Interesting article on the "Death of Radio"

Now, I know John C. Dvorak has a flair for the dramatic at times, but he usually has pretty well thought out points and been right more than once. Interesting article - my favorite quote is:

Because of this narrow range of programming, commercials galore, and the miserable music stations, the door was wide open for an alternative to broadcast radio. Enter podcasting, with a worldwide audience of Internet users and a narrowcast model that works only in massive distributed markets. Thus a podcast such as the one I take part in, "This Week in Tech," can achieve an estimated 500,000-700,000 downloads and listeners. Having done local radio about computers myself, I can assure you that no such numbers are possible except through podcasting. Most specialty, narrowcasting radio is relegated to the weekends or college stations, where nobody cares about ratings.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2020285,00.asp

Enjoy!

It's C.

We contacted Apple today about the whole podcast name thing, and much to my surprise they contacted us this afternoon.

It seems as yes, they're going after company names and products that are sharing the "pod" name, not referring to podcasts or podcast production services or the creation of podcasts.

First, Kudos to Apple for getting on this. I'm not sure how I feel yet about the whole thing - but CBS has already switched to netcasts.

I'm torn - podcast is a great term for many reasons, but for others, including growth of the format, making any competing product not able to use the word "podcast" or "pod" in the name limits the possibilities. Quite frankly, I still get plenty of folks who think podcasts need an iPod to be played - which I would theorize is Apples' intent.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. There are a lot of folks who are quite offended by the whole thing - I know they need to protect their trademark as well; and have to admit I would be compelled to if I were in their position. Tough call.

Maybe the middle road for us is creating netcasts in podcast-compatible format. Who knows.

Why You Need to Be Careful About Shared Hosting

So, MacCast, one of the more popular podcasts got knocked out by GoDaddy for using too many processor cycles.

This highlights the point about shared server space - it's not a good idea for popular items, and a horrible one for podcasting or multimedia hosting.

In his "MacCast is not gone, just knocked down" post, he was complaining about a very expensive $100/month. That is relatively nothing and is a mere minimum of the cost of doing business properly with this kind of material to avoid downtime issues if you're popular. I'm surprised they're letting him get off that cheap.

This will continue to plague amateur podcasters until their perceived price links up to the actual in regards to bandwidth, storage space, and processing power.

And in corporate environments, a note to the wise on the bandwidth side - if your company is sharing a 100mb connection to your server and your network, the last thing you want to do is host media on your server. If media is coming out at 1mb per sec, just fifty simultaneous users and your network is at half speed - a real problem if you're serving up applications. In fact, just 10 could make for a sticky wicket. And the cost of avoiding these problems is so little, that it's silly not to keep them separate.

p.s.- I like maccast. And GoDaddy did not act professionally by not warning him; they should of sent him a note saying "hey, this is happening, we need to do this." But, the lesson should be learned for podcast/netcasters that this costs money, and the barriers to entry even at $50 or $100 a month are ridiculously low compared to the past.

I remember the days not so long ago where you couldn't get going for less than a few hundred thousand dollars.

Apples' Bonehead Move? Maybe?

This might be a boner move by Apple if it's true.

Apparently, they're trying to forbid the use of the word podcast by non-Apple entities.

That's right. The term they helped create and the industry around it, they're suing them. The question is, is it about "Pod" or "iPod" in the company name, or referring to the work companies such as ours create as a "Podcast?"

If it's the latter, it could be among the stupidest things in my opinion they could do. Cause frankly, podcast isn't a great term for it anyway and most people we run into are confused by it.

Leo Laporte is pushing a change, from Podcast to Netcast, and some are suggesting breaking it down to Audcast and Vidcast to be even more specific. Not bad in my opinion, as so many people I know don't realize that you don't need an iPod for a podcast.

I'm theorizing it's one of a few things; either a) they want to reclaim the word "podcast" and re-license it for a fee; b) they're that stupid or c) they're doing a bad job of defining what they're going after, because everyone is reporting from this article on the Wired Blog that Apple is stopping the word podcast, which I sense it could be an issue that "podcast" is in the company name.

Let's see how it turns out. Here are some other links for some more info.

iConnectdots
ZDNet Article on Trademark Office Documents

Podcast Poll

Why Do You Listen To Podcasts or Why Don't You Listen To Podcasts?

