They Just Don't Get It

As I read this story in BusinessWeek tonight, I found it interesting how this writer presents the players on the online video stage like highlanders locked in epic battle for the hearts and minds of the online viewer (who we all know is not capable of regularly watching video from more than one source) - THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!

He fails to recognize the niche each of these providers fills. YouTube's name says it all. It is a brave new world in which ordinary people with creative concepts (or many times, sufficiently strange concepts) can become celebrities without the sanction of a studio or being discovered by the powers that be. The powers that be in that world are more people just like you and me. Enough people watch and --POW!!!-- you're a star. YouTube is also a great place to interact with thousands of people on topics of common interest like religion, politics, or music just to name a few. You can exchange video responses or comments if you like the interaction or just sit back and watch and listen if you don't. It can also be a great place to spread the word about your cause or product.

Hulu, on the other hand, is a place where people can watch that episode of their favorite show that they missed this week because they've decided that people are more important than TV. Perhaps they took this new-found freedom from the network programming schedule formerly reserved for those who can afford digital cable and a DVR and they went to aunt bernice's 60th birthday party to show they care. Hulu is the perfect solution for these viewers; viewers who just so happen to be the same viewers who at other times are surfing YouTube. Hulu does have the potential to be the end of another media outlet but YouTube's not the one that should be worried. Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon along with any other local cable and dish TV providors are the ones who need to be concerned about Hulu. I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to cancel cable. Every show I watch regularly is available on Hulu. I don't watch many and I'm probably not the typical TV watcher; however, as its selections continue to grow, it won't be long before every cable customer's tastes will find satisfaction on Hulu.

As for Apple's iTunes rental model, neither of the previously mentioned services brings the majority of newly released movie rentals to your living room, ready for viewing at the click of your mouse for less than it would cost to get in the car and drive to blockbuster to rent your movie; not that I've done that since I discovered redbox...but that's an entirely different post. Apple's rental system has much room for improvement but it's just so easy to use that it still gets my business over the video store (though redbox is giving it a run for our money).

In other words, the BusinessWeek story seems to give a pretty flat view of online video. You have to recognize that YouTube has really created a whole new medium; it's not just online video. Hulu is the new cable. It's the online version of the cable box or satellite dish. And iTunes (perhaps along with other online rental services like Netflix or Amazon) has become the video rental store of online video. I recognize that my description  of the online video landscape also runs the risk of over simplifying it but my point is that there is room for more than one online video source.

Eventually, each could grow and begin to cannibalize the other's territory but as it stands now, there is plenty of room for each to continue growing and doing what they do best. As one who views all three on a regular basis, I'd compare being faced with a choice of one over the other to a choice between MS Word, Quicken , or Outlook. They're all software but they have very distinct uses. I want all three. I predict that YouTube, Hulu, and iTunes rentals will peacefully co-exist for a long time to come. In technology chronology, "a long time" means at least a year or two.

Don't Get Kromked

If you use Facebook, then you've probably gotten a direct message from a friend asking you to visit kromked.net. It should go without saying, but DON'T!

You should ALWAYS be suspicious of cryptic messages like this one. In fact, that's a good reason to not be cryptic in messages you send. Spell out what you mean when messaging your friends. In a day where we are being conditioned to communicate in 140 characters or less, this IS a message that bears repeating.

There's not much out there yet about this kromked spam but I did find a description of what happens if you click the link at www.islandcrisis.net.  The author says that basically nothing happened, nothing obvious that is.

Even as a mac user, I am not going to let my curiosity get the best of me. It killed the cat, you know. Just say no to kromked.net.

UPDATE: Kurt from has www.islandcrisis.net has been posting updates about this and has proposed an interesting theory about what the scheme might be. Click on over for the update.

Welcome to Grand Haven, Michigan

This past summer, my wife and I took the kids to a little town right on Lake Michigan called Grand Haven. What a great decision that was. It was just a day trip but what a day! We spent the afternoon at the beach which was beautiful...and surprisingly not that crowded. We must have been there on an off week or just the right time of day.

