January 21, 2008
Uploading Videos to YouTube
I was playing around with a number of different compression settings for uploading video to YouTube as I was disappointed with how the recompressed .flv files were looking. It worked okay but optimizing it was timeconsuming as each generation require compressing the video and then uploading the 100 MB file into YouTube and waiting for it to be compressed into a FLV before being able to preview its final output.
If you have access to it, I'd recommending using the new Apple iMovie software. It handles this kind of exporting and uploading to YouTube painlessing. I wouldn't use iMovie to edit anything professionally, but taking a finished anamorphic DV file into it totally simplified the hassle of getting widescreen content to playback with the correct aspect ratio correct in YouTube.
That said, I can't wait until Adobe adopts H.264 playback into their Flash plugin.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 5:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 30, 2007
Twitter IM
I'm having zero luck with the IM feature on Twitter. It says it's always down for maintenance.
The Facebook Twitter application is still a little flaky but it seems to be better than it was a couple of days ago.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 4:31 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 20, 2007
Broadband > or = 2Mbps?
House Dems: Broadband isn't broadband unless it's 2Mbps
This via Ars Technica. Apparently there is a move in the US to have the FCC redefine what broadband is. The discussion is that the definition needs to be increased from 200 kb to 2 Mb.
Sounds radical in a sense considering that a lot of ADSL high-speed runs at 1.5 Mb.
I've been using a service that runs at 256 kb lately, and it sure doesn't feel like high-speed especially when you're used to using a 5 Mb service as I've spent a lot of time doing.
I think there does need to be a concerted push to get most home broadband up to 25 Mb. Just odd that it's the government giving this a push in this case rather than consumers or the ISPs.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:02 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 23, 2007
Widgets - Are Web Pages Destined to be Dodos?
Now that Microsoft has introduced Vista and it's Gadget capability and creates a new way to display web content, here comes the bold predictions on how web pages are obsolete.
Whatever...
With every innovation of type, there's a group of people it suits and some it just doesn't. Look at RSS as an example. It suits a certain number of people just fine but adoption for RSS is still quite low even though most popular browser support it in some fashion or another. As with everything new, there will always be the people who were just fine with it the way it was and won't change. Not everyone will spend the time to customize their desktop to have all the usual information at their fingertips. The last I heard a few years back when "personalization" of websites was all the rage, it topped out at around 30% adoption.
I just don't believe the desire to personalize is that great if the current method of use it is largely satisfactory to the user with no customization needed.
If Gadgets or Widgets (I've just been calling them Gidgets and Wadgets to be "cross-platform") were going to take the world by storm in the space of a few short years, it would have happened already. Apple OS X has had these features for years now. And before Vista you could download software called Konfabulator that does what Widgets and Gadgets do today. It was cool and I used it back then, but it didn't totally transform my information consumption.
Now that's not to say, this isn't an important technology, but it's going to take awhile to take hold and it won't make the webpage as we know it obsolete any time soon.
So, relax and go hire a usability specialist and an ace web shop to spruce up your website. It'll be relevant for a good while yet.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 10:13 PM
January 21, 2007
Massive Opportunity - An In-Game Advertising POV
I'll be candid.
I am really tired of a lot of advertising out there.
That might sound like something odd to say for someone in advertising, but I feel that way for the most part because I know most conventional advertising is largely ineffective at reaching me - a high-value demo (if I do say so myself). As an example, I watch a high-definition channel from my local cable provider that is programmed out of Toronto instead of locally. I listen to very little radio - only a few minutes a day in the car. Other than the music I listen to is from iTunes. I don't read the local newspaper. The most news I get is from the Globe and Mail RSS feed in Google's Gmail.
One thing I have been excited about is the in-game advertising offering available through Massive Incorporated, one of Microsoft's recent acquisitions. I became acquainted with this company before all that and I really like what they are doing for advertising.
Here are some thoughts on why I think in-game advertising is such a good media placement.
Perhap the biggest merit of in game-advertising is that the ad is placed in an environment where the user's attention is extremely focussed.
Have you every talked to someone playing a video game? You don't exist. And God-forbid you walk in front of the TV! They will freak out/or try to look past you to continue what they were doing before the interruption. There are no potty breaks or PVR fast forwarding as there is with broadcast television. And it's hard to ignore because it's embedded in the game environment - unlike convential banner advertising that we have all learned to ignore because it's existence on the page in no way supports our agenda as a user and is generally placed on the periphery of the content.
It's the most measurable placement in it's delivery of a quality impression.
Massive counts an impression once it has been on screen for a cumulative 10 secs. A 9 second impression doesn't count or cost anything. So when you pay for an impression you know it has been seen. This is its biggest advantage over any banner ad (it's closest sibling to an existing media choice by technical definition). You can not measure how many times a consumer has looked at your banner ad. You only know when the web browser has requested it from the server and placed it somewhere in a webpage. There is no way of know if the user has scrolled past it on the page or more than likely not paid a bit of attention to it because they are looking at the part of the page that they are interested in (which I'm sorry to say is not the ads). In this way, I would argue the length of the impression and the placement of the impression are far superior.
There is a certain caché of the in-game the placement by positioning your brand as a peer with the other advertisers currently doing placements in this channel.
This one is hard to quantify but would you rather have an ad in Fortune or the local chamber pub if the same amount of people would see it? Would you rather appear beside an ad for some other global brand or appear alongside a local restaurant or auto dealer? Placing an ad in a game has the benefit of placing you alongside other global brands that are placing ads. In the process, I think this demonstrates a higher brand value and esteem because of the company you are keeping as an advertiser.
First mover advantage.
This stuff is new. It's good positioning for a brand to be where the new things are happening. And if you place localized ad (that they can offer by measn of IP geotargetting), it's going to be noticed by users - especially now when it's new.
It's a more modern & immersive type of placement.
