Will Parents Pay for Disney Books On The Web?

We do almost everything for our kids. And as new parents,, reading to them is one of the fundamental joys. But in an age of two working parents, free time sometimes becomes hard to find. Even non-working parents would agree. So we sit our kids in front of the TV and find other activities to keep "our lil darlins busy". Disney has another alternative. For $80 bucks a year, they will provide access to books on the web. Will parents bite; I'm not so sure.

"DisneyDigitalBooks.com, which is aimed at children ages 3 to 12, is organized by reading level. In the “look and listen” section for beginning readers, the books will be read aloud by voice actors to accompanying music (with each word highlighted on the screen as it is spoken). Another area is dedicated to children who read on their own. Find an unfamiliar word? Click on it and a voice says it aloud. Chapter books for teenagers and trivia features round out the service." Does this subscription offer access to other devices. It doesn't appear to. As E-book readers are becoming the hot product, Disney prefers to tether their product to the PC. And that may be what hurts it. Parents have many more alternatives in the home. It is when we are on the go, away from home, that we seek "help" to distract and entertain our children. We hand them our iPhone, gameboys, blackberries, and other devices. That is when we are most vulnerable and that is when it is easy to buy the app on the iPhone to offer something new.

Disney offers wonderful content and finding new revenue streams for content is what keeps companies growing. Still, I doubt there will be many that bite at this particular offering. Expand its reach to external devices and price competitively and I believe this could potentially be a huge winner for Disney.

Is Time Warner Changing Back to Warner Bros

It seems that Time Warner is ready to spin off another business. First it was AOL and now the talk is that Time Inc will be next. It seems that its core competency is video production and the print business has no synergy for them to utilize. Once done, they will be left with the Warner Bros studio, HBO, and the Turner Networks, TNT, TBS, TCM, et al. And what to do then? The talk is that the cash from these sales will be used to purchase more video product. "One of those mentioned often is debt-hobbled MGM, the fabled but faded movie studio that has recently sent its chairman Harry Sloan packing and brought in restructuring expert Stephen Cooper to seek additional capital. Warner’s name also pops up often when talk turns to NBC, although its owner General Electric has so far said it has no intentions of selling." Of course there is speculation on other smaller cable networks like Hallmark, AMC, and others.

It seems the talk in the industry remains consolidation. It is big fish eating little fish and perhaps some big fish being eaten as well. At the end, content, like the distribution side of the business, will be controlled by a limited few, with some independents nibbling at the fringes and trying to make a living.

How The Digital World Has Changed The Real World

The world has gotten faster. No it still takes 365 days to make a year and 24 hours in a day, but new technologies have enabled data to reach us faster than ever before. It is that pace that is quickening. From letters that needed days to be sent to electronic mail that is received in seconds to instant messages that are received in moments, information is transmitted and shared instantaneously. We are no longer a wired world, but untethered and allowed to roam free with wireless all around. Where once we had to wait till 9 PM for our movie to start, today it is not only accessible at the moment but is of our choosing and not scheduled by someone else. And we have come to expect this. In fact our children only understand this type of world; it is unfathomable when they go to Grandma's house and they can't pause the TV.

And it is a good thing, speed, accessibility, choice, instant communication, and constant connection: E-mail, IM, Facebook, Skype, Twitter, VOD, DVR, etc. In a way we are all like children demanding instant gratification, an "I want it now" philosophy. But has it hurt us as a society? Have we also gotten short-tempered and without patience, unable to wait our turn? And has that led to a lack of manners because we are always in a hurry and need our answers sooner rather than later. And thus we have Congressmen shouting out "You Lie" to our President during a televised speech. We have become ruder and less patient with drivers slower than us. On the other hand, this instant communication has also enabled Amber Alert, to quickly get news of a child's abduction into the public and help rescue children. It has brought many other good things, too.

Like any change in an environment, it comes with both good and bad results. In this changing entertainment landscape, let's appreciate the good that comes from the digital age, from convergence, speed, and instant flow of information, but let's also be conscious of our actions with others. Sometimes a more personal direct connection is better than an e-mail or IM. Despite the urgency and shortcuts, let's still find our patience when dealing with others and don't just let the speed of life pass us by; instead, remember to stop and smell the roses.

