Brindle Media

Archive for the ‘video’ Category

I was saddened to learn of the untimely death of yet another member of the music community, The Bee Gee’s Robin Gibb. Robin and Barry had been the two survivors of the four Gibb brothers. The youngest brother, Andy, died tragically at the age of 30. Robin’s twin, Maurice, passed away in 2003. Now, of those four talented brothers, only Barry remains.

My only personal encounter with the Bee Gees was in an elevator at 30 Rock. I was then working at WNBC Radio. The Bee Gees were the musical guests that week on Saturday Night Live in the wake of their huge success with the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack. One afternoon, I was heading back down to the radio station on the second floor from the seventh floor commissary and, when I stepped into the elevator, found myself alone with the three Gibb brothers.

Fortunately, I was feeling more glib than shy at that particular moment so, as they looked at me and I at them, I smiled and asked: “Are you boys all behaving yourselves?”. They seemed to enjoy the engagement and we all laughed and bantered a bit during the brief five floor elevator ride. I immediately liked them all. Despite the fact that they were, at that point in their careers, huge and wealthy stars (and not yet the objects of derision by the tragically hip), they were unselfconscious and very likable.

For some reason, I felt the strongest connection with Robin. It might have been his eye contact or something that he said. Whatever it was, although I was favorably impressed with both Barry and Maurice, my reaction following that five floor 30 Rock elevator ride was that I liked Robin Gibb best.

Although I still enjoy hearing “Stayin’ Alive”, my favorite Bee Gees hits tend to be the early ballads. I’d never given much thought to who sang lead on their songs so it was a little surprising to learn that Robin Gibb had sung lead on some of my favs, “Gotta Get A Message To You”, “Massachusetts”, and “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart”.

I was impressed with this report aired on NPR’s “Morning Edition” following the announcement of Robin’s death: http://n.pr/LcZHdV

R.I.P, Robin Gibb. Thank you for your music and the memories.

The Frugal Dad blog recently posted this infographic which traces the development of technologies which have disrupted culture, society, or our daily lives. What do you see here that’s directly impacted your life?

Source: FrugalDad

My philosophy is that “it’s all about stories”.

Data is just information. But information doesn’t really mean anything until it’s in formation in the form of a story.

For some reason, we Americans tend to be geographically ignorant. Maybe that’s because our maps have been boring. That’s about to change. Check out Dave Imus’ award-winning Essential Geography of the United States of America.

The Experian Simmons annual survey of this year’s favorite TV shows ranked by political philosophy has been released. (Note that Independents and Libertarians aren’t listed.)

Conservatives’ Favs

1. Barrett-Jackson Auction
2. This Old House
3. The 700 Club
4. Swamp Loggers
5. Top Shot
6. The Bachelor
7. Castle

Liberals’ Favs

1. The Daily Show
2. Colbert Report
3. Masterpiece
4. 30 Rock
5. Parks and Recreation
6. The View
7. Glee

Your thoughts?

If you like Michael Crichton’s novels, you’ll like Daniel H. Wilson’s sci-fi story about artificial intelligence gone wild. As I was listening to the audiobook, I thought “I can see the movie already”. Turns out that Steven Spielberg is producing an adaptation for release in summer 2013. The CG guys will have a blast making this film and it will be interesting (and ironic) to see how advanced the computer graphics technology will be by the time of the movie’s release.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1541155/

The plot is pretty simple. We humans are depending a lot more on computer driven robots and machines in our daily lives. A scientist creates a device, Archos whose artificial intelligence is so great that it creates self-determination, goes rogue, takes control of all the world’s computer-driven machines, and starts annihilating the human population. A definite page-turner.

Since reading this book, I’ve seen the documentary “Transcendental Man” about Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil is a fascinating scientist/academic/futurist who talks about how the information we have & our technological capacities double every couple of years. He believes that during the lifetimes of many people who are now alive humans and robots will become merged with the release of nanorobots into our bloodstreams. This nanotechnology will enhance our mental and physical capacities to the point where we will evolve into a new species. Of course, hearing Kurzweil speak about this utopian vision reminded me of Robopocalypse.

