Intel’s “The Museum Of Me”
This is a fantastic ad campaign from Intel which utilizes sophisticated technology and seamless social integration to create a museum of your life, all within a 3D space!
I highly recommend connecting to your Facebook account!
Top 10 Most Influential Digital People Of The Decade
Larry Page and Sergey Brin
10. John Lasseter
Lasseter ushered in an entirely new genre of movie-making, contributed to the majority of currently popular Disney characters, and caught the attention of number 3 on this list, Steve Jobs – all by just following his dreams.
9. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse
The Lost phenomenon was arguably one of the most innovative, exciting and misunderstood television events of all time. J.J. Abrams may have been the one to get the ball rolling, but it was these two young writers who molded the show into the misshapen ball of intrigue that it became.
8. Conan O’Brien
When Conan was unceremoniously ousted from The Tonight Show by the evil NBC empire, he could have gone down in flames, but with an overwhelming flurry of support by his fans, mostly through the Internet (ironically driven by Twitter, the very social tool that Conan often mocked on his show), Conan inadvertently created a revolution that drove his popularity beyond any damage NBC could have done.
7. Craig Newmark
This particular gentlemen is the very “Craig” from “Craigslist.org.” Not only has his simple website become a staple of the web, but to this day he remains loyal in his stance to not exploit its popularity. Don’t get me wrong, he’s not financially struggling, but he could have taken on Facebook if he wanted to. As it stands, his staff is the size of a small start-up company – not that he has (nor may ever have) competition.
6. Barack Obama
The first president to realize how important the Internet is to the newest generation of voters, our very own Obama inspired the country to choose him over other more experienced candidates with his echoing promise, “Yes we can.” Between YouTube, email campaigns and even an iPhone App, Obama turned the campaign on its digital side.
5. Oprah Winfrey
Duh.
4. Mark Zuckerberg
We all learned what Mark has been up to over the last decade through a recent film (the best way for the country to learn anything), and it’s no small potatoes (he invented Facebook, did you not hear?). When it became clear the Internet was going to change the world, we all should have taken computer science like he did – it did the trick.
3. Steve Jobs
In the past decade, Jobs turned a company from the edge of bankruptcy to one of the most profitable companies in America, without even being fazed by the fact that this company fired him only years beforehand. Since then, he brought us the only consumer operating system to successfully compete with Microsoft (OSX), the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad – all that and he even cheated death itself.
2. JK Rowling
It’s not just her books or the fact that they encompass the best-selling series of all time, it’s the other little big things that put JK Rowling at the top of this list. Most importantly, she directly contributed to an increase in international literacy, and that is no small feat.
1. Sergey Brin and Larry Page
What did you just say? Who are they? Oh they’re only the inventors of Google. With a web indexing model based on context and a mission statement to not be evil, they revolutionized the modern Internet and most likely changed it for the better, forever. On top of that small task, they also created an endless supply of jobs and not just inside the Googleplex, but throughout an entirely new realm of digital strategy including such fields as search-engine optimization and marketing. These two are the boys to watch in the next decade as well.
The Future Of Digital Entertainment
UPDATED from The Future Of Digital Entertainment Technology-
The digital battlefield has gotten much more interesting since last we met. Technology product developers and content providers alike have upped their game, and the future is now slightly more clear – yet the war rages on for now.
HULU
Hulu now deserves the first mention in this article. With Hulu Plus currently available on almost every platform including TV-connected boxes, game consoles, mobile devices, and web – this once tentative company has now become a real contender in the future of digital media distribution. Hulu, the internet-only media consumption hub, was exciting since launch because we could now watch high-quality (and legal) shows on our computers from multiple programmers – often the day after episodes air on TV. These episodes have commercials of course, but hell, we understand. Hulu Plus, however, made all the difference. For $7.99/month, we can now watch entire series of shows instead of seasons, and many episodes of current seasons don’t expire. Hulu Plus also allows consumers to watch most Hulu content on their phone, TV, and iPads. Critics have complained that paying a premium for Hulu content should mean no more commercials, but Hulu calmly and rationally explained that commercials help subsidize the monthly subscription fee. Still not satisfied? Let’s not forget here that Hulu cannot be compared to premium channels like HBO – it can only be compared to your cable provider, who charges you over $100/month for similar content and STILL has commercials (many many more commercials). So cut Hulu some slack.