Cable Networks Will Be Last Old Media to Face Digital Destruction

According to Peter Chernin, former head of News Corp, cable networks should also worried at how the digital age will destroy their business. "Whether niche cable programming can survive and thrive in a streaming on-demand video world 'is the single biggest question facing the media industry,' Chernin said Wednesday during a roundtable discussion USC Annenberg School for Communications." And he is 100% right! Cable networks have been leading a charmed life, blessed with at least two revenue streams, advertising AND subscription. Broadcast, on the other hand has had to rely on advertising only, although that has changed too as these same companies own both broadcast and cable and have used their leverage to get higher subscription fees for their sister networks. Digital distribution has the potential of hurting the cable subscription model by reaching directly to the consumer. Without this huge chunk of revenue, cable networks would be in serious trouble, unable to afford their programming.

And Chernin should also be held responsible. His role partnering News Corp with NBC has led to the creation of Hulu, a web-based streaming media aggregator of broadcast and cable shows and films. Cable's response has been TV Everywhere, an authentication model designed to only allow streaming media programming to consumers who also purchase cable TV. But as long as Hulu and TV.com offer free programming, it will be a losing battle. And should they try to convert themselves into a fee-based service, they will be competing with themselves and their cable partners who will most likely re-negotiate their deals under this changing environment.

Cable can win this game, but they need to build a better mousetrap, enabling programming to be seen absolutely everywhere and across any device - TV, pc, cellphone, etc. Convergence and portability of an authorized signature. And this content should include both live, DVR, and VOD. Makes you think that maybe a network based DVR could be the first step to making this accessibility work most efficiently and effectively. Otherwise, the consumer will gravitate to the cheapest source and all parties will be hurt.

Jury Still Out on Leno

Until all the premieres are out and viewers settle into their viewing patterns, I will withhold judgement on the success of The Jay Leno Show. It is said that because the show is inexpensive to produce and fills 5 hours of programming a week, a small rating can still generate a significant return. In fact, "With just a 1.5 rating, "The Jay Leno Show" could make $300 million a year for NBC". That is assuming that it is reaching the right demographic and that advertisers see value for its dollar.

While there are many who have voiced their criticism on the content, the audience size is really what counts. If it generates enough audience to get a sufficient CPM, then all will be good. Or will it? Can The Jay Leno Show be syndicated like a scripted show? Will the audience watch a rerun? Will they buy it on iTune or watch it with ads on Hulu? Does the show have any ancillary value to compete with other scripted series or is it simply a stop gap to keep Jay from switching to a rival network?

And so I withhold judgement till Thanksgiving cause then I think it will all shake out.

Online and Radio Up, TV Still Most Credible

Not all old media is dying. In fact, according to a recent study, radio usage for news and information has grown. In fact even magazine usage grew slightly while newspaper and TV consumption dropped. Online usage has grown especially among the younger demos and is considered a credible source for factual content. "Not surprisingly, the research also found that the younger the respondent, the more reliant that person was on online sources." Online usage growth was also found by the higher educated and higher earning population.

Is any of this surprising; perhaps just that some old media (radio and magazines) still have some lags in them. New media will continue to find ways to converge the past into the future. Think Sirius on the iPhone and newspapers and magazines on the Kindle. At some point in the future, everything will be consider online and will instead be defines as audio, video, text, or some form of all three.

Convergence On The TV Screen

Viewers are watching TV differently today. The rise of VOD, DVR, and internet viewing of video programs, along with the new HD screens has given TV manufacturers an opportunity to put the integration back into the TV set. "Improvements to the processors in TV sets are making it feasible to run Web applications on a TV without the need for a special set-top box, such as those offered by TiVo Inc. or Apple Inc." And with the web running on TV screens it brings more flexibility and the opportunity of more choice directly to the viewer without a black box standing between programming and screen. TVs from Sony and Vizio and others are now appearing with web access. Still there is a long way to go. "Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe said TVs are still lacking is a compelling user interface for the Internet. 'On the mobile phone it looked like it was never going to work until Apple's iPhone took off. That needs to happen with the TV,' he said."

This change is happening fairly quickly. Just look at how cell phones and blackberries have adapted to web browsing and video in such a short time. The TV screen seems the next to go and cable needs to proactively defend its turf. Cable has stood behind their clunky converter boxes, with poor interfaces and limited information flow, and have created a disgruntled population. The attitude toward cable companies seems to mimic the bad attitude felt toward the phone company decades ago.