The usual "content you like" then "ads to pay the bills" then "content you like" then "more ads to pay the bills" is getting a bit old in places. Branded content and product placement is a big growth area in advertising (some would argue the future of advertising - I hope to goodness it'll be tastefully done) but it makes it difficult for local brands to play the game because their audience and brand is geographically constrained. While no character in the game is going to interact virtually with your product in the game (today anyway - tomorrow maybe), this is an opportunity to secure a more immersive ad placement than the usual fare and I think that makes it a little more palatable to a cynical and advertising-weary public.
It's skews towards the elusive 18-34 demo which is often identified as a key audience but is hard to find in conventional media placements.
They've fled radio. They multitask on the computer (likely chatting on MSN) while watching television. Forget most print. Gaming has become a social hub with new web-networked consoles and voice communication connecting you with your friends during game play. And if they've left conventional media, it's been to come here.
It's a media placement that gives access to early technology adopters and influencers.
Find someone who gaming on an XBOX360 console and you've got someone at ease with technology, an early adopter and very likely someone who influences the technology decisions of those around them. Take me as an example - since buying an Apple computer in the spring - two other Apple computers have been purchased by members of my family because of my influence. Influencers are a worthy target when promoting technology-based products or services.
It's inexpensive to get in the door and an excellent value in comparison to other electronic placements.
In my opinion, it's a very modest investment for chance to delve into and gain some experience in an emerging online marketing opportunity alongside the big boys. The CPM may be higher than a conventional banner ad but it's well worth it. Industry click-throughs on banner ads are well below one percent. Banner ads are much weaker in terms of recall. (I'd defy anyone to recall a half dozen they saw yesterday). Frankly, I'd value an in-game ad at 10 times a conventional banner ad for all of the reasons above.
So, it's been interesting to see the brands that are placing advertising. It's generally the leading-edge clients and agencies with larger budgets that are pushing forward. I know Taxi has been placing ads for BMW Mini (good on ya!). I know some telcos and cellphone providers are advertising. As more agencies and clients figure out the value proposition here, it could get pricey and exclusive. But depending on how game title developers react to the demand for an 18-34 male demo, they may add a bunch of ad inventory opportunities into the game (but at the risk of gamer backlash). This is a delicate balance for them and I expect this will change something in terms of the consumer model for game pricing.
I'm going to be talking more about this. It's the most interesting and worthwhile ad product I've seen in a long time.
Advertising NEEDS more of this kind of thing...
Check out the Massive website at:
Posted by Derek Leverington at 10:08 PM
September 23, 2006
iTunes tries to sing a different tune
Naming is one of the most underemphasized aspects of brand design.
The most common mistake - names that are too abstract or non-descriptive - often done in the name of sounding cool or creative. One of the best practices - naming a product/service so that it associates itself with the product category without explanation - so I kind of get it after just hearing the name.
One of the better examples in recent memory of good product naming - iTunes.
This has it's own catch-22. What about something wonderfully named like iTunes when you want to expand the offering to video-based content when the name suggests a music-based offering.
Well, it looks like the first thing Apple did is quit calling it the iTunes Music Store in favour of shortening it to iTunes Store. (At least, that's how it appear in my lamer Canadian version where I can't actually purchase movies).
I'm really interested in seeing how this works out. Success in one category doesn't alway ensure success in a seemingly related market. And the competitors are started to stack up in this category with several other recent high-profile video download launches - Amazon among them.
I'm watching this case study with interest. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Apple evolves the naming of iTunes gradually to position the brand for market leadership success in the movie and video content category. Although currently used to name their simple video editing software - the name iMovie is kicking around the stable.
They face some challenges though. The name is one. The other is that they are up against a more sophisticated digital right management technology in Microsoft's Windows Media DRM. Fancier technology affords control is this is the kind of thing that content owners like Hollywood studios get seduced by. Although for all the WM DRM technology innovation, Microsoft and partners have come nowhere near replicating iTunes success.
And I don't care how wonderful the Zune is - Microsoft is at a huge disadvantage is trying to make up ground in this race. This isn't like switching where you buy your cup of coffee. Consider the collective consumer investment in iPod players, the money spent on proprietary iTunes songs and getting used to the best user experience around - I'm not going to be switching to anything else anytime soon and I don't think I'm alone in that view.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 9:41 PM
January 9, 2006
Airport Express
Picked up an Airport Express tonight. Love it! So nice being able to control your music on the living room stereo from your laptop. And I've switched over to iTunes as my main jukebox software so it works great.
The wireless setup was very simple (even on a PC with a simple software install) and I was up and running on the wireless network in no time at all.
All my Apple experiences seem to be positive so far.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2005
XBOX 360 - finally got one
Yes, finally got a tip of a few getting shipped in at the local Costco and managed to get my hands on one. I think it's ridiculous how Microsoft has handled this product launch. How do they really expect to drive sales of this thing at a critical retail period when busy people have to drive around and try to find one in the week or ten days before Christmas?
Posted by Derek Leverington at 6:55 PM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2005
XBOX 180
This thing is going the complete wrong direction.
The more I think about this, this more it seems to me that Microsoft has dropped the ball in colossal proportions.
- Huh? Where is the amazing cool launch title?
- Huh? I likely can't get one until after Christmas?
- Huh? It looks good onscreen, but not that much better than the original XBOX ?
- Huh? I need Windows Media Centre Edition to be able to fully integrate with all of its available features on my desktop?
- Huh? Where's Halo 3?
Nevermind...how long until PS3 is out?
After watching the Halo 2 launch go so well, I see no excuse why this launch is so weak by comparison.
Maybe there is some brilliant strategy here, but I sure don't see it. All the buzz so far is around problems.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 11:16 PM | Comments (0)
November 30, 2005
XBOX 360 - I don't get what happened there
I was kind of hoping for something like the Halo 2 launch. This seemed kind of anti-climactic. The take away for me was reported glitches and supply problems and some pissed off people who put money down and didn't get a console on launch day.