Then we decided to go a few blocks into town to get something to eat. It was the coolest town. It had all kinds of cool little shops like you'd expect in a little tourist town. There were the ones with every novel toy you could think of, the "Michigan Souvenirs" shops, the clothing stores, and several places to eat. There was also a really great surf and skate shop. While one of my daughters and I priced a new deck and hardware for her, we struck up a conversation with the owner. I told him I noticed he had a new iMac on his counter and asked him if he was using it for his POS system (you didn't think this was really just a post about my vacation did you?). He said he used it for everything but POS. He tracked inventory and all his numbers and orders on it. We geeked out for a minute and then we were on our way.

After that, I began to notice iMacs in just about every shop we entered. Even the Pizza & Sub shop we ate in had one on the front counter where you give your order. I wanted to re-read the sign we passed entering the city. Did that say Grand Haven or Mac Heaven? It was like everyone had attended a Kool-Aid convention and been converted. And the people were all so nice. The prices were all bargains. I can't think of a negative thing to say about that perfect little town. Maybe my judgment is clouded a little, but I still think you should consider visiting Mac Heaven, er-I mean Grand Haven-at least once. I think you'll find it second only to Cupertino.

Mosquito

Some time ago, I came across this mp3 called "mosquito tone." It is a recorded tone at a frequency just high enough to be out of reach for most ears past the age of about 18 years old. When I first read the explanation, I didn't believe it. However, after testing it out on my three daughters, I'm a believer. As if that's not funny enough, the story of how it is being used is pretty funny too.

The story goes that the sound was designed to be used by merchants as a way to keep teenagers from loitering around their stores. They should've known that the tech generation would find a use more to their own advantage. Young people have commandeered the tone for use on their phones and wireless devices. Using the Mosquito tone, kids can receive calls and text messages in class without the teacher's old ears ever getting the signal. Clever! Devious, but clever! You can read more details about how it works here.

Call the younger people in your house into the room and test it out for yourself. It's like taking the hearing test. They'll love that they can hear it and you can't. Enjoy!

This Could Change Everything

Okay, not really everything. But I do think it has the potential to change the way Americans think about their phones. Having worked for a major wireless carrier, I would say that we tend to think of wireless in terms of carriers whereas much of the rest of the world thinks in terms of device and functionality. In the US we have created this monster called the "free phone" that has really affected the sales strategies and design paths in wireless. I think that the iPhone has the potential to shake up the wireless industry in much the same way as the iPod and iTunes Store has shaken up the recording industry.

It will likely be gradual and greatly resisted by Big Wireless. Nevertheless, if just a fraction of the wireless user base in the US gets a taste of what can really be done when the carriers dial back the restrictions, and when Apple's sweet marriage of beautiful hardware and uncomplicated software reels them in, there could be a tidal wave of change that eventually sweeps away old carrier-centric paradigms and replaces them with new user-centric models. It's way more complicated than that but I can't get away from the similarities between the effects of the iPod/iTunes Store on the music industry and the potential effects of the iPhone on the wireless industry.

Anyway, if you haven't already, you should watch the new iPhone ads. They're really great. If you didn't want one already, you're gonna. Just imagine in three weeks when you can actually go to the Apple store and try one out. I'm not a prophet, but I really think this thing is going to be huge! Apple's stock went up this week, apparently just from the announcement of a hard release date.

A friend commented to me that his wife saw the commercials early this week and said, "I want that!" I have been sold since it was just an unconfirmed rumor, but I'm convinced that the world of non-geeks is just getting a glimpse of what could be an industry changing device. In about two months we'll see the beginnings. I think a year from now, we'll really have an idea of the impact (or lack thereof) made by the iPhone.

What Will They Think of Next?

Please don't ask why I did this. I don't know. I couldn't help it!

http://www.myheritage.com

Rumor Has It...

