Digital advance for education with Textbooks rewritten...literally!

Having lectured at universities over the years I was always amazed at how pedantic and backward the content of most textbooks were vs. the actualities of our fast-paced communications industry. How many times I longed to change the curriculum to better reflect reality. Often hard to do with scholarly auditors watching from the back of class as you hand out poorly copied xerox's of more recent industry material from a school copy machine that groaned like an old man walking up his last flight of stairs.

Now it seems Macmillan (one of the largest textbook publishers) is jumping at the opportunity to allow educators the chance to customize and change the text and construct of a curriculum to best suit their style, the industry or overall approach of the institution.

The opportunity for better, more updated information is obvious, but marry this with digital textbooks at the fraction of the cost and we may have an even better use for those Kindles and iPads.

More from Fast Company here...

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

The Rise of the Graphic Novel.

Comics, long frowned upon by the literary set may start to take a front seat in storytelling via the graphic novel which has been growing in popularity over the last decade. Already a leading inspiration for development within the film industry, a few traditional authors have elected to have their novels illustrated within as graphic novels in order to better reach new audiences. Savvy educational textbook publishers are also starting to get in on the act (kids are inspired by the storyboard-like visualization vs. the dry nature of educational textbooks) - a smart move.

Brands would be well suited to capitalize on this trend, especially those that are already a part of pop culture. While a digital recreation of the graphic novel has yet to be successfully recreated online, an execution cannot be far off. The art-form can inspire wonder akin to an animated feature without the expense - especially if live clips and sounds are incorporated digitally. More affordable than live action footage or expensive  photography - the value delivered would be tremendous.

This is an art-form that is long overdue to be catapulted into the mainstream, and one that is ready for mass forms of digitization.

From the New York Times: A World of Words Reinvented in Pictures

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

The significance of Social Media Week...

Why, in my opinion is this singularly one of the most important gatherings within the marketing and communications industry today?

Because it is organic. Organic in the way that our industry has and will continue to evolve along with all of the buzzwords we have become accustomed to.  It's authentic, fueled by recommendations and built on WOM. It's also random. Random in the sense that it is iterative and events are added and build momentum as the gatherings take shape over the course of one hell of a dynamic week.

Most of the events are hosted by industry leadership within their offices and are on a first to sign up basis.  In other words no Javitz Center here folks. Speaking to one of it's founders I griped that most venues were 'sold out' only 1 day prior to signup and that they needed bigger venues.  "Shoot me first..." was the response I received...and I think I finally got it. So don't think conference...think globally coordinated and loosely orchestrated croudsourcing (I'll probably get shot for that one too!).

Social Media Week is run not dissimilar from a franchise in the sense that all host cities get support and guidance from the central team, but run and coordinate their own venues in a way that best suits the local marketplace. The press conference on Monday for kickoff streamed live coverage from 5 of the 6 international cities at the same time! One of the cities (don't ask me which...was still sleeping). One of the many challenges of pulling something like this off.

In other words the conference is reflective of our industry in all of it's forms. The focus is of course on social, but the events reflect the fact that the dynamic nature of the communications industry extends into the social strategies that inform our ideas, the technologies that carry our dialogue, while emerging measurement tools are finally beginning to take shape in order to inform our iterative approaches to improvement at a pace akin to Moore's Law. All of course leading to our client's success along with measurable ROI.

All of this along with the fact that the events connect us globally, the fact that growth is organic and challenges the founders to keep up with the pace of their own creation. Talk about being reflective of the industry.!

I for one am also sick and tired of paying bloated entry fees for industry events year after year only to get the same choices served up in the same locations - by the same people along with vendor lists that are limited to the size of a venue.  None of these constraints apply here.  Brilliant!

With the exception of a few very affordable events, most on the bill are sponsored by brands leading the conversations within their respective industries. A win win for all.

So run, don' walk to what is left of Social Media Week this week.  Events worldwide in a city close to you.

