Tablet Pricing Reminding Me When Calculators Were First Sold

As a kid, I remember getting my first TI (Texas Instruments) Calculator.  It was awesome.  It not only added and subtracted, but offered features that weren't typically available.  I could find the NPV (net present value) or IRR (internal rate of return) and as I recall, it cost a small fortune.  But it was cool and a must have.  Then Casio came in and others and competition erupted.  Prices dropped.  Today, these same features and more are available on very inexpensive calculators.

As we watch the tablet industry roll out, first with expensive models, it was only a matter of time that price points would begin to drop as more models and competitors vie for market share.  So the announcement from Amazon on its new Kindle Fire and all its pricing levels should come as no surprise.  They offer a price point for every type of consumer, from under $80 to $500.  Of course the  Kindle Fire is at the top of the line with new features, better screen, and faster speeds.  It has all the makings of a winner.

Will Apple announce it's mini iPad next week, along with the iPhone, or wait for another date to make that next announcement?  Will the mini iPad impress us as well with a price point that also causes excitement?  For those that wait, it is clear that the price of tablets will only continue to decline and perhaps one day, like the calculator, be so inexpensive we will likely own more than one.

Smartphone Makers Race To Deliver Announcements

The smartphone wars are ramping up and the race to deliver the news first, ahead of others and before the critical fourth quarter, looks a bit chaotic.  How much so, that both Nokia and Motorola, in an attempt to beat Apple to the gate have announced their phones first, but without some critical information.  They missed some details that the consumer would find important to know, such as the cost of the smartphone and which wireless providers would be offering them.  In this rush to beat Apple's iPhone announcement next week, one wonders if they did more damage then good to their brand.  Rather than focus on what makes their unique phones great, the chatter is on the announcement itself.

Apple, on the other hand, follows the same strategy over and over again.  Nothing is formally released early leading to buzz in the market about what if.  As anticipation grows, an announcement of a forthcoming event eludes only to news, but only to add to the speculation. And finally, at the announced date, details are set and revealed with emphasis on the new additions and benefits they derive.  And of course, the announcement includes availability and cost. It is a formula that continues to work.

With more smartphone devices reaching the consumer, the good news is that there is more choice than ever before.  With the coming release of Microsoft's smartphone, Samsung, and of course Blackberry, the field continues to crowd for the race to begin.

You Tube Wants A Piece Of the Video Rental Market

Watch out cable TV, watch out Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes, You Tube is augmenting its video business.  "YouTube is going to launch VOD-style movie rentals on TVs and connected devices later this year."  It is starting to look like movie rentals are becoming ubiquitous, available to everyone across any platform and any service that you connect to.  As the video rental stores become less relevant, the need for a DVD rental is now easily replaced with a downloadable rental that exists for your immediate enjoyment.

For the movie industry, the hope is that this on demand business, whether rental or download to own, will replace the revenue and profit earned from the DVD.  But just as the DVD replaced the VHS tape, so now the digital copy has replaced the DVD.  The world is all about connectivity.  Let's only hope we never find ourselves stranded with no internet and no way to watch a video.

How Many Online Video Platforms Will We Have To Subscribe To?

One of the nice things about a cable subscription, believe it or not, is that it aggregates all the channels we watch, basic, premium, on demand, and sells it to us in one monthly bill that we pay.  We may become disgruntled at the amount of the bill, but we pay it.  Sometimes we wish we could drop channels we don't watch to try and lower our bills, but ultimately we still complain.

Those that cord cut seek out more inexpensive options online.  A Netflix subscription at under $10/month becomes a good alternative to basic and premium channels. But demand for the most successful titles has brought competition to the online platform.  "Amazon.com has struck a multiyear licensing agreement in the U.S. with Epix, the movie network from Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lionsgate, to stream thousands of movies after Netflix's exclusive online window with Epix expired in August."  Of course those that like these titles and don't get Epix from their cable provider will now need to add an Amazon Prime subscription to their online bills. Multiple bills, multiple payments.

And depending on your interest in different types of entertainment, the likelihood is that more individual sites will arise to sell its own subscription service.  Whether its multiple newspaper subscriptions, multiple music subscriptions, and now multiple video subscriptions, our entertainment budget continues to rise.  There is something to be said for the cable model, one monthly price for music, sports, news, and movies.  It is our insatiable appetite for more content that keeps getting us to try and  find more without paying more for it.