"It's not clear whether consumers, long accustomed to the distinction between the 'lean back' mode of television and the more engaged mode of the PC, will welcome the introduction of interactivity into the television." And I agree; but that is not the only piece that will drive this change. A friendlier interface, faster response, as well as a better search engine, recommendations for different members of the family, choice, and the ability to "move" content from one screen to another (i.e. Slingbox) are other reasons why this convergence will take place and be embraced quickly. Cable needs to get onboard quickly or they will simply find themselves losing their cable subscription revenue business.

Battle Lines Drawn in FCC Net Neutrality Fight

"The gloves are off. Julius Genachowski, Chairman of the FCC, announced new guidelines to formalize the concept of net neutrality. " And so all content needs to be treated equally, emails and videos, small files and large ones get equal attention to the consumers' home. "The FCC is charged with responsibility for managing the airwaves, bandwidth, and communication in this country. Genachowski is simply working to address emerging technologies and the changing landscape of communications to adapt and evolve in a manner that is fair to both providers and customers." So why is everyone up in arms. Clearly it is not as simple as it appears.

What sounds fair at first blush is really quite complicated. Imagine two people trying to sit in an airplane row. Both should have equal rights to their seat, but what if one is grotesquely heavier than the other. The seats may fit both, but one is clearly affected by the other. It creates congestion, slows down movement, and may even create more problems. So is the case with the pipeline for the web and the "clogging of the pipes". Smaller files may be harmed simply because they are sharing the pipe with fatter files.

Perhaps it is more indicative that the size of the pipeline needs to grow or that a more efficient manner of delivery needs to be created so that file size is much less an image. That may be the better approach to making the web equal and open to all. Net neutrality sounds like a short term fix to a longer term problem.

Who Might Buy NBC

Like sharks circling their prey, media companies are smelling blood in the water and itching to bite. Vivendi is looking to unload their 20% ownership in NBC and GE may be faced with a decision, buy, sell or spin. "GE has already said it is unlikely to pay the $5 billion to $7 billion to buy back the stake, which Vivendi acquired in 2004 as part of the merger between Universal and NBC." Spinning it off into a new company may show its valuation to be less than it is and open itself to an acquisition. Seeking a buyer outright may allow GE to get more money for their piece.

So the question is, if NBC is for sale, who could the prospective buyers be: Time Warner, Comcast, Liberty. Funny how the names mentioned all are cable companies. I guess, despite competition, cable operators are doing ok. Distribution and content seem to go together. GE doesn't have that distribution business to support holding on to NBC; the others do. The synergy between content and distribution is only getting stronger. Perhaps too there should be another name added to this list: Verizon. It seems the best way to compete in this new media world. So spin the wheel and pick your horse cause this race could potentially go down to the wire.

Tweeter Makes Money For Others, Not Itself

First individuals, then companies got into the habit of Twittering to share the latest and greatest news about themselves and their opinions. It has enabled a customer dialogue, although personally I have found little use or interest in it. But it has become a great marketing tool, pushing revenues and profits north, except for one, Twitter itself. "Lack of earnings isn't stopping Twitter's founders from shooting for the stars. Earlier this year, it was widely reported that Facebook offered to acquire Twitter for $500 million of in stock and cash, but the co-founders said they turned down the offer, holding out for more."

So the thinking must be that there is more dollars out there than in the buyout offer. And getting Facebook to make an offer means that Facebook would rather join them than beat them. So how will Twitter turn itself into a moneymaking machine. The obvious is to use either an advertising or subscription route or both. But will Twitter's "fans" accept ads with their tweets or will they turn away. Twittering on the computer leaves room on the screen for ads that can easily be overlooked; but Twittering on a mobile device may be more problematic.

And can a free service be turned into a subscription service (Variety thinks they can do that) and grow that way. Twitter faces some huge challenges to right itself while others have successfully deployed it to serve their other profitable businesses. Perhaps too, the Facebook offer was simply not high enough. "Numerous rumors of acquisitions by giants such as Apple and Amazon rise and disappear like the tides." We will have to wait and see but my vote is that Twitter needs to take the money and run.

Could NBC Be For Sale

NBC, owned by both GE and Vivendi, may potentially be put for sale. According to this report, "Jean-Bernard Levy, chief executive of Vivendi SA (VIV.FR), left open the possibility Wednesday that the company will exercise its option to unload its 20% stake in NBC Universal, the media conglomerate that is majority-owned by General Electric Corp." Will GE buy the Vivendi shares, will it lead to upheaval and possible takeover bid? Clearly, the challenge of working in a partnership hurts when the parties no longer work well together. Let the fireworks begin.