NETFLIX
With Blockbuster bankrupt, Netflix has emerged victorious as a content provider that can and will successfully keep up with digital trends as necessary. For the first time, Netflix is offering a purely digital-streaming subscription plan in addition to its lineup of DVDs-by-mail. The main reason they’re still second to Hulu is because streaming content is only provided once it’s become available on DVD. Netflix continues to dominate in this market, however, due to its loyal subscribers, its massive collection of movie rentals, and of course its streaming movie library which is far superior to Hulu. Rumors now abound that Netflix is looking to invest some revenue in their streaming service to obtain more quality movies and perhaps even first-run television.
NETWORKS
Fox and ABC have been on board since the first whisper of digital distribution. They provide content to their own .coms, Hulu, iTunes, mobile devices and more. NBC is mostly doing the same, but they’re not playing nice with Apple and that may cost them if Apple emerges as a true contender. All of their content was pulled from the iTunes store back in 2008 due to licensing disagreements, and more recently they turned down Apple’s new $0.99 episode rental model. CBS is mostly MIA, and that’s a mistake. Clinging to old models out of desperation is madness, and its weak. Consumers who missed the latest episode of The Big Bang Theory can’t find it anywhere, so they have to resort to less legal measures to obtain their content. This is of no use to CBS, nor is it helpful at all to the entertainment industry as a whole – a chain is only as strong as its weakest link after all. Hey, maybe I’ll create my own digital-friendly online network in my basement – and leave CBS to eat my dust.
APPLE
Apple is still going strong in most digital content markets thanks to its popular iTunes software, its iPhone and iPod lineup, and it’s nearly 1-year-old iPad. Ironically, the one place it shows weakness is its Apple TV product. The company did its research, yes, and they discovered that syncing with their computers and storing massive files is annoying to their consumers (duh) – but Apple’s solutions were misguided. Rental fees for TV episodes is a decent idea in theory, but only if you’ve unplugged your cable box. We want access to all content all the time, and yes we’ll pay for it, but not a la carte like Apple’s iTunes music model. And PS – WHY OH WHY won’t Steve Jobs bring his app store to this device?
GOOGLE TV
When Apple’s new TV-connected product failed to impress, it seemed that Google would step in as the next big contender. Epic fail. It was already looking bleak for them as users complained that the interface was clunky and confusing, but the outlook grew far darker when all major networks began blocking their content from Google’s new product. The multi-billion dollar company however won’t go down without a fight, and judging solely on their mantra, “Don’t be evil,” I think they’ve got a good shot to pull it together. Their Google TV app store will no doubt be impressive when it’s released to developers next year, but will they get there before Apple dominates?
AMAZON
With Apple and Google struggling to gain footing, Amazon’s Roku box emerged as the critic’s choice. While it of course does not play iTunes content, it does play Amazon Video On Demand content – a service that has recently gained the loyalty of many media consumers due to the fact that your content is stored in the cloud forever rather than on your computer or your many backup devices. Roku also includes Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, Facebook, Twitter and more – ready to go as soon as you hook the box up to your television.
GAME CONSOLES
While the critics are raving about Roku, I’m touting the game consoles. Sony and Microsoft now offer Hulu, Netflix, Vudu and more in a vastly growing library of applications that can be downloaded directly through their already super cool gaming systems. Even Nintendo will now let you download Netflix for free without requiring an external disc, although your films won’t be quite as high quality on the Wii as they are on XBox and Playstation.
BOXEE
The other major contender still lurking in the shadows is Boxee. Now available in a sleek set-top box, this is the underdog to watch. Boxee’s mission statement is correct on every level (bring internet video to the living room television) – it’s just questionable whether or not they’re doing it the right way. When they first got started on their open source software, they just kind of through video they found into the mix, henceforth enraging companies who don’t want their content ported to the living room without their permission. They’ve recently begun reaching out more, however, to companies like Hulu and Netflix in order to more successfully cooperate.
THE WINNER
So now that we can see more clearly, who will emerge the winner? My guess is as good as yours, but I’ll just go ahead and say it – I actually am surprised that I think this, but I believe Apple TV has the most potential. This, however, comes with some serious conditionals. If Apple TV can get an app store off the ground where developers can sell games, productivity, and entertainment apps directly to the consumer, they will be extremely difficult to beat. With the popularity of their current mobile app store (and coming soon: the mac app store) and iTunes domination of content distribution, consumers and developers will run not walk to get on the Apple TV bandwagon. This will also allow Hulu, Netflix and any other as-of-yet undiscovered contenders to create their own apps for TV. One final caveat will be whether or not Apple can finally adopt a cloud-based model for their many media platforms, because consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated with syncing and storing Terrabytes worth of files.