Apple Next Product Releases

Some bits of news post Labor Day that Apple will be holding a press release next Wednesday.  The talk is that the next generation of the iPhone will be officially announced and new phones could be hitting the shelves shortly.  Some say the phone will be slimmer, others that the screen will be slightly larger.  And no doubt folks will be disappointed that it lacked this or that.

The other news, one that may or may not make it into next week's announcement is that Apple will also release its mini iPad in October.  Common sense would argue that one announcement a quarter is more than enough and to hold a second conference one month later seems a distraction.  Ideally, Apple making next week's announcement about both products would be big news for the company and the industry.  We can only stay patient for next week to learn finally what Apple is doing in the iPhone and iPad spaces.

Apple Wins Patent Fight Against Samsung

Apple has won its case in court and the jury has agreed that Samsung did indeed infringe on a large number of Apple's patents.  And while the award damages exceed $1 billion, the court battle is likely to continue while the appeals process takes over.  At the same time, Samsung and other competitors may just have to go back to the drawing board to design tablets and smartphone devices that don't copy Apple.  Will this improve competition or limit it? Could it lead to more innovation or slow it down?

This court fight may have hurt Samsung a bit, but it is sure to affect Google and others as well.  "The verdict in the trial hardly concludes the legal battles over patents among companies in the mobile business. There are dozens of such cases winding their way through the courts; Samsung and Apple have also been battling in Germany, Australia and elsewhere. Even so, Samsung remains a major supplier of components for Apple products"  How ironic, that Samsung may have lost the fight but is also a winner when it comes to producing pieces for Apple devices.

Sometimes I Like Twitter, Sometimes I Don't

Overall I like Twitter today.  When it works, it provides me information, breaking news, updates, and, on occasion, humor; but there are times that I find it bloated with hubris and nonsense that  takes up space and floods the  stream with silliness.  The good news is that one can limit who you follow in order to flesh out the good from the drivel.  Still, when sponsored content is automatically posted, out of my control, it reduces my enjoyment of the service.

But I may be the minority as many enjoy the social networking that comes from sharing pictures, ideas, locations,  etc. with their minions.  But now it seems that Twitter is breaking those ties with other social networking sites.  I recently found that Twitter and LinkedIn are no longer connected.  But more is happening "As Twitter shuts off the access that services like Instagram and Tumblr used to have to its valuable “follower graph,” it is also promoting the new relationships it has with media players like NBC. Between them, those two moves speak volumes about the company’s future."  Will users like this transition and will it make for a better experience (as well as more profitable for Twitter) or will it turn away fans to the Twitter service?

The digital world is becoming a multi-platform play with media brands.  Promotion as a means to drive usage on its on its media sites, for viewership, readership, and subscription.  Communication has moved past the consumer talking to each other toward business driving consumer behavior.  We can only watch to see if consumers accept this switch or seek other solutions.

Digital Advertising Share Larger Than Newspaper Advertising

In sports, we always marvel when a record is broken or a player rises through the list verse other players.  In advertising, those records are seen by the size of revenue and the share verse other media choices.  And when a rookie or new platform outpaces his or her  rivals, that tends to be a big story.  Today, that story is all about digital advertising.  "This year, not the next, will be the point at which digital overtakes newspapers' share of the global advertising market to become the second largest medium, according to the latest spending forecast from Carat.  Digital, which in Carat's view comprises search, display, online video, social media and mobile, will take a 15.3% share this year with newspapers on 14.4%."  It is clear that those digital pennies are now looking like digital dollars.

Television continues to remain the number one platform for ad revenue.  Still the percentage of growth in each of these respective media platforms, TV, newspaper, magazine are somewhat flat while digital is growing at double digit rates.  With the rise in production and sales of tablets and smartphones, it is only natural to expect that the rate of digital growth will only continue to grow.   And who knows, perhaps one day digital could also overtake TV.

Hulu Update Despite Ownership Issues

Hulu's online view is getting a makeover and the new look and functionality should be good news for viewers.  An advance look can be found at  new.hulu.com.  And here's their video:



As to the ownership quarrels, well that will be news for another day.  Good to see that the day to day operations are still moving forward.