I happened across this funny rumor generator at applegazette.com the other day. I think it needs more options in columns 4 and 7. The funny this is, otherwise, it could probably do as good of a job as several of the real rumor sites. Give it a try.

Who Knew?

I had to follow up my post about twitter with this update. I actually have a friend in my twitter profile now. Who knew dark lords like to twitter!?

Kinda Cool, Kinda Creepy

Some of you may have noticed in my sidebar lately there has been a box labeled "what I am doing..." As your geekbert, I feel it is my duty to apprise you of the latest fads and trends in the world of geekery. Twitter is one of these fads. Think "away message without the chat session."

In the "olden days" (last year), the kids would spend hours typing abbr.'d messages to each other (was chatting thought up by a junior high girl who was grounded from the phone?) and then when they had to go away from the computer, they'd put up an away message for fun or just so their friends know they're not available.

Twitter is kind of like combining the away message with the chat session to make a third something called the twitter. You post what you're doing at any given time and anyone following your posts gets the message. You can choose to receive your friends' updates in three ways: you can go to their twitter page, you can have them emailed to you, or you can have them sent as a text message to your mobile number. You can also post updates by texting them to 40404 once you've signed up for an account.

So now you're asking yourself, "Why would I want this?" Good question. I've thought of two reasons I could use it. First, I think it could be a fun way to keep in touch with your closest friends. Imagine you're having a rough day and all of a sudden you get a text from your close friend that says, "Ew! There's a hair in my Big Mac!" That would brighten my day. If you are in the pre-parent stage of life, it would also be fun to send an update that says something like, "Lunch at Tim's Deli; last one there buys!"

Then there's the professional geek reason. I turned on the option to have my posts appear on the public timeline. Yes, you can actually go to twitter's public timeline and just watch posts from all over the world about what people are doing. Believe it or not, a lot of people to that. It's kinda creepy, actually. Anyway, you'll notice that I will frequently be listed as "geeking out at www.geekbert.net." I'm trying to get people with nothing better to do than read twitter posts on the public timeline to see this blog. If they have time to twitter-gawk, then perhaps they might like to read geekbert.

If you check my twitter profile, you'll see I have no friends. Don't worry; I've gotten used to it. I'm happy to just use it as a tool for shameless self-promotion. However, if you feel compelled to rescue me from this lonely existence and become my friend, let me know you've signed up and I'll add you to my list. Just remember to make your posts private if you'd like to keep them from appearing on the public timeline (unless you too would like some shameless self-promotion).

iBrella?

Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Check out the internet umbrella. If they get it to sync with iTunes and iCal, I'll consider it. Thanks to Dan for this little nugget.

O Fone

Worlds Collide

I read a funny post about Windows Vista the other day. Oddly enough, it wasn't on any of the tech blogs which I usually read. Instead, it was a blog to which my wife's blog links called Daring Young Mom. The particular post that made me laugh was about her getting a new laptop and Vista with it. Her description of all the versions of Vista was great:

"Apparently you can buy several versions of Microsoft Windows Vista – Toddler, Student, Dropout, Home, Vacation Home, Feckless Slacker, Bidness, Successful Bidness, and ULTIMATE."

Tonight, when I saw the new "Choose a Vista" ad on TV, it reminded me of Daring Young Mom's post and I asked my wife if she'd read it. She looked at me like I'd told her I borrowed her underwear and asked, "You mean the one on Daring Young Mom?" I guess I didn't realize that it was not common for geeks to read mom blog's. I hope some mom's read my geek blog. I hope that one day, moms and geeks will read each other's blogs, now that we know the two can cross with out the universe collapsing in on itself.

From the Highest of Heights

I was totally stoked yesterday to receive an invite to the invite-only Joost Beta from Mariano over at www.onemanstartup.com. There's been a lot of buzz about Joost lately in podland and the blogosphere. I didn't think it likely that I would receive an invite since I didn't know anyone who was already "in." Well, Mariano was kind enough to send one my way after I commented on his blog.

