The present and future of post production business and technology

Australian Airline Jetstart to start renting iPads for inflight entertainment. http://bit.ly/aL1V2O I like 40 channels of Direct on Jetblue free, thank you.

While the iPad is a hot device, I don’t see how this is better than what I already enjoy on Jetblue where it’s free. Seems more like an opportunity to turn something that should be free – inflight entertainment – to another revenue stream for the airline.

“Given the demand for the iPad so far, I anticipate it will have strong appeal amongst our passengers,” he said. “Based on demand for the iPads as part of the trial, we’ll be looking to roll out the devices across our entire domestic and international network later in the year.”

Sonic Solutions buys DiVX http://bit.ly/dmOsar Seems like an odd purchase to me but here’s the rationale from Sonic:

“Sonic has been…developing technologies for the preparation and delivery of entertainment content in popular formats — CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc and most recently Internet delivery of video..DivX is expected to enable Sonic to deepen and broaden the technology it offers for Internet-based video delivery and expand its relationships with leading retailers and consumer electronics manufacturers.” Fair enough. and also puts DivX out of its small-cap and low profile misery over the years.

Is Flash dead? The future of Adobe’s plug-in http://bit.ly/aitoRs Flash v the “open web” – from Tech Radar.

For many reasons, Flash IS on the decline: from about 3 million Apple devices a month that don’t support it; fewer microsites being built for economic reasons and the rise of open standards.

On each side, people bitterly oppose the ‘rival’ technology. Standards proponents claim Flash is resource-hungry, proprietary and buggy, and say standards should rule. Flash proponents argue Adobe’s plug-in remains the only delivery option that offers cross platform consistency and that it provides scope for projects you can’t create with open standards.

There are some things that Flash is still the right solution for – but for standard video players and basic interaction, open standards should prevail. Over time, there will be less, and less need for Flash. Adobe itself shows that it can build tools for the iPad (Magazine readers) that don’t rely on Flash or AIR (a related technology).

Adobe Unveils Apple-Compliant ‘Digital Publishing Platform’ For iPad Media Apps http://bit.ly/c5mFgA Much better than complaining Adobe.

A few days ago I posted a link under the title “Kudos to Adobe” noting that they created an Apple-compliant reader for Wired Magazine’s iPad edition. They’ve now announced an addition to CS5 for creating these magazines:

Adobe announced Tuesday that a new component to its Creative Suite 5 software — used widely in the publishing industry to, among other things, create glossy magazines — was used to create the Apple-compliant digital version of Wired Magazine. The development puts Adobe squarely back in the high-stakes tablet game with a “legal” way for publishers who already use their popular layout and production suite to create dead-tree output to efficiently create derivative digital versions for the iPad.

This is the Adobe I love – creating great publishing technologys – rather than the whiny “why won’t Apple support our business” mode.

 

Blu-ray misses int’l target – Prices too high, demand too low http://bit.ly/968TdT Variety reports (sorry about the “paywall” at Variety, which limits free views).

Screen Digest’s head of video Helen Davis Jayalath said, “The failure of the Blu-ray format to capture enough of the market in 2009 means this downward trend is now set to continue, with the short-term uplift in video spending that we had previously expected to see in 2010-2011 unlikely to materialize.”

Seems like Apple/Steve Jobs and (well) me, were right about Blu-ray never quite reaching the level of DVD penetration.

One Big Problem With Steve Ballmer Running Microsoft: He’s Not A Product Guy http://bit.ly/9b05Ga

One thing that we’ve learnt since getting into the software business is that a product has to be made “for someone”. For First Cuts, the client was me. For Sequence Clip Reporter it started with the requirements of a close friend and grew in capability as the people who bought it made suggestions for improving it. Without a demanding client, the software will usually not hit the mark.

And that’s why Steve Balmer not being ‘a product guy’ (in contrast to Bill Gates or Steve Jobs) is a problem.

Why the Broadcast TV Networks Are Toast http://bit.ly/bQJovZ Maybe a little optimistic!!

Clay Sharkey (in an article I’ve commented on and want to write more about) talks about the Collapse of Complex systems (business models). The Broadcast Television industry is a complex business model that will be dramatically simpler in the future, so they must collapse completely if Sharkey is right (and I tend to think he is). That’s probably not exactly what Diane Mermigas means but she’s on the road:

Don’t be surprised if at least one of the Big Four broadcast networks is sold or dismantled in the next 24 months.

They are failing business models whose brand value is meaningful mostly to strained local TV station affiliates, many of whom are also fighting to survive.

Let’s hope she’s right. The quicker the dinosaurs fail, the faster the “new media mammals” can thrive.

Must Read: CCIA Sets US IP Czar Straight On Intellectual Property http://bit.ly/9dlsYw Long article, longer submission. Great background.

First the CCIA demolishes the bogus arguments (and stats) of the Pro-stricter-IP-laws crowd, and then points out why more restrictions and more legislation is almost certainly the wrong approach.

Of course, after going through the fallacies, the filing gets to specific policy recommendations, wisely going back to the ProIP bill’s language, highlighting how the purpose of the IP Czar is really supposed to be about true criminal infringement and counterfeiting, and arguing that any enforcement should be focused on those issues, rather than stepping in on civil disputes in what is, effectively, a business model problem. The filing also points out that diplomats enforcing US IP policy around the world are often uneducated in the balance of interests that IP law is supposed to hold, and frequently just push for greater laws and restrictions, without understanding the harm it causes. Along those lines, the CCIA takes the time to express its grave concerns over ACTA — noting its broad scope and potential harm both in the US and abroad.

and the conclusion to the document:

The spread of the global Internet has facilitated the unauthorized and at times infringing distribution of certain forms of intellectual property, especially copyright-protected content. The ease and minimal cost of copying makes meaningful enforcement costly and difficult. This widely recognized problem has stirred passionate debate about how the problem should be handled by copyright owners, the government, and third parties. This problem is amplified and complicated by the importance of both the content and Internet industries in the U.S. export market, as well as and demands for the U.S. to assert leadership at the international level. This creates a danger of rigid, oversimplified policies toward infringement that (a) make little sense in other intellectual property domains, and (b) undermine the perceived legitimacy of the global intellectual property system. 

The solutions to the real and perceived problems the disruptive technology of the Internet has caused for certain entertainment and luxury goods companies cannot be solved by greater government intervention or by shifting more costs to Internet companies. Rather, the solution lies in the evolution of business models to adapt to the new realities of the marketplace.