Irony Alert: Companies That Depend on Ad Spending, Spending Less Themselves

The LA Times reported, through TNS Research, that media companies, despite needing advertising to drive revenue in their balance sheets, are spending less to promote themselves. How ironic. "Walt Disney Co., News Corp. and Time Warner Inc. all reined in ad spending in the first half of the year. Spending by Time Warner was down 11.1% to $574.3 million; Disney expenditures were down 11.7% to $517.6 million; and News Corp. cut its ad spending by 6.9% to $672.3 million." These same companies might need to brace for a similar downsize in their own financial statements.

It is obvious why it is done, but it also can create a downward spiral. As revenues drop, companies reduce spending, including ad spending) to make the net profit higher. But lower spending reduces awareness, key to higher purchasing. Without this marketing, revenues continue to inch lower and costs get cut again. A vicious circle. Smart companies take the risk that future spending will turnaround the trend and are willing to take a short term hit in profits for long term profitability. How long ad spending drops will depend on the confidence these companies have that they can affect and return higher growth. I hope it is soon.

Hulu Will Kill Network TV

Remember the first song played on MTV, "Video Killed the Radio Star". Well the same is being said for online video and the biggest culprit may be Hulu. According to this Mediaweek article, "Hulu is the demon seed that will wipe out the network television business as we know it. In a new report, the Soleil Securities analyst estimates that the online video hub will cost TV networks $920 per viewer in advertising if their audiences are cannibalized by Hulu. And she believes the bulk of viewing on Hulu is indeed taking eyeballs from TV."

And while I can't speak to the revenue that could be lost, I am in total agreement that the Hulu model subverts the current cable subscription model. Some speculate that Hulu needs to change into a subscription model, but the challenge is if the revenue could offset the loss from cable. Others will simply use broadband to bring video for free; others may simply ask for a la carte pricing. IPTV means programming brought to the screen through a broadband wire. No cable subscription necessary.

Hulu executives disagree. They see Hulu as a companion to TV not a predator. "The report assumes the bulk of Hulu viewers use it as time-shifting device to catch up on shows they missed on TV and to avoid commercial interruptions. Hulu CEO Jason Kilar in April told Bloomberg that the site wasn't stealing customers from cable television." Unfortunately, as you change viewer habits, you change viewing. Younger audiences, with an eye on their wallet, are cutting the landline phone for a wireless phone only. They are doing the same with cable, letting their broadband service be their access to video programming.

At the very least, Hulu is playing on a slippery slope. Once you go down the mountain, it is much harder to climb back up.

CBS: Best House in a Bad Neighborhood

With the start of the new Fall season, I came across this article and found it especially telling. With tonight's airing of The Jay Leno Show, NBC has taken to low cost programming to compete in a profit conscious world. And while all the networks have utilized reality programming to keep its costs low, CBS has also produced the most comedies and dramas, the staple of most television networks. Will CBS's strategy prove the right one or not. "CBS is especially exposed. It's the only network without a vast corporate sugar daddy to keep it afloat regardless of what it puts on the air. It also lacks a stable of basic cable networks and the dual revenue streams (advertising revenue and subscriber fees) that such outlets offer. "

To me that is its bigger problem. NBC has a slew of cable nets including MSNBC, Bravo, and others. ABC has Disney and of course ESPN, Fox has fx, Fox News Channel, and others. CBS spun off its Viacom properties and that was probably not a smart move. When their US Open coverage had two women semifinal matches airing at the same time, they could not spin off one channel to a basic cable outlet. They could simply bring cut ins. Those that may have cared for the other match could not watch it. Now perhaps that is not their bigger problem but it is one example of the synergy they are missing.

Still, CBS's reliance on a traditional programming strategy should remain a right one. More programming to repurpose, better ratings, and higher advertising revenue. As we revisit them, it will be fascinating to see if NBC made the best move or CBS wins the race.

Will The Jay Leno Show Change TV

On Monday at 10 pm, NBC will premiere The Jay Leno Show, a talk/variety show, and air it Monday through Friday. 5 hours of low cost programming, live to tape, to compete with DVR and VOD technology. Revenue for the show through advertising may not be huge, but the profit margin may change how TV gets programmed.

