HBO announced yesterday that their streaming service, HBOGo, would be available as an a la carte service for anyone who wants to pony up the subscription fee (estimated to be around $20/month) could do so without having any cable television subscription. That is the first step in cable television channels giving viewers the power to choose the most important channels and paying for only what they want to watch.
The bad part is that most of the people who would want to subscribe to a standalone HBOGo service would still need to be strapped to a cable television company to receive streaming content because cable internet is the norm for a large percentage of internet customers.
In the end the cable companies still get your money and you are still dependent on them because people have few, if any, options. The only other viable option is to sever all ties to cable companies. I did this just over a year ago and went with DSL (just a fast and actually cheaper) but opted to subscribe to DISH TV service because my cable company (Mediacom) moved to metered internet service and my Netflix habits would have burned through that data cap in no time at all.
And it's those very data caps / metered internet access that cable companies will impose on their customers to keep them from cutting the cord to television service completely. This borderline monopoly is the kind of practice that keeps the cable companies insanely profitable and keeps customers tied to their television service.
The only hope is municipal fiber internet service or for a company like Google to become ultra aggressive in their deployment of fiber internet service. True competition is the only thing which will force cable television companies to be competitive -- both in price and speed -- with their internet service.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Friday, June 06, 2014
My life before Netflix
There was an earlier time in my life when I lived with a couple friends. One had an account to something called "Netflix". I had heard of it in passing but never really understood the value of it. It was a cute little business model -- set up an account, click some movie titles on their website and you would begin receiving DVDs of movies and a few television shows which Netflix offered. Watch at your leisure, toss the disc in the enclosed envelope and mail the sum'bitch back. A few days later your next disc arrived, lather, rinse and repeat.
I then went over ten years without any first-hand exposure to this company. Until my sister-in-law got a Netflix account and set me up with her password. It was as easy as rolling out of a tilted bed. The Netflix app was already on my Roku box and within minutes we were entranced with the treasure trove that is the legal online streaming world. Oh, sure, in the past we had dealt with torrents of television shows from networks we legally subscribed to because our cable package didn't come with a DVR (it's something like a $10/month add-on) but that was getting to be a hassle to deal with what with the downloading, having to leave the computer on and the mildly clunky interface with whatever app I was using on my Roku.
In short, Netflix was flat out easier. The Roku interface is easy as hell to use -- even our then four year-old could navigate through Netflix and find a plethora of cartoons to watch. The price was right, too and it has never once failed to function even when pushed through the lowest speed internet tier I could find because I am cheap.
Last summer, though, truly proved the value of Netflix when, in August, a little show entitled 'Orange is the New Black' appeared exclusively on Netflix. We devoured that series, watching two or three episodes each night and, sadly, within a week or so we had finished what was a truly well-written series featuring a topic (life in prison) which hadn't really been touched since HBO's 'Oz'. The difference being that OITNB had plenty of moments of humor in it and the writing team managed to blend drama and comedy with a setting that is anything but funny. It is a series that feels like it could easily exist on the best cable channels (think along the lines of FX or A&E or AMC) whom dabble in original programming.
Instead, 'Orange is the New Black' landed on a platform which is designed for binge watching. Much like the fourth season of 'Arrested Development', you could sit down for a few hours and devour episode after episode and feel extremely sad after a couple sessions when you realize that you have to wait about an entire year for fresh episodes. Then, if you're like me, you dive into the first episodes of 'The X-Files' and start watching those early episodes that aired in one's teen years before your rural home received a FOX television station signal.
I have taken a more leisurely approach to watching the first handful of seasons of 'The X-Files' due to time constraints, summer being here and the simple fact that a shitload (120 or more) of episodes exist and I don't have 90-some hours available to block out to watch one of the greatest procedural / sci-fi case-of-the-week series to ever air on television.
But even with my lessened viewing, I continue to subscribe. I wholly plan on finishing season eight of 'Dexter' even if it completely ruins some of the brilliant earlier seasons (it should have ended after the season with John Lithgow as The Trinity Killer) but I like to finish what I start.
I'm sure there will be a day when I no longer see the value of netflix but, for the time being I still subscribe, I still watch and it manages to keep myself and my daughter entertained. It is there for me on cold winter nights and rainy summer afternoons. It isn't appointment television because that hasn't existed in a decade. It exists because it's easy and it's a quality entertainment option. Who needs movie theaters when you have Netflix and RedBox? Who really needs cable or satellite when you have the earlier options combined with Hulu and Amazon Prime? I have sampled the Hulu and Prime options but I stick with Netflix as my lone streaming option because I have yet to cut the cord but that day is coming... fast. Streaming is the future and Netflix is doing it right. Now if we can just get over the whole net neutrality issue, then Netflix has a solid future. Without net neutrality, Netflix will be unaffordable and unreliable. Fix that and streaming is clearly the future.
I then went over ten years without any first-hand exposure to this company. Until my sister-in-law got a Netflix account and set me up with her password. It was as easy as rolling out of a tilted bed. The Netflix app was already on my Roku box and within minutes we were entranced with the treasure trove that is the legal online streaming world. Oh, sure, in the past we had dealt with torrents of television shows from networks we legally subscribed to because our cable package didn't come with a DVR (it's something like a $10/month add-on) but that was getting to be a hassle to deal with what with the downloading, having to leave the computer on and the mildly clunky interface with whatever app I was using on my Roku.
In short, Netflix was flat out easier. The Roku interface is easy as hell to use -- even our then four year-old could navigate through Netflix and find a plethora of cartoons to watch. The price was right, too and it has never once failed to function even when pushed through the lowest speed internet tier I could find because I am cheap.
Last summer, though, truly proved the value of Netflix when, in August, a little show entitled 'Orange is the New Black' appeared exclusively on Netflix. We devoured that series, watching two or three episodes each night and, sadly, within a week or so we had finished what was a truly well-written series featuring a topic (life in prison) which hadn't really been touched since HBO's 'Oz'. The difference being that OITNB had plenty of moments of humor in it and the writing team managed to blend drama and comedy with a setting that is anything but funny. It is a series that feels like it could easily exist on the best cable channels (think along the lines of FX or A&E or AMC) whom dabble in original programming.
Instead, 'Orange is the New Black' landed on a platform which is designed for binge watching. Much like the fourth season of 'Arrested Development', you could sit down for a few hours and devour episode after episode and feel extremely sad after a couple sessions when you realize that you have to wait about an entire year for fresh episodes. Then, if you're like me, you dive into the first episodes of 'The X-Files' and start watching those early episodes that aired in one's teen years before your rural home received a FOX television station signal.
I have taken a more leisurely approach to watching the first handful of seasons of 'The X-Files' due to time constraints, summer being here and the simple fact that a shitload (120 or more) of episodes exist and I don't have 90-some hours available to block out to watch one of the greatest procedural / sci-fi case-of-the-week series to ever air on television.
But even with my lessened viewing, I continue to subscribe. I wholly plan on finishing season eight of 'Dexter' even if it completely ruins some of the brilliant earlier seasons (it should have ended after the season with John Lithgow as The Trinity Killer) but I like to finish what I start.
I'm sure there will be a day when I no longer see the value of netflix but, for the time being I still subscribe, I still watch and it manages to keep myself and my daughter entertained. It is there for me on cold winter nights and rainy summer afternoons. It isn't appointment television because that hasn't existed in a decade. It exists because it's easy and it's a quality entertainment option. Who needs movie theaters when you have Netflix and RedBox? Who really needs cable or satellite when you have the earlier options combined with Hulu and Amazon Prime? I have sampled the Hulu and Prime options but I stick with Netflix as my lone streaming option because I have yet to cut the cord but that day is coming... fast. Streaming is the future and Netflix is doing it right. Now if we can just get over the whole net neutrality issue, then Netflix has a solid future. Without net neutrality, Netflix will be unaffordable and unreliable. Fix that and streaming is clearly the future.
Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Will CBS vanish from the airwaves?
CBS head honcho Les Moonves likes to make a good threat but his latest -- to pull CBS from the free To think that the biggest of the big four television networks could vanish from the airwaves to become a cable-only channel is, for lack of a better word, insane. Insane too, though, is Aereo's business plan of essentially hijacking a free over-the-air television signal (in a fair number of major metropolitan areas) and re-transmitting those signals to internet connected antennas which people then pay a fee to receive.
The biggest problem I have with Aereo's business model is that they are profiting from something which is free. Sure, some would claim that news aggregation websites already do this but they typically only use a brief snippet of the news item in question and direct readers to the full article on its originating website. Aereo, though, stands to make a decent profit by selling something they receive for free. This alone makes Aereo worse than cable companies because at least cable companies pay a retransmission fee to local affiliates and/or television networks to be able to sell subscription packages to users.
I find it hard to believe that Aereo will gain much traction, though. Yes, cable television rates are insane and show no sign of becoming less expensive... ever but Aereo is only another, cheaper and immoral alternative.
Rather than fight Aereo, I'd be encouraged if the big four television networks would work with Aereo to give television viewers who are unable to use a rooftop antenna, rabbit ears, satellite or cable TV an alternative to cable and satellite television. I'd love for television networks to embrace technology rather than fight it tooth and nail. Imagine a world where you could freely, without fear of your ISP disconnecting you, download a torrent of a television show you already have the ability to watch live but were unable to do so due to other conflicts. I would even tolerate a periodic lower third ad embedded in the video because as I well know, advertising pays the bills. Embrace more product placement. I know that shows like Bones and others already do this (even to the point of writing in rather clumsy statements promoting the advertiser).
