Tag Archives: Video
…Especially when that flying object comes flying out of the screen!
With every recent Hollywood blockbuster available in 3D I ask myself if this is a new technology that makes entertainment better, or if it’s simply a throwback to the cinema experience of the 1920s.
Developments in technology and the film industry might determine if 3D trend here to stay or a technology gimmick that will a be a stamp on the second decade of the 21st century. How will 3D affect our work and devices? Will I have to wear those goofy glasses in order to do my job?
Why is 3D so popular?
For one, it sells. What a great way for the movie industry to offset the audience created by the growing segment of home movie viewers. We all know it is now more economic to wait for that movie to come out on Tivo or Netflix (which are gearing by the way into broadcasting 3D soon) than spending $80 for the family at a theatre (popcorn included). So your nearest movie theatre will charge $3 to $7 more for a 3D movie compared to a regular viewing.
But we’re only talking about movies. What about TV content? Should we get as excited about American Idol in 3D? Maybe not, but TV producers can be as resourceful as movie producers to generate a new audience, and we might see in a near future more TV shows geared for a better showtime for a 3D audience at home.
I still have a puzzling question in the back of my mind: do I need to buy a new 3D TV, when I just bought a new flat screen TV 2 years ago to watch the brand new release of The Bridges of Madison County on Blu-Ray?? Since I shed a tear for that movie every time, my 3D glasses might fog up!
As a consumer, I am confused by the different technologies out there.
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By Neil Clemmons | Critical Mass Chicago
There’s a lot being written about the iPad – reviews, new applications, the ongoing debate on Flash, what the device does and what it doesn’t do.
Beyond the device, however, there are some implications and the longer-term impact it will have as we create digital experiences. New devices and interfaces have a profound impact on consumer expectations, competitive moves, and the evolution of digital interfaces. The Wii ushered in new interface concepts and ideas. Same with xBox and xBox Live. The iPad will do the same in its influence on the conventions and expectations of our industry.
We have several of the Wifi iPads in our offices and have had a number of discussions with our team about its implications. Some see immediate opportunities for the iPad to ‘fit in’ to their lifestyles. Others are still debating if it replaces something or is a supplemental access and consumption device. It’s bigger than a phone with no ability to do more than SKYPE calls. But it’s not quite a notebook with all the file access and productivity tools – so the iPad makes compromises in both directions. The limitations will change in time as new applications, new peripherals, an updated OS, and improved connectivity come.
One thing the smartphone and iPad do is to force a focus on ‘what’s important’ versus ‘what’s possible.’ As sites or applications evolve, they become more bloated, more confusing, and lose the punch they can have. Redesigns of a site or an application can be liberating, in removing the old conventions. But invariably we worry about ‘moving the cheese’ of the habituated consumer and thus add rather than subtract in making experience design tradeoffs. This is where Apple and the developers of iPad apps demonstrated tremendous courage in leaving behind the conventional interfaces and tools. We need more courage to advance the customer experience.
What’s the take away after a week of using the iPad from an experience standpoint?
Here are the 7 Areas of Implications for digital marketers:
#1 – Fragmentation.
Josh Bernoff (Forrester) wrote about the Splinternet earlier this year. That theme is in full force on the iPad. Media and content fragmentation continue as new devices enable content consumption in new and different formats. Information ubiquity that started with the smartphone is further exacerbated with a new form factor. iPhone apps that are played on the iPad look OK, but you’re much more engaged by an iPad native app. The need for liquid experiences that adapt to the screen become even more important as we look at alternative form factors.
#2 – Development Challenges.
We have to think differently about how content and experiences are created, disseminated and maintained. Monolithic frameworks start to break down when there are hundreds of thousands of developers creating new experiences. And with Apple changing their developer terms and conditions, it looks like Apple will expect you to use their tools and frameworks, rather than many of the cross-platform frameworks. We have several clients working with Android, iPhone, Blackberry and other instances for applications. The iPad and follow-on products from other vendors based on Windows 7, Chrome, or Android tablets will further exacerbate the challenge of consistency and maintainability.
#3 – Personalization.
We’re at the early stages of more personal (and relevant) consumption of media – that means the customer is even more in control of the experience. Most will seek out an application rather than a web browser to consume their content where possible. Android, the iPhone OS, Windows Phone 7, Blackberry are all targeting what Mary Meeker with Morgan Stanley says will be a bigger market than the desktop PC market by 2014. The browser lives on at the desktop, but many of these new devices will take a very different approach to content and experience access. Remixing content from feeds, apps, alerts, and personalized experiences will become even more important. Add in the intersection of social to these experiences and you quickly see that use cases with these new devices will become even more personal.
Let’s assume that one of the UK’s largest broadcast networks like iTV decided to stop all advertising efforts for Britain’s Got Talent. Would they cross their fingers and hope people talked about the shows around the water cooler at work? Would they hope that enough people added the show to their DVR list while it was being promoted heavily? Or maybe, they would wish for a 47 year old woman who would sing a song that was heard by millions?
Reports from Mashable show that Susan Boyle’s video is on track to reach 100 million views (not counting replays on talk/new shows, news shows, etc). What’s the implication here? Britain’s Got Talent received the equivalent of a super bowl sized audience because they were lucky enough to host a venue with the potential for amazing content. The show didn’t even have to create it. It simply established and promoted the venue. The formula we witnessed in this situation is:
The tag line of the 2010 Mercedes-Benz GLK is “Great engineering is great engineering at any size.” With the goal of capturing this concept and providing the audience with information relevant to their lifestyle, the “GLK Live-Well Dashboard” was born.
Critical Mass partnered with Conde Nast Digital to create an experience that leveraged the power of 18 trusted magazine properties and fused then with the matching attributes of the 2010 GLK. The Dashboard, a first of its kind roll-over rich-media unit within Conde Nast, mashes-up Video, Editorial, Voting, Sharing, and of course, Mercedes-Benz content into one centralized location that follows Conde Nast readers across their network. Every week for the next 10 weeks, new content will be added to the unit to keep each of the lifestyle pillars (Personal Style, Wellness, etc) fresh for readers who frequent the various Conde Nast properties. For those interested in returning to the GLK experience, the banner can be bookmarked and reopened as a standalone page.