Select up to 5 of the following: They talk about what I am most interested in They are entertaining They help me with my work I learn a lot from them They're too hard to use I don't have an iPod or mobile device so I don't think I can listen to them It's too geeky, give me my AM/FM radio What the heck is a podcast? I want to listen but I feel that I don't have the time

Create Free Polls

Apple Keynote Bloopers Video

You all have seen me take a couple good-nature ribs at Microsoft - well, got linked to this video on Youtube.... The Keynotes Steve Jobs would rather forget...



Enjoy!

Haha! Got my wish

So, apparently Cali Lewis is going to guest-host Call For Help. If you remember in an earlier post, I thought she'd be the right fit.

Good luck to her and I think she'll do well with Leo.

Linked here

Freep.com needs to start respecting web users

Here's the deal.

I've been slowly getting more and more annoyed by Freep.com. And it's not about editorial content.

The owners apparently have let the sales force run amok, allowing such glaring web violations as:

• Ads that play sound automatically without user interaction
• Giant fold-down ads so if I make the mistake of moving my mouse I get my entire experience ruined by a giant ad I must wait to close
  
• Unnanounced surveys with no clear option to not participate

Stop screaming ads at me already!

I don't mind ads. I even like some ads... but don't force interaction on users. It's bad usability, it's bad practice and bad taste.

Great Article on iMedia

Awesome article on iMedia this morning about 5 stupid mistakes to avoid when using video.

Preach on, preach on. The only thing I would add is make sure if the video is for public consumption and there are not overriding copyright concerns that you provide it in all the formats people would use to integrate it into their day (iPod, WMV, etc).

Zune = Private Parts?

Wow.

Apparently, according to The Laporte Report, "Zune" in Quebec is the term that parents use to describe to their children about the "private parts."

You'd think this company would of hired someone to cover their tail on international translation after the famous GM/Chevy Nova error that No Va means "it won't go" in spanish.

iTV is Steve Jobs' Fiendish Plan

I love fiendish sometimes.

You know, iTV is more than a box to view iTunes. It's the completion of the picture (yes, to buy into Apple PR). However, it's more.

Exhibit one: Take all resolutions up to 640x480. This also means podcasts, when this is released, are going to bump up to this. That's the square-pixel equivalent of 720x480 regular broadcast TV.

Exhibit two: Podcasts are promoted to the main menu and integrate them fully into the main menu.

I'm just sayin - Steve Jobs rarely does something without a longer strategy in mind. After all, NeXt, I believe from the beginning, was built to become OS X and provide a triumphant return.

So - what would this mean? Much less power to major networks once Portage Media Solutions can produce material that will not only be on the computer screen, but eventually, the TV screen.

Taking content to that next level is the key to complete democratization of content - and yes, there are media center PCs, but it doesn't support podcasts and they're expensive. $299 is nothing for box and all (apparent price) and will ensure adoption.

Swedish Chef Google?

Just funny. Linked to the dvorak.org blog as he's got the list together. I think my Google homepage is now going to become Swedish Chef.

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=7012

Ranting Saturdays

Rant One:
If it turns out that it's true that HP has been using a firm that gets information in a shady way and that firm got the social security numbers and private phone records of reporters, I am completely disgusted.

No one, I mean NO ONE should get those records except by legal subpeona. They apparently used "pretexting" to fake being the account holder. Here's the deal. If this company did this, it should be jail time, I mean serious, multi-year jail time for every reporter they did that to on fraud charges (IHT reports it could be a 20-year jail term, sounds reasonable in my opinion).

A message MUST be sent that this is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. There is a difference between private investigators and a legal authority. It must be shown in a with a big, thick line. After all, apparently, as many as 2,500 AT&T customers may have been compromised in this manner according to the IHT article linked above.

Even more worrysome, I now read on Slashdot that they got the records of this reporters' father.

Here's the kicker - in my experience, when something like this is discovered, rarely is it the first time it happened. HP just got caught this time. Even more reason to make these people pay and pay dearly so it's less apt to happen in the future.

I also personally hate how the HP spin has been that they need to focus on the leak - everything I've seen, in my opinion, insinuates that they wouldn't have had to do this if the board member came forward. Note to HP - the public doesn't care about your leak anymore.

Rant Two:
I've said it before, I'll say it again. Get some places with WIFI in Downtown Detroit already.

### rants complete ###

Dylans' back - and it no small part due to iTunes

Is iTunes the new hitmaker? I think they have at least a part to do with this unique success story.

Of course, Bob Dylan comes to the table with a great history - but a checkered one of not so-great albums between his groundbreaking work and now.

But - team up the new work of Dylan (Modern Times) and amazingly hip iTunes commercials, it's a knock-out co-brand and put a 65 year old at #1 in the pop charts in the US and high in other countries.

