Brightcove ‘unveiled’:

Content owners, video rights-holders and independent produces will get an empowering new direct-to-consumer distribution channel, creating more flexible business models and a greater share of profit margin than they can achieve from traditional distribution channels. Viewers will get access to an online service that offers new levels of control over their use of video and television.

Om Malik on Bright Cover, BrightCove, the new IP Video platform:

Though many might confuse Bright Cove as the culmination of all Long Tail and Exploding TV prayers, in reality, and Allaire was quick to point out that this is really a platform for the little guy. Someone who is interested in video blogging, short form film and other downloadable forms of video.

This is great because I think we need to break our dependency on the networks to provide us with content as they do not necesaarily understand the digital revolution (for instance, their insistence on the broadcast flag).

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Microsoft.com, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 Zoom Update

Why would you install this?

The third mode of zoom does not always work as expected when watching live or recorded TV.

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Today my new 40 GB portable music player arrived (thanks Paul!).

Update: I got it working with Windows Media Player. To sync your iPod with WMP you need to download (and eventually buy) XPlay. You then need to go to Tools > Options > Options and it will find your iPod. Now when you go to Sync, your iPod will show up twice. Sync to your iPod but not to your iPod (drive letter) and XPlay will handle getting the MP3s into the iPod database.

If you know of a way to enable this interop without buying XPlay, I’d love to hear about it (though I was one of XPlay’s first customers back in the day when I beta tested the first software to connect iPods to PCs so maybe I qualify for their $9.99 upgrade program).

I’m also having some doubts about it’s 0.75″ thickness. Maybe I should have paid more for the thiinner 30 GB.. I guess I was just getting used to John’s mini and it’s small size.

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ZogBlog, The Broadcast Flag… and the PAY-PER-SHOW Model

To recap, the advantages of the Pay-Per-Show Model are:

1. Flexible Time Slot: Operators could plug the show in multiple times, on multiple days. Users could record it anytime they want to watch it anytime they want to. What channel is it on? We don’t need no stinking channels!
2. Studio’s Maintain Profit Margins: They have more direct control of their product, bypassing the affiliates entirely.
3. Reason for Broadcast Flag REMOVED: The network is out of the loop – they can’t set it if they wanted to; and why would a studio set it? They’re getting paid directly through the channel. Like Mark Cuban says: “We don’t need the broacast flag. It accomplishes absolutely nothing…” – and now we have the formula to convince the studios.
4. Cancelation? Schmancelation?: The networks program directors would now longer have the ability to kill off our favorite shows by placing them opposite more popular shows (which leads to a lower Nielsen rating).
5. Nielsen Ratings Disappear: Why would we need them? All you’d have to do was look at your invoice statement. Done, right down TO… THE… PERSON… No longer will Nielsen rate my shows lower than they should be.
6. Poor Performing Shows: If a studio doesn’t like the profit margin – they can raise the cost, require pre-ordered season-passes… and decide if the market can bear it.

I want pay-per-show so badly. Great to see more people blogging about it! Now if only we could get the studios to listen…

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Financial Times, Top music labels try to raise prices for downloads:

Some leading music labels are in talks with online retailers to raise wholesale prices for digital music downloads in an attempt to capitalise on burgeoning demand for legal online music.

This is a huge mistake! They should be lowering prices not raising them. Songs should be so cheap that I do not think twice about buying them. And I bet that a lot of people think twice about buying songs for $1.00.

For me that impulse price point is around $0.10 to $0.25 a song. At $1.00 a song I’m only going to buy a song if I really want it. At $0.10 a song I’d buy them if I thought I might want them. There’s a difference. A huge difference.

Never mind the fact that I’m still buying CDs because per track they’re about the same cost, free of DRM, and higher quality. If online song pricing reflected those three things I’d be much more willing to buy music online.

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Apple CFO muses on iPod halo effect, Mac mini, more:

While Oppenheimer admitted some consumers may be interested in media center PCs and that a Mac mini might be suitable, he said that “most customers” would prefer to have a more powerful computer in their office or den and leverage wireless networking to stream content to their home entertainment system.

Hmmm.. Intersting.

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