We're Not Who You Think We Are
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 . . . .
by Jim Connelly
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.
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.
[Read more…] about 1 Billion Served, Another Billion Imminent
by Lopy
Todays links of interest:
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!
by Lopy
Todays links of interest:
by Jim Connelly
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.
by Lopy
Todays links of interest:
Publishers know they’re in a tough place when it comes to Google’s Book Search and Library initiatives. For all their posturing about copyright violations and compensation, the truth is that Google is doing the publishing industry a huge favor.
Here’s how I see it. First, there are a lot of books out there. All I need to do is look around my desk to prove this. There are more books published each year than anyone realizes. Most of these books fly so far under the radar, they don’t even register. This costs the publisher money, hurts the author, and don’t forget the trees. Pulping books doesn’t do much to clean the air.
Second, even if a consumer (I’ll use myself as an example) is aware of many of the books being published, there is no way I can discover what’s inside them, short of living in a book distribution warehouse. My local bookstores cannot keep up. Amazon’s program to “Look Inside” is great if I know what I’m looking for, but if I’m doing research, I’m using Google. I am. Sometimes maybe I go to Yahoo!, but mostly I’ve segregated things in my mind: Yahoo!, news; Google, research.
by Jim Connelly
Remember blipverts? They were the insidious form of advertising in Max Headroom that compressed entire marketing messages into the space of a few seconds. Quite a timesaver, that, except for the small problem of making people’s heads explode.
Well, it’s now 20 years into the future, and those of us have DVRs are now using those devices to zip through commercials at 20x speed and greater.  We’re compressing 60-second commercials into three seconds, which means we are essentially blipverting ourselves. (And of course, always zipping into, like, the first 30 or so seconds of the next scene of the show, earning that look from our spouses.)
The advertisers hate this, of course, and are always looking for ways to combat it, reading to a rash of product placement that turns entire episodes of shows like Smallville into glorified car ads. Recently, KFC has come up with a novel idea — they’ve stuck free food in the middle of one of their ads. Well, not the actual food, because not even Google has figured out a way to do that yet, but a way to give viewers a coupon for the free food. Even better (or worse, depending on your viewpoint), you actually have to play the ad in slow motion to figure out how to redeem the coupon.Â
It’s the polar opposite of a blipvert — it’s a covert!
Now, of course, this might seem like some to harken back to the old scary “subliminal messages” that really only exist on Led Zeppelin records, but how subliminal can these coverts be when they are accompanied by press releases announcing exactly what they are doing?
While I probably won’t be participating — it’s going to take more of my time than it’s worth to get the free food — I wonder if these new coverts are a harbinger of things to come in the advertising world or just a, er, blip on the dradis?
I also wonder if Max Headroom is ever going to be released on DVD.