Pundits aplenty have been predicting that smartphones will be the predominant device for accessing the web in the near future. That future may be accelerating. IDC, the International Data Corporation, has reported that smartphones have now out shipped personal computers. Smartphone shipments have tripled, while PCs shipments are growing at less than 50%. In the [...]
Read moreWalter Cronkite, the Moon Landing and Vietnam
Icons continue to perish in these dog days of the summer of 2009. Today it was Walter Cronkite, at the splendid age of 93. He was a fixture on the CBS Evening News for four decades. His sonorous voice was at once urgent and soothing; compelling to watch during triumph, but reassuring in times of [...]
Read moreForrester Marketing Forum 2009 – The Future of TV Advertising
I give full credit for my interest in technology and media to my father. He was a self-taught electronics engineer. That’s right self-taught. He had an amazing capacity as well as the courage to take anything apart to understand how it works. He could also put it back together. This was particularly true about televisions. [...]
Read moreA Great Online Experience is like The Twilight Zone
Updated: February 8, 2009 The classic 30 minute television drama is all but extinct, having given way to reality shows and various forms of forensics and autopsy programs. Thanks to Me TV and Nick at Nite numerous classic (and not so classic) shows still live. There is one show from television past that has a [...]
Read moreMovie Studios Try to Reinvent Themselves in 3D
U.S. film studios enjoyed a lock on the moving picture experience for many years before television invited itself to the party. Movie moguls were afraid that television was replicating the movie house experience so they completely changed the format from a standard 4:3 aspect ratio screen to a much wider screen. This helped them differentiate [...]
Read moreYet Another Format, Blu-ray
I’ve had all the home video formats. It started with the Sony Betamax, then quickly moved to VHS, as the electronics company JVC won that war. Marketers take note, never use the word Beta in the name of your product. From my perspective Beta was superior to VHS in almost every way. Then Laser Disk [...]
Read moreVideo Self-Portrait From SFMOMA
I had an extra hour this week between sessions while attending a board of advisors meeting in San Francisco, so I walked two blocks to the Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). I really love this structure and was here while it was under construction, then came back a couple of times after it opened. The finished product [...]
Read moreJon Stewart – Sharpen Your Interviewing Skills
I’m a huge fan of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show. But for all the smarts and wit there is a section of the show I don’t enjoy, and that’s the interview. It nearly always loses me. I realize it’s not a talk show, and the guests are appearing to plug their books or movies. [...]
Read moreHulu Raises the Bar on Social and Television
I have been having a lot of fun playing around with hulu.com for the past few weeks. It’s a joint venture between NBC and News Corp. It’s in private beta right now, so you have to make a request to gain access. Here is how Hulu describes what they are in an October 29, 2007 [...]
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February 9, 2011



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