I clicked the link and began downloading the beta software. Sweet! New technology, exclusive sneak peak, free of charge!!! Does it get much better for a geek of my stature? It's almost too good to be true.

As the software downloaded I noticed a note on the download page that read: Currently, Joost runs only on the latest Macintosh computers equipped with Intel processors. Uuuuugggh! Both my Powerbook and iMac are Pre-Intel. Drats, foiled again! One day, after I grow rich from my blogging and vlogging revenues, I will keep only the most current technology and be able to use all the latest software and gadgets. I will, I tell you!

Make Up My Mind!

Have you ever made plans to take the family out for dinner and you can't decide where to go? Or maybe you eat out a lot and it really doesn't matter, you just need to pick a place. You need Dine-O-Matic, a free Dashboard Widget from iconfactory.com. It's a great idea for the office that likes to eat out together but can never agree on a place to go.

To set it up, you just enter your favorite places to eat (enter the phone numbers too to make ordering easy). And then whenever you need help deciding, just click the blue plate and leave the rest to providence. It's a cool little widget and did I mention it's FREE. Oh, I did? I really like that about it. You can watch the video below to see it in action. Bon Appetit!

Snopes the Pastor

Obviously, technology is rapidly changing the way we live. It even affects how we do things like church. Some of the impacts of technology in church are obvious like microphones, speakers, and video projectors. Here's an interesting way in which technology impacted my experience at a theology conference I attended today.

As I listened to the pastor's sermon, one of his illustrations intrigued me. He mentioned the concept of sympathetic resonance. I had never heard of it. Intuitively, I exited Documents to Go on my Treo 650 and opened the browser to Wikipedia and looked up sympathetic resonance. I read the article, switched back to the MyBible app, and rejoined the sermon still in progress. Some might think that such portable connectivity is a dangerous distraction. For me it was a way to put that curiosity to rest in my mind so that I could better focus on the rest of the message. I guess it's all in how you use it.

A side note: one of the speakers was using his PDA's Bible app as his Bible while he preached (I've done this on occasion). I loved it when he held up his PDA (it was in a black case...which made it look somewhat like a Bible) and said, "This is God's Word!" We all knew what he meant. :-)

Survey Says...

Do you use the iTunes Store? I do. I have bought music there for a few years now. Recently, I have even bought TV Shows there. I haven't bought any movies there yet.

This is kinda old news but I wonder what the man on the street thinks. I read an article a few weeks ago about Apple considering adding a subscriptions based service to the iTunes Store. There are several services like this out already including the new Microsoft Zune Marketplace. Currently, the iTunes Store sells songs either a-la-carte or by the album. Once you buy it, you own it like you would a physical CD. The subscription model would allow you to pay a monthly fee and have access to unlimited downloads. The catch is that when you quit your subscription, all your music goes away.

I'm curious. How many of you already use the iTunes store. Whether or not you use it already, would the availability of a subscriptions based service affect your use or none use? Chime in and let us know what you think.

Introducing The Book

I'm telling you, I know I've helped this guy sync his PDA when I worked at FranklinCovey.

Bum Rush the Charts

If you haven't heard, a really interesting culutral/economic experiment took place this past week. On March 22nd, the new media set out to show the powers that be in the music industry that there's power with the people. This demonstration of populace power has been dubbed Bum Rush the Charts.

People all over the web encouraged their readers/viewers to log in to the iTunes store on March 22 and buy a specific song by an unsigned artist. The desired result would be that this unsigned artist would find a place in the industry charts (a feat many signed artist propelled by a powerful and well funded machine are unable to accomplish).

By the sheer will and cooperation of the people, the mission was accomplished. The song reached #11 in the US for Rock Songs, #2 in the Netherlands, #10 in Canada. Wow! There's just something satisfying about sticking it to the man. It's ironic that "the man" is the rock'n roll music industry. Welcome to the technological revolution.