Approaching the midpoint of 2009, the worldwide econalypse is in full effect. The close of April ushered in an 8.9 percent jobless rate in the U.S., which is believed to be at a 25 year high and now articles highlighting the worst hit cities are beginning to appear. This post is not about what is failing, but instead the new ideas, innovations and interesting developments rising out of the econalypse. It is not exhaustive, but it hopefully will unearth exciting and different ideas that could lead to a thriving 2010.
The genesis of this topic came from Po Bronson’s What Should I Do with My Life, Now? article and the Editor’s Letter in the February 2009 Fast Company. The final motivational push came from the 2009 Fast Cities special section that focuses on cities with an eye to a better more efficient and socially beneficial future.
Infamously, “The Video” from October ‘08 is now considered the marker for the end of Web 2.0. A staple of the era was the RSS Reader, however this past week Slate discussed how the advancements in browsers have surpassed the once celebrated efficiency of RSS Readers that perhaps have now arrived at their extinction. The ability to load multiple sites in their native design through tabbed browsing is subtly groundbreaking. Browsers are rendering sites faster and it eliminates the ”other inbox” that could grow unwieldy in only a few hours depending on the number of subscribed feeds. The browser is quickly graduating from a tool to access the Internet to the program that runs every computing activity. Pundits have suggested it is the new Operating System, while this shows a misunderstanding of the functions of an OS it does highlight the direction we are heading.
Online Search is an emphasis of Connected and like a slow rising tide, the landscape, expectations and definition of Search is gradually and most assuredly changing. For several years Google has dominated search through its superior keyword search algorithm. Semantic search is the holy grail of search, and similarly to the cup of life, we have yet to uncover and unleash its power. In the place of semantic search we have seen an explosion in social search. Mahalo had been the leader with its human-powered search engine that displayed results based on user input, but Web 2.0 social search was a clear second to Google. What if people could ask questions and search for information in real time with a global network? This is precisely where microblogging technologies like Twitter excel, however Aardvark may prove to be the technology that takes social search beyond the limitations of keyword search. Unable to improve upon what former colleague Fernando Rizo has already written on the topic, check out this analysis on what Aardvark and similar technologies will do to the world of search.
WebTV and online distribution of video has been a primary recent focus of Connected. Through excellent journalism and activism, Time Warner Cable abandoned its test of broadband data caps. Continued reporting that unearthed the economic fallacy that ISPs have attempted to use to rationalize data caps and metered billing will hopefully maintain net neutrality. This is a necessity for WebTV as big name players such as Amazon and Hulu continue to make legal, high quality content available to consumers. Original Webseries also continue to find a place in the growing WebTV space. A few recent top examples include:
Finally, the process of creating video is now a full fledged passion and recently I learned about tilt-shifting photography and video. This is an amazing example of Creative innovation:
We had months of advance warning. In fact, Fast Company gave the new Microsoft advertising firm, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, the cover in its June issue and in as much detail allowable proclaimed of what was to come. Clearly the Tech media and blogoshere needed a little more time.
Its been three weeks since Microsoft’s salvo in response to Apple’s surging share of the U.S. consumer computer market. In those three weeks nearly all the Tech media has fallen over themselves to attack the Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld rendezvous series. Apparently only Mashable and Techdirt paused long enough to get the marketing brilliance we all just witnessed. Here is my comment on a recent TechCrunch post:
Since its launch, Microsoft’s new ad campaign has made a daily appearance in the national news cycle. They definitely have our attention. Earlier this week, it was uncovered that Microsoft was launching phase two of its campaign. Lets pause and consider this statement. When was the iterations of a advertising campaign national news? Ad Week and Ad Age will fold if this continues.
Most of the media felt Microsoft “cancelled” the Seinfeld ads because of the strong criticism, however their PR team was adamant that this was all part of the plan and Jerry may show up later in the campaign. I believe this is true, but it hardly matters. Microsoft PR in conjunction with Crispin Porter + Bogusky has become a Pied Piper of sorts and the Tech media is completely oblivious.
