I saw a great example of this with KEXP developing a media player that works on-line and off-line, with auto-detection of network capabilities. The player is stand-alone (works outside the browser) and I saw it running on MacOS and WIndows. If you are a MacOS developer you can get the Eclipse Tools for Silverlight at www.eclipse4sl.org/mac.
]]>I thought that Adobe had document management and cross-platform sharing wrapped-up with Acrobat and PDF. After all, PDF is an ISO standard, and Acrobat is on its 9th version. I've written a number of books on Acrobat and managed the largest PDF user's conference for some time - so I'm partial to it... but a short while ago I saw something that is potentially game-changing for publications looking to monetize legacy content. And with magazines and newspapers under pressure - who doesn't want to monetize their digital assets? So I nearly fell out of my chair today when I saw covertocover.com showing past issues of Rolling Stone that include full text search and easy navigation between issues and pages - and it was all leveraging Silverlight. This is a great, unconventional use of the Deep Zoom technology that Silverlight supports - and it solves an immediate business need that publishers are facing - how to monetize legacy content.
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Silverlight 3 was announced here and has some technical features that are useful for developers -things like GPU acceleration and support for additional CODECs such as H.264, MPG 4, and AAC but the real mind-blowing things revolutionize the user experience:
· Live streaming with full DVR-like controls - pause / slow motion / rewind for live streams. This puts Silverlight live streaming miles ahead of anything else. NBC announced they are renewing their use of Silverlight for all streaming of the next Olympics (Vancouver) using Silverlight.
· HD streaming - you'll see this at the next Olympics as they'll be streaming all content in HD.
· Out-of-browser experiences on Mac and Windows - not just a browser plug-in
· Off-line support: Silverlight 3.0 applications can run as stand-alone applications. So they can consume services while connected, and then switch to an "off-line" mode when not connected.
· Support for multi-touch - like the "pinch" - think Minority Report or iPhone
I'll have more updates throughout the event... as I'm at a Microsoft-focused event, most of my posts will focus on their technology this week...
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As much as I love my Boston Globe and Wall Street Journal each morning, the economics of printing and delivering a paper to my doorstep each morning can't be viable for much longer in the current advertising market. The cost of printing and delivery alone are too high. The question is not whether these publication will move on-line - rather, it is a question of when and how they will do it.
Will they subsidize a Kindle like device when a subscription is renewed? Or will I buy one device to read both papers - and my Wired and Time subscriptions? The technology for portable reading devices is advancing - but the cost of the devices is the biggest barrier. There's a great story on it from Fortune reporter Michael Copeland here which discusses the economics and the technology. As advertisers take advantage of this new medium, we'll eventually see motion graphics and video advertising in these devices. It's a few years out, but the advancements are impressive.
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The generations that grew up on newsprint may be dwindling, and the Monitor is ahead of the curve in moving to reduce its costs and revaluate its distribution model. Monitor readers may be willing to pay for an iPhone application, or other news outlets that are cutting staff may pay for syndicated stories - all ways to make revenue on-line. And pushing more readers to the Monitor site will increase ad revenue - although it won't reach the levels of print advertising.
As a paper respected by journalist, the Monitor's greatest asset is the stories is collects each day. By finding new ways to syndicate these stories, and by reaching a broader audience on-line - an audience in the millions, not the hundreds of thousands - they'll be better positioned to find new revenue sources. The money won't come easily, but by moving On-line, the Monitor is moving in the right direction.
]]>I don't know many folks that are as equally popular with grandparents and grandchildren alike. While younger viewers may only know him for his role in Cars, those of us who know his earlier work are also reminded that our creative energies can be put to good use. He showed us that we can and should invest in causes greater than ourselves, and that corporations can be successful and do good work. His leadership in supporting a camp for children with serious illnesses reminds us of how fortunate we are and how much good we can do, and his Newman's Own brand has donated more than $250 million to many charitable organizations.
When I met Paul Newman a few years ago it was unforgettable. We were both backstage at a theater. I was there at the invitation of a good friend that knew the performer well. Mr. Newman was there with his wife, daughter, and grandchildren. We were the only people backstage. I spent a great deal of time talking with his wife, not knowing who she was - what a wonderful woman. Mr. Newman walked over and joined our conversation and we talked about my several month old baby daughter. As I didn't have any other daughters or sisters growing up, I asked for advice on raising girls. In his classic voice he told me, "Start your gun collection early" to keep the boys away. He was funny, gracious, and kind.
In an age where we see self-centered behavior in so many ways, Paul Newman reminded us that it's not what we take that is important - it's what we give back.
]]>While Kudos are probably in order for Apple creating the iPhone so that a seven year old can navigate it with no training, and to YouTube for making it so easy to use, we can all learn something from this Godzilla moment. We should all want our Web sites to have such clear ways to request information, learn more, or take the next step. Can the seven year old locate what he needs on your site?
From an even bigger perspective, there's a message here for those involved with marketing and promoting businesses and products - we can actually learn something from the seven year old kid sitting in his bunk bed with Dad's iPhone. The first place he went on his quest for content is Google. "How did you find a Godzilla movie?" I asked, in real disbelief. "I Googled it, Dad" came the much too matter-of-fact answer from the seven year old. He might not be much of a consumer yet, but his behavior is indicitive of how current and future consumers are looking for what they want. Can the seven year old even find your site
While you might not be selling Godzilla movies, you need to make sure that what you're selling is as easy to find at that Godzilla movie.
]]>My MacBook didn't hiccup with Microsoft's Silverlight. The streaming was flawless across my wireless network, even when watching one main stream and three separate picture-in-picture images - a total of four separate video streams. I never imagined watching fencing, soccer, horse jumping, and bike racing all at the same time. It's left my kids asking to watch the olympics - on our computer. Several times this week we've had the laptop open while watching the nightly games as well. I would have never expected Microsoft to change the way we watch sports - but it has definately proved its worth. Silverlight may have been relatively unknown before this point, but it's emerging as a viable, industrial-strength platform for delivering streaming video at a massive scale to users on different platforms.
The company I work at, AGI, offers Silverlight Training for designers and creative professionals looking to create interactive and streaming content.
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