Tablet Bubble

Should iPad competitors simply stop competing? According to analysts, they have no chance against the Apple iPad. "So far, Apple is running laps around the competition, with the launch of its second-generation iPad before many of its rivals release their first. The iPad 2 goes on sale tomorrow, and so far only a smattering of rivals have hit the market, including Motorola's Xoom and its Android software." Still, if anything is learned from history, no one is first forever. Competition is necessary and technological advancement will continue to change the outcome.

Just look back a bit at history as the guide. For example, Sony led the portable music space with its hit product, the Walkman. Why buy a substitute for the real thing. Except that technological change got the better of Sony in this category. Digital succeeded tape, but Sony was so stuck on its product that they couldn't change to meet the changing demand. For the Detroit car industry, they were so stuck on big vehicles they couldn't change to meet the new needs of small and economic.

Apple continues to be fortunate in understanding the digital landscape but as history teaches us, it gets harder to continue expand while protecting the existing turf. The iPad is the leader but Apple must continue to take risks to adapt to changing needs or they too could find themselves looking backwards and not ahead.

Step Aside Sirius, Mog Wants A Seat In The Car

It seems Sirius has another contender in the satellite radio industry. Mog, a streaming music service, is using the smartphone and a deal with BMW to bring another service to the consumer. "Mog’s controls on the Mini are integrated into the dashboard’s digital display, and activated by hooking up a smartphone through the car’s Mini Connected system. The program connects to the Internet through the phone, but otherwise it is handled entirely through the standard dashboard controls." In addition, Mog is doing deals with TV and Blu-ray manufacturers to bring their subscription service into the home as well, something Sirius has yet to do. The versatility of it's service to more places should attract more users as well.

But Sirius shouldn't be the only ones concerned. Pandora and Rhapsody also occupy the home space and Apple and Google would like nothing better than to make more inroads as well. To me, the key remains the centralization of the assets, either accessed by a server for the whole home to enjoy or as is now being pushed, the cloud. Apple wants to utilize the cloud for iTune users as are others. With content in the clouds, content is accessed easily from anywhere as long as their is a connection. And what you want, when you want, where you want is ultimately what the consumer desires.

The Merging of Facebook and Skype?

Do you want to merge your Facebook account with Skype. All those friends you have added, are you ready to talk with them every time you are posting? Or will you be encouraged to do your Facebook activity offline. Well the idea of converging the two sites may become a reality. "Facebook Inc., the world’s biggest social-networking company, is holding talks with Skype Technologies SA about offering Web video calls to its 500 million users, two people familiar with the discussions said." So does this work for you or would you prefer to keep the two separate?

Perhaps, it may require us as Facebook users to classify our "friends" in different categories, those that we want to enable full communication access and those that are enabled to simply read and write posts. Perhaps we simply don't want all our friend to know all the time whether we are online or not. Right, I mean some friends are closer than others, and in the case of Facebook, some are simply acquaintances.

Content Stored In The Cloud

We own multiple devices in the home: multiple computers, iPods, and more. And pretty soon, everyone in the household will have an iPad. At the same time, we seek ways to share and hold our content. And while it may not be necessary to have access to the content at all times, we want to make sure it is there and safe when we do want it. So we buy back up digital storage or copy content onto cd-roms. And what we get is multiple copies of the same content filling up tons of storage. We have decentralized storage across each device in each home; now is the time to start centralizing and the solution lies in the cloud.

My first introduction to this concept was when Cablevision announced that it wanted to offer a N-DVR with content saved not on the device but at the central network. For Cablevision, it was an uphill, legal fight. Since then the need for more centralized storage has been turned into the latest buzz word, cloud computing. As defined in Wikipedia, "Cloud computing describes computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services."

So Apple is now trying to do the same thing with iTunes. "A deal would provide iTunes customers with a permanent backup of music purchases if the originals are damaged or lost, said the people. The service also would allow downloads to iPad, iPod and iPhone devices linked to the same iTunes account, they said. The move would be a step closer to universal access to content centrally stored on the Internet." Simply, user-friendly, and convenient. Download what you need immediately and store what you want to own and hold. Hopefully Apple will secure agreements from content companies to distribute and store in this manner.

And it seems to me that convenience spells more revenue. The safety of back-up combined with the need to continue to purchase and own. We, as human beings, remain pack rats; it's just nice to know that we don't have to clutter our own drives with digital content.