I played it the first day on a hi-def projector and was impressed in places but not blown away. I wasn't expecting to be totally floored but in places I thought the game should have looked a little better.
Either way, it looks like I'm going to have to wait a few weeks to get one. It would have been nice to have a really good launch game, like there was with the original Halo.
If they keep up at this pace, the story is going to be PS3 - not XBOX.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
HiFAST FM Transmitter Review
Or Hi Fast???
Regardless, bought one of these FM transmitters off eBay.
It's a model HFM02C.
I bought this for use in my van and liked the idea of it being able to just plug in the 12V cigarette adaptor and power itself off that as batteries are an inconvenience to keep on top of.
It is apparently capable of 7 different frequencies although it will required opening the case to do so. I haven't attempted as the default 107.5 frequency seems to work just fine.
Audio quality was on par with a battery-powered iRock transmitter I had been using.
The only thing to keep an eye on is the audio input level and this is not something unique to the HiFAST. I use a Creative Zen Micro and the top roughly 20% of the volume seems to overdrive the input.
It seems to perform well (especially considering that the price I paid was very reasonable) so it has my recommendation as a cost effective yet also a quality FM transmitter.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 8:52 PM | Comments (1)
HiFAST FM Transmitter Review
Or Hi Fast???
Regardless, bought one of these FM transmitters off eBay.
It's a model HFM02C.
I bought this for use in my van and liked the idea of it being able to just plug in the 12V cigarette adaptor and power itself off that as batteries are an inconvenience to keep on top of.
It is apparently capable of 7 different frequencies although it will required opening the case to do so. I haven't attempted as the default 107.5 frequency seems to work just fine.
Audio quality was on par with a battery-powered iRock transmitter I had been using.
The only thing to keep an eye on is the audio input level and this is not something unique to the HiFAST. I use a Creative Zen Micro and the top roughly 20% of the volume seems to overdrive the input.
It seems to perform well (especially considering that the price I paid was very reasonable) so it has my recommendation as a cost effective yet also a quality FM transmitter.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 8:52 PM | Comments (1)
August 22, 2005
I therefore now exist
Alas, Google has acknowledged the existence of this blog under the keyword search of my full name.
Frankly, I have found this somewhat frustrating as until very recently Google still had a cached version of the Blogger profile that I had set up for an experimental personal blog that I had played with back some time ago but had abandoned. And yet, this blog which had been quite active for months and was even registered under my own full name failed to get indexed.
Admittedly, I hadn't done a great deal to create any awareness of its existance other than registering it with Open Directory Project and a few others but I did notice that Yahoo and MSN were much quicker to pick up on things - MSN in particular.
So, not sure what to do with the idea of trying an alternate search engine. I have experimented with it some but I have to admit that I've become quite the creature of habit in using Google and using MSN seems quite foreign still.
I think I'll use this as an excuse to go back to Google with my pride intact.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 9, 2005
Konfabulator - Widgets For Windows
I'm an avid Windows/PC user.
But I work among a lot of Mac users. And I have to admit that I end up with Mac envy due to whatever neato feature available on the Mac platform that happens to catch my fancy.
Lately, the whole widget feature available in Apple Tiger has looked particularly appealing.
I heard about this program through the news that Yahoo had acquired it. It's called Konfabulator. The story of the company is an interesting one - from third party Mac developer to Yahoo acquisition.
I've found it immensely useful for everything from weather, task management, keeping track of time zones, etc.
If you've got some memory left (it seems to require more than it's fair share) - I'd recommend downloading it.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2005
More sabre-rattling on high-def DVDs
March on to war DVD dufuses!!!
Why is it easier to blow tens or hundreds of millions in putting another format war to what amounts to a consumer referendum than it is to agree on how this should be done?
I just saw another good article in the Seattle Times on the impending format war. (Link via Nate Elliot at Jupiter Research).
Elliot commented on something I think was a little misleading in the Seattle Times article. It mentioned that Sony didn't give up on its Betamax line until 2002 - which suggested some kind of blind obstinance on Sony's part. I think what should have been noted is that Beta's popularity as a professional broadcast format resulted in it being around long after it failed as a relevant consumer format.
Anyhow, I believe two things need to be noted:
1) This whole discussion is not far off rearranging decks chairs on the Titanic. Increases in internet download speeds are going to allow for new business models and direct download delivery. Anyone heard of iTunes? The same thing is shaping up to happen on video content. Yes, Hollywood is going to get dragged kicking and screaming like the music business did, but eventually they will "get it" and get on board with internet delivery. Who needs a disc at that point? Increases in capacity and bandwidth are going to make the whole thing largely irrelevant.
2) While consumers eyes are more discerning than their ears, I haven't seen much of a line of up people to get hi-fidelity audio CD's i.e. SACD. Most people haven't even heard of it. Why? Because CD's sound just fine to most people. How much better does it have to be to make people rush out and spend money? These days, most people are happy to download compressed audio (with its inherently lower quality although it's hardly discernable to most) for the sake of the convenience of using an electronic channel. Could the same apply, at least in part, to high-definition DVDs?
You can't see the difference of the format until you go and drop extra money on an HD capable display. All this adds up to a fair investment for most people and a format war is only going to serve to make people wary of making an investment at all.
So, the more of this kind of sabre-rattling that goes on, the more the HD DVD and Blu-ray camps only serve to undermine their own success, regardless of who wins.
Myself, I'm not going to be the first to buy one. One of these will have their day, but I don't think it's going to be a long-term proposition. It won't be that long until internet bandwidth and storage capacity make the whole matter of offline storage largely irrelevant.
So, have at it folks . . . if it's about ego, then get at it and get it over with. If it's about profit, I'd think it over a little and maybe try some counselling.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 5, 2005
Finding the time to listen to podcasts, mp3's, etc.