The biggest uproar, though, will likely be from local affiliates who count on the advertising revenue from their local programmign to keep their local news-gathering operations afloat. Once they are left with fewer eyeballs, it will become increasingly difficult to sell advertising time and cuts will have to be made. It only snowballs from there until the local news operations wither up and eventually die. While we can argue all day that local television news is a dying breed like newspapers and radio, all things local effect us too and without knowing about that information, we are simply blind.
(think using a rooftop antenna) airwaves if Aereo's way of doing business isn't struck down as illegal is ridiculous.
Monday, October 01, 2012
Hulu users show their Jay Leno hatred
Hulu's user demographics must vary greatly from those who watch network television in its traditional format or else tripe like Jay Leno wouldn't be on TV - and even Brett Favre can't get me to watch that crapfest. But it is and this list is just one page (out of four) of the tags Hulu users have attached to episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
If you like MinnPics, kindly oppose SOPA
It is my understanding that websites which aggregate content would definitely be in a grey area when it comes to supposed piracy under the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intelectual Property Act) bills proposed by congress. MinnPics is one of those websites. None of the content posted to MinnPics is mine. While it is all linked back to its original owner and is all user-contributed content openly available on the popular Yahoo-owned photo sharing website Flickr, the company which I use to host MinnPics could pull down the website in order to protect themselves in fear of further retribution under SOPA and PIPA.
While I highly doubt that it would actually come to a consequence so dire that MinnPics would cease to exist, imagine your favorite website going away because of either fear of lawsuits or actual lawsuits from people wielding far too much power under new and unjust legislation.
There definitely is a problem with piracy in America but such broad and generalized legislation like SOPA and PIPA is not the solution. With two major lobbyist groups (The Motion Picture Association of America - MPAA and Recording Industry Association of America - RIAA) fighting tooth and nail against the technological advances in the world since the late 1990s instead of embracing those advances and finding alternative business models maybe not entirely centered on those models but using them to their power they have instead sued the largest consumers of their products (music and movies) and obviously lobbied extremely hard to have the result be the SOPA and PIPA legislation being seriously considered by congress.
Instead of fighting change, it's time for the RIAA and MPAA to embrace the changes of the past decade and reinvent themselves or vanish enitrely. Maybe those two associations will go the way of Sears, KMart and numerous other retailers who failed to act swiftly in our increasingly online-centered world.
Call or write your U.S. senators and representatives and find out if they support or oppose SOPA and PIPA. If they support it and you oppose it, express your displeasure to them or leave a message expressing your displeasure. In the end, its passage in its current form could mean the end of many websites as well as the possibility that websites could vanish without due process under the fear of stiff penalties. I love curating MinnPics and don't make a single cent from it but would hate to have it vanish. Say no to SOPA and PIPA.
While I highly doubt that it would actually come to a consequence so dire that MinnPics would cease to exist, imagine your favorite website going away because of either fear of lawsuits or actual lawsuits from people wielding far too much power under new and unjust legislation.
There definitely is a problem with piracy in America but such broad and generalized legislation like SOPA and PIPA is not the solution. With two major lobbyist groups (The Motion Picture Association of America - MPAA and Recording Industry Association of America - RIAA) fighting tooth and nail against the technological advances in the world since the late 1990s instead of embracing those advances and finding alternative business models maybe not entirely centered on those models but using them to their power they have instead sued the largest consumers of their products (music and movies) and obviously lobbied extremely hard to have the result be the SOPA and PIPA legislation being seriously considered by congress.
Instead of fighting change, it's time for the RIAA and MPAA to embrace the changes of the past decade and reinvent themselves or vanish enitrely. Maybe those two associations will go the way of Sears, KMart and numerous other retailers who failed to act swiftly in our increasingly online-centered world.
Call or write your U.S. senators and representatives and find out if they support or oppose SOPA and PIPA. If they support it and you oppose it, express your displeasure to them or leave a message expressing your displeasure. In the end, its passage in its current form could mean the end of many websites as well as the possibility that websites could vanish without due process under the fear of stiff penalties. I love curating MinnPics and don't make a single cent from it but would hate to have it vanish. Say no to SOPA and PIPA.
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Gone is November, one project is good enough to debut
This year has simply flown by and I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. Maybe it's because I've been off doing all sorts of time-consuming projects (three of which I'm almost finished with, only 33 to go!). Or maybe the time has flown because I'm getting older.
This isn't going to be me lamenting over tedious parts of my life that I have no business sharing with anyone outside of a doctor's examination room (don't worry, folks, no erectile dysfunction here...) but I'm starting to feel old.
Oh sure, most of the world's population (okay, maybe it's more like 65%) is older than me but the whole age thing comes creeping up. It's getting harder to hide the fact that I eat like shit and drink like a horse like a horse who had just galloped through the entirety of the Mojave Desert. (Busted, I don't even drink that much). Weight has never been an issue for me but now I find myself standing in front of the mirror jiggling my slowly expanding gut. Hell, I just ate 3/4 lb. of smoked pork while I've been writing this so maybe I need to begin with portion control. I totally blew off my burgeoning jogging routine this year because we were busy most night pitching in watching our four young nephews a few nights each week while their mother worked nights and their dad worked 12-15 hour days. A few nights of that left me wanting to do nothing more than relax. Couple that with the sweltering summer we had here in Minnesota and outdoor time wasn't exactly in the cards -- especially for extraneous physical activity.
See, I have an excuse for everything.
Once August rolled around, we began working on some pretty exciting online ventures. Those have sucked up more time than I ever thought possible. I spent early weekend mornings and plenty of nights getting three of the intended four ventures off the ground and, in the process, taught myself the basics of Wordpress, some rudimentary PHP skills and learned still more about CSS. Yep, pretty nerdy stuff and those projects are nowhere near perfect yet but like plenty of things I do they are a work in progress.
I took some vacation time (four days to be exact) to catch up on household work. My yard was totally clean as the first snow fell back before Thanksgiving. I manufactured and installed some new exterior trim which was terribly deteriorated after only 40-some years and built my old lady a walk-in closet. Sure, it doesn't have a door installed yet or any texture on the drywall but that son of a bitch is built!
And because our plan for a new two stall garage is a distant dream, I sprung instead for a garage door opener on Black Friday and, pending a missing part thanks to the monkeys who can't package shit at Chamberlain's Chinese manufacturing headquarters, I am stuck with an inoperable garage door opener for the time being. (See, that one is actually out of my control)
All told, the past few month's work is all leading up to a plan to supplement our income. It's all part of that American spirit. Entrepreneurship at its finest. We both rather enjoy what we do and are, for the most part, happy with our lot in life but we also want to restore our grand old home to its former glory and give it some much-needed curb appeal which all begins with a facelift to the old three-season porch spanning its width. It's the biggest project (even compared to the bathroom we gutted and rebuilt) we plan on tackling and it requires a lot of things to fall into place. But with some luck and a lot of extra effort it's going to happen. So help us to make it happen.
So spread the word about Minnesota Recipes. In short, it's an always growing collection of, for lack of a better word, heirloom recipes. They've been dug out of dusty drawers, book cases and out of print and decades old homemakers and church cookbooks. We've been busy typing recipes from old recipe cards tagged with the names of people I faintly recall from my years growing up on the family farm. We've also been busy trying some of these crazy sounding recipes for the sole purpose of photographing them and giving them our own stamp of approval in the process. It's all a lofty order when both are saddled with full-time day jobs and a now three year-old who is as loud and curious as she is cute.
Sure, Minnesota Recipes is far from perfect but I've learned a ton along the way. I learned the quirks of certain Wordpress plugins. I learned that SEO is a real bitch to crack sometimes. I learned that it's easy as hell to get frustrated when the results of your hard work are slow to turn in to something more substantial. Beware that when you visit Minnesota Recipes that I am scraping up bits of time here and there to fill out the missing bits of information. Descriptions of many of the recipes are missing when viewed in search engines due to my learning on the fly. Photos are slow to come because there's only so much food a family of three can afford to cook and eat.
All told, though, I'm becoming happier with the fruits of my labor. This is my first full Wordpress website. Creating it, though, has secured a future for myself at my job because I have that skillset ready to use at a moment's notice.
Hey, if anyone reading this knows more about CSS than I do, maybe you can lend a hand as you'll probably notice a couple elements still somewhat out of place on the main page of Minnesota Recipes. Feel free to drop me a line, I would greatly appreciate a few minutes of your amazing skills!
Thanks, though, for following my projects and to a certain extent my life. Hopefully Minnesota Recipes grows as quickly as MinnPics did -- or even faster! And don't think for a moment that I'll forget about MinnPics. That website is my little baby. I love photography and I love seeing and sharing what other photographers across Minnesota are up to. Curating MinnPics has taught me more than I could ever dream of and has spurred both me and my wife to become better photographers and find the hidden photographic gems in our own little corner of Minnesota.
This isn't going to be me lamenting over tedious parts of my life that I have no business sharing with anyone outside of a doctor's examination room (don't worry, folks, no erectile dysfunction here...) but I'm starting to feel old.
Oh sure, most of the world's population (okay, maybe it's more like 65%) is older than me but the whole age thing comes creeping up. It's getting harder to hide the fact that I eat like shit and drink like a horse like a horse who had just galloped through the entirety of the Mojave Desert. (Busted, I don't even drink that much). Weight has never been an issue for me but now I find myself standing in front of the mirror jiggling my slowly expanding gut. Hell, I just ate 3/4 lb. of smoked pork while I've been writing this so maybe I need to begin with portion control. I totally blew off my burgeoning jogging routine this year because we were busy most night pitching in watching our four young nephews a few nights each week while their mother worked nights and their dad worked 12-15 hour days. A few nights of that left me wanting to do nothing more than relax. Couple that with the sweltering summer we had here in Minnesota and outdoor time wasn't exactly in the cards -- especially for extraneous physical activity.