Banner Year For National and Local Cable Ad Sales

The economy is picking up and businesses are advertising once again. Despite threats of cord cutting and DVR, cable ad sales revenue continues to grow, reaching $27.1 billion dollars in 2010. In fact the CAB calls it the best year ever.

And while national cable ad sales grew near 10%, more impressively, local cable ad sales increased by 20% last year. "Original programming, said CAB, helped attract more dollars across categories to the national cable networks. They also rang up gains with non-linear ads." With interactive advertising and better segmentation technology, along with on demand advertising, cable advertising should continue to advance this year, too.

Of course, the economy must continue to respond. The health of key industries, including the auto market, are necessary. While last year had tons of political advertising, this year must rely on other sectors to pick up the inventory. As employment begins to rebound and consumers are purchasing more items, the economy is rising. And it seems that for 2011, cable advertising has a lot of positive momentum supporting its growth.

Apple iPad 2 Released

Engadget has some great information on the iPad 2 from the event today. And with Steve Jobs in attendance, it made for a bigger impression. Thinner, faster, dual camera.
And I have to say, I want one.

An App Store On Every Block

In real towns, every block seems to be filled with banks, but in the online world, the neighborhood is adding more App Stores. Of course the leader is Apple and it's iTunes and iPhone App library. And Google is making a strong run with it's Android App Store. The latest to enter the fray is Amazon. "The retailer is aiming to tap rising demand for games and entertainment that can be downloaded on mobile phones. That market, which is being pursued by more than 30 app stores, may rise to $40 billion by 2014 from $14.3 billion last year, according to Booz & Co. Competitors are trying to grab business from Google’s own Android Market, which has rankled some users for being cumbersome."

And as more devices enter the market, including the introduction of the iPad 2, they bring in more users and of course more demand for more apps. And while the cost per app may be a few pennies, the volume of sales is enormous. While Apple has the exclusivity, Android does not. And so Amazon and Google will be fighting over a smaller market share while Apple continues to enjoy all the growth. Still the market is growing and competition over the expectation of growing revenues just might bring in even more players.

Hulu Ad Revenue To Double in 2011

Forget about their subscription revenue for a moment, Hulu is on pace to double its ad revenue this year. I guess the digital ad business is no longer pennies or nickels but starting to act like real dollars. "(CEO Jason) Kilar did not address some of the recent controversy surrounding Hulu, including a possible shift toward a pure subscription model, or a widely discussed blog post he produced a few weeks ago that seemed to take some shots at several of the company’s top TV network partners and their business models." He maintains excitement in Hulu's continued growth with subscription and other forms of consumer revenue.

It seems that not only are views rising, but so are the number of unique advertisers and content partners to the Hulu formula. The more to watch, the more people watching, the more desirable for businesses to advertise to these eyeballs. And so far, it seems that Hulu is not hurting the other viewing platforms...yet. But their success can only cause some concern that it may lead viewers to cut the cord with the cable operator.

Did You Multi-Screen The Oscars?

Big events, like the Oscars always seem to ask, how well did it do in the ratings compared to other years. And it seems this year, the social network element of the night seemed to invite more of a multi-screen presence. heck, even the co-host tweeted. So did the audience take advantage of the multi platform offerings?

"The Oscar.com website lured subscribers with 'exclusive cameras and content' at a price of $4.99. For 99 cents, customers could download an application for Apple's iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch that essentially offered the same package of privileged backstage views supplied by multiple cameras and supplemental commentary." I did not take advantage of this content. We dvr and watch with stops and starts. ANd while we were never more than a few minutes behind, we didn't fear missing a moment although there were hardly any amazing moments to miss.

What my wife and I did do was read our twitter feeds. Heck some of the comments (maybe most) were from these feeds and not the tube. It was the water cooler moment sharing what they liked or didn't like about the hosts, the presenters, and even the choices of winners. "The academy reported — via Twitter, naturally — that 1,600 Oscar-related tweets were being sent every minute at one point in the evening." Count us in that number.

And while the show was pretty dull, the other platforms did make the viewing more enjoyable for us. Did it affect the Nielsen ratings for the broadcast; we will soon find out. I suspect more people did watch simply to be a part of the conversation.