The last format that changed TV was reality programming. A decade ago, broadcast shows like Survivor, Amazing Race, and yes American Idol made average people into stars. And these shows beget even more reality shows on cable. Cooking shows, wedding shows, home buying shows and yes even parenting shows. We idolized Rob and Amber, Kelly Clarkson, and now Jon & Kate. Low cost programming that generated ratings.

On Monday, new format may change TV again or prove a bust. The Jay Leno Show will fill multiple hours of prime time real estate and will either become the "must watch show for the 2009-10 season, or the worst idea since "Captain Nice" and "Manimal". Don't judge the success of this format on the returns from Monday night. It will take a good month or two to gauge its stickiness. Curiosity will cause us to watch in the beginning to see what all the fuss is about. But whether we stay is another story.

My personal opinion is that 5 nights a week is too many. And the first night's guest list doesn't seem to match who Jay's core audience is designed to reach. There will be a lot of sleepless nights for NBC executives as they watch and interpret the ratings from this experience. At the end, they will be deemed either geniuses or fools. I doubt there will be a middle ground. And should it indeed fail, NBC can at least say they kept Jay from jumping to another network to compete with their Tonight Sow brand. Perhaps that is something they can take away from this programming chess game.

PS. And should The Jay Leno Show succeed, we will have seen TV change again from the golden days!

Time Inc. Looking AT An E-Reader

Time Inc., owner of print titles like Sports Illustrated, Time, People, and others, may be adding E-Book distributor too! "It's a big shift in strategy by Time, which earlier this year said it would not introduce its own e-reader. But things have changed, and Time's plans for the e-reader market are on a fast track. According to the in-house presentation, Time Inc. is seeking to unveil its plans within the next three months." It seems smart to own both the content and the distribution; why give away some of the profit to middleman. That is what cable is facing today with its programming. Sell networks through a cable operator who packages it and sells it as a cable subscription or sell the network or just individual programs directly to the consumer through a broadband connection.

Time may not be alone in this strategy. "Publishers are interested in the market as well. News Corp. is exploring an electronic reader for its large newspaper business. Hearst, a large magazine publisher, also unveiled its own plans for an e-reader in March."

Will 2010 be the year that E-books really take off and get wider acceptance by the consumer. Will the price point drop and the flexibility improve to make it the must have device of the year. Content producers are certainly getting on board that train.

Bloomberg Likes The Magazine Business

Bloomberg continues to prove itself a very successful business. It started with financial terminals and has successfully grown its radio and television businesses. SO now it appears they may be going after a magazine and seeing an opportunity to synergize its media operations further. "According to people familiar with the matter, the financial-data giant is now seen as the front-runner, ahead of "Bid 'em Up" Bruce Wasserstein, the Lazard boss who also owns New York magazine." There may just be certain efficiencies that can help Bloomberg find profitability with the magazine.

Both Comcast and Time Warner Looking For More Acquisitions

It seems the recession may be over, Comcast and Time Warner have both announced their interest in acquiring content. And there may be a number of content companies up for grabs: Scripps, Rainbow, even NBC.

Both Comcast and Time Warner see a reason to expand. Time Warner Chief Financial Officer John Martin said said: "'We are trying to focus our resources in capital, we've identified areas where we will be willing to invest...like local TV and home production, games and networks where we could opportunistically and thoughtfully expand, and opportunities to identify emerging territories where we could build.'" Comcast has a slightly different angle. According to Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke, "'We wouldn't be doing our job if we didn't figure out a way to get bigger in the cable content business', said Burke. 'At our core, we believe content and distribution work well together.'"

I am sure the M&A world is buzzing now!

Pop Goes the Critic - Winelibrary.tv

The web has created new TV stars and has become an effective way to target and reach the masses. Case in point is Gary Vaynerchuk and his online creation, winelibrary.tv, a fast paced show that brings the enjoyment of wines down by to the masses. And I count myself in that group. Love to drink it, not so label worried, I have picked up a greater appreciation for wine without paying for the most expensive bottles. And having the advantage of living near his store in Springfield, NJ, I get to walk up and down the aisles, looking for recommended labels and other deals.

What has been most interesting is how successfully Gary has used social networking to hawk his brand, Gary V. First the web site, then Facebook and Twitter, and at the same time using the traditional media of TV, newspapers, etc. to raise awareness of himself and his passion for wine, and the Jets. "He estimates his audience for each episode of Wine Library TV (he’s just recorded No. 733) at 90,000 people, and he has nearly 900,000 followers on Twitter." Just watch a few episodes and you will be hooked too.