Someone commented to me once that they weren't sure when they have the time to listen to podcasts, etc.
In trying to answer that question for myself, I set about taking my Creative Zen Micro mp3 player with me everywhere and see what worked and what didn't.
My commute to work (if I can call it that) last 5 minutes if it hit red lights. So, while it's cool to walk into work with white ear buds hanging from around your neck, I find that I don't get too far with that. Although, a few little 5-10 minutes opportunities stacked together do have a cumulative effect of getting through longer podcasts. And while going to work is a frequent activity, I discovered better ones.
(Another thing with that. I drive a Jeep and have the top down as much of the year as I can living in Canada. Unless the audio production is right on a podcast, I won't even try it with all the ambient noise I have while driving. Amplitude variances are too hard on my ears. Music works best for this application.)
What I discovered is this: while we have all might agree that we have a lot of media exposure, there is a fair amount of time remaining in our lives that can be filled that is empty right now.
Here are a couple of examples:
1. A trip to Walmart or the grocery store.
There's nothing going on but boring store specials announcements and messages to staff. There's really no need to pay attention to any of it. Look at a good 30-60 minute stretch of time here.
Caution: you may embarass yourself if you're listening to music and tend to hum and sing a little out loud. That said, if you realize that you are inadvertently looking like an idiot judging from the stares of passers by - stay the course. Better to be confident in whatever level of ability you have than flinch and stop the party just because some strangers notice you. If you're listening to a spoken word podcast, you're in the clear.
2. Mowing the lawn.
And who wants to listen to a lawnmower?
In addition to the ear buds that came with my player, I have a good set of over the ear headphones that do a good job of isolating outside noise. Actual in-ear type buds will work similarly. Normal buds won't isolate the ambient noise as well resulting in having to turn the volume up quite loud. Not so good.
Advice: if using a gas mower pay attention to the RPM of the engine by paying extra attention to the speed of the vibration on the handle. It'll help make up for some of what you miss in listening and you need to know if the engine stumbles or start working harder because the bag needs to be changed.
A good 20-30 minutes here again.
3. Trips to the rest room.
Not much to say here. We all read. Why not listen to something instead?
Time: your call.
4. Household chores.
Emptying the dishwasher. Doing laundry. Working in the yard.
There's nothing of any sonic significance going on here. Why not make it interesing for yourself, especially if the chore is mundane.
These are just a few and there's more out there but even these ones along can get hours a week of listening time without taking time away from anything else.
My biggest challenge in getting through my podcast susbscriptions is that I'd rather listen to music and be entertained than listen to a spoken word podcast, however helpful the information is.
I guess that's why pop-stars make more than university profs.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:10 AM | Comments (3)
June 26, 2005
Google Local A Lifesaver But Can't Replace Local Knowledge
I was working out of town this last week without the benefit of working out of a sister office location. As it turned out, I needed to be get colour printing done for some focus groups we were working and didn't have much time to get it done.
Anyhow, a few minutes in Google local and I knew where to find a nearby print shop. PDFs were emailed and I ran over to pick them up. But I wanted to get them mounted and the print place couldn't turn that around in 15 minutes. So, it was the friendly guy that ran the print shop that pointed me in the direction of a local craft store a few blocks away. I hailed a cab, grabbed what I needed a was back to the hotel room a few minutes later and got everything ready for the focus group.
Google Local with a little local help made it all come together.
Also, in anticipation of a late evening, post-work libation, I had done search for a local establishment using "bar" as a keyword. A few things presented themselves, but nothing really promising close by popped out at me.
(Thank goodness that there is some reference links other me and my other male, middle-aged, married colleague and I may have ended up at the local lesbian-themed establishment. I should read a little deeper in the Prism part of the name, I guess.)
Anyhow, after walking around a little we were directed to a really cool little pub. We got a little lost and got a better set of directions once we got closer and finally found it. And it was a really neat little place, I'm so glad we found it.
Unfortunately for my search, the word restaurant appears in the name of the place - the sign reads The Sherlock Holmes Restaurant - instead of bar. That's great for not highlighting big bar tabs on the expense form, but it's lousy for find using a keyword driven search engine.
So, here's the conclusion I drew: Google Local can get you going in the right direction quickly, but there's no replacement for chatting up local people to really dig in to the local expertise and resources.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 9:44 AM | Comments (0)
June 8, 2005
Use of Web with TV Advertising - Do it!!!!
I'm amazed that more tv ads don't make better use of the web as a response mechanism.
Everyone keeps talking about the death of the :30. Does it have to die or can it transition to a part of a multichannel approach.
There's lots of opportunities here. Continue interesting creative (hello beer companies), drive a transaction hard right then and there (space foam something or other) or more exhaustive production eduction for more complex products (like health products or consumer technology).
Take the last one for example, it used to be that you had to do something like an infomercial if you wanted to be able to communicate extensive product information. A well integrated :60 to push an online component could accomplish similar results with a more primetime buy. Better yet, the consumer could actually interact with the product demonstration site and potentially learn more about the product than they could watching an information.
Want a spokeperson? Bring them along. In fact, build them into the online component. Macromedia Flash's video compression has come along way from what it used to be. Using high quality motion video along with full user interactivity is now a possibility. And it can look really good.
Maybe there's life before death for the :30 after all.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 2:01 AM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2005
Apple on Intel
This sounds like a wonderful notion to me!!! There has never been a real alternative to Windows. As far as Linux has come, it has always been the domain of the technically inclined.
Might we see the Apple OS give Microsoft a run on it's home turf of the Intel platform?
Watch for the Apple faithful to be right up in arms over this one.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:56 AM | Comments (0)
May 30, 2005
Philadelphia City-Wide Wireless Rollout
Of course, there are those that are going on about all the potential problems with Philadelphia's city-wide internet project but I really hope that Philadelphia can do a successful rollout. I suspect that a lot of other cities will take this on if they can pull it off.
