“Oh wow!” The loss of Steve Jobs was the media story of 2011
27 December 2011 · By Steve Nilan
“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.” Steve Jobs’ last words were a fitting exclamation point on a remarkable life. His final utterance might also be an appropriate reaction to Time magazine’s decision to name “The Protester” as the 2011 Person of the Year. It’s a provocative choice that fired up conversations from the water cooler to the talk-show airwaves.
My money was on Steve Jobs. Apparently I wasn’t alone. He was on the short list in Time’s Reader Poll. I imagine that Time’s editors must have factored in that Jobs died just two months ago. The eulogies and accolades are still too fresh in our minds. Let’s suspend cynicism and believe that the protester won on merit, without the consideration that another Steve Jobs cover might not sell as many copies.
Jobs’ legacy is how he applied elegant technology and a strong will to reshape the world of digital media. From music (iTunes) to movies (Pixar and iMovies) to news (iPad) to software (apps) to personal communications (iPhone), Jobs has impacted global industries and the lives of millions. Some might argure his impact was not all positive. Beyond Jobs-led technology breakthroughs and elevated user experiences, he pioneered digital media business models. iTunes is the coolest US99-cent store on the planet. Despite onerous terms for publishers, the App Store has forever changed our digital consumption patterns.
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Can you exploit a 150-year head start in the media decathlon?
18 September 2011 · By Steve Nilan
At this summer’s World Masters Athletics Championships in California, I expected to see ex-athletes trying to relive their past glory in track and field. Instead I was awestruck to see 90-year-old men and women competing with the grit and muscle of true athletes.
It was inspiring to see the competitive fire driving more than 4,800 athletes from 93 countries to world records in age groups from 35 to 101 years old. They are champions and deserve our respect yet they could not compete head-to-head with world class athletes who are in their prime. These World Masters would need a huge head start to have any chance of medaling.
Our industry faces a similar competitive scenario. Newspapers built a big lead with a century-old brand and a dominant competitive spirit. Some would argue that we’ve squandered our head start to a generation of upstarts. Still, in most local markets, the daily newspaper maintains a market share lead over other media outlets. The market challenge remains: how can we build on our advantages and dominate?
If media competition could be compared to an Olympic event, what would it be? The marathon? The 100 meter dash? The decathlon? We have excelled at the slow but steady pace of the media marathon. After all, most dominant newspapers were founded more than 150 years ago and have enjoyed a long and profitable run. Now the rules of the game have changed forever.
...[more]J-School at Hogwarts offers lessons from the “Potterverse”
15 August 2011 · By Blaine Sundrud
I taught speech, film and theatre in an Arizona high school for a few years before coming full-time to the news industry. While I was teaching, I had one of the greatest compliments a teacher ever received when one of my students came to me dejectedly and declared: “Mr. Sundrud, you have ruined movies for me. I can’t watch them anymore without thinking, and I hate thinking during movies.”
It was hard for my student to realise that he was asking himself why we like something, or why something just doesn’t work for us, rather than just simply liking it.
This brings me to the recent release of the end of the Harry Potter film series. Like them or not, most people have opinions on the series as a whole. However, if you separate the books from the films, you get an interesting dichotomy.
Most people either like the books as a collective work, or they don’t (if you got past Book 3, odds are you fell under the “I liked it” category). But the films individually spanned the range of reactions from, “breathtaking,” to “abysmal,” even from fans of the Potterverse (can I use that term?).
Sean Means from The Salt Lake Tribune recently published an excellent series recap of the eight films. In the article, he not only re-grades each film as standalone art (Means forced himself to never read the books until all the films were released), but ranked the films against each other.
...[more]After 100 years, Mark Twain offers insight on branding, audience and paid content
18 July 2011 · By Steve Nilan
The reports of Mark Twain’s death may have been greatly exaggerated during his lifetime. I have a new theory: maybe those in the rumour mill just wanted to speed up the publication of his autobiography.
Twain had left strict instructions that his autobiography remain unpublished for 100 years after his death, when he would be free to speak his “whole frank mind.” He didn’t want to offend his contemporaries with some of his scalding opinions.
He also predicted, “There may be a market for that kind of wares a century from now.” Right on schedule and right on the money, 2010 marked the 100th anniversary of his death, and saw the release of the Autobiography of Mark Twain, The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Vol. 1.
It quickly became the surprise publishing hit of the year. The University of California Press had to scramble after the initial run of 7,500 was snapped up overnight as the 736-page book raced to the top of the bestseller lists. I just finished reading the 4 MB digital edition on my Kindle, which would have delighted Twain — as long as he got paid his royalties.
...[more]Chasing ’appiness and Angry Birds outside the AppStore
25 April 2011 · By Steve Nilan
With the iPad 2, Steve Jobs has literally doubled-down Apple’s advantage in the tablet game. While the rest of the pack continues to scramble to keep up, the iPad 2 added just enough feature freshness to maintain its lead. If Apple’s innovation and marketing fade with a weakened Jobs, they are always ready to lawyer-up to defend their advantage. (This just in: Apple announced it is suing Samsung for patent violation and design plagiarism on the iPad and iPhone.)
Apple’s biggest business challenge is keeping up with demand. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, told analysts this week that the company is facing the “mother of all backlogs” with the iPad 2. That’s a problem the other tablet players don’t even worry about. How many people have you heard say, “Forget the iPad, I’ve got to get a Xoom or a Galaxy!” Not many, I’ll bet. There’s no denying the seductive power of Apple’s cool factor and marketing savvy.
