else does. And what a great statement about their agency.
I didn’t realize that YouTube videos could have links. Need to find out how this was done. But it’s a bit frustrating being a passive audience. Miss the interactivity. But soooo clever!
Thanks @hmargulies!
May 27, 2009
Newspapers should be called what they really are — magazines.
The news now lives on the web. It’s the perfect habitat. It’s available 24/7. And instant access suits it’s personality perfectly.
Besides, there’s nothing older than old news. By the time it’s printed it’s decaying.
Over the past decade, or even longer, newspapers have gradually become daily magazines. They’re not purchased, online or off, for their out-of-date news, but as a form of news entertainment.
We go to ‘newspapers,’ for opinions, analysis, and commentary. Just like magazines. They cover lifestyle, and sports, and other general fare for their readers.
Each section of the NYTimes, and other papers, is a form of weekly magazine publishing. Tuesday is for technology, Thursday is for homes & gardens, etc.
Besides, Twitter is now breaking news before journalists get it written and posted to their sites.
May 6, 2009
Adventures in community organizing, new media, entertainment, narcissism, PR, theater, and perhaps art.
Antony Gormley, a very well known, and award winning British sculptor has a new project which he describes in this video:
Antony Gormley on the Fourth Plinth from One & Other on Vimeo.
He calls the project ‘One & Other’ and has permission to video 2400 people on top of the plinth in Trafalgar Square for one hour each. He’ll then stream the live video on the web.
Mr. Gormley said the work would be “about putting the living body in place of a statue and learning how people feel being that alone in such a public place”.
Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth is normally used to display contemporary art, in contrast to the other traditional bronze hero statuary. Visit the One & Other site to find out more. He ’s nothing without participants.
(I wonder how they will share the rights. Also if ‘advertising,’ or commerce, is allowed.)
Vanessa Feltz on the Fourth Plinth from One & Other on Vimeo.
April 23, 2009
What if newspapers had just been invented?
Malcolm Gladwell is not normal, as anyone who reads him knows. He’s a thinker who thrives in escaping current ways of processing the world we live in. In this interview he displays his contrarian thinking — What if newspapers had just been invented, and the news had always come from your laptop? And he also reveals one of his secrets — he doesn’t use Google because everyone else has access to it, and contrary to what some believe, most information is not available to Google. He prefers the library.
Paper is not dead!
This is from an interview at yesterday’s National Association of Broadcasters 2009 convention.
April 14, 2009
Get inside Twitter.
Spend a little time with Biz Stone and Evan Williams, two Twitter founders, via Kara Swisher’s (WSJ’s Boomtown) interview. Note the nice art direction with the bird sitting on Mr. Stone’s head.
She also toured their HQ. Nice digs and nice guys.
Thanks Kara! Boy these lines are blurring — newspapers /video /broadcast / blogs /Twitter, etc. Old media functions with new media tools. We need some new words to describe what’s happening.
April 9, 2009
The end of print media was news in 1981.
KRON in San Fransicso reported on a new idea bubbling up at the San Francisco Chronicle — reading your newspaper on your computer. Imagine such a thing!
They called it the ‘telepaper’ and didn’t think they would make money. But they also thought they ‘wouldn’t loose a lot either.’ Good reporting KRON! — who now covers news on the internet itself.
Stephan Rothman who writes the blog Steve’s Social Media Soapbox Twittered a link to this video. Thanks Steve!
It there a circle forming here?
March 28, 2009
March 24, 2009
Crazy Twitter, growing almost as fast as our bailout debt.
It’s a true phenomenon, and not monetized yet, but Twitter is now growing at 1,382 percent! . Wow. So what’s going on? This is a funny video that sort of captures the essence of Twitter. You might not be the only one who doesn’t ‘get it.’
March 19, 2009
The future sounds great!
BBC covered the South by Southwest Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. These talented guys all have their own slanted pitches. But geez — I can’t wait!
March 13, 2009
March 7, 2009
Old media suffering from self inflicted wounds?
Everyone I talk to seems to think that the news media, especially the old news media, has helped push the economy off the cliff by fear mongering. In this environment of rejuvenating business models and technological media, it’s a dangerous practice.
The Wall Street Journal’s — ‘How Democracy Ruined the Bailout’ – seems to think that the combination of news media and the politics of our election added more fuel to a delicate economic crisis.
The old print media, usually the goto source for info and expertise, has become the victim of their current business model of paid subscriptions and advertising. The recession, which they may have encouraged, has caused people to stop spending on the non-essentials — newspspers and magazines. And has driven them to discover great free, online sources.
Mike Elgan has a great insight and solution. And it has a long tail. He says that local newspspers should focus on making local news global. Local papers should forget about competing with global, national, statewide news coverage which many of them still carry. Their subject is local but the audience is global. Plus they have bigger brands that they could leverage unlike bloggers who have been doing this for a while.
The New York Times may have figured that out already. Well, at least they keep trying new stuff.