ArbCamp Wrap

Spent Saturday at ArbCamp - it was fun, interesting, and informative.

Although I had to cut out before the Jaffe Keynote, the sessions I went to were diverse and informative, and were user-generated. In short, in the beginning everyone got together in a circle and decided the agenda by posting topics on the wall.

This allowed a lot of diverse topics to be covered. In the morning, I "led" a session on podcasting. Although we had some really useful conversation, near the end it devolved into a discussion the technical aspects of podcasting. It's frustrating as every event I seem to go to becomes a technical discussion - which editing programs, which mics, the basics.

To move the media format forward, I think it's critical we get together a higher-level group who wants to talk content and best practices. It is my opinion that there are a million and one resources out there for podcasting, including Podcasting For Dummies.


Although Detroit/Ann Arbor is not San Francisco, there is no reason we can't establish a strong community here. The resources are here, and there is a wealth of trained TV and radio talent here that need work. Yes, it's a democratic medium, but it (just like broadcast TV and radio) requires talent and skill to do well.

Some look at the low cost of theoretical entry and think it's for everyone - but anyone who's actually worked production is that it takes time, creativity and planning. I'll be putting together a conference/meetup on this soon. I've learned that if others don't want to create anything east of the Mississippi on this, sometimes, it's best to grab the horns and do it yourself. If you're interested in this idea, comment me - I'll get in touch with you.

Now, since these camps have multiple sessions running concurrently, I'll have to relate the pieces I know...

Checked in on the folks from oort-cloud.org about Social Publishing.

These guys are really bright - and knowledgeable. I think that with the services out there, self-publishing is a reality. Even hearing about groups that will be community editors of your writing... I think it's all great, and now it's time to talk what is the business model of some of these things - how do the dollars get flowing for this stuff.

All I can think of, post-session, is Jonathan Coulton - sure, he's a musician - but he's making a living all on his own, giving away parts, charging for others, touring... it's great to see. Again, the model isn't totally developed - but it's gaining some traction.

Startup funding is a very popular topic, and it was a good discussion about resources - and that people need to leverage contact networks, barter, etc. to make it. I mentioned one of my favorite books, Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time which has some very sage advice. One of the themes I particularly like is have goals - including the people you want to meet.

Blogging and PR is another hot topic in the space, and had some great conversations, with Mr. Jaffe joining us for the mini-session. It's really interesting hearing what different companies are doing with blogs - mostly outreach, but not much discussion of company people doing it themselves.

So in short - thanks to everyone and the organizers, it was fun. To those who I got business cards from, I'll do my best to follow up this week. I look forward to next time. We need more like this around here.

I had high hopes for Vista, but there are still serious issues

I had really high hopes for Microsft Vista. But they've been dashed.

Yes, as a devoted mac user, lots of the features Vista looks to have are beautiful and useful. However, when it comes to day-in-day-out use, it's been less reliable than XP with the people I've been dealing with. It's very discouraging, as I even said, "Hey, if it's solid, I'll consider it - there are Windows benefits."

Today I talked to someone who is now the fourth complete reinstall I've had to recommend as course of action - their Microsoft Office 2007 decided that it didn't want to work anymore, save documents, and then crash randomly. Heard another report last week of a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death - a complete failure) - on a new machine!

Microsoft coming up with such a turkey - after the years of development - and all kinds of bugs with office that I'm seeing - critical, show-stopping ones - is without excuse. There are wonderful things like when opening office documents out of Outlook, it can cause damage to Office and lead it to have issues.

Let's not even get started on the fact that Office 2007 documents don't open up on anything but Office 2007 and the newest version of Keynote. I am all for open standards, but it's pretty useless if you have to save in another format so anyone else who works with you can open it.

Unfortunately, I have to say to people don't get XP on a new machine - why? Because Microsoft is going to leave it in the dust. If you have to do Windows, I believe, you have to do Vista with new boxes. With old ones, keep XP and don't upgrade.