In fact, Hugo de Garis appears in the documentary to dispute Kurzeil’s vision and warns of an “Artilect War” which is at the core of the story in Robopocalypse. Click between to watch a debate between de Garis and J. Storrs Hall about the two different visions:

Engineered Utopia or Artilect War? from Jeriaska on Vimeo.

August 1st, 1981 was a day which ushered in a transformation not only for a music industry suffering from the “Disco Sucks” backlash but also for television.

MTV: Music Television was the first TV channel created specifically for a lifestyle.

The radio industry had been forced into creating niche boutique formats targeted at specific psychographic audiences by the growth of FM as a viable broadcast distribution channel. The number of listener choices on the radio dial were significantly increased.

Meanwhile, the television landscape of 1981 resembled that of radio in the 1950s and 60s. CBS, ABC and NBC dominated and under their big tents were a variety of program types appealing to a broad spectrum of lifestyles and age groups ranging from the cradle to the grave.

Cable TV distribution was still in its infancy. HBO became the first viable cable channel as a destination for uncensored movies. However, there wasn’t much else driving significant audiences to cable TV from the broadcast networks.

In the late 70s/early 80s, American Express created a marketing plan for its Gold Card which was targeted at the affluent Baby Boom generation. Part of that plan was the company’s partnership with Warner Communications to create WarnerAmex and their brainchild was a shopping network named QUBE. The concept was simple: viewers would see products showcased on QUBE and use their AMEX Gold Card to buy them.

But before they could launch QUBE, WarnerAmex needed to encourage more Americans to sign up for cable TV. In the early 1980s, the cable industry was dominated by small, local companies rather than multi-system operators (MSOs). It wasn’t unusual for the cable operation to be running out of a local mom & pop hardware store. The industry may have been able to lay cable throughout their communities, accounting for “homes passed” but not many of those homes were actual cable subscribers.

To encourage Americans to become basic cable subs, WarnerAmex created three networks: The Movie Channel to compete with HBO, Nickeldeon to attract the Sesame Street crowd, and MTV: Music Television. Expectations for these channels weren’t all that high. Essentially, they were dog & pony shows offered free to encourage increased use of cable TV and to set up the introduction of the big money machine, QUBE.

Unfortunately for WarnerAmex, the company spent too much time tweaking and researching their product. So, in 1985 , the Home Shopping Network launched and QUBE went into the history books as the cable TV industry’s version of the Edsel.

However, MTV: Music Television began to catch on at least in the markets which could get it. Viewers in places like Albany (NY) and Peoria (IL) were mesmerized by the new video music channel. Parents and their teenagers gathered around the tube and discussed the videos. It was, to quote the sagacious Sly Stone, “a family affair”.

Oddly, music industry executives in New York and LA weren’t all that interested. They’d heard about this new fledgling cable channel but they couldn’t see it. MTV wasn’t available on the cable systems serving New York City and LA. So, for its first two years of operation, MTV was pretty much off their radar screen.

The Michael Jackson phenomenon changed all that as did the introduction of MTV onto the New York and LA cable systems late in 1983 which resulted in network TV and national magazine coverage. The channel’s brand continued to grow throughout the 80s and 90s. The sales department won more arguments about the ratings value of long-form programming versus short-form music videos. “Real World”, “Beavis & Butthead”, and other long-form show continued to encroach on the channel’s schedule real estate making less time available for music videos until MTV could no longer refer to itself as “Music Television”, at least not without its tongue in its cheek, and the channel evolved into what it is today.

MTV’’s approach to targeting a specific lifestyle group was similar to what the social media world today refers to as “communities of like-minded end users”. MTV’s Bob Pittman used to say that the channel was about “fashion”. And, whether it’s fashion in the sense of clothing styles, in the sense of an individual’s overall tastes and preferences, or in the sense of a collective group’s tastes and preferences, MTV opened the door and led the way for successors like BET, E!, Bravo, Lifestyle, CMT, The Comedy Network and OWN. Meanwhile, the audience segmentation and changes in expectations created by these highly targeted networks have had their impact on the decline of broadcast network TV viewership.