My concern is that the 802.11 standard was never really intended for this kind of rollout so it may take a newer, enterprise level technology like WiMax to make it all work smoothly, but I think it's a great idea and wish them all the luck in the world with it.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 6:54 AM | Comments (0)
May 29, 2005
Audio Tech in Automobiles Needs To Be Upgradeable
I often drive around and look at cars on a weekend if I have a few moments.
I rarely walk into a showroom but I was in the local VW/Audi dealer on Saturday and noticed that one of the optional stereos have a slot for SD cards to be able to play MP3s. Not a bad idea, especially for listening to podcasts, but not great for those who get their music digitally. Most music delivered over the web has DRM (digital rights management) attached to it i.e. iTunes, Napster, etc. I don't see that the onboard systems support the AAC or WMA formats.
In many respects, mp3s are an antiquated format - poor audio compression compared to modern codecs and no DRM possibilities.
I think manufactures need to be designing easily upgradable technology paths for these kinds of applications so they don't go out of date overnight. Especially with the kind of change that is happening now with the advent of mp3 players, format wars of Apple vs Microsoft audio technology and memory stick types.
Here's my ideal setup for a modern audio setup:
- fully modular hardware with upgradeable software
- on board harddrive / flash memory
- wireless networking
- playlist synchronization with other devices coordinated via the network - i.e. the music in the car updates when you download something to your home pc or laptop
- individual passenger control so each person can listen to what they like
I like the portability of a player, but a setup like this in the car that was synchronized with my laptop would be far more convenient than toting around a portable playing.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
May 26, 2005
Web Browsers Have Their Limits
There are times that I really wonder about the web browser in its current form.
Take those of us who are using RSS aggregators to read blogs. I couldn't imagine scanning that much text on all those web pages without an RSS reader. It would be next to impossible for me to get through as much as I do and it would take way longer.
Long at Apple's use of widgets in the new Tiger OS. Another custom web-fed software tool for a specific task and it works great. In that instance, wound right into the OS.
I think one of the greatest strengths of this is the consistency. Ten web designer solve a design problem ten different ways, so it's hard to really get used to navigating different data sets when every site has it's own design - however usable an individual one may be.
I can really see a future of increased rigidity in how datasets get structured and where serving a "website" as we know it today is less about the combination of design and data and more about providing data. Essentially, the whole website becomes one big structured and progressively downloaded RSS feed. The user interface could then be totally customizable by the user in their own piece of software.
For purposes of accessibility for disabled users, this would be a huge leap forward. It's the designs that get applied that make it difficult for software to try to pull the data out of the design. This would be make it far simpler.
For these kind of reasons, I can definitely see a day when government intervention results in legislated levels of accessibility requirements being made mandatory in certain segments. I see it as no different than requiring public places to have wheelchair ramps.
In many ways, it just makes a ton of sense for all users alike.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2005
Digital Isolation
With our lives and interaction increasingly becoming facilitated by web based mechanisms, not being connected is like it's own form of isolation - digital isolation.
I've had a hiatus from blogging for about the last week between travelling, really not having time and being out at our summer cabin for the weekend where getting connected is something of a challenge.
It's interesting how I start to experience separation anxiety when I'm away from my laptop for any period of time. When I'm not connected to my main sources of information and communication, it's no wonder I do genuinely feel isolated.
That said, today is good. There's two good album available on Napster today (the new Audioslave and Wallflowers), I've got a good cup of coffee in hand and I'm ready to take on the shortened work week.
Ahh, connected again.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 8:56 AM | Comments (0)
May 17, 2005
Massive Change Exhibit
If you're able to check it out, be sure to check out Bruce Mau's Massive Change exhibition in Toronto at the Art Gallery of Ontario before it closes.
Unfortunately, I had to rush through it but I always appreciate Bruce Mau's BIG picture perspective and whether you agree with all of his views or not, I always find his stuff a great catalyst for my own reflections and thinking.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
May 13, 2005
Xbox 360 - this is bigger than geeks
Just watching the CTV/MTV special on the new XBOX 360.
From a gamer's perspective, it looks very exciting. Frankly, this is a given.
I think what you also have to also consider is the impact of this machine as an unparallelled point of integration as social software as well as music, video and gaming entertainment hub all inside a standardized hardware environment connected via a highspeed network.
That's a very powerful concept and it's going to be a very big deal.
With all that XBOX 360 represents as an entertainment hub, product placements in the games and a prescence in the XBOX online marketplace are going to become very important for marketers in some brand segments. It'll be very interesting to see in what form the brand placement opportunities will present themselves.
And I really, really want one . . .
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:47 AM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Yahoo moves into Napster's space
Yahoo has launched their music service in the U.S.
At first glance it looks to be the same as Napster To Go, except way cheaper.
This subscription model is going to make for some serious churn as the providers don't really add any value beyond being a digital delivery pipe for the content.
Hopefully this pushes down Napster's prices so I don't have to switch otherwise when the Canadian version of Yahoo is launched and I can be sure the value proposition is very similar, I will be switching.
As the time of this entry, the Napster's stock price is down by nearly $2.00 today compared to yesterday's close.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
Digital delivery is about to hit for real
If I made my money in DVD rentals, I'd be terrified right now. Same goes for CDs.
I was walking by HMV in the mall on the weekend and realized that ever since I signed up for Napster and Napster to Go, I haven't set foot in a music store.
The infrastructure to deliver the content online makes it unnecessary for me to go to a store. Digital delivery makes acquiring a physical CD virtually redundant.
Bandwidth is the only technical constraint to doing the same with DVDs. (I won't comment on the matter of cooperation with the content producers). Fortunately for them, they have some more time before the technical obstacles are overcome. The immiment move to high definition output will drive bandwidth requirements (even standard definition is a problem today with existing compression and bandwidth) and consumer adoption of hardware with storage capabilities has to happen so playback devices can participate in network delivery.