Apparently, service pack one for Vista, according to Paul Thurott, isn't anything to write home about save for a roll-up of the software updates already sent - and that's a shame. There are still serious stability issues in the field (especially compared to my mac, which had it's first non-user-error issue in six years).

Of course, the Microsoft way is to create products you need to pay people to support - and so those people then recommend those products to get further business. Smart business, not great for consumers.

Great, Helpful Experiences

Do you ever have an experience with a person, and glad they were there at a crucial moment to help you?

I had such a moment today. One of my trusted macs was giving me all kinds of trouble (yes, I know, I know, it doesn't happen often) where some applications, out of nowhere, stopped launching.

I tried all the tricks in the bag - but Chris Burnham at Basics4Mac got me on the right path and was excellent in troubleshooting. We did some deep-level mac hackery fun, and suffice it to say, it saved me from buying a new computer and got us back to 100% productivity. Even if he isn't local to you, he can connect to your mac and work with you to do what you need to do over the phone. He was smart, courteous, and tolerated my geekery. Rarely do I just do this, but if you have mac problems, call Chris. He's Apple Certified and smart.

A Chill For Online Media: Corporations Ban Employees From Blogs, Podcasts and Forums

I got an interesting email from a friend, which has echoed a situation that many are starting to share - and we need to be aware of it as a media creation community.

More and more companies are dealing with forums, blogs, social media and podcasts by banning people's participation completely - their reasoning being that employees may say something damaging or secret.

In fact, they're banning participation or even attendance at recorded events because of that fear. I also wonder if those same people are banned from calling in to radio shows.

I'm not a lawyer, but this, in my opinion, is a clear violation of first amendment rights.

These people who work for these companies not allowed to speak or attend, period, without it being approved by the company, on anything? What if it's an event on greek mythology - and you're a real estate broker? What about church?

Many, many churches record and podcast their broadcasts. Guess you can't go to service. What if you want to speak at your local school board meeting? Forget about it, it's being recorded for TV.

Again, there is no trust by employers - and so why should employers expect any trust or loyalty back? I think this economy shows we're all free agents - and companies that block free speech are going to suffer long-term. The best and brightest won't accept this - or will temporarily until their next job a year from now.

My Feng Shui is Fenged Up...

Have you ever looked at something and realized, "I'm doing it all wrong?"

Well, I felt I had to share the revelations that I had reading a little book I intend as giving as a gift - but wanted to peruse through first.

Apparently, as my desk looks out to a corridor (and a closet), there are many shelves sending all sorta of Sha (killing) energy - and to add to my Feng offenses a wall is in front of me instead of behind me (at first I read it and went, "how am I to have only one wall?"), my office has Feng Shui issues in it's current layout. At least I have my Executive Desk Gong.

Why post this admission here? Because I think it's really important to realize that when you're doing something wrong - or even not quite right - it's important to correct it.

In the online world, with the ways things change so quickly, you may well have the ability to change tact even if you're currently going about it in, let's just say, the "not optimal" (we want to keep your ego happy) way and not for lots of resources relative to shifts in other media.

Not saying you should abandon strategies willy-nilly; nor it as easy as the next couple weeks where I try to re-arrange myself to be more aligned in the office. However, if you know it's been awhile and it's not working, it may be time to make a change.

In short - one of the things I've learned through all the trials and tribulations (as well as successes) of my venture is - Don't let pride get in the way of your wealth and success.

Why Traditional Business Doesn't Get Online Initiatives

I'm familiar with befuddled stares.

This is what happens when I try to explain online to traditional business folks. And I had to think about why.

Almost every business class, business seminar, business anything is built upon the concept of scarcity and control.

This is why companies like Verizon are suing to stop the sale of 700mhz band that Google's interested in buying (and others). If there is an open band that cell phones can access, all the barrier to entry of building a multi-billion dollar cellular network to play is gone, opening up competition and lowering prices. I don't blame them - that's all they know.

