Connecting in the 21st century

So Sony continues to try and right its Connect ship (which by the way still does not work with Firefox...hmm). Trying to integrate software, services & devices in a compelling consumer proposition is never easy...throw in cultural and organizational barriers and it becomes very difficult indeed [Full disclosue: I worked at Sony Corporate doing Broadband Strategy and System Development for three years from 2001 - 2004]. Enough said. Hopefully, they can come back and become a force in the digital era.

I have also been watching a lot of a new cable channel , ImagineAsian that is the "Asian" channel. So far, there are relatively few Asian-American show but quite a bit of content directly from Asian, in particular Korea. One show in particular has get a hold of me: Winter Sonata. Love the story and the score. And it is very instructive watching the subtitles and matching it to the expressions and mannerisms of the speakers. Gives me an insight into how to interpret Koreans when they speak even though I don't speak their language. Finally, the quite lovely Choi Ji-Woo alternately keeps me hooked and infuriated! As the center of a tug-of-war of 2 guys, she certainly knows how to keep her counsel and keep this elemental struggle bubbling. Well to be fair, her character is written to be quite indecisive in the face of a ton of pressures (friends, family, convention, love). But you just wish she would say something sometimes instead of the long, silent (meaningful!) looks she seems to rely on in a lot of her scences. Certainly has the presence though.

Just some (dense) thoughts

So Disney buys Apple (or is it the other way around?); Icahn wants TimeWarner to shotgun AOL with some "B" level portal player? Who? Why? Steve Jobs tells Microsoft to create their own MP3 player and call it X-Player...Google buys DMarc....my-o-my...these are interesting times indeed. The above is just a sample stories flashing through the ether for one day. What to make of this? Nobody has the answers, but everyone now feels they can't standstill lest they be left unloved and unhitched once the music stops. Onward with the deals.

PS Interesting nugget in the WSJ about Cingular's HSPDA network. They are rolling it out nationwide throughout this year at $60 a month, right in line with Verizon and Sprint. At the speeds they are offering (400k - 700k), if the price of these services drops to the more consumer friendly levels (perhaps as part of a bundle), this could displace the cable modem and DSL business significantly. Unless, the whole video over Web channel really explodes. You got to feel for the cable companies...does Comcast protect its legacy video or cable modem business? If the latter, then it will have to push to get more video content and more consumers of such content over the Web....

Shininess & Storytelling

Interesting Pixar exhibition at MoMA which I plan to see got me to thinking of what goes into a memorable video experience. Pixar might be famous for its CGI work, but what really makes them stand out is their emphasis on having good stories underpin all of their technical wizardry. But when you are investing billions of dollars on display technology, there is an irrestitable urge to talk up all of those "revolutionary" features made possible by your investment. Time to start thinking of the post-HDTV world?

CES Thoughts

So, the big show is over and looking from afar (and not very closely to be honest...I just have not had a lot of time in the past week), it appears the theme for CES is one of refining and optimizing and just getting things to work. About time, methinks. For too long, CES has been the place for grandiose, overly ambituous mind grab annoucements that more often than not, do not lead to actual products that benefit the consumer. The interesting story making the rounds (IMO) was about network owners sending up trial ballons in regard to their attempts to become the new gatekeepers of the online world. This bears close scrutiny for it will affect all of us in some way if they succeed at w hat they are doing.

The Rise of alternative Media Distribution channels

Well, the pre-CES hype is in full gear with annoucements from a host of players including Intel, Skype, Starz, Motorola, Apple and Disney among others. As has been repeated over and over again, the key issues revolve around the particular business model(s) that will work for the various entities along the media value chain. Since, no-one knows for sure what will tickle the consumer's fancy, look to see a flood of experimentation this year as content owners, publishers, service providers, CE gear makers and the like all throw their hat in the ring. You know the iPod/Disney offering had to act as a wake-up call to every incumbent in the media space, given what Apple did in the digital music sector. Of course, the jury is still out on whether or not Apple can strike gold again, but nobody is going to sit around waiting for them (Apple) to fail this time. What should these incumbents be thinking about as they drawn up feverish plans to take over the media world (or at least hold onto their turf in such a world)? Offer value and make it easy to use for the average person. How exactly does one do this? I will share my thoughts on this as the blog grows.

My New Year resolution is to care and tend this blog; this is the first baby step.