The second part of the equation is content development. This is a much easier proposition for musicians than filmmakers, but it's going to really interesting to see how that turns out.
At one time, the content creation and the delivery of music was all but out of reach for the vast majority of musicians. Now quality content creation is within reach and digital delivery is a reality. Marketing is the next problem to solve.
It's going to take some time for filmmaking to catch up to this, but the content creation process isn't so different. A lot of it can be done fairly inexpensive on desktop workstations.
Content creation and delivery aside, I think the biggest challenge facing the independant entertainment industry is marketing and breaking free from the notion that we can consume independant content en masse without having to wait for the summer blockbuster from the big studios or from the next big release from a platinum selling artist.
So far, very little has changed as to where the content is created, just the method of delivery has changed.
Even that has signalled quite a change already. Think about how much has changed in the last five years in the music business and that just relates to how the delivery works. Wait until you don't buy it from the same people you always have.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
May 10, 2005
The internet revolution is happening - Part I
I keep talking about this to people that I end up chatting with, and that is this notion that the internet revolution is happening before our eyes.
This may sound like bubble thinking but what I think we are seeing in simple terms is people catching up to the technology. While technology can develop rapidly, changes in human behaviour is much more gradual and takes time. That said, slowly but surely, our behaviour is changing and the symptoms of those changes in behaviour, coupled with access to supporting technologies, are starting to show up in our media consumption. It's starting to have an impact in dollars and sense terms to media providers.
I read this article on the New York Post Online Edition.
I think the columnist's comments are exaggerated in places but I don't think he is far off. Our habits are changing and existing business models particularly pertaining to our media and entertainment consumption need to get in tune with consumers and get on board.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
Google Web Deceleration
Google web accelerator software does two thing:
1. Pulls pages of off a caching server to save having to go back to the original web server.
2. Does what amounts to clicking ahead of you so the page is already loaded on your machine saving you having to wait for the page to load.
Although it may conserve bandwidth in some places on the internet, for most ISPs the net effect would be to increase traffic by virtue of the software loading more pages than a user would naturally use.
As a result, this increases web traffic in total, thus increasing congestion thereby conceivably slowing down browsing.
I don't expect to ever use software like this due to my opinions on privacy but it's ironic that something meant to increase speed of browsing could end up working against itself if the theory behind it was pushed to its logical end.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 20, 2005
Minor But Often Overlooked Website Branding Opportunity
This is a great little branding opportunity often overlooked for websites - the favicon.ico.
An .ico file is a file with multiple images inside that a browser or OS can display in various ways as an iconic association with a file or website. If you see an icon in the address bar to the left of the website address, that's what I'm referring to.
The images inside the file vary in pixel size, bit depth and colour depth for various uses.
The one I've used and have come to appreciate, mostly because of its integration with Photoshop is IconFactory.
If you have a website and haven't done a favicon, consider getting one added to your site. It's a subtle but noticable differentatior for your site and will help to get your website noticed once it's bookmarked. Every little bit helps.
Some sites with recognizable favicons:
Posted by Derek Leverington at 9:58 PM
April 18, 2005
Tiger, Tiger - Here She Comes Again
Well, any day now, Apple will unleash it new Tiger OS on its faithful few.
Hmmm.
Let me be the first to say, this is not a bad thing. Although I consider myself NOT among the Apple crowd, I do appreciate the role that Steve Jobs plays in the world.
I do easily tire of the rah-rah from that particular camp, but I appreciate the tireless run of innovation that lights a fire under Microsoft.
I expect the feature set in Tiger to really open up some new opportunities in how users make use of their OS. I just wish Longhorn was coming sooner and I REALLY hope it's worth the wait.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:24 AM
April 11, 2005
Ask Google?
I have to admit, something about the very "Ask Jeeves" plain-language searching Google has introduced. It feels like a work-around. A thrown-in. A last minute consideration. A bolt-on, if you will.
It does work. A definition does appear first in line. But so does the following operational message:
"The following words are very common and were not included in your search: what is."
This is a conflict in the system's message to the user. The returns provide a definition, indicating one thing. The system message suggests in error in how the keyword function is used, saying another thing.
Also, the only real obvious visual reference to the prescence of the definition and the news items (beyond the text content itself)is a graphical icon.
While most users will adjust quickly to this, it is something of a departure from the typical level of simplicity that I've become accustomed to in the Google user interface design.
With the new features getting launched lately i.e. maps and definitions (and I expect more in the future) it will be interesting to see how they improve their capabilities without sacrificing usability or ease of use in their interface design.
This has been the charm of Google. Simple, yet powerful.
It will take some careful steps to make sure it stays this way.
http://www.google.com/googleblog/2005/04/just-facts-fast.html
Posted by Derek Leverington at 5:28 PM
April 7, 2005
Podcasting - Usability, Technical & Audio Production Suggestions
With every new channel comes the challenge of making it easy to use.
With podcasting being something of a new phenomenon and often being undertaken by those without training or experience in the area of audio production or experience in usability design, I thought it worthwhile to give some thought to some suggestions for making the content as consumable as possible.
Paying attention to some basic considerations can go a long way to improving the audio quality of a spoken word recording.
Appropriate Use of Meta Attributes
(with the common implementation for many being ID3 Tags in the mp3 file format)
Ensure you use the ID3 tag. In the absence of this, the player will only display the file name which may not be particularly communicative of the content of the podcast and may be named around entirely different considerations than its use as an plain-English description.
Recognize the character limitations of the playback devices and avoid unnecessarily long titles. In many players, longer titles will need to scroll like a horizontal marquis to reveal the entire length of the title, and at that, only when selected in the menu. So, as users will likely view several podcasts in a list, ensure the differentiating part of the podcast name (the individual program name) compared to others in the series appears relatively early in the title - saying within 20 or so characters. As a result, users can scroll through the list quickly without having to select a specific podcast name and wait the see the entire title scroll through the display to read the podcast name.