See, I have an excuse for everything.
Once August rolled around, we began working on some pretty exciting online ventures. Those have sucked up more time than I ever thought possible. I spent early weekend mornings and plenty of nights getting three of the intended four ventures off the ground and, in the process, taught myself the basics of Wordpress, some rudimentary PHP skills and learned still more about CSS. Yep, pretty nerdy stuff and those projects are nowhere near perfect yet but like plenty of things I do they are a work in progress.
I took some vacation time (four days to be exact) to catch up on household work. My yard was totally clean as the first snow fell back before Thanksgiving. I manufactured and installed some new exterior trim which was terribly deteriorated after only 40-some years and built my old lady a walk-in closet. Sure, it doesn't have a door installed yet or any texture on the drywall but that son of a bitch is built!
And because our plan for a new two stall garage is a distant dream, I sprung instead for a garage door opener on Black Friday and, pending a missing part thanks to the monkeys who can't package shit at Chamberlain's Chinese manufacturing headquarters, I am stuck with an inoperable garage door opener for the time being. (See, that one is actually out of my control)
All told, the past few month's work is all leading up to a plan to supplement our income. It's all part of that American spirit. Entrepreneurship at its finest. We both rather enjoy what we do and are, for the most part, happy with our lot in life but we also want to restore our grand old home to its former glory and give it some much-needed curb appeal which all begins with a facelift to the old three-season porch spanning its width. It's the biggest project (even compared to the bathroom we gutted and rebuilt) we plan on tackling and it requires a lot of things to fall into place. But with some luck and a lot of extra effort it's going to happen. So help us to make it happen.
So spread the word about Minnesota Recipes. In short, it's an always growing collection of, for lack of a better word, heirloom recipes. They've been dug out of dusty drawers, book cases and out of print and decades old homemakers and church cookbooks. We've been busy typing recipes from old recipe cards tagged with the names of people I faintly recall from my years growing up on the family farm. We've also been busy trying some of these crazy sounding recipes for the sole purpose of photographing them and giving them our own stamp of approval in the process. It's all a lofty order when both are saddled with full-time day jobs and a now three year-old who is as loud and curious as she is cute.
Sure, Minnesota Recipes is far from perfect but I've learned a ton along the way. I learned the quirks of certain Wordpress plugins. I learned that SEO is a real bitch to crack sometimes. I learned that it's easy as hell to get frustrated when the results of your hard work are slow to turn in to something more substantial. Beware that when you visit Minnesota Recipes that I am scraping up bits of time here and there to fill out the missing bits of information. Descriptions of many of the recipes are missing when viewed in search engines due to my learning on the fly. Photos are slow to come because there's only so much food a family of three can afford to cook and eat.
All told, though, I'm becoming happier with the fruits of my labor. This is my first full Wordpress website. Creating it, though, has secured a future for myself at my job because I have that skillset ready to use at a moment's notice.
Hey, if anyone reading this knows more about CSS than I do, maybe you can lend a hand as you'll probably notice a couple elements still somewhat out of place on the main page of Minnesota Recipes. Feel free to drop me a line, I would greatly appreciate a few minutes of your amazing skills!
Thanks, though, for following my projects and to a certain extent my life. Hopefully Minnesota Recipes grows as quickly as MinnPics did -- or even faster! And don't think for a moment that I'll forget about MinnPics. That website is my little baby. I love photography and I love seeing and sharing what other photographers across Minnesota are up to. Curating MinnPics has taught me more than I could ever dream of and has spurred both me and my wife to become better photographers and find the hidden photographic gems in our own little corner of Minnesota.
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
What's going on here?
In an effort of full disclosure, I thought I'd give anyone out there reading who gives a damn about the multitude of projects I have launched in the past an update on some of the cool things I'm currently working on.
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that I'm a huge fan of photos -- especially those taken in Minnesota because that's where I live. If you're doubting me, just take a look at MinnPics and you'll see over three years of daily photo aggregation from a whole host of amazing photographers from all over Minnesota.
I've also dabbled with showcasing some of my own work on a couple Tumblr projects -- Minnesota River Flood and Minnesota River Valley. The first was a short-term project capturing photos of the 2011 spring flood along the Minnesota River and opining about the lack of response in the area where I live. The Minnesota River Valley photo project was much happier in tone and, while posting has been sporadic, I plan on holding on to both of these Tumblr blogs because it's part of who I am. Nothing is going to be going away right away but depending on what works and what doesn't, something might have to be sunsetted out of necessity. It's the sad reality but don't get down because the coolest things are yet to come.
But like everyone else, I am diversifying and playing on my strengths. In the next month (give or take a few weeks) I will be making a pretty cool addition to MinnPics. I'm also cooking up some more in-depth ideas for MinnPics too but those have additional hurdles which I am not ready to bite off quite yet.
My second project, and by far the most labor-intensive, is breathing life into something that foodies will particularly enjoy and probably non-foodies too. Without divulging too much, I'll simply state that this project, like my others, will have a uniquely Minnesotan flare to it.
The final project is reviving one which I haphazardly launched a few years ago but let shrivel up and dry. The difference now is that I have an actual plan for this new website and its reach will be broader and its purpose much more refined. It's all about something most everyone has used and I am rushing to get this one done. So much so that it's consuming the bulk of my free time at home.
Realistically I'm planning on having each of these three websites/website additions launched by October but some will debut later, others earlier. Rarely do I get hugely excited over the mere potential for my online projects because I'm a realist but I'm going to be hugely proud -- regardless of the level of success -- of this MinnPics addition. I should have done it a year ago but was finally prodded by my wife to make it a reality. The food-related project was hatched out of my own sense of humor but refined into something more logical and I'm already proud of the accomplishments being made. It's huge in the truest sense of the word. Think mountains of content.
But that's about all I'm willing to say. I'll have full details when the first website is launched but until then I'll be busy working behind the scenes making sure everything is functional. These are my newest babies and they're about to be born into an already crowded household and even more crowded online planet. I hope that they thrive.
Anyone who has followed me for a while knows that I'm a huge fan of photos -- especially those taken in Minnesota because that's where I live. If you're doubting me, just take a look at MinnPics and you'll see over three years of daily photo aggregation from a whole host of amazing photographers from all over Minnesota.
I've also dabbled with showcasing some of my own work on a couple Tumblr projects -- Minnesota River Flood and Minnesota River Valley. The first was a short-term project capturing photos of the 2011 spring flood along the Minnesota River and opining about the lack of response in the area where I live. The Minnesota River Valley photo project was much happier in tone and, while posting has been sporadic, I plan on holding on to both of these Tumblr blogs because it's part of who I am. Nothing is going to be going away right away but depending on what works and what doesn't, something might have to be sunsetted out of necessity. It's the sad reality but don't get down because the coolest things are yet to come.
But like everyone else, I am diversifying and playing on my strengths. In the next month (give or take a few weeks) I will be making a pretty cool addition to MinnPics. I'm also cooking up some more in-depth ideas for MinnPics too but those have additional hurdles which I am not ready to bite off quite yet.
My second project, and by far the most labor-intensive, is breathing life into something that foodies will particularly enjoy and probably non-foodies too. Without divulging too much, I'll simply state that this project, like my others, will have a uniquely Minnesotan flare to it.
The final project is reviving one which I haphazardly launched a few years ago but let shrivel up and dry. The difference now is that I have an actual plan for this new website and its reach will be broader and its purpose much more refined. It's all about something most everyone has used and I am rushing to get this one done. So much so that it's consuming the bulk of my free time at home.
Realistically I'm planning on having each of these three websites/website additions launched by October but some will debut later, others earlier. Rarely do I get hugely excited over the mere potential for my online projects because I'm a realist but I'm going to be hugely proud -- regardless of the level of success -- of this MinnPics addition. I should have done it a year ago but was finally prodded by my wife to make it a reality. The food-related project was hatched out of my own sense of humor but refined into something more logical and I'm already proud of the accomplishments being made. It's huge in the truest sense of the word. Think mountains of content.
But that's about all I'm willing to say. I'll have full details when the first website is launched but until then I'll be busy working behind the scenes making sure everything is functional. These are my newest babies and they're about to be born into an already crowded household and even more crowded online planet. I hope that they thrive.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Don't trust an online advertising "expert"
A short conversation today quickly turned to discussing a supposed online sales guru with the last name of Blinder and how anyone with a couple years of experience in the graphic design industry knows what really works. Keep the animation to a minimum (don't make it annoying but use it when needed), don't be too fucking wordy and the most important point I brought up is that in the world of online users you have about a second to grab a reader's eyes and get them to pay attention to their ad. Don't use the same thought process that goes in to designing a typical newspaper or magazine advertisement because those are typically wordy and coming from a guy who reads fast, the shorter tidbits - no matter where I am reading them - get my attention first.
But back to Mr. Blinder. He and his team of "sales professionals" do produce results. They do so because they are overbearing, confrontational, aggressive and obnoxious (or so I've heard). They produce a shitload of revenue for their clients -- I've witnessed the results -- but they do so at a cost. That cost is the simple fact that your customers will forever associate online ads with the presentation they witnessed from the Blinder sales team. The Blinder team seems to make a habit out of over-promising results which sadly aren't achievable.
