Medialoper

Chasing the long tail of new media

Archives for February 2006

The Daily Loper — February 28, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

Apple’s Digital Convergence Strategy Comes Into Focus

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“It took McDonalds 8 years to sell a billion burgers”
– Steve Jobs on the success of iTunes

It’s hard to say exactly what the folks at Apple were thinking when they promoted today’s special event as the announcement of some “fun” new products. For weeks I’ve been convinced that Apple was on the verge of announcing an extension to the current line of iPod socks. Cashmere, perhaps.

For any other computer company todays announcements would be minor at best. Hardly worthy of a special event drawing international media attention, not to mention dozens of live bloggers dutifully typing every word Steve Jobs uttered (has any executive ever had a larger pool of personal stenographers?).
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News Flash — Apple Reinvents The Boombox

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Apple’s “fun” product announcement is currently in progress. Initial indications are that Jobs and Co. are making taking next step toward making the Mac the platform of choice in the era of digital entertainment.

There’s a new Intel powered Mac Mini. Jobs is dropping strong hints that the device is designed to connect to your television.

There’s also a new iPod powered Boombox. Complete with 6 D cell batteries (yes, I said D cell batteries).

Developing . . . .

Following “Bubble” through the Window

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Just a few scant weeks after Steven Soderbergh’s “Bubble” was available simultaneously to theatres, cable and video, here comes another major test for what they are calling the “day and date” strategy of multi-platform releasing.   IFC and Comcast have announced a deal to release several indie films this year to both their theatres and cable on-demand services on the same day.

“Bubble” could have been written-off as an anomaly, a confluence of a maverick director and a maverick eccentric billionaire (Mark Cuban), but this, my friend, this is a trend.

And it will work because indie film people who live in areas who that don’t have a lot of theatres that show indie film, but happen to have Comcast cable (like, say, in Fresno, California) can watch the first-run movies that they’ve been reading about on various film sites and not have to wait months for the DVD to show up.

This could be the same boon to indie film that iTunes and eMusic are to indie rock.

 

1 Billion Served, Another Billion Imminent

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As promised, Medialoper team coverage of the 1 billionth iTune sold continues. Today, we look at the economics of the iTunes store. Conventional wisdom suggests that margins on the songs are so low that the real moneymaker for Apple in its iTunes experiment is the iPod.

That, of course, suggests that making money on volume is quaint concept. Apple is selling approximately three million songs a day, meaning the second billion will be reached much faster than the first billion. Unless things go horribly wrong, the third billion will be even faster. 83% of legally downloadable music is sold via the iTunes music store.

Let’s pause for a moment and ask the first obvious question: why in the world would anyone not be cutting a deal with Apple right now? Why would anyone be putting all their eggs in Microsoft’s basket? Yes, two questions. If you want to sell your music on the Internet, wouldn’t it be smart to go where the money is? You don’t have to be exclusive — make deals with everyone — but be smart.

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The Daily Loper – February 27, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

Forget HD, It’s All About Cellphones

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It’s been a few weeks since our last CBS update, but, never fear, the powers-that-be behind the network giant (given that there are so few networks, most are, indeed, giants) haven’t been wasting time sleeping. Next up: breaking news to your cell phone.

And it will only cost you 99 cents. If that’s not enough, all those Entertainment Tonight fans out there, can get their E.T. to Go for a mere $3.99 a month. I know, I know, how can you sign up? But wait! There’s more!

In the weeks ahead, CBS is planning to introduce several other mobile ventures. Some, including a soap opera in three- to five-minute episodes meant only for mobile phones, hew closely to the company’s existing businesses. Others do not, including a subscription service offering images, games, ring tones and sound effects, and a product that will let people create animated images of themselves that they can send as messages to friends.

But wait! There’s more!

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The Daily Loper – February 26, 2006

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Todays links of interest:

HD DVR: Hi Definition Disappointment

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I guess I should have known that something was up when the cable guy almost immediately started apologizing for the fact that there was no way I could have “the moxie.” At first, I thought that he was making aspersions on my personality, but I soon realized that he meant the “moxi,” a media center that did more than just cable that they just didn’t have, and anyways, weren’t able to support until the summer anyways.

And I didn’t care — a critical mass of cable channels had been hit, and I was going to converge two technologies that I had been using seperately for at least four years: the DVR and the HDTV. How could I possibly complain about a dual-tuner Scientifc Atlantic DVR that played shows back in gorgeous Hi-Def?

And indeed, there is nothing wrong with the output: it looks sharp and clear and strong. However, the input — the user interface — is another thing entirely. It totally sucks.

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The Daily Loper – February 25, 2006

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Todays links of interest: