Not my idea but I am certainly keen to it. Gary makes a great point, no one remembers phone numbers anymore. I couldn't agree more. Listen to his vlog and see if you agree with his idea for Facebook to buy RIM and Blackberry.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Who Needs FaceTime or Skype, Kids Like to Text
No matter the allure of video calls, it just never seems to find traction. And calling in general has lost favor to e-mails and texts. For younger demos, phone calls have become less relevant to their interactions. And the research seems to back it up.
"A British study conducted by independent media regulator Ofcom found that among 16- to 24-year-olds, phone calls are being superseded by texts or other e-messages. Per the research, 96 percent use some form of text-based communication -- either though social networks (73 percent) or through traditional texting (90 percent) -- on a daily basis. By comparison, only 67 percent of that age group talks on the phone daily. Overall, total time spent on the phone declined 5 percent for Britons of all ages, the first such drop since the 1990s, according to The Guardian."
The trend, according to the article is the same in the US. Our kids are not using their phones as often to make real calls or to embrace the new technology of face to face through Facetime or Skype. Instead, the preference is to send short text messages. Have we lost the ability to communicate and is this the new generation of one sided staccato messaging back and forth? In the long run, my hope is that we have not lost our voice.
"A British study conducted by independent media regulator Ofcom found that among 16- to 24-year-olds, phone calls are being superseded by texts or other e-messages. Per the research, 96 percent use some form of text-based communication -- either though social networks (73 percent) or through traditional texting (90 percent) -- on a daily basis. By comparison, only 67 percent of that age group talks on the phone daily. Overall, total time spent on the phone declined 5 percent for Britons of all ages, the first such drop since the 1990s, according to The Guardian."
The trend, according to the article is the same in the US. Our kids are not using their phones as often to make real calls or to embrace the new technology of face to face through Facetime or Skype. Instead, the preference is to send short text messages. Have we lost the ability to communicate and is this the new generation of one sided staccato messaging back and forth? In the long run, my hope is that we have not lost our voice.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Networks Remain Off Cable Systems
Certainly not new stories, but networks continue to remain off the air of some cable and satellite providers as time goes on. The big story has been the loss of Viacom networks on DirecTv. Even Jon Stewart wants Viacom to capitulate rather than see ratings continue to suffer and advertising revenue decline. For Time Warner Cable, it is the loss of 15 Hearst broadcast networks in various markets. And of course there is the loss of AMC Networks on Dish Network.
An interesting comment overhead is that the longer these blackouts go, the more likely the viewer is to find alternative solutions. Whether it is switching channels and finding new favorites, or switching cable providers, or switching to different platforms like online networks, viewers adapt and ultimately change their preferences. The longer you as a network are off the radar, the more likely you will be replaced and forgotten. It is a lot harder to win back loss subs then it is to grow incremental usage.
An interesting comment overhead is that the longer these blackouts go, the more likely the viewer is to find alternative solutions. Whether it is switching channels and finding new favorites, or switching cable providers, or switching to different platforms like online networks, viewers adapt and ultimately change their preferences. The longer you as a network are off the radar, the more likely you will be replaced and forgotten. It is a lot harder to win back loss subs then it is to grow incremental usage.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
TiVo May Skip Ads, But It Also Measures Who Is Watching Them
The beauty of TiVo and other less notable DVR technology is the power it offers to easily copy and replay programs, whenever you are in the mood to watch. No expiration of VOD assets to worry about; copy all the episodes of your favorite show and watch at your leisure. Add to that the convenience of fast forwarding past the commercials and you are in control. But surprisingly, we are sometimes too lazy to hit the button and we let the ads play through.
Ironic, but what leads to TiVo's need to take advantage of viewership data and match to the ideal profile when pushing ads to the consumer. And in order to do it well, TiVo has found a partner. "The television analytics company TiVo is expected to announce on Tuesday that it has acquired full ownership in TRA, a research company that has found success in recent years with a system that matches up television viewing with consumer buying habits." With best information of household shopping preferences and show interest, ads can be targeted to the right audience in order to get the most effective reach. And as DVR owners are not taking full advantage of the fast forward feature, they too are being reached.
Why aren't more cable operators offering TiVo technology in their cable box? Wouldn't their local ad sales efforts be better helped with a collaboration with TiVo verse their own generic DVR? I wait and wonder.
Ironic, but what leads to TiVo's need to take advantage of viewership data and match to the ideal profile when pushing ads to the consumer. And in order to do it well, TiVo has found a partner. "The television analytics company TiVo is expected to announce on Tuesday that it has acquired full ownership in TRA, a research company that has found success in recent years with a system that matches up television viewing with consumer buying habits." With best information of household shopping preferences and show interest, ads can be targeted to the right audience in order to get the most effective reach. And as DVR owners are not taking full advantage of the fast forward feature, they too are being reached.
Why aren't more cable operators offering TiVo technology in their cable box? Wouldn't their local ad sales efforts be better helped with a collaboration with TiVo verse their own generic DVR? I wait and wonder.
Monday, July 16, 2012
MSNBC.com and NBC News Split Up
If msnbc.com was a bookmarked favorite, you may want to reconsider where you get your news. As of today, all of NBC News will be redirected to nbcnews.com while msnbc.com will be strictly about the MSNBC Cable Network. Confused? So will the users of the website and the cable network. Isn't the cable network also owned by NBC? Yes, but the website was co-owned by Microsoft. The challenge lies in the ownership and with it comes the revenue model as it relates to other non Microsoft owned properties. So now NBC properties can get full value of their web based synergies with their TV brands. Today Show info will no longer be on msnbc.com; rather, clips from the network will be on nbcnews.com. And the result, NBC can keep 100% of the digital revenue.
So MSNBC the cable network, a left leaning political site will point to msnbc.com while NBC News, the Today Show, Rock Center and other news properties will point to nbcnews.com. And hopefully, the web surfer will add a new bookmark and notice the change. Otherwise, the concern will be how to recapture the lost web traffic.
One thing that I haven't seen addressed, what happens to MSNBC the cable network? "Microsoft’s stake in the cable channel was dissolved in 2005. But NBC came to feel handcuffed by the Web arrangement; an increasing number of advertisers wanted to buy ads both on its TV newscasts and its Web sites, a strategy called cross-media sales, but it could not respond effectively because Microsoft ran the ad sales part of the business." It seems the next step is a name change for the cable network itself, further distancing itself from MSN and embracing the NBC News brand. I expect that a name change is sooner than later.
So MSNBC the cable network, a left leaning political site will point to msnbc.com while NBC News, the Today Show, Rock Center and other news properties will point to nbcnews.com. And hopefully, the web surfer will add a new bookmark and notice the change. Otherwise, the concern will be how to recapture the lost web traffic.
One thing that I haven't seen addressed, what happens to MSNBC the cable network? "Microsoft’s stake in the cable channel was dissolved in 2005. But NBC came to feel handcuffed by the Web arrangement; an increasing number of advertisers wanted to buy ads both on its TV newscasts and its Web sites, a strategy called cross-media sales, but it could not respond effectively because Microsoft ran the ad sales part of the business." It seems the next step is a name change for the cable network itself, further distancing itself from MSN and embracing the NBC News brand. I expect that a name change is sooner than later.
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Nickelodeon Out, Disney Junior In At DirecTv
Does the launch of Disney Junior on DirecTv tell Viacom that they can expect a long, protracted fight for carriage of Nickelodeon and its other networks? It certainly seems like a shot across the bow. While Comedy Central and its other networks will be missed, DirecTv must believe that no one cries louder than children and if anything makes mom and dad switch providers, it is the loss of kid programming. Whether Disney Junior characters like Handy Mandy and others can replace Sponge Bob and iCarly remains to be seen. Still it appears an attempt by DirecTv to offer some substitution for their loss.
So what happens the longer this negotiation lasts? What if DirecTv discovers that they can actually absorb a loss of subs related to the drop of a set of channels and still improve their bottom line. If the impact of a drop proves negligible, could this be the impetus to start assessing the cost/value model of all channels to provide a better value model to the end consumer? With the rise of alternative platforms to receive networks and shows, change is in the air.
So what happens the longer this negotiation lasts? What if DirecTv discovers that they can actually absorb a loss of subs related to the drop of a set of channels and still improve their bottom line. If the impact of a drop proves negligible, could this be the impetus to start assessing the cost/value model of all channels to provide a better value model to the end consumer? With the rise of alternative platforms to receive networks and shows, change is in the air.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Should Passwords Be Obsolete?
News that someone has stolen passwords and that your identity and information has been compromised have unfortunately become commonplace these days. And the solution is always the same - change it, make it stronger, use different passwords for different sites, etc. But most of us have a hard enough time remembering 10 different phone numbers let alone all the different passwords we are supposed to use. So we come up with solutions; we post them on the wall in our office, we use simple passwords like "password" or we write them in a document. No matter what, they become compromised, either by the companies that require them or our own doing.
So why not make authorization something else, a fingerprint, voice recognition, eye scan, or some other means that identifies us without typing in a password. Is it even possible to make accounts impossible to hack without some safeguards in place? With passwords proving more and more untrustworthy, it is clear that an alternative is needed now.
So why not make authorization something else, a fingerprint, voice recognition, eye scan, or some other means that identifies us without typing in a password. Is it even possible to make accounts impossible to hack without some safeguards in place? With passwords proving more and more untrustworthy, it is clear that an alternative is needed now.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Our Future Is In Our Pocket
I believe that within 5 years, the smart phone will be formally inducted as the must-have wallet/communicator/connector in our lives. It will be the instrument that we carry to identify who we are, update us on news, entertain us with music, text, and video, pay for all our purchases, and capture our life's moments. Most of that is already happening today; we just will watch as it becomes the key device that we will rely on daily.