They promise that people will click the ads they are selling and drive traffic to customer's websites. Well, for that to happen the customer has to want whatever is being advertised pretty damn bad because plenty of websites out there are so bad that they shouldn't exist or so hopelessly outdated that the owner of them should bury their head in shame. This isn't a rip on local businesses because these very businesses keep a roof over my head and keep my co-workers gainfully employed but would you let your storefront display of Christmas items stay in your front window until May? I didn't think so.
For that matter, don't let your online ad fall in to that same outdated time warp. Update your ad and contrary to the advice of Mr. Blinder don't just change the background color. Simply changing the background color is fucking lazy. If I saw a designer doing this I'd be appalled for two reasons. The color should be thought out to a certain extent. Choosing a color, in my experience, is part of the overall design of a piece no matter how small or insignificant it is and changing the background -- the most dominant element -- can destroy a campaign and any business advertising should realize that a consistent look is what builds brand recognition. Change the color, disturb the brand recognition. It's pretty simple. Just look at what happened this week when Gap stores unveiled a new logo. That one move disrupted forty-plus years of history Gap had built. Don't tear down for the sake of tearing down, instead remodel, overhaul, refresh. The second reason is that this business' sales person isn't doing their job and is taking the easy way out. And if you have only one ad in your online arsenal, try harder. Multiple messages will allow website users to see something fresh. While sitting through TV commercials, I'd rather see two messages from the same advertiser than just one. Don't treat your online marketing any differently.
Mr. Blinder's greatest blunder is due to the fact that his ideas are displayed via Powerpoint. Sure, it's a decent enough program for conveying information but the way in which he does so is so ineffective that I'd rather sift through an endless stream of spreadsheets. The bulleted items are so vague that they could mean nearly anything if left open to interpretation. These vague points, after being given to sales persons, are then disemminated to potential customers. Cut through the bullshit and get real with customers. They want results but they also don't want to spend anything to achieve them because most businesses -- on a local level at least -- are so overtaxed financially that they aren't going to commit to a year's worth of advertising at any cost. I think most people would find it refreshing to NOT be sold a string of vague promises and numbers which mean nothing to them. A paragraph story in your ad -- no matter what its size is -- won't get read so keep it to ten words or less. I'll agree, though, with a point I read earlier this week about many advertisers having no fucking clue what CPM means and why they should care what it means so speak their language. To bring advertisers in to the fold of your website, be honest with them. They aren't going to get 10% of website users clicking on their ads. I've achieved that level once in a decade of experience with online advertising and that had more to do with the position and format of the ad than anything else. They wouldn't expect shoppers to bring their entire newspaper ad in to their store so why should click-thrus matter if your ad doesn't particularly lend to being clicked?
Expanding on that point, offer customers something they actually want. Click Here for a 50% off coupon is a good start. That will break the bank, you say? Have you heard of a disclaimer? Cap the savings amount at ten or twenty dollars and limit it to one coupon per user. Even grocery coupon sites like coupons.com have print limits so don't say that it can't be done because it can. And to bring it full circle, if your website sucks, don't expect people to come back to it. You get but one chance to make that first-time visitor a repeat visitor. If your inventory is stagnant or doesn't change frequently, add something to your website that CAN be freshened frequently and promote that to the front page of your site. Maybe a blog about something relevant to your business. Trust me, your employees are the best source of ideas so ask them, hell, have them handle that aspect of your online presence because sometimes letting go of what you think is the only way to do things is the best thing to do.
But back to Mr. Blinder. He and his team of "sales professionals" do produce results. They do so because they are overbearing, confrontational, aggressive and obnoxious (or so I've heard). They produce a shitload of revenue for their clients -- I've witnessed the results -- but they do so at a cost. That cost is the simple fact that your customers will forever associate online ads with the presentation they witnessed from the Blinder sales team. The Blinder team seems to make a habit out of over-promising results which sadly aren't achievable.
They promise that people will click the ads they are selling and drive traffic to customer's websites. Well, for that to happen the customer has to want whatever is being advertised pretty damn bad because plenty of websites out there are so bad that they shouldn't exist or so hopelessly outdated that the owner of them should bury their head in shame. This isn't a rip on local businesses because these very businesses keep a roof over my head and keep my co-workers gainfully employed but would you let your storefront display of Christmas items stay in your front window until May? I didn't think so.
For that matter, don't let your online ad fall in to that same outdated time warp. Update your ad and contrary to the advice of Mr. Blinder don't just change the background color. Simply changing the background color is fucking lazy. If I saw a designer doing this I'd be appalled for two reasons. The color should be thought out to a certain extent. Choosing a color, in my experience, is part of the overall design of a piece no matter how small or insignificant it is and changing the background -- the most dominant element -- can destroy a campaign and any business advertising should realize that a consistent look is what builds brand recognition. Change the color, disturb the brand recognition. It's pretty simple. Just look at what happened this week when Gap stores unveiled a new logo. That one move disrupted forty-plus years of history Gap had built. Don't tear down for the sake of tearing down, instead remodel, overhaul, refresh. The second reason is that this business' sales person isn't doing their job and is taking the easy way out. And if you have only one ad in your online arsenal, try harder. Multiple messages will allow website users to see something fresh. While sitting through TV commercials, I'd rather see two messages from the same advertiser than just one. Don't treat your online marketing any differently.
Mr. Blinder's greatest blunder is due to the fact that his ideas are displayed via Powerpoint. Sure, it's a decent enough program for conveying information but the way in which he does so is so ineffective that I'd rather sift through an endless stream of spreadsheets. The bulleted items are so vague that they could mean nearly anything if left open to interpretation. These vague points, after being given to sales persons, are then disemminated to potential customers. Cut through the bullshit and get real with customers. They want results but they also don't want to spend anything to achieve them because most businesses -- on a local level at least -- are so overtaxed financially that they aren't going to commit to a year's worth of advertising at any cost. I think most people would find it refreshing to NOT be sold a string of vague promises and numbers which mean nothing to them. A paragraph story in your ad -- no matter what its size is -- won't get read so keep it to ten words or less. I'll agree, though, with a point I read earlier this week about many advertisers having no fucking clue what CPM means and why they should care what it means so speak their language. To bring advertisers in to the fold of your website, be honest with them. They aren't going to get 10% of website users clicking on their ads. I've achieved that level once in a decade of experience with online advertising and that had more to do with the position and format of the ad than anything else. They wouldn't expect shoppers to bring their entire newspaper ad in to their store so why should click-thrus matter if your ad doesn't particularly lend to being clicked?
Expanding on that point, offer customers something they actually want. Click Here for a 50% off coupon is a good start. That will break the bank, you say? Have you heard of a disclaimer? Cap the savings amount at ten or twenty dollars and limit it to one coupon per user. Even grocery coupon sites like coupons.com have print limits so don't say that it can't be done because it can. And to bring it full circle, if your website sucks, don't expect people to come back to it. You get but one chance to make that first-time visitor a repeat visitor. If your inventory is stagnant or doesn't change frequently, add something to your website that CAN be freshened frequently and promote that to the front page of your site. Maybe a blog about something relevant to your business. Trust me, your employees are the best source of ideas so ask them, hell, have them handle that aspect of your online presence because sometimes letting go of what you think is the only way to do things is the best thing to do.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The evolution of my blogging
Nobody has ever really questioned why I began blogging and I can't blame them but if you read this blog and haven't dug deep in to the archives, I'll get you up to speed.
Mere months after moving to the Twin Cities on a cold December evening I began this blog, entitled "A Day in the Life". It had virtually no direction in the beginning and many would say that it still doesn't but it became a launching pad in future years for my more recent projects and my further involvement in social media as a whole.
After working in a job surrounded by journalists, and often times reading their stories before publication. I realized that I could probably do this. After all, I'm a creative type and blogging in any format seemed like a logical extension of my graphic and web design work and my hobby of photography. And it continued. For probably far too long I was posting 4-5 days each week and the content was dry. In short, it sucked. I went through a period where I was displeased with the political happenings in our country and with the outlet I had developed the content was very political.
Then one day I decided that being so focused on one topic wasn't what I was about. I think it was around 2006 (almost three years in to blogging) when I took a drastic turn and that's when people started really reading what I was writing. MNSpeak (when Max Sparber was running it) began occasionally linking to my posts and that simply spurred my blogging. I began looking at the weird shit happening in Minnesota and opened my eyes to how truly weird things I saw every day were - I still remember spotting a possible trend of pipe smoking coming back.
As I explored my own photography and that of others in Minnesota I began putting together MinnPics to showcase the work of those Minnesotans sharing their photos on Flickr. Much to my surprise it actually took off. I dabbled there with how frequently to update and what to showcase and have settled in to a bit of a random groove with it after over two years. I juggled this blog and MinnPics and somehow kept both going while also handling all of my other daily duties as a somewhat responsible citizen. During that time, I decided to begin moving away from happenings in Minnesota with this blog and began sprinkling in more pop culture type of stuff including what could be called Nipplegate and Camel Toe watch during the 2008 summer olympics and the big rumor of last year: whether or not Lady Gaga was transgendered. (She's obviously not)
This year, I slowed down the posting here and this summer I started Minnesota Valley Photos. It's my own photos I take in and around the Minnesota River Valley and with an archive of over 15,000 photos I should be able to keep something coming for a few more months. Or years.
Being a huge music fan, I also started up a quickly thrown together collection of videos I called The Video Playlist. It's another side project that may or may not have legs but like many of the projects at work, the mantra is "fail fast". Maybe I'll shit-can it or maybe it will silently live on in obscurity forever.