Beatles are going digital

It's about time, the Beatles are finally available on Rock Band. No it is not earth shattering nor is it a game changer. Still, the Beatles, known for its change to the music scene, may do the same for digital. "This Beatles week signifies one thing above others - that there’s value in shifting content from atoms to bits, if you can take advantage of those bits’ unique qualities. That same lesson has been learned from the migration from VHS to DVD to Blu-ray and from vinyl to cassette, CD, MP3 and beyond."

There is still one piece missing and one that we hope is announced soon, that all Beetles songs are available for download through iTunes. Sure, they have been accessible through illegal P2P sites, but its time to bring them back to the masses to enjoy.

Like Apple, TV Explores Must-Have Applications

When it comes to the standard of consumer friendly devices, Apple stands atop the mountain and others simply try to catch up. They created the game changer for cellular phones and the question is, with convergence, can the same be done for cable TV. Its iPhone has enabled Apps that can remotely record a show via Tivo, find information on TV and movie programs, and more. Verizon Fios and Direct TV are trying to create an Apps type store for their respective cable service. And the traditional cable operators are even further behind. "But the companies are still wrestling with how open they want their systems to be to outside developers, what business arrangement to make with developers and what sorts of things people want to do while watching their TV from their couches."

Unfortunately, the cable boxes from SA and Motorolla aren't able to yet; whether that is their fault or the cable operators concerned that opening up the box to the web will affect security and other factors. "'The lowest end set-top box is the equivalent of a Mac II from 1991,' said Mr. Kotay of Comcast. Even recent models are hardly able to handle all the interactive tasks that developers have started to imagine, especially combining text, graphics and video from cable channels and the Internet. And the next generation will go further." But how slow can cable be to get into the game before others find away to simply go around them.

As new HDTVs come onto the market, they are being equipped with internet access. A consumer could begin to bypass their cable company and use broadband only for access to programming. That is what cable has to fear and timing is everything. Upgrade the cable box now, improve the remote control, enable interactivity with web and mobile, and make the product more user-friendly or risk watching us go elsewhere.

My Kindle Has Been Stolen; So What!

When you get robbed, you go to the police and report your less. And sometimes your items get recovered and sometimes they don't. In the digital age, every item has a unique identification and since it tends to communicate with a central system, it can be followed. Yet Amazon seems reluctant to want to help the original owner of a Kindle get their stolen device back, or at least assure that it can't be used illegally by another. It seems they won't! Ironic, since they are ok peaking into your device and taking away content that the owner possesses. How cruel!

"Amazon’s policy is that it will help locate a missing Kindle only if the company is contacted by a police officer bearing a subpoena. Mr. Borgese, who lives in Manhattan, questions whether hunting down a $300 e-book reader would rank as a priority for the New York Police Department. He began to see ulterior motives when he twice sent e-mail messages to Amazon seeking an address to send a police report and got no reply. 'I finally concluded,' Mr. Borgese said, 'that Amazon knew the device was being used and preferred to sell content to anyone who possessed the device, rather than assist in returning it to its rightful owner.' Drew Herdener, an Amazon spokesman, said only that the company acted in accordance with the law and cooperated with law enforcement officials." Typical bureaucratic comment, lacking any sense of caring about their customers' needs. And this merely confirms that Amazon doesn't get it and will ultimately lose its customer base.

Is Kindle Really Sorry for Deleting George Orwell

Earlier this year, Amazon did the unthinkable. They unknowingly went into each of their customers' accounts and deleted copies of two of George Orwell's books. Ironically, one book, "1984", was specifically about this very thing, Big Brother snooping into our private lives. Well, Amazon has said it was sorry and has learned from the errors of its ways. To make it up, they are now offering to replace or refund back to their customer to back up their pledge. "Amazon said in an e-mail message to those customers that if they chose to have their digital copies restored, they would be able to see any digital annotations they had made. Those who do not want the books are eligible for an Amazon gift certificate or a check for $30, the company said."