New York, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Sao Paulo and Toronto.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Yahoo's rebirth may be on your TV.

In the struggle to differentiate itself, Yahoo tried to re-invent itself as a media company starting as a content search engine for years. This become much harder when Google bought YouTube, but Yahoo suddenly has an early foothold in an unexpected area...on our TV's.

2010 is the year that TV's will finally start to catch up to our PC's with online connectivity, on-demand programming, social interactivity and e-commerce widgets. Many players are already in the space such as Roku, Vudu, Apple and the like, but Yahoo was early.  Establishing a widget platform that seems to be included in most new set tops.

TV Manufacturers are also launching application platforms of their own as a way to add third party content and basic interactivity to broadband-connected sets. Samsung, Vizio, Panasonic and Toshiba are just a few of the brands setting up their own solutions for select flat screen televisions, despite the fact that some had already signed integration deals with Yahoo's Connected TV division, creator of the Yahoo Widgets platform. Digital video company DivX has introduced its own TV app platform, leveraging relationships with content producers such as Break, blip.tv, Revision3 and Rhapsody to offer a plug-and-play solution to CE companies. LG Electronics was named as the first manufacturer to license DivX TV for upcoming Blu-ray Disc players and home theater systems.  As you can see, the range of standards boggles the mind, with Yahoo being the only common thread baked within many of these hardware platforms.*

Yahoo also struck a deal with Brightcove to expand its content offerings for the Yahoo Widget platform. Media publishers using Brightcove's online video platform can now distribute their videos through Yahoo's Widget Engine.  The Yahoo Widget Development Kit has also finally been fully released to the public, enabling individual developers and larger content providers alike to develop apps for the TV Widget platform. Yahoo has partnerships in place with LG, Sony, Samsung and Vizio, the 4 top U.S. TV brands, to bring TV Widgets to their internet-connected televisions.*

All of this leads me to believe that Yahoo may be poised for a re-invention in the exact space that they have had a hard time committing to online.

If they play their cards right, while Google may be the platform of choice on our PC's Yahoo could be the platform of choice on our TV's.

*Many thanks to Wayne Karrfalt from Cynopsis: Digital for much of the industry intel that helped provide affirmation to my position.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Is this the death of the networks and CableTV as we know it?

As CES winds up in Vegas this week, it will become clear that the 'final 10 feet' between the PC and the TV will finally be bridged. This will all be made possible via the simple inclusion of direct ethernet or wifi connectivity along with software allowing for our new TV's to play compatible digital video such as flash, along with being able to 'speak' browser. No idea why it took manufacturers so long to do this but better late than never.

So what will this mean for the consumer, content creators, the networks, cable companies and the marketing services industry? You can almost guarantee that it will create more upheaval than we can possibly imagine.

For the consumer, long gone will the days be where they will need to navigate to a specific network to watch a show. As with PC's, consumers will search via a browser like interface directly on their TV's and the content will be served directly to them. The consumer will not care or be concerned about which networks serve the content. This will pretty much be the death of networks that do not own IP in the form of content or do not strike exclusive distribution deals directly with content creators. In order to save themselves the cable networks will need to consolidate or merge with the larger media industry or risk becoming dumb pipes that only serve as your ISP.

From the Daily Beast: Sharon Waxman writes: Hollywood is on the “cusp of a new chapter,” in which a smaller group of major entertainment companies, fortified by bigger libraries and deeper distribution channels, will hold a larger concentration of power. With Comcast set to acquire NBC-Universal and Time Warner and News Corp. fighting over MGM, power is being consolidated. Comcast, for example, will have the largest cable subscriber base in the country, plus control of a movie studio, a broadcast TV network, and several cable networks. The combined power of content and distribution, creates a new kind of player.

Either way, all content will be digitally served in an on-demand model and the opportunity for content creators and marketers to distribute directly to consumers via their TV is now a very real option.

