Hasta La Vista (Baby)

Microsoft launches Vista into the consumer market today. What seems curious is that there is little or no big print media push on the launch day. I had a look in this morning’s Financial Times and The Irish Times and there are no adverts at all, certainly none of the full-page extravaganzas that you might expect based on previous launches, just some small editorial in the business sections. Somewhere at home, I have kept the edition of the FT from the day that Windows95 was launched. I am working from memory here, but the reason that I held on to it was that not only did Redmond run a four-page centre spread advertorial, but Apple also ran interference with a double page ad for MacOS and IBM ran another double page for OS2/Warp. (Now that takes me back.)
It seem that in today’s marketplace the arrival of a new OS is just not as remarkable an event as it once was, even five years after the previous major iteration of Windows. I imagine that the majority of the consumer market is going to migrate to Vista by upgrading their hardware rather than purchasing the boxed OS off the shelf at PCWorld. I also find myself agreeing with those commentators who predict that this may turn out to be the last big Microsoft OS launch proper, with their future model being one of more frequent incremental iterations pushed out over the internet. The question then arises as to whether the need to create marketable brand identities for OS product releases will evaporate in that future. For example, I do not know whether I am running Gmail 2.6, or Gmail 3.1, or Gmail Ultimate Edition, as it is always just essential Gmail to me. The cloud is always up-to-date.

Rogers On Fourth Generation Media

Ever watch TV? Ever buy a DVD box set? Ever get riled when a TV series you really like gets cancelled due to low ratings?
If so, you will probably be interested in TV screenwriter John Rogers’ recent post on Fourth Generation Media. Its a forward-looking analysis of the potential mediascape, given that the current model for producing and distributing TV content is facing imminent disruption. He is writing about the American TV studios and networks, but since US output makes up most of what little television I watch these days, I find his ongoing analysis of the topic relevant. Also, whatever way the new evolved business model eventually pans out over there will ultimately migrate around the rest of the world to a greater or lesser degree. What or who shall be networks in the future? It is an interesting question to pose, and I like the way he works through it. (It is a good long post so have a coffee to hand while you read it.)
Delicious Tags: 4GM | TV | Television
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Viral Bennymation

Over on KingKongsFinger, Benny has posted a quirky short animation he has created. It is based on that Garda Station prank phone call viral audio that has been doing the rounds recently, and was covered in the media over the weekend. There is an admirable flavour of Flann O’Brien to his piece. (Watch out for the bemused cow near the end.) It will be interesting to see how this animated version fares — it is definitely YouTube-friendly.

Postscript: After getting a lot of coverage, primarily in Bloggorah, but on many other blogs, the server in Galway that hosts Benny's site has more or less been slash-dotted, and the above link will return a 404. There is a lower-resolution version of the short on YouTube. There have been over 9,000 views as of 30 January 2007. Way to go Benjamin!

DeepStream In Time Magazine

The December edition of European Time magazine ran a strong profile of Mark Crosier and DeepStream, a client of mine. After having had the benefit a couple of years to grok the overall principles of their fascinating technology, I do not envy the journalist who had to summarise the core ideas into an 450-word article, on a deadline. Great to see DeepStream getting this press.
I still look forward to seeing that notional day when the DS monogram that I created for them becomes as ubiquitous as, say, the Bluetooth symbol is today.

iPhone, uPhone, We All Phone

Seemingly Apple launched a mobile phone this week. You may have read about it. But seriously...
The rumour mill has been predicting the iPhone ever since the video iPod was announced. Apple’s watertight communications policy meant that no hints or leaks were forthcoming from Cupertino. Astute tech journalists were able to piece together some possible details about the product from analysis of Apple’s recent patent applications. Industry chatter about material orders and production schedules of the various Asian subcontractors provided more information. The notional phone was a recurring conversation topic on TWiT for weeks. Such is to state that what was being announced on Tuesday was surely the worst-kept secret in the tech industry.

But when what was still, by definition, a rumour can have a material effect on the telecommunications sector, I believe that is worth taking note of. Like it or not, varying degrees of rumour and gossip are strong currency within the blogosphere. Much more so than in traditional media. It therefore seems worthwhile thinking about how organisations, or individuals for that matter, manage their reputation within such an environment. Carefully crafted statements and press releases are increasing worth very little in the face of the collective opinion and the wisdom of the crowds.

Another fascinating aspect of his iPhone story is just the shear volume of online coverage and commentary that it has generated, and far beyond the usual Apple advocates. Nearly every blog that I read regularly has posted something about it this week. And this is not just tech blogs: I am talking about a broad spectrum of marketing blogs, branding blogs, graphic design blogs, web design blogs and a few literary author’s blogs in the mix as well. (This could equally just reflect on the fact that 95% of the blogs I read are written by white males with some in-built geeky pro-gadget bias.) More to the point, this has to be the first time I can recall a product announcement getting a full-page article in the editorial spread of The Irish Times. But for just plain silliness it will be hard to top the link I received for Kottke’s iPhone size comparison post with photos of a cut-out iPhone placed beside similar products. Unintentionally hilarious.

Delicious Tags: iPhone | Apple | Mobile
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