The commercials skillfully built off of the brand of Dylan - and then mixed in classic iPod imagery. They also seemed to be absolutely everywhere and I talked to a lot of people who didn't even know Dylan was coming out with a new album, but when they saw the commercial went "awesome!"

By the way- the album is amazing.

Chris Anderson Interview at IT Conversations

The folks at IT Conversations do some interesting, IT-focused interviews. If you remember, I mentioned "The Long Tail," by Wired Magazine Editor-In-Chief Chris Anderson that I recently chewed through, and I was going to write up a little bit about it.

Instead of writing the summary, how about you listen to the author talk about it himself?

Check it out here.

TWIT Gets Ads, Press Releases

A great thing has happened in the world of indie-minded podcasting... The TWIT (This Week In Tech) Network has accepted a deal with Visa.

Why is this great? Because it is a harbinger of the movement of podcasting from semi-pro to pro in the independent space. Sure, there are some making some money off of it, but it takes alot of effort to produce independent content, and they should be compensated. That, and Leo Laporte does a great job of respecting listeners with the types of advertisements they do on the network.

Shameless plug for our podcasting work right here

Coding, Designing, Reading, Writing

Well, Portagemedia.com v. 7(?).0 is almost upon us, after a few late nights. There are some key improvements -

1) We have lots of white papers and publications we've done. They're going to be up there for everyone to download, free of charge.

2) More links to outside work we've done, and other projects we're working on.

3) We think it's clearer about the value we provide.

4) Instead of minimalist, now, it's Apple-meets-corporate.

On to other news, received Jeffrey Gitomers Little Black Book of Connections yesterday. It's all about making connections. Of course, the mans' work is highly respected behind this keyboard. He changed my life in regards to sales and networking, and one of these days, I'll pay the $500-$1000 it is to have lunch with him.

In the complete geekdom fluff department, Amber MacArthur is leaving Call For Help to go work for CityTV in Toronto. They're auditioning, apparently, for new co-hosts, and I personally think that Jenn Cutter and my new favourite (see, I'm talking Canadian, I end up using the funny spelling) Cali Lewis from GeekBriefTV should take her place. But I know nothing whatsoever, I'm not on that crew, I don't even know if they're auditioning for it or who is auditioning. But they both do good stuff, and darnnit, I even pay per episode for Call For Help, so I feel that I have a little standing (okay, I know I don't have any).

Long Tails and Google Video

First off, finished that book "The Long Tail." I had been following the long tail project, so I have to admit I was a little biased. However, having read the book now, I just feel like they "got it."

It's a completely different way to look at business to some - but hasn't there always been the axiom of "find your niche?"

I fully recommend it and will be talking about bits of it into the future.

On to the next topic - Google Video.

I tried it for some Call For Help material (it's entertaining stuff - anyone who knows me knows I am a Leo Laporte fan. I also cannot get Canadian cable here in Detroit, so, I can't watch or record the show).

As to Google Video, I am unequivocally mixed about the whole thing.

I think the implementation is nice and simple (I'm an Apple person, so there should be no surprise I like simple). I also like the fact I can buy my video and it starts playing right away. And then, I also really like the fact that anyone can put their content up for download and charge for it. It's very democratizing, and also appreciate that it works on Mac too (of course, with the CEO of Google being on Apples' board, that shouldn't suprise you).

Now for the bad. I want to use my media wherever I want. In order to view the content, you need to have a google player - it downloads the web site. Also, I want it in my iTunes, I want it possibly as a standalone, I want it on a video iPod (this Google Video always won't work on your Windows Media portable devices either - always remember, the key to success is that you have it available so it will play on everything).

Great kudos to Rogers for allowing it to be bought online, however, Google could just let me download H264 or iPod video files. But then, they couldn't have DRM because Apple won't let other content providers use their Fairplay system (notice how this all gets really confusing, really fast?)

So again, there is no intention or desire to steal it (I probably could of found this episode online illegally if I really wanted to, but aside from breaking the law, I do not want to go hunting, opening up my computer to problems et all from P2P sharing), I WANT to buy it, yet, again, content providers don't give me what I want.

Oh well. I bought the video, because it's the only place I could get it legally. Now, I have to have two different systems to enjoy media content I want. That, I don't like.

(p.s.- this is one of the reasons why we here at Portage encode all our content for clients in multiple formats - that way, the content works for you no matter what your operating system, what your preference is to enjoy content, etc).