Wednesday, September 24, 2008

My Documentary About Dot Com Culture

I finished editing late last night and here it is - Exit Strategy News Episode One: Bandwagon.

I've been collecting video and photos from over 18 years in the Internet industry. Erik Koto and I have captured many of our friends and colleagues on video and we'll eventually assemble further episodes. Tell us if you have video sitting in a closet somewhere. Also, we'd love to interview you. Everyone has a story.

We want to capture what it's like to work in the Internet industry, both past and present. What are your memories of the dot com bubble? Where will the future lead us?

Also Available: High-Resolution versions.

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Hulu and Joost: Head-to-Head Video Battle

Hulu and Joost, two of the top online video entertainment sites, are improving their services at a very fast rate. Hulu is allowing viewers to embed videos in their personal blogs while Joost has dropped the stand-alone software and launched a browser-based player. Below are some articles about the two companies. Also check out the recent Nielson video census chart (above).

Free, Legal, and Online: Why Hulu Is the New Way to Watch TV (Wired Magazine)

Hulu Launches All Kinds Of Stuff To Keep You Defocused On Joost (TechCrunch)

New Widgets At Hulu; We Talk To CTO Eric Feng (TechCrunch)


About time: Joost to launch browser-based player
(CNET)

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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Internet Meme Timeline Widget


This is a fun little widget that has been floating around the web. Zoom in and step thru the history of internet-based memes that have virally traveled cyberspace. Then go out and start your own memes.

Remember The Dark Side of the Rainbow, The Spot, All Ur Base, Subservient Chicken and The Tron Guy? And have you been Rick Rolled? Study up!

Make your own timeline at Dipity.com.

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Thursday, August 21, 2008

Online Video Mega List

Web video has achieved mass-market popularity. This compilation of links serves as a taste of what's available. Move over, YouTube. You've got company. I will continue to add to (or subtract from) this list as time goes on. Leave comments if I've missed any good ones.

Upload Sites

  • 12 Seconds TV: Upload and share short video, like Twitter for video.
  • Blip TV: Upload your own or watch other people's videos. Solid set of monetization tools. Great player.
  • Cruxy: Post your video, track your buzz and make some dough.
  • Current TV: A global television network that gives you the opportunity to create and influence what airs on TV.
  • FlixWagon: Broadcast live video from your mobile device.
  • HelloWorld: Online studio tools for posting video, live video and video email.
  • LiveVideo: Original and exclusive content, weekly video contests, customizable video streaming community.
  • Magnify.net: Community video platform. Hosting of pages and videos.
  • MetaCafe: Video entertainment powered by you.
  • Mogulus: Live broadcast platform on the internet. Mobile features and interactive chat.
  • MotionBox: Family-friendly video sharing and storage.
  • MySpaceTV: Mega portal/community.
  • Qik: Stream live video from your phone.
  • Phanfare: Family-friendly private video sharing and collaboration.
  • Revver: upload your video and get advertising revenue.
  • Stickam: Web video conferencing, live streaming and lifecasting.
  • Treemo: An online media sharing community with a mobile component and a "green" slant.
  • TubeMogul: Independent video producers use this tool to distribute to multiple platforms, monetize their assets and track their stats.
  • Ustream: "Live interactive video for everyone."
  • Veoh: From home videos to premier internet television content. From Michael Eisner. Also has a media player.
  • Viddler Web application to upload, enhance, and share digital video.
  • Vimeo: Slick upload and share site with robust software and player.
  • Vuze: Upload or watch high-def videos.
  • ZigiMe: Social network where users can upload video.

Infrastructure, Software & Hardware

  • Adobe Media Player: Finding, cataloging and watching your videos.
  • adotube: Publisher-centric online video advertising platform that enables you to generate revenue by showing brand-name ads in your video content.
  • Amazon UnBox: The ecommerce giant begins to experiment with online delivery of entertainment content.
  • BitTorrent: Trade huge files with your peers.
  • BrightCove: Large-scale internet TV platform.
  • CinemaNow: Movies. Buy, Rent, Burn. Online.
  • CastTV: Video search, attempting to index every video on the web.
  • ClipSyndicate: Search licensed, professional content, embed a channel widget in your site and earn revenue.
  • DigitalSmiths: Video search technology. Publishers can register and generate ad revenue.
  • Dotsub: Any film, any language. Wiki-type citizen translation tool for video.
  • Dragonfly: Your customized video network. Trackable. Monetizable.
  • Ekko.tv: Instantly start a video chat with two of your friends.
  • Feed Room: Enterprise video solution. Provider of technology to corporations and media sites.
  • Kaltura: Open source video management tools for individuals and organizations.
  • Maven Networks: Online video advertising solution.
  • MoveNetworks: TV 2.0. Web streaming technology and services.
  • Origin Digital: Video application service provider, syndication, reporting, multi-platform.
  • Overlay.TV: Enrich, monetize, and share online video with animations, comments, products and hyperlinks.
  • PermissionTV: A digital video distribution platform with tools to monetize and track your video assets.
  • Red Lasso: Search national and local TV broadcasts, make clips, share the clips.
  • ScanScout: In-stream video ad network for publishers and organizations.
  • See Too: Privately watch videos with a buddy on the internet.
  • Snackfeed: Snackfeed is a tool that lets you track your favorite videos and watch what your friends are watching.
  • SwarmCast: Multi-stream platform provider for HD and live distribution
  • Tremor Media: Monetize your video (for companies and individual publishers).
  • TVTonic: Watch, subscribe and manage video content. Designed to be used with a remote on Windows Media Center.
  • UV Layer: Search and discover video. Create thumbnail walls as visual storage.
  • Veodia: Platform-as-a-service video broadcasting tools.
  • Veotag: A service that allows you to display clickable text on your audio or video files.
  • Visible Measures: Deep and relevant measurement of internet video audience behavior.
  • Yuxt: Social video bookmarking, list creator, playlist tools.

Content & Entertainment Portals

  • Acceptable: Watch. Vote. Create. Their judges decide which submitted clips are acceptable to be voted on.
  • AllOfTV: An archive of streaming TV content on the web. A site with this range of free content is surely going to be shut down soon.
  • AtomFilms: A source for independently produced, online entertainment for ten years.
  • BabelGum: "TV experience, Internet Substance." High-resolution and full-screen.
  • Beet TV: Business news about the media revolution.
  • Blinkx TV: 26 million hours of searchable video and major partnerships with dozens of media companies.
  • Crackle: A Sony Pictures Entertainment Company formerly known as Grouper. A multi-platform video entertainment network and studio.
  • DubiousTV: Seattle-based producers of online shows.
  • Hulu NBC Universal and News Corporation joint video venture. Many popular TV shows and movies available full-length and full-screen.
  • HungryFlix: Feed your portable device. Purchase with micropayments.
  • Joost: All the things you love about TV, fused with all the fun and interactive power of the internet. From the guys that brought you Skype and Kazaa. Full screen. Downloaded client.
  • JumpTV: Free live TV from all over the world on your PC.
  • Live Universe: One of the largest online entertainment networks from MySpace founder Brad Greenspan. Video, Social Networking & Music.
  • MeeVee: Traditional TV listings and online video from hundreds of sources. Personalized guides to surface new programming choices based on individual interests.
  • Neovids.tv: Production company that creates, acquires, and distributes online video content.
  • On Networks: Producing tons of original content. Original programming for original people.
  • MojoHD: High-def online site owned by Comcast, Cox Communications and Time Warner among others.
  • Podaddies: Advertising solutions for video publishers.
  • Revision3: Discover, watch, subscribe, discuss. Original shows.
  • Rocket Boom: Daily internet culture news video program.
  • Tilzy.tv: What to watch on the web. Guides and reviews.
  • ViralVideos: Displaying the web's most shared viral videos.
  • WellcomeMat: Local personalities and professionals use video to highlight real estate, cities, neighborhoods, parks, schools, events and local businesses.
  • WorldTV: Create your own channel by assembling videos from the web or watch other people's channels.
  • Zattoo: Live TV on your PC from all over the world.

Progressive

  • DIY Video Summit: DIY video in the age of digital media.
  • FreeSpeech.org: Campanion website of the progressive TV channel. Politics, culture and social issues.
  • FORA.tv: "The World is Thinking." Political, social and cultural issues via web video.
  • TED: Technology, Entertainment, Design. 18-minute speeches from progressive luminaries.

Other

  • For Your Imagination: A content production company, creative video studio and marketing team.
  • WallStrip: Videos about how cultural trends effect the stock market.


Updated September 5th, 2008.

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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Online Video Advertising Growth


It seems that every time another research firm predicts the size of the online video advertising market, another firm turns around and makes a higher prediction. The realities of the market and the ever-increasing adoption of online video is proving that the predictions are too low. The only thing we can be sure of is that advertising for online video will be huge! This is great news for all of us content creators...if there is money in the market, funding for shows will continue to increase.

Lehman predicts $2.4B in U.S. Video Ads by 2010. See the TechCrunch post.

Parks Associates predict $6.6B in Online Video Ads by 2012. See the NewTeeVee post.

Forrester predicts $7.1B in Online Video Ads by 2012.

Fifty Percent of US Population will Watch Online Video in 2008

Not everyone agrees. "Expectations for online video ad revenue growing faster than the evidence"

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Digital Media Content Business News

When I started this blog over a year ago, it was to cover stories in the still-emerging digital content industry. This world of online entertainment and digital delivery is now mainstream, and continues to grow. Popular old-school media companies have begun to embrace the new delivery channels and content-creation techniques. Take the recent examples below as proof.