It is becoming evident that leading digital companies are finally figuring out what Apple saw five years earlier with the introduction of the iPhone. So Google has bought Motorola Mobility in order to build its own smartphone and Microsoft is eager to get in the market as well, finally deciding that it too needs to build its own device. And now we have learned that Amazon, a company leading the online shopping world wants to enter this competitive marketplace too. "This news comes as several outlets including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that Amazon is working on a smartphone to rival the iPhone and Android phones."
Notice that each of these companies are building hardware, no one is touching the digital pipeline to connect information to and from the smartphone. Is it that there is less money to be made by investing in a wireless industry. Is the pipeline seen as an unsexy business, unlike the hardware side of the smartphone with its fancy touch screen, apps, and tools? But the pipeline remains a key attribute that can make the respective device run fast or slow, connect or freeze, complete the transaction or leave us "disconnected".
As to the rise of new competitors in the smartphone industry, it clearly indicates that the movement to make the smartphone the ultimate tool for each human being, young and old, is on. And as a connected device, it provides us with many advantages. At the same time, it has also caused us to lose a bit of our anonymity and privacy; we are tracked and measured, targeted and attacked with ads customized to our behavior. If we can accept that, the smartphone is well on its way to being the wallet in our pocket, the phone for our home, and the screen to be seen. And that is why Microsoft and Amazon and I'm sure others to follow want their hardware to rule the pocket.
It is becoming evident that leading digital companies are finally figuring out what Apple saw five years earlier with the introduction of the iPhone. So Google has bought Motorola Mobility in order to build its own smartphone and Microsoft is eager to get in the market as well, finally deciding that it too needs to build its own device. And now we have learned that Amazon, a company leading the online shopping world wants to enter this competitive marketplace too. "This news comes as several outlets including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal are reporting that Amazon is working on a smartphone to rival the iPhone and Android phones."
Notice that each of these companies are building hardware, no one is touching the digital pipeline to connect information to and from the smartphone. Is it that there is less money to be made by investing in a wireless industry. Is the pipeline seen as an unsexy business, unlike the hardware side of the smartphone with its fancy touch screen, apps, and tools? But the pipeline remains a key attribute that can make the respective device run fast or slow, connect or freeze, complete the transaction or leave us "disconnected".
As to the rise of new competitors in the smartphone industry, it clearly indicates that the movement to make the smartphone the ultimate tool for each human being, young and old, is on. And as a connected device, it provides us with many advantages. At the same time, it has also caused us to lose a bit of our anonymity and privacy; we are tracked and measured, targeted and attacked with ads customized to our behavior. If we can accept that, the smartphone is well on its way to being the wallet in our pocket, the phone for our home, and the screen to be seen. And that is why Microsoft and Amazon and I'm sure others to follow want their hardware to rule the pocket.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Magazines Aggregate a Digital Buffet
There is something about an all-you-can-eat buffet that consumers like. Its that one price that enables you to pick and choose from a wide selection to consume from repeatedly. Cable subscriptions have been doing it for a while although the constant rise in their monthly rates have led to subscriber cord cutting. Phone companies too with unlimited local calls and cell companies too with their all you can use minutes. So it is now time for the print media to offer a similar aggregated offering.
"Digital magazine joint venture Next Issue Media is finally available for the iPad, three months after it launched for Android. With the app, users can read popular magazines like People, Vogue, the New Yorker and Real Simple for a flat monthly fee." For heavy magazine readers eager to cut costs by switching to digital, this could bring instant savings to the household. For light readers, it may be just the right price point to encourage adding a digital subscription to get some wonderful content from well known magazine brands. Titles are being offered by Conde Nast, Hearst, Time Inc., and Meredith. A full list is available within the article.
For me, I haven't yet gotten much out of Flipboard and would find this kind of deal worth subscribing for my iPad. I do find it unusual that the individual companies haven't already tried this type of model just within their own list of titles; still, I believe that the larger the choice, the easier it will be to market and gain consumers to subscribe. Of course, how it affects print subscription losses will need to be measured to assure that a time frame to adapt to a shift in preference can be effectively budgeted. At the end of the day, this model sounds like a winner.
"Digital magazine joint venture Next Issue Media is finally available for the iPad, three months after it launched for Android. With the app, users can read popular magazines like People, Vogue, the New Yorker and Real Simple for a flat monthly fee." For heavy magazine readers eager to cut costs by switching to digital, this could bring instant savings to the household. For light readers, it may be just the right price point to encourage adding a digital subscription to get some wonderful content from well known magazine brands. Titles are being offered by Conde Nast, Hearst, Time Inc., and Meredith. A full list is available within the article.
For me, I haven't yet gotten much out of Flipboard and would find this kind of deal worth subscribing for my iPad. I do find it unusual that the individual companies haven't already tried this type of model just within their own list of titles; still, I believe that the larger the choice, the easier it will be to market and gain consumers to subscribe. Of course, how it affects print subscription losses will need to be measured to assure that a time frame to adapt to a shift in preference can be effectively budgeted. At the end of the day, this model sounds like a winner.
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