The web rarely about scarcity - there are a million places to get information. So many people come to me and tell me they have some killer idea that's never been done or thought of before - and I can guarantee you, it probably has. The question is: Has it been done well? Is it a good user experience? These are higher-level marketing items that quite frankly, many CEOs have never delved into. There are plenty of CMOs who don't even really use the Internet. I've met them. I've cringed. Multi-billion dollar companies regularly completely kill any chance of online success because they strangle success in the cradle of a fifty-person committee meeting, coming out of it with a weak, watered-down, and ultimately useless attempt at manufacturing cool (free hint to those folks: if you can't build cool, sponsor cool).

The secret online is in how you pull that information together, how it's packaged, and in some cases, what entertainment value you can provide to get an audience to follow you and spend money with you or your sponsors. I think of the"Will It Blend?" by Blendtec. GENIUS. We're talking about a $399 blender (base model), and I know plenty of people it's convinced to buy it. There are a million and one blenders out there, especially cheaper than it, but talk about showing instant value as well as being entertaining and viral. If it can blend an iPhone, I'm sure it can handle my daiquiri just fine.

On the other hand, we have Walmart with their fake-blogging and Facebook fiasco - continually trying to manufacture cool with a brand that, frankly, simply is not.

It's why some people are hesitant about new media and the web - "you mean I need to give it away something for free to get something? And it has to be good?"

There is some truth to what Seth Godin says about the web - either be the best or don't bother doing it. Why? Because there are a million other people trying to do what you do. In some ways, it's hyper-competitive - and in other ways, it's not - because unlike other mediums, there is a tendency that if your content is REALLY good, it will rise to the top.

I also look at the rise of Facebook - I won't say fall of MySpace - but Facebook undoubtedly is gaining steam very quickly. Why? It's for a myriad of reasons, including clean interface, coolness, etc. but also key to the story is that instead of closing development of applications, add-ons and widgets to enhance the user experience, like some sites do - Facebook has an open API. So does Digg.com. They give it away, whereas in the old model you'd have to pay to play.

This creates ownership - and why I think Facebook is less susceptible to people "moving on" to the next social service, as you have users - key mavens, in fact - who have personally invested in it through the creation of unique tools.

It's becoming very clear that there will be two classes of companies: Companies that get it, and then companies that don't who will suffer for it as the people who live in this new online world, and use as an integral part of their lives, gain more and more spending power.

p.s.- I realize that in this post I've use the word "multi-billion" more than one normally would. I apologize for this. However, I figured it illustrated the point better than "gigantic," "gargantuan," or "fat-walleted."

Apple keeps changing the media landscape...

Admittedly, as a content creator for the iPod and iPhone I have skins in the game, but this is possibly Apple, yet again, setting the pace.

First the iPhone came out - and at $599 and $499, a bit pricey. For mac-loving early adopters.

Now, you can buy NEW 8gb iPhones for $399, and 4GBs (I'm sure for a limited time) at $299. Talk about so competitive you now start truly eating into blackberry (I'll be posting the conversion/love story of a sales exec to the iPhone later).

Now, add to that a video player with an OK screen size at $149... and now, you have a mass market device. Next step is $99... but $149? There is now no real financial barrier for everyone to have fully functioning video in their pocket.

The opportunities this opens for organizations, corporations, media - it's the maturation of a new on-demand platform that truly gets close to the democratization content.

Sure, it'll still cost you money or resources (time, sweat, tears) to create GOOD stuff - but this opens it up to companies to have a device that is now going to be delivering audio and video and be as ubiquitos as the television.

Transmit - much better FTP for the mac

So many folks talk about "Killer Apps," or applications that absolutely are great and key to productivity.

I never, ever thought that this would apply to an FTP program - but I have to say, it does.

Transmit (Panic Software, $29.95, http://www.panic.com/transmit) is a nifty, beautifully simple FTP program for the mac.

But don't let simple fool you - it's also quite powerful. It makes merging files and directories simple, as well as has beautiful drag-and-drop integration with the desktop and finder - and not just when Transmit is open.