On a personal note, I finally cut the cord with Time Warner in Manhattan simply based on the fact that I no longer watch appointment based TV. Between Netflix, Hulu and a few shows purchased via Apples iTunes I am pretty much covered - never having to watch another commercial again, while spending less than half of what I did with cable. Apple is also talking about a subscription based service. Others will do the same.

Net/Net...I would not want to be a network or cable company right now, but I would want to be a content creator or marketer.

Those of you that have followed this blog for a while will know that I have written about this before - in July of 2007: http://jaredhendler.posterous.com/iptv-is-finally-here).  So why repeat myself?.....become this is finally becoming a reality.

A few more articles relevant to this post that may be of interest are below.

Web-TV Divide Is Back in Focus With NBC Sale

Hulu's Massive Traffic Bump? Thank ABC, New TV Season

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Why the new Kindle should be an Apple Tablet.

Both Apple and Kindle are fierce competitors with almost every other player in the space, both on the hardware, software and content side. A deal like this would make perfect sense.

Amazon has the best purchasing experience and the largest title library (Not counting Google's free archive of classics most people would not want to purchase anyway). Amazon is also not able to manufacture a good quality hardware device over the long term. Their second Kindle (which I own), took everything they had to pull off. The screen is great, but the rest of it is a cheap, non-touch, plastic experience. Amazon knows it needs to stick to what it does best.

Apple designs and delivers killer hardware and software combos. See my blog post on how Apple will be able to deliver the combo of both full-color backlit LCD and digital ink in one device.

I would not be surprised to see the Apple Tablet with it's e-reading experience powered by Amazon.

Amazon may still choose to manufacture a pure reading 'Kindle' device, as the Apple Tablet will obviously offer a lot more and reading will only be a small part of what the product delivers.

But if the two were to do a deal, I would not be surprised if Apple helped Amazon out with design and the best manufacturing supply chain in computing. It may even be a Kindle device powered by Apple for under $100. Apple-Kindle device anyone?

Both Apple and Amazon believe in a more closely guarded environment. This deal would make cultural sense for both companies and catapult them far ahead of everyone else. A killer combination in a quickly evolving competitive marketplace.

I can see Sony prepping for Seppuku (Harakiri) already...

Posted via web from Jared Hendler

Avatar...and why it reflects a new reality for us.

This is not a movie review...there are plenty of those. This is my take on how we will evolve with technologies like those that have inspired and made this film possible.

Actors as we know them will cease to exist. The everyday man...the undiscovered talent...the struggling actor, with the gifted inflection of voice, but not necessarily the outward beauty that Hollywood demands will replace them. Companies will emerge that create these complex characters complete with PR campaigns that breath life into these fictitious creations by placing them in the real world. These companies will 'lease' their creations out to the film studios at a much lower cost than the millions that Brad Pitt demands. These same companies will license the right to bring Marilyn Monroe and Jimmy Dean back from the dead...

Gaming will develop to the point where we will be able to insert ourselves into any narrative, via our own avatar, and become part of the experience. Technology will reach the point where we will not even be able to tell the difference. It will be truly immersive. Psychologically this will be our largest challenge as many of us will prefer the invented worlds vs. our own. Some of us already do. As a result, the 'Second Live's' as we know them today may be the precursor for the ultimate parallel universe for those that wish to live 'elsewhere'.

We are already in love with our machines - our technology. Given that, this is not that far of a stretch. If I have children in this lifetime, getting them purposefully involved in gaming may be just as important as learning Chinese, for it will be the way we navigate the emerging world.  Gaming will be the new driver's license and is a lot more complex than learning how to drive a car. So, start early.

Take a read about the new level of interaction on Sony's Playstation platform with the release of Sodium One.

Introducing Sodium One: The Next Evolution of PlayStation Home

After the Avatar screening, a friend turned to me and said "Wow, she was fantastic. I'm never going to be able to meet anyone like her".  He bought the fantasy and wanted to dive in. You could sense the frustration on his face.

When will all this happen?...it's happening now and the reality of getting lost within another dimension is here.

Posted via web from Jared Hendler