In the tablet race, Apple is lapping the field right now but the race is far from over. Apple’s sustainable advantage isn’t its technology (unless its lawyers successfully trip-up the competition). The real Apple core is its iTunes engine powering the AppStore. The 65,000 iPad apps and 350,000 iPhone apps dwarf the other platforms. Apple also has enjoyed a four-year head start in the app race.
This is all about to change. The reason is HTML5. It’s the great equaliser that makes it possible to create spectacular apps in a Web browser. With HTML5, apps are freed from the confines of the AppStore while providing everything Flash does — with the promise of less power consumption on mobile devices, too. Since HTML5 apps avoid the AppStore landlord’s cut, you could say that they are automatically 30% better for publishers.
...[more]Tools for controlling the digital deluge
21 March 2011 · By Blaine Sundrud
As journalists, the “Digital Newsroom” provides us many real-time methods to keep information flowing to our consumers. Constantly updating RSS streams, SMS alerts and vibrant networking tools keep us in front of our readers throughout the day.
But those real-time, high-speed delivery methods don't match up with enterprise-class journalism. As a consumer, I find that great writing requires me to have some time to dedicate to reading the content, following the links, and digging through the talkback in order to really digest the material. So I need to set that particularly fabulous story aside until I have cleared my daily task list.
Obviously, that's easy to do with my print subscription; I just pull that page out and set it on the counter. I can read it later before heading to bed.
But what about my digital world?
Here is what I don't want:
- I don't want to have an ever growing list of “favorites” in my browser that becomes unmanageable. I don't know for certain if I like the story in the first place, so why should I call it my “favorite?”
- I certainly don't want to “like” it on Facebook or tweet it to myself for the same reason.
- Storing a folder of links is absurd.
Newsmedia companies in primary position to capitalise on strength of communities
24 January 2011 · By Richard Hall
Commentators have suggested that it was a WikiLeak that brought demonstrators to the streets of Tunisia last week. Those demonstrations have driven out the President and brought about a new government.
It goes to show what a community can do, when working together.
The organisations that are strong — be they a political party, a church, a special interest club, a manufacturer (e.g. Apple), a print publication or a Web site — are those that have developed a strong sense of community, a loyal membership. Customers are more than just customers. They are fans, and therefore have a sense of community. Of sharing, working, and being together.
Newsmedia organisations now realise the need for community. Local news, with photos of the people and places you know, brings a sense of “togetherness” and loyalty. Special interest and hyper-local Web sites encourage online community.
...[more]Not many shopping days left: give the gift of news
13 December 2010 · By Richard Hall
For those of us living in the northern hemisphere, winter has arrived and shops are ready for Christmas. In the southern hemisphere, it is spring, but the shops are also prepared for Christmas. In any season, they want your money.
December 25th is celebrated as Christmas Day by many of the world's population, whether as a religious festival or not. For the lucky ones, the festivities are shared with friends and family — cards and gifts are given and received. It is also a time when consumer-directed advertising increases and businesses try hard to persuade us to buy their products.
I remember one recent December in Communist China, being surprised to see shop assistants wearing Santa Clause hats, and their shops brightly decorated. The Chinese know a commercial opportunity when they see one!
...[more]How a Thanksgiving recipe that tastes better than being thin relates to newspapers
22 November 2010 · By Blaine Sundrud
Thanksgiving is upon us, which for the United States means a massive feast designed to put a crimp in your belt size. Thanksgiving is my holiday.
Folks who have been to my house know that cooking the big holiday meal is something I live for. “Blaine's Famous Mashed Potatoes,” have been at the heart of our Thanksgivings. While the recipe leaves the folks at WeightWatchers reeling at the salad bars, my older daughter has declared that it “tastes better than being thin.”
Now, if you were hoping for a cooking column, you will have to wait to the end to actually get my elusive recipe. As I was getting ready to begin my culinary adventure, I was reminded that some things are better than being thin. As an industry, we have been on a drive to “get thin.” We've cut costs and reduced staffs everywhere we could. The need was clear but in some cases, we may have taken the need to reduce to unhealthy levels.
Here are three special ingredients I believe we should be adding to the newspaper success recipe to keep readers from pushing away from the table.
...[more]Newspapers can learn lessons in relevance from drive-ins and MadMen
11 October 2010 · By Steve Nilan
There's a drive-in movie theatre near where I live in northern California. It's the classic outdoor theatre where we took our now college-age kids when they were too young and fidgety for the cineplex.
I'm not a nostalgic person, but the drive-in evokes memories of an era that was simple and quaint. It was a cheap family night out. Kids were free. You sat in the comfort of your own car and could bring your own snacks. In the “modern” version you could even listen to the movie over your own radio.
It's all a nice memory, but we haven't been back to the drive-in for nearly two decades.
A sign caught my eye when I drove by the old Sacramento 6 Drive-In recently. On the back of one of their huge outdoor screens, they had hung a banner that simply said: “Still Open.” The message was sad and seemed more than a little desperate. It was the polar opposite of “Grand Opening!” and a lot closer to announcing “Contrary to popular belief, we are not quite out of business!”
Drive-ins long ago lost their relevance and are the media equivalent of a rock-and-roll nostalgia act. If you're like me, when you see that someone like Chubby Checker is coming to your town, your first thought is, “Wow, is he still alive?” (For the record, the answer is “yes” and Chubby is twisting all over North America right now.)
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