At some point I also started Strib comments because the absurdity of the Star Tribune's comments is downright amazing and finding the dumbest is always a good time! I rarely update it but it's a cool concept.
For now I'm cool with how things are but if anyone's interested in taking MinnPics to the next level, I'm all ears. ALL ears. More amazing than anything is the fact that I've stuck with something for almost seven years. Especially in a world where Twitter seems to have almost killed long form blogging like this because, let's be honest, I could have probably summed this up in 140 characters but it wouldn't have put you to sleep, would it?
Mere months after moving to the Twin Cities on a cold December evening I began this blog, entitled "A Day in the Life". It had virtually no direction in the beginning and many would say that it still doesn't but it became a launching pad in future years for my more recent projects and my further involvement in social media as a whole.
After working in a job surrounded by journalists, and often times reading their stories before publication. I realized that I could probably do this. After all, I'm a creative type and blogging in any format seemed like a logical extension of my graphic and web design work and my hobby of photography. And it continued. For probably far too long I was posting 4-5 days each week and the content was dry. In short, it sucked. I went through a period where I was displeased with the political happenings in our country and with the outlet I had developed the content was very political.
Then one day I decided that being so focused on one topic wasn't what I was about. I think it was around 2006 (almost three years in to blogging) when I took a drastic turn and that's when people started really reading what I was writing. MNSpeak (when Max Sparber was running it) began occasionally linking to my posts and that simply spurred my blogging. I began looking at the weird shit happening in Minnesota and opened my eyes to how truly weird things I saw every day were - I still remember spotting a possible trend of pipe smoking coming back.
As I explored my own photography and that of others in Minnesota I began putting together MinnPics to showcase the work of those Minnesotans sharing their photos on Flickr. Much to my surprise it actually took off. I dabbled there with how frequently to update and what to showcase and have settled in to a bit of a random groove with it after over two years. I juggled this blog and MinnPics and somehow kept both going while also handling all of my other daily duties as a somewhat responsible citizen. During that time, I decided to begin moving away from happenings in Minnesota with this blog and began sprinkling in more pop culture type of stuff including what could be called Nipplegate and Camel Toe watch during the 2008 summer olympics and the big rumor of last year: whether or not Lady Gaga was transgendered. (She's obviously not)
This year, I slowed down the posting here and this summer I started Minnesota Valley Photos. It's my own photos I take in and around the Minnesota River Valley and with an archive of over 15,000 photos I should be able to keep something coming for a few more months. Or years.
Being a huge music fan, I also started up a quickly thrown together collection of videos I called The Video Playlist. It's another side project that may or may not have legs but like many of the projects at work, the mantra is "fail fast". Maybe I'll shit-can it or maybe it will silently live on in obscurity forever.
At some point I also started Strib comments because the absurdity of the Star Tribune's comments is downright amazing and finding the dumbest is always a good time! I rarely update it but it's a cool concept.
For now I'm cool with how things are but if anyone's interested in taking MinnPics to the next level, I'm all ears. ALL ears. More amazing than anything is the fact that I've stuck with something for almost seven years. Especially in a world where Twitter seems to have almost killed long form blogging like this because, let's be honest, I could have probably summed this up in 140 characters but it wouldn't have put you to sleep, would it?
Monday, October 11, 2010
What's with Slate's recent obsession with anal sex?
To most people, breaking down sexual acts via a pile of data and charts can truly make a person totally bored with the topic but for whatever reason now, twice in the course of a week, Slate has had articles on anal sex. For a rather intellectual-leaning website, I find that the recurring topic of anal sex is interesting.
Rather than rehash the data breakdown initially reported and the follow-up story analyzing the reasons behind the data, I though I'd ask questions and ponder answers about who is partaking in anal sex.
Historically speaking, anal sex has been rather taboo. It's not considered to be the social norm. Maybe it's because we're a nation of total prudes or maybe it's because those participating in anal sex have kept their sexual acts behind closed doors. Let's face it, even in 2010 people aren't exactly open about their sexual habits. It's not water cooler conversation but sex in all forms is definitely becoming more mainstream. Thank the internet for that and the rabid spread of adult-themed videos which many think is the only reason the internet exists.
Maybe the pervasive spread of technology is the simplest explanation for the uptick in anal sex. Sex isn't a technological activity but the amount of people who view porn and talk openly about it is somewhat interesting. A friend of mine spent the better part of an hour last summer around a camp fire drunkenly giggling as he showed off that his new Droid phone could play video with astounding quality. The more interesting thing about that evening was that nobody was shocked, appalled or disgusted because my generation has grown up since our teens surrounded by the internet and we know full well that while it's a powerful tool for business and communication it's also a portal for pornography. That very pornography is very freeing and liberating for some and I have a feeling that's part of the reason for the increase in the number of people reporting participating in and enjoying anal sex.
But who are these people? Judging by the number of comments on Slate's first story and the profile of the typical Slate reader, educated folks are not only experimenting with but also enjoying anal sex and apparently doing so is a regular occurance. Are they doing so because it's the next logical step when it comes to sexual experimentation or are they engaging in anal sex because of that wealth of pornography that the internet brings in to our homes? But when anal sex reaches that majority threshhold, what comes next? When it's no longer shocking or even interesting to bring up to friends that you and your significant other have been going in through the out door, what comes next? As trends go, the adult film industry is a bit of a trend-setter so I guess we'll have to wait until then to find out.
Rather than rehash the data breakdown initially reported and the follow-up story analyzing the reasons behind the data, I though I'd ask questions and ponder answers about who is partaking in anal sex.
Historically speaking, anal sex has been rather taboo. It's not considered to be the social norm. Maybe it's because we're a nation of total prudes or maybe it's because those participating in anal sex have kept their sexual acts behind closed doors. Let's face it, even in 2010 people aren't exactly open about their sexual habits. It's not water cooler conversation but sex in all forms is definitely becoming more mainstream. Thank the internet for that and the rabid spread of adult-themed videos which many think is the only reason the internet exists.
Maybe the pervasive spread of technology is the simplest explanation for the uptick in anal sex. Sex isn't a technological activity but the amount of people who view porn and talk openly about it is somewhat interesting. A friend of mine spent the better part of an hour last summer around a camp fire drunkenly giggling as he showed off that his new Droid phone could play video with astounding quality. The more interesting thing about that evening was that nobody was shocked, appalled or disgusted because my generation has grown up since our teens surrounded by the internet and we know full well that while it's a powerful tool for business and communication it's also a portal for pornography. That very pornography is very freeing and liberating for some and I have a feeling that's part of the reason for the increase in the number of people reporting participating in and enjoying anal sex.
But who are these people? Judging by the number of comments on Slate's first story and the profile of the typical Slate reader, educated folks are not only experimenting with but also enjoying anal sex and apparently doing so is a regular occurance. Are they doing so because it's the next logical step when it comes to sexual experimentation or are they engaging in anal sex because of that wealth of pornography that the internet brings in to our homes? But when anal sex reaches that majority threshhold, what comes next? When it's no longer shocking or even interesting to bring up to friends that you and your significant other have been going in through the out door, what comes next? As trends go, the adult film industry is a bit of a trend-setter so I guess we'll have to wait until then to find out.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
My hobbies and how to share them
Even though I've been extremely busy at the office and, as I mentioned earlier this week, I have plenty of other projects looming, my mind has been wandering. I've thought about creating a bunch of logos and other materials for the random things which wander in and out of my rather strange imagination. I've thought about all of the strange (to other people) hobbies and interests I have which have been cast aside in recent years for whatever reason and how I could resurrect them in an economical and interesting way which I could share with this small but apparently loyal online audience I've built in the past half-decade or so.
See if any of these items catch your interest. I have a vast collection of 1/64 scale farm machinery replicas. Most of these were amassed during the mass production era of the late-80s and early-90s but they've been relegated to an upstairs closet along with a huge stockpile of accessories for them. The Ertl brand is the go-to name for collectors and farm kids (and grown-ups) all across America and that's the dominant brand in my collection. Before they outsourced production to Mexico and eventually China, I visited the small Iowa town of Dyersville (west of Dubuque) where the Ertl brand was born after World War II. Sure, the brand has moved on but the city still has farm collectible (or toys as my old lady calls them) in their blood. I can already feel a photo project coming on for this one.
I've also got an immense sports card collection. It's something that came about in my pre-teen years (it seems to have begun in about 1988 and waned around 1994). I know that this is where hundreds if not thousands of my hard earned dollars went and I EARNED those dollars. They're not just baseball cards, though. The collection, for whatever reason, spans all four major pro sports and I'm fairly confident that I have more than a few Brett Favre cards lying around in those dusty stacks of boxes in my childhood bedroom's closet back on the farm. A few years ago I considered posting the whole lot of them on Craigslist but have since reconsidered. I'm definitely not a hoarder but without knowing what gems are lurking in those boxes, I just can't let them go. With some research and some cold weekends in the coming winter months, I could easily create a website chronicling akward photos of has-beens and never-weres staged by the photographers who roamed the major league circuits working for a pittance.
It's a beginning and I'll admit that the concept I'm thinking of if basically a ripoff of what's been going on for years at lileks.com and while I like that James Lileks (whose site I've read since my days in Austin at the beginning of this century -- that sounds very impressive) has in the way of everything under one rather massive roof, I also like the corporate philosophy I work under at the office of having a vast network of websites slowly expanding to cover niches as we all see fit. Each one has positives and negatives but if I'm going to take this seriously I need to choose one format and stick with it. I already have MinnPics, this always evolving blog and Minnesota River Valley Photos which is a tiny infant of just a few weeks old. So what's a guy to do? Do I stay the course or begin to move things to a more centralized umbrella site. Hit me up with your suggestions in the comments here or tweet them -- I'm at @sornie79.
See if any of these items catch your interest. I have a vast collection of 1/64 scale farm machinery replicas. Most of these were amassed during the mass production era of the late-80s and early-90s but they've been relegated to an upstairs closet along with a huge stockpile of accessories for them. The Ertl brand is the go-to name for collectors and farm kids (and grown-ups) all across America and that's the dominant brand in my collection. Before they outsourced production to Mexico and eventually China, I visited the small Iowa town of Dyersville (west of Dubuque) where the Ertl brand was born after World War II. Sure, the brand has moved on but the city still has farm collectible (or toys as my old lady calls them) in their blood. I can already feel a photo project coming on for this one.
I've also got an immense sports card collection. It's something that came about in my pre-teen years (it seems to have begun in about 1988 and waned around 1994). I know that this is where hundreds if not thousands of my hard earned dollars went and I EARNED those dollars. They're not just baseball cards, though. The collection, for whatever reason, spans all four major pro sports and I'm fairly confident that I have more than a few Brett Favre cards lying around in those dusty stacks of boxes in my childhood bedroom's closet back on the farm. A few years ago I considered posting the whole lot of them on Craigslist but have since reconsidered. I'm definitely not a hoarder but without knowing what gems are lurking in those boxes, I just can't let them go. With some research and some cold weekends in the coming winter months, I could easily create a website chronicling akward photos of has-beens and never-weres staged by the photographers who roamed the major league circuits working for a pittance.
It's a beginning and I'll admit that the concept I'm thinking of if basically a ripoff of what's been going on for years at lileks.com and while I like that James Lileks (whose site I've read since my days in Austin at the beginning of this century -- that sounds very impressive) has in the way of everything under one rather massive roof, I also like the corporate philosophy I work under at the office of having a vast network of websites slowly expanding to cover niches as we all see fit. Each one has positives and negatives but if I'm going to take this seriously I need to choose one format and stick with it. I already have MinnPics, this always evolving blog and Minnesota River Valley Photos which is a tiny infant of just a few weeks old. So what's a guy to do? Do I stay the course or begin to move things to a more centralized umbrella site. Hit me up with your suggestions in the comments here or tweet them -- I'm at @sornie79.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
You can see the future from here
In case you've forgotten, my photo blog/aggregator MinnPics turns a whopping two years old this week -- Thursday to be exact and I still update it most every weekday. For whatever reason, its popularity has slipped recently but it's not about popularity (but that doesn't hurt). Maybe two years is the course of something I had no intention of evolving. Maybe I'll keep it going or maybe I'll hit the delete button and the whole thing will vanish into the great beyond.
But whatever happens with it, I've got a new project. I call it Minnesota River Valley Photos because that's where I live and that's where I take the bulk of my scenic photos. I've got an archive of about 15,000 photos to dig through and I take a lot of photos so I think I can sustain it for a while. Follow it on Tumblr, subscribe to the RSS feed, ignore it completely or poop on your neighbor's front porch -- I really don't care as long as it's not my front porch.
So the cat's officially out of the bag on Minnesota River Valley Photos. If you give a damn, this place will still be the home to whatever random crap I feel like spewing so don't give up on us, baby, we'll make it through.
Lastly, to stay up to date with everything I'm doing, follow me on Twitter.
Oh, and one more thing, I don't care how old you are, don't pee in my back yard.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Things I can't understand
Yesterday I saw the rather startling statistic that the average Facebook user views a whopping 27 pages on each visit. Of course the story goes on to explain that this huge surge in page views on Facebook has devastated the news portals which just a few years ago devastated newspapers and their websites.
Of course I am on the fence in my understanding of the popularity of Facebook. It is definitely a useful tool just as much as it is an enormous waste of time. The plethora of time wasting games and tedious updates and outright bitching that Facebook users engage in on the site is not just hard to understand -- it's troubling.
On the other hand, as I said, it is vastly useful. Facebook is basically a community bulletin board. You can post the trivial updates from your sad and pathetic day to day life and post way too many snapshots. But in exchange for using this free community bulletin board known as Facebook, they own it. They own it all. The terms of service are so vast and complicated that nobody, outside of a few highly techie folks, really read or understand them and those are the folks that have publicly deleted their accounts. Not because they are ashamed of what they are sharing but because the nerd behind Facebook could turn around tomorrow and change the TOS and sell every bit of information users have given up the rights to and we'd be even more relentlessly spammed than we currently are.
But in my eyes it's a necessary evil. It's the current hot spot and even though posting content there gives Facebook the right to do whatever they please with it, Facebook does actually drive traffic and increase readership. It's necessary because it's hugely popular. It's evil because once people move en masse to the next bigger and better network (hey, I used to use MySpace) Facebook's nerdy owner will get desperate even with his huge stacks of cash and he could very well peddle all of the information that has been collected via Facebook to persons or companies with less-than-good intentions.
In all reality, I give Facebook another two years at the most before users begin migrating to whatever comes next. It's part of the evolution of the internet. The users haven't gone anywhere, it's just the places where they congregate that has changed.
But some things haven't changed. MinnPics, nearing its second birthday, is even better than you remember. Check out the best photos from all over Minnesota now!
Of course I am on the fence in my understanding of the popularity of Facebook. It is definitely a useful tool just as much as it is an enormous waste of time. The plethora of time wasting games and tedious updates and outright bitching that Facebook users engage in on the site is not just hard to understand -- it's troubling.
On the other hand, as I said, it is vastly useful. Facebook is basically a community bulletin board. You can post the trivial updates from your sad and pathetic day to day life and post way too many snapshots. But in exchange for using this free community bulletin board known as Facebook, they own it. They own it all. The terms of service are so vast and complicated that nobody, outside of a few highly techie folks, really read or understand them and those are the folks that have publicly deleted their accounts. Not because they are ashamed of what they are sharing but because the nerd behind Facebook could turn around tomorrow and change the TOS and sell every bit of information users have given up the rights to and we'd be even more relentlessly spammed than we currently are.
But in my eyes it's a necessary evil. It's the current hot spot and even though posting content there gives Facebook the right to do whatever they please with it, Facebook does actually drive traffic and increase readership. It's necessary because it's hugely popular. It's evil because once people move en masse to the next bigger and better network (hey, I used to use MySpace) Facebook's nerdy owner will get desperate even with his huge stacks of cash and he could very well peddle all of the information that has been collected via Facebook to persons or companies with less-than-good intentions.
In all reality, I give Facebook another two years at the most before users begin migrating to whatever comes next. It's part of the evolution of the internet. The users haven't gone anywhere, it's just the places where they congregate that has changed.
But some things haven't changed. MinnPics, nearing its second birthday, is even better than you remember. Check out the best photos from all over Minnesota now!
Monday, May 17, 2010
It's not so much the sharing as it is the oversharing
Privacy seems to be at the top of everyone's minds right now. If you haven't been paying attention, Facebook is taking a lot of heat for its relatively lax approach towards their users' privacy. Sure, I've used Facebook for a few years myself and for about two years to promote a couple arms of the company I work for but I've always been careful what sort of information I put online for all to see. And the "for all to see" thing may be totally incorrect because I have my Facebook account (my personal one) locked down like a chastity belt just because I don't want everyone to know everything about me.
It's not that I have a ton to be ashamed of but I post photos of my daughter there and while I can't speak for her, I am fairly certain that at some point she'll want to have control of her own life and what aspects of it are made public.
That's what I don't quite get about today's generation of teens. They are the first to come of age in an era where everything can be shared online instantly. The key word there is "can" - nobody has ever said "share it all" because there is plenty that others don't need (or want) to know or flat out shouldn't know.
For instance, I'm not going to tell you what kind of underwear I'm sporting but I'll gladly tell you that I'm wearing a nearly two year old pair of Converse One Star sneakers that are dangerously close to disintegrating while I wear them. It's all about selective sharing.
But back to Facebook... I'd love nothing more than to see a company who has done nothing more than give people a place to play pointless games and share way too much meet its demise. They have been loose with the privacy of users and that needs to change. However, Facebook's owner has found a lucrative way to profit from giving people something they obviously love and collecting information they are very willing to freely give up so Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is simply profiting by being a middle man. After all, the internet is all about information and people expect websites to be free. Maybe we've become too lax in how we control our personal information and maybe a few years from now things will be vastly different and people will be far more reluctant to share every tiny detail of their lives. Maybe people will find something more productive to do with their times rather than asking everyone they know to help them with their barn raising.
Maybe if Facebook had never existed we wouldn't have experienced a huge financial meltdown in the past few years. Maybe people, instead, would have been reading the very mortgage contracts that sent them to bankruptcy. But what's done is done so let people continue oversharing but also let them realize that those photos from last night when they were naked and smoking ditch weeb from a bong might hamper their job prospects down the road.
But not all sharing is bad because without people sharing their awesome photos of Minnesota, MinnPics wouldn't exist.
It's not that I have a ton to be ashamed of but I post photos of my daughter there and while I can't speak for her, I am fairly certain that at some point she'll want to have control of her own life and what aspects of it are made public.
That's what I don't quite get about today's generation of teens. They are the first to come of age in an era where everything can be shared online instantly. The key word there is "can" - nobody has ever said "share it all" because there is plenty that others don't need (or want) to know or flat out shouldn't know.
