★ How cost-cutting hurt movies
Screenwriters are essentially the research and development departments of the film industry. Like any other business, a quick way to boost profits is to cut way back on research. But that costs companies in the long run, because they’re unlikely to have innovative products down the road. < p>
★ John Gruber is impressed by kickstarter
I’m impressed too, John. This platform levels the playing field. It no longer matters who you know, it matters what you can create.
★ The Argument That Apple Cannot Keep Growing
On his excellent blog Daring Fireball, John Gruber thinks it’s silly to question if Apple’s growth can continue. His arguments are largely right, but I think there’s some other issues. For one, a bunch of companies have broken the $500 billion market cap level and none have lasted long. In fact, no company have been number 1 for more than a few years in modern history. Apple is a remarkable innovative company, but two things are likely to happen: Investors are used to the company doubling in value every 18 months. Is AAPL really going to have a market cap… Read More
★ Sony and Regal Theaters introduce Access Glasses to bring closed captions right in front of your eyes
Now if they could just create a technology that would keep old people from asking each other what was going on…
How to Build a Better Set-Top Box
Apple TV. Google TV. Xbox. Roku. TiVo. On and on. Everyone’s trying to win control of the living room. I’m not a devicemaker. But I am an avid media consumer. So I thought I’d create this outsider’s perspective of how a company might build the best Set-Top Box and win control of the living room. Solve Another Problem for the User There are lots and lots of boxes available that put Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Hulu and even HBO GO on my TV. But it’s a bit of an issue of the cart leading the horse. Most consumers over 30 don’t… Read More
★ IKEA puts away your TV cables, tech credentials — Engadget
The neatest feature is the invisible wires and the mess you can use your remote with. My mom will want this TV.
★ Amazing new Camera for under $3k
2.5K resolution, 12bit color, raw recording, 13.5 stops of dynamic range. It’s basically as good as Red Epic or Arri Alex, the best of the best cinema cameras, the ones Hollywood uses, except it uses a Super16mm sized sensor. I suspect in five years our $3k cameras will be as good as our best cameras today.
Why this? Why now?
The nature of media consumption is changing. Every major form of content has seen a drastic form of change in the way it’s bought and consumed in the past decade–except for movies. The iPod and iTunes revolutionized music. We now buy the majority of our music online. Bands like OK Go are becoming famous without even signing a record deal. In the eighties kids stopped discovering music on FM radio and started discovering it on MTV. In the Aughts, kids stopped discovering it on MTV and started discovering it on YouTube. Journalism has become or is becoming a primarily online… Read More