As I mentioned earlier, during MTV’s first two years on air it was unavailable in Manhattan where our offices were located. So that we could monitor the channel, video airchecks were messengered in from the Long Island uplink on a daily basis. Sometime during this period, news came out that many of the classic episodes of “The Ed Sullivan Show” and Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” had been destroyed because the networks were reusing the old tapes on which they’d been recorded. Amazingly, no one thought it was important to preserve these shows for history.

I had a stack of MTV airchecks in my office and sensing that these might be of some historic value I contacted New York’s Museum of Broadcasting to see if they’d be interested in the tapes for their archives. The museum official with whom I spoke informed me that, no, they would not be interested in having those airchecks for their collection because MTV was (and I think I actually heard him sniff as his nose went up in the air) “cable…not TV.”

MTV was destined to transform the television and music industries but to the short-sighted it was irrelevant because the channel didn’t fit into their preconceived notions. There’s a lesson in that story.

When I went out on the front porch to fetch the Sunday morning paper (traditional media version), I was surprised and pleased to learn that a new family had taken up residence in our vacant birdhouse.

These guys will be driving their poor mother crazy for a few weeks with their constant begging for more food then they’ll be testing their wings and flying off on their own adventures.

“And the circle, it goes round and round…..”

Groupon is one of the hot social media tools which is changing the way businesses are connecting with consumers (aka B2C marketing). Groupon Now is about to launch with an augmented reality component which just makes sense. Watch an example by clicking here: Groupon Now

Radio sales people seem to be in denial about Groupon and are focusing on complaints from business owners who haven’t seen success using the service. Of course, for years the radio industry also has had to deal with those kinds of complaints as well from small business owners with unrealistic expectations. Meanwhile, Groupon is putting boots on the ground in local markets to compete with radio, TV and newspaper ad sales departments.

If you own a smartphone, would Groupon Now be a useful tool for you? How about your friends & family? Would be interested to learn your thoughts.

Last Sunday night, I have to admit to feeling uncomfortable watching the spontaneous celebrations outside of the White House following President Obama’s announcement that Osama bin Laden was dead.

My friend, Joe Templin, author of FINANCIAL MISTAKES OF NEW COLLEGE GRADS, provided some perspective. Joe reminded me that most of the people we saw celebrating were either in elementary school or middle school ten years ago. In their minds, they’ve lived most of their lives under an impending threat of terrorism. For them, it’s similar to the threat that we Baby Boomers felt about the potential for nuclear annihilation during the Cold War. Joe’s explanation helped me to better understand the students’ reaction. To them, it probably feels like an ending. I suspect that isn’t so.

Don’t get me wrong. A person with bin Laden’s list of crimes against humanity deserved a death sentence. However, as I watched the student’s celebrations and listened to their joyful shouts of “USA! USA!” the word tawdry came to mind. Perhaps the word I was really looking for was inappropriate. Probably, it’s my primarily English heritage and New England background but It seemed to me that a more reserved reaction would have been more dignified. We know we’re #1. The world knows that America’s #1. Why rub their noses in it. Isn’t our tendency to do so a major reason why they hate us?

I remember watching an old movie, “Saratoga Trunk” in which the character played by Ingrid Bergman is told that she’s beautiful. She responds: “Yes. Isn’t it lucky?” I’ve always admired that response and the sentiment behind it. Bergman’s character acknowledges that her natural beauty is a blessing which has been bestowed upon her rather than an attribute for which she is responsible.

It’s the same for us Americans. We take so many of our privileges and liberties for granted. We believe that it’s our right to vote even though we make little effort to actually be informed about what we’re voting for or against. As one friend defined that attitude, who needs facts when I can have an opinion!?!

I have faith that the core American values of fairness, equality, justice, industry and integrity will eventually win out against fear, evil and ruthlessness. When we triumph, I hope the primary image that history remembers won’t be of a Styrofoam index finger pointed skyward bearing the words “We’re #1!”.

Photos courtesy of DoctorMacro and CBS News

It happens to everybody. You run into someone at the store, on the subway, while on vacation. You recognize their face but can’t for the life of you remember their name. To the rescue: a facial recognition AR app on your smartphone!

And that’s not all. Watch this courtesy of Augmented Reality guru, John C. Havens:
“>

Can you see how Augmented Reality might become a useful tool for you?