For instance, I'm not going to tell you what kind of underwear I'm sporting but I'll gladly tell you that I'm wearing a nearly two year old pair of Converse One Star sneakers that are dangerously close to disintegrating while I wear them. It's all about selective sharing.
But back to Facebook... I'd love nothing more than to see a company who has done nothing more than give people a place to play pointless games and share way too much meet its demise. They have been loose with the privacy of users and that needs to change. However, Facebook's owner has found a lucrative way to profit from giving people something they obviously love and collecting information they are very willing to freely give up so Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is simply profiting by being a middle man. After all, the internet is all about information and people expect websites to be free. Maybe we've become too lax in how we control our personal information and maybe a few years from now things will be vastly different and people will be far more reluctant to share every tiny detail of their lives. Maybe people will find something more productive to do with their times rather than asking everyone they know to help them with their barn raising.
Maybe if Facebook had never existed we wouldn't have experienced a huge financial meltdown in the past few years. Maybe people, instead, would have been reading the very mortgage contracts that sent them to bankruptcy. But what's done is done so let people continue oversharing but also let them realize that those photos from last night when they were naked and smoking ditch weeb from a bong might hamper their job prospects down the road.
But not all sharing is bad because without people sharing their awesome photos of Minnesota, MinnPics wouldn't exist.
Monday, March 15, 2010
National broadband internet is actually a good idea
In 2010, the internet is a vital emerging utility service like electricity was in the early to mid-1900s. I've been fortunate enough to be able to both have access to and afford broadband access since 2001 and I viewed it as vital even back then when my only other option was dial-up which seemed slow even then.
Different people will see it differently. To many, internet access has no value but I am increasingly finding those people asking those who do have internet access to "look this up" or "order this for me". Even though they know that they have no need for internet access, they still see its value which speaks volumes to how much the online world has penetrated even those far removed from most types of technology.
If you don't want the government mandating true high speed broadband internet access then I'll assume you're totally cool with paying $55 or more per month for your internet access. Think about the places you could spend even $25 of that expense is costs were to decline. What about reliability? I am unfortunate enough to have Mediacom for my internet access at home and suffered for over 3 weeks with painfully slow access. I didn't even bother wasting my breath calling the mouth-breathers they have employed as customer service representatives and instead, via my painfully slow internet, culled various forums until, after three hours, I found a potential solution. Luckily it worked and my overly spendy internet access is back to its normal speed but what other utility provider would get away with such ineptitude?
Would the local electric company get away with sending you just enough electricity to power your lights at brownout levels? But far too often that's what internet providers get away with. They provide sub-par service because nobody's watching and the competition isn't any better or cheaper. So consumers lose. It took government intervention to provide electrical service to many rural areas so why should we be afraid of the same when it comes to internet access? Either adapt to the change or be happy being left behind.
I think I'll go for anything that provides more reliable, more affordable, faster internet access. It can only help most everything I do including the world's most stunning all-Minnesota photo blog, MinnPics!
Different people will see it differently. To many, internet access has no value but I am increasingly finding those people asking those who do have internet access to "look this up" or "order this for me". Even though they know that they have no need for internet access, they still see its value which speaks volumes to how much the online world has penetrated even those far removed from most types of technology.
If you don't want the government mandating true high speed broadband internet access then I'll assume you're totally cool with paying $55 or more per month for your internet access. Think about the places you could spend even $25 of that expense is costs were to decline. What about reliability? I am unfortunate enough to have Mediacom for my internet access at home and suffered for over 3 weeks with painfully slow access. I didn't even bother wasting my breath calling the mouth-breathers they have employed as customer service representatives and instead, via my painfully slow internet, culled various forums until, after three hours, I found a potential solution. Luckily it worked and my overly spendy internet access is back to its normal speed but what other utility provider would get away with such ineptitude?
Would the local electric company get away with sending you just enough electricity to power your lights at brownout levels? But far too often that's what internet providers get away with. They provide sub-par service because nobody's watching and the competition isn't any better or cheaper. So consumers lose. It took government intervention to provide electrical service to many rural areas so why should we be afraid of the same when it comes to internet access? Either adapt to the change or be happy being left behind.
I think I'll go for anything that provides more reliable, more affordable, faster internet access. It can only help most everything I do including the world's most stunning all-Minnesota photo blog, MinnPics!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Is KSTP-TV actively trying to lose money?
It intrigued me that local TV station KSTP plans to launch what can only be described as a boatload of "hyperlocal" websites in the next year. One commenter on the MinnPost story nailed it squarely on the head by saying that KSTP (and the Hubbards who own the station) are two years late in trying something that has already failed across the country.
I can also attest to the "hyperlocal" idea being worthless. Without giving too much away, I proposed a hyperlocal website at my place of employment just over two years ago. Just like everything else, it was dependent on local/area advertising. My proposal, on paper, sounded like a sure thing but even as I read it just minutes ago I realized that, given the current economic environment, the sales figures would never have even come close to the rather conservative dollar amounts I had projected.
And to think that an even more conservative-minded company thinks they can successfully staff and fill multiple hyperlocal news/content websites with anything remotely captivating, much less original, is insane. My project proposal incorporated multiple existing elements and products to it and could still be easily rolled out to other communities/neighborhoods. KSTP's plans, while somewhat unclear, really make no mention of incorporating their suite of niche products to give them further exposure. Hell, I have no idea if KSTP even has any truly worthwhile niche products but I don't expect the websites to be islands of content either.
The mere mention of the KSTP sites containing press releases makes them seem even less valuable. Sure, it's legit information but publishing it in the general news flow immediately devalues any legitimate news the sites may contain. And the plans they have for expanding them to their outstate markets including Duluth-Superior and Austin-Rochester makes even less sense. Those areas are still havens for the newspapers who own those markets. Attempting to launch a competing product under the umbrella of a less-than-reputable name is suicide and KAAL-TV in Austin is considered by residents to be a laughingstock. The station, under the ownership of Hubbard, has virtually abandoned coverage of its home market in favor of the more lucrative Rochester market. That bare-bones operation barely turns a profit as it stands now and further diluting it for the sake of hyperlocal websites which the community newspapers and their websites in the area already cover quite well will ensure that the outstate KSTP hyperlocal websites are the first to be shuttered followed soon after by those in the Twin Cities.
But if KSTP is curious about my well-researched plan and wants to talk to me, I'm more than willing to listen. Let's just say I know the Austin market quite well. Call me...
And while I'm whoring myself out, check out MinnPics. It's the home of the best of the best of Minnesota photography!
I can also attest to the "hyperlocal" idea being worthless. Without giving too much away, I proposed a hyperlocal website at my place of employment just over two years ago. Just like everything else, it was dependent on local/area advertising. My proposal, on paper, sounded like a sure thing but even as I read it just minutes ago I realized that, given the current economic environment, the sales figures would never have even come close to the rather conservative dollar amounts I had projected.
And to think that an even more conservative-minded company thinks they can successfully staff and fill multiple hyperlocal news/content websites with anything remotely captivating, much less original, is insane. My project proposal incorporated multiple existing elements and products to it and could still be easily rolled out to other communities/neighborhoods. KSTP's plans, while somewhat unclear, really make no mention of incorporating their suite of niche products to give them further exposure. Hell, I have no idea if KSTP even has any truly worthwhile niche products but I don't expect the websites to be islands of content either.
The mere mention of the KSTP sites containing press releases makes them seem even less valuable. Sure, it's legit information but publishing it in the general news flow immediately devalues any legitimate news the sites may contain. And the plans they have for expanding them to their outstate markets including Duluth-Superior and Austin-Rochester makes even less sense. Those areas are still havens for the newspapers who own those markets. Attempting to launch a competing product under the umbrella of a less-than-reputable name is suicide and KAAL-TV in Austin is considered by residents to be a laughingstock. The station, under the ownership of Hubbard, has virtually abandoned coverage of its home market in favor of the more lucrative Rochester market. That bare-bones operation barely turns a profit as it stands now and further diluting it for the sake of hyperlocal websites which the community newspapers and their websites in the area already cover quite well will ensure that the outstate KSTP hyperlocal websites are the first to be shuttered followed soon after by those in the Twin Cities.
But if KSTP is curious about my well-researched plan and wants to talk to me, I'm more than willing to listen. Let's just say I know the Austin market quite well. Call me...
And while I'm whoring myself out, check out MinnPics. It's the home of the best of the best of Minnesota photography!
Friday, March 05, 2010
Hulu users show their Jay Leno hatred
Hulu's user demographics must vary greatly from those who watch network television in its traditional format or else tripe like Jay Leno wouldn't be on TV - and even Brett Favre can't get me to watch that crapfest. But it is and this list is just one page (out of four) of the tags Hulu users have attached to episodes of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
terrible
horrible
pieceofshit
jerk
washed up hack
bad
wherethefluckisconan
anti-comedy
retirement home entertainment
don't watch this
awful
banality of evil
leno sucks dick
f u c k l e n o
go away jay
gabe's fave
unfunny
no calss
dirtbag
teamconan
imwithcoco
old
joke stealer
hack
we miss conan
betrayer
backstabber
bland
safe jokes for grandma
benedict arnold
judas
not funny at all
unwatchable
must not see tv
depressing
douchebaggery
humorless chin
unfortunate
fail
sellout
failure in the eyes of johnny carson
no good
oprah'sbitch
craptastic
bigjaw
matlockish
complete bull
questionable
washed up
classless
untalented
cry baby
turdsandwich
die in a fire
sad
turd ferguson
stupid
will not watch
rapist
i'm with coco
i want coco
scab
circlecirclecircle
i am old and thus i love jay leno
Check out the rest of the tags and enjoy another 17 years of Jay Leno in late night.