Not to pick on the For Immediate Release podcast produced by Shel Holtz & Nevill Hobson, whose program I enjoy very much and am a faithful listener of, but for the purposes of illustration and accessibility of the example to many, I'll use the For Immediate Release naming conventions as an example.
They typically are titled according to this naming convention:
For Immediate Release -- #19 -- March 28, 2004
For Immediate Release -- #20 -- March 31, 2004
For Immediate Release -- #21 -- April 4, 2004
In my player (Creative Zen Micro 5 GB) the screen cuts off after the '#' character, making it difficult to scroll through the list quickly and differentiate one podcast in the series from the rest.
The recommendation I would make is to choose a succinct podcast name that affords some characters left over to describe the individual program. This is a matter of design for the constraints and realities of the medium.
Ensure Absolute Consistency In Naming
Be sure that your podcast names are consistent to the character from one podcast to the next. As they will appear in a list in the player, any aberrations are quite noticeable and detract from usability and the visceral sense of quality of your production.
Audio Considerations
One of the benefits of mainstream radio is the level of production quality that we've become used to. Between the voice talent, writing (though not always), production proficiency and quality of equipment not to mention experience, the bar is far higher that what I would expect from many podcasters.
I expect that to hold true at this stage in the life of podcasting where the impetus for one to podcast likely has more to do with the desire to communicate than possessing technical proficiency and access to quality audio equipment. With many mp3 players having onboard microphones that can write directly to a digital file that can easily be posted as a podcast, the barrier to the lowest point of entry is quite attainable. That said, achieving a technically satisfying production and desirable content is another matter entirely.
Avoid Problematic Locations To Record
The key to being effective in this endeavour from a technical standpoint is clear and intelligible audio. Anything other than the sound of your voice works against clarity and ease of listening(unless in some instances the ambient noise of your surrounding is an important element of the content or creates a mood).
Avoid locations where there are surfaces nearby that will reflect sound back to the microphone. Flat, painted or shiny surfaces are the worst offenders for this. They will reflect sound back and give a few-millisecond echo throughout the whole recording. The use of soft materials can dramatically improve the acoustic characteristics of a space, so don't discount using bedding or blankets to improve the acoustic qualities of where you record. I may not be typical of every user, but I find a close-reflection echo quite annoying and distracting and it's a tell-tale sign of amateur production.
What's worse is that audio compression (discussed further down) which normally has an enhancing effect on a production only accentuates the presence of this type of audio problem.
Use Headphones When Recording
If you using discrete audio components i.e. not simply speaking into an mp3 player, consider wearing headphones so you can monitor what you record. You will inherently tend to speak in a manner that is more pleasing to the microphone and you will become aware of any obvious technical problem like the aforementioned slap-back echo and hopefully correct it.
Invest the Time To Experiment
Experiment with recording locations, equalization, microphone position, pace of the dialogue and your own technique for projecting your voice. A few minutes invested in this will absolutely make a difference in the quality of your recording. A few cumulative improvements will add up to a better overall production.
Maintain a consistent volume
Dramatic changes in the level of amplitude is something to be cautious of as many people listen to podcasts in their headphones. As such, dramatic amplitude changes are exaggerated and can be quite jarring for the listener.
If there is more than one person speaking, attempt for a balanced audio level between the two. Also, try the match as closely as possible the tone or tambre between the people speaking through equalization as recorded to tape or in post-production. If there are dramatic differences in tone or volume that result in one voice being louder or more easily heard, the user has to make a compromise when setting the volume of their player. If a user has to have the volume set higher due to the presence of ambient noise in their own surroundings, the level that they have to set it at to hear the quieter of the two people speaking may make the louder voice uncomfortably loud or annoying.
Compression
These days, almost all recordings have a appreciable amount of audio compression applied to them to. Among other considerations, this is done to enhance the recording to make it sound a rich and loud as possible on playback. FM stations also dramatically compress when broadcasting.
For those not familiar with audio compression, it's the process of reducing the amplitude (volume) of the peak levels in a recording. As a result, the overall level can be boosted resulting in the average volume of the recording being louder. If you listen to a compressed and an uncompressed piece of audio, even though the peak levels may be the same, the compressed audio can sound much louder than the uncompressed audio.
One of the benefits of this as a listener is that is provides a consistent volume level with no spikes or drops in volume.
If you have access to audio editing software, look and see if you can find a compressor to apply to your recording. I would suggest no more than 2 - 3db of gain reduction in most cases. After a certain point the voice no longer sounds natural.
A note of caution: using compression will elevate the level of background noise, mouth sounds and other ambient nosies that are not always desirable.
Other Potentially Useful Audio Processes
De-esser - to reduce sibilance - those ripping 's' sounds that again can be quite dramatic in ear buds
High-pass filter - this will filter out low frequencies - try a setting of 120 Hz to start to reduce popping p's (a pop filter or wind screen will also help with reducing popping on more explosive consonants . . . as does practise speaking on-mic)
And of course, it never hurts to have something worth listening to - this just makes it easier.
This is by no means comprehensive as I expect to add to this as I give this further consideration(although I didn't expect it would be this long to begin with on a first draft). I believe if these things were followed and podcasters were armed with some basic knowledge of audio production, we would be able to see the technical quality of podcast improved quite dramatically.
Many of these things listed are not difficult to accommodate. Where software is required to audio processing, it is not particularly expensive either. Any modern audio editor comes with standard audio tools to accomplish equalization, compression, de-essing, etc.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:28 AM | Comments (2)
April 5, 2005
Creative Zen Micro - Near Miss
Thought for while the Zen Creative Micro was going to have to go back. A friend of my was playing around with it when we were out in a restaurant. Somehow by setting the lock switch in the position so you can't inadvertently hit the wrong button and removing the battery simultaneusly it caused to the player to not be able to start up. It would get part way and then lock.