It has been uncool to like Microsoft for years and in that time the Tech media and blogoshere have mostly become Mac Fanboys. Microsoft is using this to their advantage. Undoubtedly there will be the expected criticism for the ”I’m a PC” campaign. Proof of this appeared this weekend when reports came out that part of the Microsoft campaign was built on a Mac. Funny, this is not news since nearly all ad agencies use Macs and Crispin Porter + Bogusky admitted to this in the previously mentioned Fast Company article. More still, the media will say it just copies the current Apple ads, but they would be wrong. Beyond making Apple look elitist, the campaign includes an intelligent and engaging interactive viral component.
This is quite possibly the most significant and impressive marketing campaign of this century, and nobody knows it beyond the marketing community. We have not even acknowledged what could be the most devastating blow of all. Apple is expected to announce its new line of Macs in about two weeks? Can Apple maintain its market share? Does Apple know how to take a hit and how will the company respond? It would be an utter failure if they continue on with their current Mac vs PC campaign. Lastly, Google should take note as Microsoft is agitating a similar storm in the antitrust courts that could cripple the search leader.
While the Comcast Cap aftershock still lingers on the internets, enthusiasm for Web TV continues to grow. Hulu announced today its Fall Premiere lineup guide. The intriguing aspect of this news is that several series debuts and season premieres will appear on the site a week prior to their network broadcast air date and many of the other shows will appear the day after. This is not the first time a show has debuted online, however this is a first for any of the big four broadcast networks and is unprecedented when considering the increased buzz and ratings boost it could provide shows like Knight Rider and Lipstick Jungle.
Hulu is not the only one making Web TV waves. as Warner Brothers announced last week the launch of TheWB.com. At its inception the main content will feature programs that appeared on the former WB network, but will also include non-WB shows like Friends and The OC. Want something new, yet slightly familiar? September 8 is the debut of Sorority Fever, the first of several new shows exclusive to the site, and stars Web series veteran Jessica Rose, better known as lonelygirl15. TheWB.com also includes an impressive video search and social features that allow users to legally modify and embed clips as well as share through Facebook.
There is great hope and expectations for Web TV as more and more high quality content and corporate investment head online, but both Fast Company and the New York Times have recently come out with cautionary tales of the struggles facing new Web series. This Fall and the early part of 2009 could be the tipping point for Web TV and Web series. There is a lot riding on the success of the Web series from TheWB.com and NBC’s Gemini Division.
In questionably related online tech TV news, CNet has officially rolled out its new site design that includes CNet TV, which is an impressive example of a traditional web based news entity integrating video to enhance its overall offering. Buzz Out Loud even included my commentary on the new design in episode 796.
One of my greatest passions has become food. Not because I love to eat or enjoy testing out new recipes. It became a passion once I learned what corporate America was actually passing off as food to the public. I am appalled with our industrial agriculture system and the chemistry experiment we devour every day to the benefit of quarterly earnings. Unfortunately, we cannot trust companies or the FDA to ensure what we are sold actually makes sense for a human to consume.
With that in mind, I recently came across an article in Fast Company that takes a look at Procter & Gamble’s stated devotion to sustainable, green products. It became clear in only a few paragraphs that P&G wanted to bathe itself in sustainable messaging, but words and a few nods to energy efficiency does not equal sustainable truth. As the reporter moved beyond the prepackaged interview with the company’s VP of global sustainability, he learned “that the amounts of hazardous chemicals consumers are exposed to through P&G products are at levels a thousand times lower than those that cause health problems in animals.” What? Why would a company ever use manufactured chemicals labeled as a “probable human carcinogen” at any level. The VP stated, “I know for a fact that everything in our products is safe.” Perhaps he should check his research with the European Union and the states of Virginia and Maryland who have banned P&G products deemed toxic.
Don’t be evil. This is the stated motto of Google and should be the rallying cry for all. But as with most corporate PR messages, it is just words founded in nothing to help shape a crafted image of the company. Communication transparency is not just an option with the growing social advances provided from Web 2.0, but a reality that I do not think companies have yet grasped. The era of developing messaging and providing prepared statements is over. For decades reporters have tried to cut through the empty statements given by corporate talking heads, but now companies can and are required to communicate directly to its customers. No longer can no comment or a convoluted response that actually says nothing be the last word. A company is guilty until proven innocent because history has shown there is reason to expect the former and consumers dismiss corporate speak sight on seen. Not answering a question directly results in the assumption that the truth is as bad or worse than that which a company is accused. Respond truthfully early and often is the only option…that and do not sell sugar coated poison. It really is not any harder than that.