And, seriously, what's with the obligatory American flag lapel pin? Are you running for president Jay?
If photos are your thing, check out MinnPics. It's chock full of the best photos of Minnesota this guy can dig up!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
The state of the internet
The state of the internet
(via) (h/t)
To break down the infographic in a few words, it's not surprising that the biggets internet users are twenty-something with a college education and money in their pockets.
The disturbing part comes in at the average broadband speed area. Japan's broadband is a whopping 12 times faster than that of our country's broadband. If there were one technological advance I'd love to see, it's the goverment downright forcing American cable companies to speed things up while simultaneously lowering prices. $50+ per month to stay connected to a constant flow of information sounds like a damn good bargain on the outside but when you consider the annual costs of a big-market daily newspaper - usually consisting of at least 50 pages - is next to nothing compared to the $600 yearly outlay for internet access.
Sure, online access gives us streaming video, streaming music, photo hosting, social networking and access to not just one newspaper but hundreds of thousands of them from around the world plus millions of blogs - 100 or so of which are actually worth reading (this is one worth reading if you were curious). But for basic usage of those items, users don't pay a dime for access these websites. Unless you factor in the internet access charges - but those funds go to the people who own the wires, not the website owners.
So the real winner is the cable companies. The websites are right there, all we need is a way to view them and that involves access to the internet. Maybe internet access would best be treated as another essential utility like electricity or municipal water. Should we be stifled with relatively slow high speed access and expect to be on the same technological footing as advanced countries (such as Japan)? It's much like expecting a fair race between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and an Amish man from Harmony, MN. The advantage obviously goes to Earnhardt and in this convoluted comparison Earnhardt is Japan and the Amish man is the USA.
We, as a country, can never be competitive against the rest of the world with this disadvantage pillaging our wallets each month.
On the flip side, though, internet access does give you cool blogs to view such as MinnPics. It's a critical favorite which means it's lacking viewers so check out the photos of Minnesota right now!
(via) (h/t)
To break down the infographic in a few words, it's not surprising that the biggets internet users are twenty-something with a college education and money in their pockets.
The disturbing part comes in at the average broadband speed area. Japan's broadband is a whopping 12 times faster than that of our country's broadband. If there were one technological advance I'd love to see, it's the goverment downright forcing American cable companies to speed things up while simultaneously lowering prices. $50+ per month to stay connected to a constant flow of information sounds like a damn good bargain on the outside but when you consider the annual costs of a big-market daily newspaper - usually consisting of at least 50 pages - is next to nothing compared to the $600 yearly outlay for internet access.
Sure, online access gives us streaming video, streaming music, photo hosting, social networking and access to not just one newspaper but hundreds of thousands of them from around the world plus millions of blogs - 100 or so of which are actually worth reading (this is one worth reading if you were curious). But for basic usage of those items, users don't pay a dime for access these websites. Unless you factor in the internet access charges - but those funds go to the people who own the wires, not the website owners.
So the real winner is the cable companies. The websites are right there, all we need is a way to view them and that involves access to the internet. Maybe internet access would best be treated as another essential utility like electricity or municipal water. Should we be stifled with relatively slow high speed access and expect to be on the same technological footing as advanced countries (such as Japan)? It's much like expecting a fair race between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and an Amish man from Harmony, MN. The advantage obviously goes to Earnhardt and in this convoluted comparison Earnhardt is Japan and the Amish man is the USA.
We, as a country, can never be competitive against the rest of the world with this disadvantage pillaging our wallets each month.
On the flip side, though, internet access does give you cool blogs to view such as MinnPics. It's a critical favorite which means it's lacking viewers so check out the photos of Minnesota right now!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Do you get personal at the office?
Here's a serious question. What kind of value, outside of your described duties, do you add to your job? If you are an administrative assistant have you stepped up and taken on additional duties - without being asked - such as shoveling the sidewalk in front of your office? What as the reaction of others at your office?
I ask because in times like these when we're all supposed to just be happy we have a job it seems that behavior is scrutinized - perhaps too much in some instances. For some it is a privacy issue with a work computer or work phone, for others it is internet usage on company time. But what about some fuzzy lines we all encounter? It's nearly impossible to schedule a doctor's appointment on your own time because a doctor, or some reason, has the same office hours as the rest of the universe. So it essentially boils down to taking care of something personal on company time. But does it effect your performance? I remember one episode of "The Office" when Jim called out Dwight as being hypocritical about the whole personal business/company time conundrum. Try it for a day - see if you can go an entire day without doing anything deemed as personal on company time. Then see if you were any more productive than you usually are.
I would venture a guess that you end your day without personal tasks feeling more exhausted. But you also end it having done about the same amount of work, if not less, than you would accomplish with taking some personal time during the course of your work day. Whether you check your personal web e-mail on your office computer, update your Facebook status or blog for a few minutes it gives you a break - outside of your normal break time(s) - from the daily grind and you are more refreshed and focused.
So, what has the situation been? Do you take personal breaks for those little tasks?
Or do you hop on over to MinnPics to see what kind of photographic gems I've dug up?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Is innovation dead?
It's a vague question but in the current rather dire times where the economy seems to be stuck in neutral and you're supposed to "just be happy you have a job at all" it seems that innovation has taken a back seat to survival. When's the last time something at your place of employment was truly an innovation? When was the last time you saw truly innovative programming on one of the big four television networks?
Think about that last one for a minute. This is the year that gave us a second NCIS series on CBS. We were given a spinoff of the animated Family Guy series on FOX. NBC generously gave us a burned out and stale Jay Leno 90 minutes earlier and without a damn desk. ABC even dug up a series from the 80s and re-imagined it - and "V" is back again tonight, it's probably the one retread I actually like. They claim survival is the reason and that this is "what people actually want" but if they were actually in touch they'd know what we truly want or that we're only watching some of those rather pathetic offerings because it's the best of the worst. If they hadn't gone through multiple decades of greed and sure cash, they'd be more willing to innovate.
But it doesn't stop with television. Innovation seems to have come to a standstill in all forms of traditional venues. Radio, outside of The Current locally, sucks. Hell, saying that radio sucks is being generous. Radio, in all its sameness from sea to plastic-filled sea, is less innovative today than it was a decade ago and that's quite a feat.
Most of the blame for the sameness and lack of innovation from traditional venues is placed squarely on the internet. Yes, the internet is a great venue to try an idea for next to nothing in terms of monetary expense but the internet is also vast and can be rather tough to gain traction in terms of what could be considered a mass audience. I have found some success with MinnPics and its unique twist on a photo blog but that's even small potatoes. The big audiences, for whatever reason, still lie with those traditional venues. Maybe it's due to convenience. I can see that because the computer has yet to truly make its way in to the American living room and replace or meld with the television. That time is coming but it will take some level of innovation for a computer/TV hybrid to become mainstream. And then there's the connectivity issue - we're pretty much at the mercy, still, of the cable companies who control high speed internet access. Rather than offer truly high speed access at an affordable price, they price it high enough that it's still cheaper to shell out the bucks for cable television because streaming something full screen is jittery and full of more hiccups than Otis the drunk from good ole' Mayberry, R.F.D.
So while innovation isn't dead it is definitely being stifled by greater powers. After all, if there's money to be made on something old why on Earth would someone spend time, energy and money promoting, developing and being innovative with something new?
Speaking of new, MinnPics has some new photos posted today - even a couple discovered via Twitter. Check it out for yourself.
Think about that last one for a minute. This is the year that gave us a second NCIS series on CBS. We were given a spinoff of the animated Family Guy series on FOX. NBC generously gave us a burned out and stale Jay Leno 90 minutes earlier and without a damn desk. ABC even dug up a series from the 80s and re-imagined it - and "V" is back again tonight, it's probably the one retread I actually like. They claim survival is the reason and that this is "what people actually want" but if they were actually in touch they'd know what we truly want or that we're only watching some of those rather pathetic offerings because it's the best of the worst. If they hadn't gone through multiple decades of greed and sure cash, they'd be more willing to innovate.
But it doesn't stop with television. Innovation seems to have come to a standstill in all forms of traditional venues. Radio, outside of The Current locally, sucks. Hell, saying that radio sucks is being generous. Radio, in all its sameness from sea to plastic-filled sea, is less innovative today than it was a decade ago and that's quite a feat.
Most of the blame for the sameness and lack of innovation from traditional venues is placed squarely on the internet. Yes, the internet is a great venue to try an idea for next to nothing in terms of monetary expense but the internet is also vast and can be rather tough to gain traction in terms of what could be considered a mass audience. I have found some success with MinnPics and its unique twist on a photo blog but that's even small potatoes. The big audiences, for whatever reason, still lie with those traditional venues. Maybe it's due to convenience. I can see that because the computer has yet to truly make its way in to the American living room and replace or meld with the television. That time is coming but it will take some level of innovation for a computer/TV hybrid to become mainstream. And then there's the connectivity issue - we're pretty much at the mercy, still, of the cable companies who control high speed internet access. Rather than offer truly high speed access at an affordable price, they price it high enough that it's still cheaper to shell out the bucks for cable television because streaming something full screen is jittery and full of more hiccups than Otis the drunk from good ole' Mayberry, R.F.D.
So while innovation isn't dead it is definitely being stifled by greater powers. After all, if there's money to be made on something old why on Earth would someone spend time, energy and money promoting, developing and being innovative with something new?
Speaking of new, MinnPics has some new photos posted today - even a couple discovered via Twitter. Check it out for yourself.
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