Hmmm.
However, when I arrived home I read the documentation that came with it and found out that there is a recovery menu that you can use to rebuild the disk index. Initiating this process and a "reboot" of the player seems to have resolved the issue.
Whew!!
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:56 AM
March 20, 2005
Napster & Creative Zen Micro
I've been using the Napster 2.0 service for a couple of months now. So far so good.
I used the plug-in that runs inside Windows Media however it seems slow so I've changed my preference to using the standalone Napster applicaion.
After some wrestling with the concept of never owning any music, I've made my peace with it.
The success of the whole thing is contingent on how you use it. If you're still listening to the same music you did in your teens, frankly it's not for you. But if you are one who likes exploring new artists and listening to entire albums rather than cherry-picking the radio singles, it has merit. The other thing to consider is that because you can use it on up to three PC's, it can serve the interests of others in your house hold as well.
Enter ZenMan
Creative Zen Micro
Tonight I went out and bought the Creative Zen Micro so I can run the Napster To Go.
I didn't get this right away, but downloading the newest driver (at the time of this writing, still in beta) to be compatible with the Microsoft Plays For Sure standard made this painfully simple.
I have a desktop computer that I did the full software install on before I realized that I just had to do the Play For Sure drivers. When acquainting it with my laptop, I was able to skip that step.
Voila!!!
I did the upgrade to Napster to Go, paid my extra 5 dollars, and away I go.
I actually have to redownload a bunch of songs I have gotten into the habit of streaming live so I could sync them to the player. But so far so good.
The player is still new to me so I like it so far. It feels like a quality piece of gear and so far this whole apparatus is functioning just like I had hoped.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:50 AM
March 9, 2005
Google Desktop API - Potential For Spyware
I have concerns about the potential for problems with spyware making use of the power of the new Google desktop engine via the APIs now available to collect all kinds of information and use it for destructive purposes.
I'm too paranoid to load the engine on my machine for reasons of privacy (although I've seen at work on) but I can only imagine how nicely indexed content will make it easy for spyware to report on all kinds of private user information.
Most spyware isn't sophisticated enough to really comb through a users machine for much beyond a few targeted things i.e. an address book or the like.
But hand a malicious application a whole harvest of information out of a user's email file, they are going to find passwords for transaction accounts, password reminder emails, usernames and password for domain records, etc. The possibilities for problems are as endless as the lowest common denominator of how well users can manage the security of their machine.
I wonder how long it will be until something like this is exploited.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 12:28 AM
October 5, 2004
The PDA’s Unfulfilled Promise
Ah, the modern inconvenience of the PDA.
On one hand, saving us from tracking a blizzard of sticky notes, on the other, frazzling our fat fingers in attempting to interact with them.
I consider myself among the earliest adopters. Yes, it must have been around time I was loading games from the cassette drive on my Commodore Vic 20 that I was proudly sporting my shiny little calculator watch. That’s not a PDA, you say. While the most data it could store was limited to 8 numeric characters, I think of it as an ancestor to a personal digital assistant as it was the first device that I made a pervasive part of my life to simplify some daily tasks.
The next, some manner of Casio device with 16 KB of memory was marginally more useful, but the fact that it couldn’t easily be synchronized with an external device meant that heartbreak was no more than the life of a watch battery away.
Then there were the Palm years.
After good days followed by bad days using the Palm Graffiti language and falling behind taking notes in meetings, I became frustrated. And it wasn’t until the Palm V series was released that I felt the devices had an appropriate form factor where they could be carried in the shirt of a dress-shirt without causing scoliosis.
While the character recognition on the Toshiba Pocket PC device I’m using now is miles ahead of what I got used to on my Palm Pilot, I’m still falling behind compared to the input performance I would have typing on a laptop keyboard.
I was playing with a Sony Clié the other day that has an onboard keyboard. And while the keyboard on the Clié feels expansive compared to my old wristwatch calculator, I still don’t find it that easy to use.
So, now I’m carrying hardcover notebooks and/or my wireless laptop computer. From what I can see, I’m not the only one who used to carry a PDA who gave it up.
And while some predict that the advent of wi-fi is going to help drive a new round of adoption in the PDA arena, I anticipate it having the opposite effect, at least for those without niche uses. I used to carry a PDA as a desktop substitute because I wasn’t about to carry a desktop with me to meetings. But now that I can carry a laptop around the office or my house and still maintain full network connectivity, I have less and less use for a PDA.
I’m waiting for the right balance of integration that I only see happening in fragments. Here’s my shopping list:
Several GB’s of storage for my music
High-speed wireless access to be able to handle the volume of data coming through my inbox these days
Wireless synchronization with not only a laptop or desktop – but a server I can access from outside the firewall
Higher-resolution displays
A more sophisticated user interface that couples the stylus metaphor with something that can accommodate several fingers simultaneously entering data as one can on a keyboard
Improved digital to analog audio converters – most of the DACs I have heard don’t really support a quality conversion for listening to even medium bit-rate music files
Improved software tools for managing and prioritizing notification of the real-time flow of information available through wireless networks
Better security while participating on public wireless networks, especially to support new functionality such a wireless commerce applications.
Mini versions of USB 2.0 and Firewire ports to access and use plug and play peripherals
Several hours of battery life when using the colour display on a No more than 0.5 inches thick and about 3 oz.
Fortunately, there are some bright examples of devices, like Apples iPod, that are offering some of the things on my list. However, for each one of those there are many more examples of what appears to me to be the same old, same old.
Until manufacturers can address the fundamental usability problems of these devices that have been with us all along, the PDA is going to become more and more of a hardware commodity.
Posted by Derek Leverington at 1:02 AM