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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Digital Media Entertainment Studios

As a producer and consumer of digital media, I find it encouraging to see such a healthy crop of newfangled filmmakers. These are companies dedicated to creating content pieces for digital distribution. Like studios set up to create TV or movies, the internet studios are generating new works and releasing them to a mass audience.

For example, the makers of LonelyGirl 15 have transformed themselves into "EQAL (pronounced “Equal”), the social entertainment company dedicated to redefining the way we interact with content and with each other."

"Worldwide Biggies is a Digital Entertainment Studio that’s redefining entertainment by creating hit properties for young adults and the digital family."

"Next New Networks is a new kind of media company, creating micro-television networks over the internet for targeted communities, bringing together elements of tv programming and internet philosophy to allow viewers to contribute, share and distribute content."

Generate is "new content for a new generation. With the entertainment industry undergoing a seismic shift in reaction to the rapidly changing consumption habits of the youth and family audience, we recognize there now exists a unique opportunity to create a forward-thinking company that understands both this audience and their increasing demand for content across multiple platforms."

60 Frames is "a company specifically focused on financing and syndicating web content, in an environment where artists maintain creative freedom, significant profit participation, ownership and control over their properties. 60Frames provides financial, legal, creative, physical, marketing and distribution resources to professional artists who wish to create original, high quality programming for the internet and other digital media platforms."

Vuguru is Michael Eisner's company that is producing high-quality digital entertainment properties. Learn more about this in my recent post from Eisner's recent keynote speech.

Endemol is a thriving production entity that creates powerful content for all media platforms. They've done Big Brother and Deal or No Deal and are focused on both traditional and emerging technologies.

Stage 9 Digital Media is an ABC TV offshoot focused on creating digital programming for internet audiences. They are syndicating rapidly to YouTube, Hulu, Zvue and even on the Xbox among others.

"Electric Farm Entertainment is a digital studio for the development of intellectual properties across multiple platforms." They are the studio creating Gemini Division, the online sci-fi series available at the NBC website.

"Medialink helps professional communicators and the media engage their intended audiences with compelling video and audio distributed via the Web, television and radio. We produce award-winning video and audio content that is promoted and distributed to broadcast and broadband media outlets"

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Friday, April 4, 2008

DIY Video in the Age of Digital Media



Howard Rheingold has been one pixel ahead of most people for decades now. His writings and thoughts about new media, grassroots communications and virtual communities must be digested by any serious student of the digital age. Howard and I worked together at Whole Earth Catalog in the early 90s. He's the guy who came running into the office waving a floppy disc above his head screaming, "You've gotta see this." It was the first Mosaic browser and it blew our minds.

Check out the video above from the 24-7 DIY Video Summit. You'll see an intro by Howard and some video of Henry Jenkins, author of Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. Thanks to Ulrike Reinhard for the video.

The DIY Video Summit is described below in their own words:

"We are in the early stages of a fundamental transformation in how we create, share and view dynamic visual media. This transformation is enabling a new media ecology that can support widespread amateur video creation, and peer-to-peer and many-to-many distribution to audiences both large and small. Although it is clear that there is tremendous demand for user-generated and bottom-up forms of digital video, it remains unclear how best to support these creative projects, what the implications are for artistic practice and how to build bridges between old and new media."

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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Digital Media Products Store


I've launched a new Amazon Affiliate store featuring products of interest to digital media enthusiasts. Check out the new Exit Strategy News Store. I've included books, DVDs and software that I've found helpful, informative or just plain fun.

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Friday, March 28, 2008

Nerd TV Video Interview Archives


"NerdTV (Soon re-launching as SuperNerds) was a weekly online TV show from PBS.org technology columnist Robert X. Cringely. NerdTV is essentially Charlie Rose for geeks - a one-hour interview show with a single guest from the world of technology. Guests like Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy or Apple computer inventor Steve Wozniak are household names if your household is nerdy enough, but as historical figures and geniuses in their own right, they have plenty to say to ALL of us. NerdTV is distributed under a Creative Commons license so viewers can legally share the shows with their friends and even edit their own versions. If not THE future of television, NerdTV represents A future of television for niche audiences that have deep interest in certain topics."

Some Guests Have Included:
Macintosh OS programmer Andy Hertzfeld
PayPal co-founder Max Levchin
Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy
Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle
Internet publisher Tim O'Reilly
Father of RSS Dave Winer
Autodesk co-founder Dan Drake
Intel Capital co-founder Avram Miller
Anina High Fashion Meets High Tech
Spreadsheet inventor Dan Bricklin
Computer mouse inventor Doug Engelbart
TCP/IP inventor Bob Kahn
Internet entrepreneur, Judy Estrin

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