You can create "droplets" that you can drag files over and it will automatically upload to the server of choice. Hilariously, the icon is a truck - I'm sure when the graphic designer came up with the logo, they had no idea that in the future they'd have a U.S. Senator tell them us the 'net is not a truck, but a series of tubes.

Another great feature is the ability to open and edit files off of your FTP server by applications and then being able to save back to your server. It makes working off a server a snap, which is critical when dealing with certain shared-asset projects.

I'm sure there are other options out there, I've tried them - but Transmit has my vote.

Why I don't like web scripts that automatically update the copyright year

It's not that I have something against automated updating - I LOVE it. RSS and other technologies have made it so that metapages - pages sourcing others content - are not that difficult to do.

This is more of a philosophical issue.

What does philosophy and the internet have to do with eachother? It turns out, a lot. The philosophy of serving your users - the philosophy of giving to get something back - the philosophy of great user interface. However, this is the philosophy of lazyness.

I was at an event the other week, and heard someone talk about how they can make your site automatically update with the copyright year. First off, this is simple - second off, I don't like the theory.

Why? The number one thing I see companies and clients do is say they need a website, but completely gloss over the fact you need content. Compelling, good, fun content.

Many companies look at automatic things like that as "the sign that their website is up to date." Grand, you have the right year at the bottom. A gold star. Now, how about presenting value to your visitors?

Another great conversation I had was with someone who thinks that an internet presence is useless. And, well, frankly, his is. It's five pages with the standard listing of service driblle - no call to action, no unique offers, no reasons to choose them over someone else. So of course, it's useless. He's not using it. Yes, everyone should be online - but also, you need to be the purple cow.

There is a bevy of great writers, content creators out there - and the extra few hundred or thousand bucks you're going to spend is going to make thousands, if not hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in difference in what your web strategy is going to do for you.

Weekend Fluff - iPhone +iWork?

Here is complete speculation and conjecture, but hear me out.

I think the killer app for the iPhone will be - iWork.

Let me explain why.

1) They new iWork is really easy and fun to use. And, Apple wrote it. Smooth, non-third-party development path.

2) It will encourage Windows people who buy the iPhone to get a mac for it all to sync together and have a seamless experience.

3) It takes iPhone from phone with a lot of great features into a true productivity tool. The experiences on most other mobile devices as far as productivity apps tends to suck, so something that is just easy to work with and can handle some very basic formatting would be great.

iTunes Plus - What an Improvement

Since there are only song by EMI in iTunes Plus, I haven't happened to hit a song that is iTunes Plus in the last few weeks when I've been shopping around.

Well, spending a gift certificate from a friend for my Birthday, I got "Harder Better Faster Stronger" by Daft Punk - and what a difference. The bass is fuller, the high end is much more detailed... I wish all iTunes songs were of this level. Not that iTunes is bad, but this is really nice.

Of course, if you're not prepared to want to rebuy your EMI songs with iTunes Plus (you can for only the difference - 30 cents per song) you may not want to start to buy this option - to me at least, everything else now sounds just a little hollow unless I pulled it from a CD I bought.

I hope that eventually, all the rest of he labels do what EMI did and go DRM-free (no copy protection - you own the song, completely) and double the quality. It is a very audible difference, although the files are a bit larger in size.

Podcast is now available

Here is is...




Also, here is the RSS feed for you to subscribe. As soon as iTunes makes the podcast link available to auto-subscribe, I'll have it here and on the right side of the site.

http://www.portagemedia.com/blog/businessviews.xml

Return of the Great Home page

Ok.

I've been one of those people who boo-hoos custom landing pages. Usually, I think they're lame, they don't work right, etc. etc.

Well, I have now found one I really like.

http://www.pageflakes.com


Not only can you have a customized home page (or pages) with great content you like, but you can create feeds off of anything that has RSS, rearrange things, and have notes.

As a fan of simple, I love the fact I can put exactly what I want on the page - Detroit events, notes, weather, Digg, stocks - and podcasts if I so choose.

Thanks to Net@Nite - Amber Macarthur for pointing our pageflakes.

Web 2.0 Overhyped in ad world

I was listening to BOL - Buzz Out Loud - and their hosts, Tom and Molly, have a great point.

Every ad exec is obsessed with UGC, being in the social network space - regardless if it works or is a smart strategy for the brand. It's a craze.

And what does that sniff like? Bubble 2.0. It won't be as bad as the dot com bubble - there isn't as much money tied into it - but any company that is just getting into the space, to get into it, and don't think about if it fits in their model is going to get burned.

Check out this article by John C. Dvorak - a little pessimistic for me, and I don't agree with him about the mobile space, but he has really good points. And of course, CD never died, and Web 2.0 isn't going to die - but throwing money out the window at "Yet another Web 2.0 site" which I seem to see everywhere is going to cost people money.

The ones who are successful will be the ones who, instead of creating social networking to create it, do it as it makes sense with their brand or leverage existing networks where people already are. Podcasting that is useful and purposeful and quality - we don't need another facebook, and lord knows a corporate facebook isn't going to work. We need great ideas, and large companies can do that and be part of it - but throwing aroung "UGC" and a sea of other acronyms like so many execs (who, by the way, don't use the internet or have very little clue of what actually is going on) is a dangerous trend for the long-term.

Check out this hilarious video about getting venture capital in the web space...

http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-raise-money-from-VCs-4661

Plans are the Right Price for iPhone

**Warning - a mini-rant is enclosed in this post**

I just go the word on the iPhone plans - and they're the right cost.

For $99.99, you get 1350 minutes, 200 texts, and unlimited data. Perfect.

Goodbye Verizon, great service, but, alas, no iPhone.

This is the wonder of a mostly-unsubsidized phone. At $499, Apple is making money on the device and puts it in a reachable price point - reducing the monthly price.

There are a few questions for the iPhone - but considering our companies' work flow is 100% mac centric, not using Windows beyond testing, other client's servers and error checking, we've been waiting for this device since our "switch" four years ago.

**Begin Mini-Rant**

I had talked to Verizon about offers in competition - but they started to slam Apple engineering. Completely wrong answer to an Apple person who knows their engineering skills - even more hilarious when you know the small fact I flat out stated the reason I want an iPhone is the seamless integration with my mac and can Verizon match it.

That, and cellphone sales reps crawl my skin. I've never been told the truth by them, and always do all the research myself.

**End Mini-Rant**

I'll be buying from the Apple store directly - they've always treated me very, very well, even if I'm buying a $20 item.

This device, I believe, will be a game changer. I'm sure there will be bugs the first month or two, but, it is revolutionary in true Apple style.

So iPhone, I'll see you in September. Work out your issues, and we'll start our relationship then.

If you need more iPhone madness, go to http://www.applephoneshow.com

Glass House Opens To Public

This article on the Apple web site opens perfectly...

"In the professional design community, people have been waiting their entire careers for access to this site."

It's true. Philip Johnson's Glass House is probably one of the best examples of Modernist architecture and it reminds me much of my old neighborhood designed for the most part by Mies Van Der Rohe, which is another true gem of the modernist movement.

But beyond the beautiful vistas and clean lines, there is another part of the article that got me thinking...

No Clutter
Most importantly, the Visitor Center itself had to reflect Johnson’s aesthetic. “We knew we didn’t want it to be your typical historic house, cluttered with signage and displays,” says Dunn. “We saw it doing something different — even reshaping the way historic house museums are viewed.”

So if you clear your clutter - mental and/or physical - don't you think you can reshape how you are viewed?

Productivity Means Avoiding Email

For anyone dealing in, with or near technology, email is a saviour and a pariah.

Email, although useful, can suck up your time in multiple-hour chunks - and considering I get hundreds of emails a day I need to take action on, it can render someone almost unproductive.

This blog post has a bunch of interesting (some tongue-in-cheek) tips for productivity. Some are applicable in your situation, some are not. However, if you feel like you or your employees are working but aren't producing, check this out:

Only doing email twice a day will make you far more productive for the rest of the day. The problem with email is that getting an email triggers that same endorphin hit I mentioned above -- the one that a mouse gets when he bonks on the button in the cage and gets a food pellet.

Responding to an email triggers that same hit. The pleasure chemical hits your neocortex and you go "ahhh" inside and feel like you've done something.

So you sit and work with your mail client open and you interrupt your work every time an email comes in and you answer it and you send another email and you feel great in the moment. But what you're really doing is fracturing your time, interrupting your flow, and killing your ability to focus on anything long enough to get real high-quality work done.

This one is far easier to say than do. And it won't be feasible during projects where lots of updates during the day really are important -- raising money, for example, or closing a big deal.

There is a ton of value to just walking over to the next cube and directly communicating.

We all, at times, hide from each other behind carpeted low cubicle walls at times, instead of using technology as a tool we use it as a shield.

Major hat tip to one of my favorite blogs, 43folders, where they look at a couple of the other items in this article. Merlin Mann, thank you.

Using Wifi without permission can mean ten years in the slammer

ARS TECHNICA and Buzz Out Loud is reporting about the story of a man, Sam Peterson, who was surfing the net on an open wifi network outside a cafe - without buying anything.

According to the good folks at BOL, under Michigan law it is 10 years and a large fine. Now, I do think this Peterson guy should go in and buy coffee out of sheer respect - and I do agree with the prosecution who gave a more sensible sentence for this crime, a $400 fine and 40 hours of community service. But it should be a reminder to not use an open wifi point without permission.

Nicely, here in Oakland County, we now have free wifi in select areas - and soon across the county.

Personal Note: I know this law was written for a different purpose - compromising computer networks and stealing things - and possibly, this law should be re-written to reflect the reality of todays' world. Check out this case where the law community is quite a bit behind the technology.

Omnivore, Connector, Productivity Enhancer, or Lackluster Veteran?

A friend sent me this very interesting article about how people use technology, breaking them into four groups: Ominivore, Connector, Productivity Enhancer, and Lackluster Veteran.

Also included were some interesting statistics in regards to the percentages of all Americans who have a specific technology:

Assets: Information Appliances
Percentage Of All Americans Who Have Specific Technology

Cell phone: 73%
Desktop computer: 68%
Digital camera: 55%
Video camera: 43%
Laptop computer: 30%
iPod or other MP3 player: 20%
Webcam: 13%
Blackberry, Palm, or other personal digital assistant: 11%

Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project April 2006 Survey. N=4,001. Margin of error is ±2%.

Feel free to add to the comments which type you are!

What is up with the lack of firewalls?

Four XP computers. Four days. Zero firewalls, even with SP2.

I don't understand it. It's supposed to be on by default, yet it seems nobody uses it or they turn it off and wonder why things start to go wonky.

I use a mac and although behind a NAT router, I keep my firewall up. Security 101. But, people want their computers to just work and not have to be security experts. So, if that's the case, get a mac.

Cable Networks Block Ad Auctions

IHT is covering this interesting story -

Apparently, the cable networks are blocking eBay from selling ad time on their properties by refusing to participate.

EBay was hired to build the exchange last year by a group of large marketers, including Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot and Intel. The group, which had pledged $50 million to test the project, has said that it thought placing ads in many types of media could be done more efficiently using an Internet auction rather than human negotiation.

I understand why. This could eliminate almost all salespeople in this industry and cut off a huge revenue stream for agencies (which is what the marketers who funded this, I'm sure had in mind). After all, if you can create the material, send the material, and buy the space, a CEO could be left asking, "what is the value of the agency and or salespeople? I could just contract the parts myself and save the overhead, or put it all on my interactive provider."

However, being as involved in online media as we are, we see automated bid systems as part of every new initiative or media network (an example would be Federated Media), allowing you to spend $100,000 or $10,000 or $100, leveling the playing field.

And yes, it would seem to lower prices - but it does so mostly by taking the commission cut away from the (in this new model) now non-existant salesperson and instead of having two go-betweens (the buyer's agency and the selling agency) it's a direct representative - so the buying company itself buys (as opposed to having an agency buy for them) directly from the selling representative.

Ad executives not involved with the eBay project expressed similar concerns.

"By going to this online bidding system that eBay was sharing with us, we'd be taking a step backwards," said John Muszynski, chief executive of Starcom USA, an agency in the Publicis Groupe that buys ads.

"Years ago, you basically bought for the tonnage, you bought slots and you bought for the price," he said. "We have now integrated the buying process into the marketing process. We're doing product integrations. We're doing significant added-value. We're doing promotions."

I don't know how exactly I feel about it all, as we're content creators and could benefit either way, but it's pretty obvious to me this is the way media is starting to go...

Marsedit is amazing

Best blogging interface, possibly ever. Makes it SOOOO much easier.

Bless you, Red Sweater Software, each and every one of you. :-)

Podcasts and Personal Branding

I have been hearing more and more people talk about using podcasts as a tool for personal branding - I couldn't agree more.

You, like radio in some ways, can get right into your audiences' head and they can develop and affinity and connection for you. However - here is the big key - it's NOT a commercial.

Remember, give to get.

RIAA Raises Rates on Internet Broadcasters - If Implemented, Will Change The Face of Internet Media

So I heard a very interesting item from Leo Laporte's TWiT Network and Buzz Out Loud - that the RIAA is going to increase the rate per listener for streaming radio by as much as three fold.

This could have some very interesting implications. But I think it's going to play out in one of a few ways - or even, a combination thereof.

1) Internet Radio Will Die. I don't necessarily buy this concept. People are resourceful.

2) It will evolve, and it will either evolve to:
a) Charge more for their advertising and add value to the proposition so advertisers pay more (actually, very possible - in general, I find people do not charge enough for the value of their content)
b) Carry indie artists or artists on a new breed of labels who are open to digital media (such as my beloved Barenaked Ladies).

Arbitron shows a strong adoption of internet radio - and I understand why. It has less commercials, it can have higher quality, and you can get whatever station you want, when you want (see a theme here on the internet?) and it doesn't have the same barrier to entry that podcasting has - although, we've mitigated it, it's still a bit confusing for some because of it's nomenclature.

The RIAA could very well be shooting themselves in the foot - internet media skews young, and that's where they get the kids to get into the music. However, the RIAA for the past few years has been in a freak-out dance, trying to save a dying business model and they're trying to apply all the old rules to a new game - because that's all that they understand. It's like taking the rules of the game "Monopoly" and applying them to "Hungry Hungry Hippos." It just doesn't work.

Footnote: There is a whole new business evolving in podsafe music - because the labels charge obscene amounts of money per download to use their music. It's in the early stages, but in time, it will continue to evolve and grow.

Comerica leaves downtown

Another hit for downtown Detroit - Comerica moving it's corporate HQ.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070306/BUSINESS06/70306018

I am completely convinced that this is only harbinger of more leaving. It's 200 now for political reasons, but I fully believe following the logic in this article it's presence will be shrinking downtown.

Between this, various ad agencies (JWT and Brogen) leaving or left Detroit, it's not a good sign.

However, Comerica leaving is NOT a Detroit-is-bad issue, it's a Michigan-is-not-growing issue. We need to realize that we must band together, embracing small business and entrepreneurship (which this area needs to do more of) and not let these items get us down.

In many ways, the whole region feels "depressed." And understandably so - but this could be the greatest opportunity we have to reinvent ourselves.

Google Enters the Office Fight

I've been watching this for awhile, and now it's officially released:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/22/business/google.php

I have some mixed thoughts on this - I have played with those programs and I like them - however, they need to become more powerful to be honest competitors, although free or $50 a user for a year (with support and extra storage) is a great price.

I worry of the times you can't connect to the internet - of which there are still many in road environments, etc - and just need to type something. A hybrid would probably be best - but it's good to see something actually happening in the Office space so that there is some competition - as competition is a good thing and drives innovation and can only be good for all of us, the consumer.