IN CONCLUSION
As time goes on, how can we determine who will truly be the victor? Yes, the product that makes the most money and/or lives in the most households will probably dictate the clear winner, however the true test will be whether or not you’ll be able and willing to unplug your cable box in favor of this new product. And herein lies the greatest roadblock of them all. The networks want as much money as they can get, and are therefor nervous to abandon their current model – they make money from advertising on all platforms, yes, however they do not want to lose the revenue they make from cable providers. Only time will provide an answer to this conundrum, and perhaps we haven’t even seen anything close to a true answer yet, however it is clear that those networks and content providers (see ya Blockbuster) that do not jump on the digital bandwagon will get left behind.
You Can’t Watch This Video Without Shedding A Tear
A Public Safety Announcement that takes digital marketing to the next level.
The Mobile Gaming Industry “Takes Off”
The mobile gaming industry, though relatively new to the global market, is a rapidly growing asset in many of today’s digital markets. If you’ve heard of Nintendo’s “Game Boy” then you’re aware of the mobile gaming industry, but you might be surprised to hear that the biggest trailblazing contender in this market today is Apple.
Nintendo now sports the “Nintendo DS” (a dual-screen system with touch capabilities) and Sony threw its hat into the ring with its “PSP” (also referred to as the “Playstation Portable” because that succinctly describes it) but Apple, aside from minimal games available for its Mac OS platform, is completely new to this market. Their success in the gaming industry on both their iPhone and iPod Touch devices has been a surprise to everyone, including Apple. This is, quite simply, mostly due to putting faith in their consumers – with the launch of the “App Store” on iTunes, Apple put the developing power of their products in the hands of their entire consumer population. In other words, any developer in the world can create an application for the iPhone or iPod Touch from the comfort of their own home.
Although Nintendo did get there first with open-source software for the Nintendo Wii, dubbed “Wii Ware,” they’re not doing it that well. It’s still very difficult to develop for Nintendo and most programmers haven’t a clue where to begin. And for those who successfully create a game and are lucky enough to have Nintendo add it to their online store, it may still be months before it sees the light of day. Where Apple throws new games up on their online store by the hour, Nintendo anally adds one game (occasionally two) to their store every Monday at 9am. Nintendo very recently added this functionality to their portable gaming device, but consumers have to purchase an entirely new version of the Nintendo DS to actually be able to download games (dubbed the “DSi”) – and with their continued incessantly slow rate of game releases, there are too few games available to convince current DS owners to make the upgrade.
Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch also gave themselves an edge in the mobile gaming market by coming at it from a different direction. While Sony and Nintendo set out to create a portable gaming system, Apple entered the ring with a set of all-purpose devices. These devices are, for many consumers, portable computers. With efficient web-surfing capabilities, utility applications such as grocery lists and tip calculators, and in some cases even a built in phone, Apple’s iPod and iPhone become devices you can’t live without, games or no games. It should be noted here that Nintendo and Sony did in fact add web browsers to their most recent line of portable gaming systems, however they’re awkward, cumbersome, and ridiculous by comparison.
In 2003, Nokia was innovative enough to make a legitimate attempt at realizing this all-in-one device potential with the launch of their “N-Gage” system – a phone that could play video games. They wholeheartedly went after Nintendo’s hold on the portable gaming market by transforming their basic phone into a system that could play slot-loaded games purchased in the same store aisle as the Game Boy. Unfortunately, nobody wanted to pay $300 for a phone, nor did they want to carry around a bunch of game cartridges wherever they went, so Nintendo outsold Nokia 100 to 1, and Nokia bowed out. Today, Nokia offers an emulated version of their original N-Gage concept on some of their “smartphones” – an attempt at ensuring their once great dream will never truly die (though if Apple maintains momentum, it probably will).
This industry, both new and well-established, leaves us with some pressing questions for the future. Will Apple, with its multi-purpose devices and open-source application store ultimately win the day? Will Nintendo, currently the market’s top dog, learn from its mistakes and acknowledge Apple as a legitimate competitor? Will Nokia call up Apple and Nintendo on its N-Gage phone and leave threatening messages? Well, with a market that’s always on the go (wink), I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned. Oh, and leave your comments below.