But is this good enough? The bigger issue is one that Amazon has not yet commented on, digital rights management. "Digital books for the Kindle are sold with so-called digital rights management software, which allows Amazon to maintain strict control over the copies of electronic books on its reader and prevents other companies from selling books for the device. Consumer advocates and civil libertarians say the system could allow courts or governments to force Amazon to recall, and in essence censor, books that they deem politically dangerous or embarrassing." And that is the crux of the problem. When consumers buy a printed book, the content owner and distributor have no further control over its use. It can be shared, resold, destroyed. That right is with the consumer. With digital copies, it may not truly be owned. The consumer is limited to what he can do with the content, how it is used, if it can be shared or even resold. And that Amazon has not addressed the privacy issue that first caused this embarrassment in the first place still haunts them. If "Big Brother" can go into my electronic reader, whether to take away or even just "watch" and learn activity becomes the bigger problem. For Amazon and others.

If Amazon can do it with the Kindle, so can Sony with its e-reader, and Apple with its iPod and iPhone. The issue of digital rights management and consumer rights are clearly coming to a head and perhaps someone will consider a class action suit to challenge it.

Control At Your Fingertips

Cynopsis pointed something out to me today that really looked cool. They pointed me to a site called i.tv and a video embedded below.



This company has built an app for the iPhone that simplifies the process of finding the shows you want, recording through Tivo, and finding Netflix films to download. "The iTV app turns the iPhone into a full-featured control center for all your entertainment needs: check TV and movie times, purchase movie tickets, manage your Netflix queue, watch YouTube videos, and now control your Tivo HD remotely. The interface is elegant, visual and easy to figure out. iTV is releasing the remote control framework to third party developers, hoping to get other set-top manufacturers interested."

To me, the biggest minus with cable is the cable box. Shouldn't cable operators be embracing this kind of convergent technology and truly making the cable box a happy experience. To me, it works more like a Model T. Perhaps I can trade in my cable box under the "cash for clunkers" and get something that is more useful. Tivo and Netflix are enabling TV sets to work better. And companies are building more useful Apps for them, but not for the cable industry. It's time for a change.

Is You Tube Leaving Its Comfort Zone?

You Tube, the home for user generated videos and clips from network shows, is looking to compete in the pay movie space. While it's revenue has been primarily from ad support, the appeal of a second revenue stream is hard to beat. Still, can You Tube compete with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and others in this transactional and subscription space.

You Tube's parent, Google, tried to be in this space prior to purchasing You Tube. "Google has charged for video rentals and downloads in the past through Google Video. But less than a year after acquiring YouTube in October 2006, it stopped offering the paid video service." Is the timing right to get back into the game; I think not. I don't believe the You Tube consumer would accept a premium model. They use the service to upload and share videos and You Tube is the place to find viral, much talked about, clips. Others, like Netflix, have been building relationships with Tivo and Sony to enable these online movies for pay to be watched on the bigger screen. And can You Tube really differentiate its titles from what the others are offering to recapture market share. Movies may also be seen as a commodity; the only way to enter is with a deeply discounted pricing model. Hollywood may not be interested in that marketing approach.

Kindle Friendlier to Environment Than Print Books

From the Book of Obvious, E-books are better for the environment than printed books. "The e-reader savings eclipse attempts by the publishing industry to reduce its damage to the environment through cleaner manufacturing processes and more recycling programs, the San Francisco-based research and consulting firm said in a report." If your not cutting down trees and processing them into books, it is frankly obvious that digital devices are more environmentally friendly than traditional printed media. Please tell me something I don't now.

Still, I doubt people are converting to e-readers for their environmental benefits. I see that more a a by-product. The reason is one of convenience of purchase, lighter load to "carry' multiple books, and even the me-too behavior that comes with electronic devices. Improving the environment is a good thing; this article simply states the obvious.

Shouldn't an HD Commercial Touting HD Service Be Filmed in HD

I am a recent purchaser of a Hi Def TV set so I have to admit that I am thrilled to watch anything in HD. And I have become much more particular about what channels I watch, so that my 1000 channels has dropped to about 20. So as I was watching this morning on an HD channel, a commercial came on from a cable TV provider (I won't say who) touting its number of HD channels over its competitor(s). More HD channels, not duplicates, best, most...all the adjectives! But here is the kicker. The commercial, touting its HD claims, was in standard definition. How odd. Customers without HD would never notice, so I guess they are selling a future benefit when (or if) these customers join the HD revolution. But to customers like me, with an HD set, and most likely also interested in feeding our appetite with more HD choices, the commercial seems to suggest that the company that it represents really doesn't have a credible message to sell. Selling more HD channels, better HD programs, but not really. I say fire your ad agency and production company, they really blew this one.