Life used to be simpler, didn’t it? We could fix our own cars and milkshakes really had milk in them and content providers could generate revenues from content that people were interested in.
A good writer could publish a book that people would pay for. A band could write a hit song and make money without going on tour. Newspapers could break news (even if it was a day or a week or a month later than the event) and the public would snap it up on a daily basis to remain informed about their community, country and world.
Yes, there were issues of content control and distribution and there was a lack of choice for consumers… but good content seemed to “work” because people paid for information and services and entertainment, and that helped ensure that the pipeline for those things would remain full.
The Internet has brought many changes in our lives and how things work, and it has, essentially, broken this “pay for value” system. Users now log onto the Web with their computer and their browser and they expect to get everything. For free. Google can find it, right? And if it’s behind one of the few bastions of “premium content” (think: ESPN Insider or the Wall Street Journal Professional Edition) a user only needs to know where to look to find the content she wants copied-and-pasted into a free form.
Content providers—from newspapers to music studios to television networks—know that once something is online, it’s everywhere. If Google doesn’t distribute it, something (or someone) else will. Rupert Murdoch has said, “free is too expensive” and reportedly plans to bring News Corporation content behind paywalls, and although I enjoy free stuff as much as the next guy, I can’t say I blame him. Banner ads don’t generate enough revenue to support the infrastructure of major organizations, and without that infrastructure, News Corp can’t make content.
A paywall won’t fix everything, even if it does cut Google off at the knees in terms of piggybacking on the content others provide. The content will still be out there, and content providers will be in a running battle with aggregators to capture the eyes (and wallets) of users. Users who expect to get on their browser and get stuff for free.
News Corp and other content providers technically have another option: create applications that act like browsers but are more locked-down. Take the Wall Street Journal off of the “Web” and only stream information to those who subscribe to it using a special News Corp app. I say it’s “technically” possible because it is unlikely to work since goes against the grain of current personal computer use and trends.
The whole personal computer has gravitated towards browsers as the hub. The traditional World Wide Web is the clearest example, but Microsoft and Google and Facebook and a host of other companies are all about creating applications that supplant conventional desktop applications.
So… are content providers toast? Are users doomed to a universe of state-subsidized and/or user generate content?
Not necessarily.
Look at the iPhone and other app-based smartphones. Users’ expectations there are markedly different than on laptops or desktop computers. Sure, they want to be able to hit up the Web, but they also are willing to purchase and use applications that are alternate data clients… ways to get content outside of a conventional browser.
The iPhone is limited, of course. Not many people are going to want to read the Wall Street Journal from front to back on a 3.5 inch screen.
But what about an Apple Tablet? Or Microsoft Courier? More pixels. Easier for those of us with fat fingers or particularly bad manual dexterity.
It also, even if it has a browser, will not have the “baggage” (from the perspective of content providers) associated with personal computers: that everything is free in a browser if you look hard enough.
Imagine Time, Inc. making a Sports Illustrated app, where a user pays for a year’s worth of content up front, or authorizes a weekly or monthly payment. Without knowing its exact strategy, it seems clear based on this demo that SI is already thinking this way.
For users it might seem a step back. It might seem like the Web except not for free (like the bad ol’ days of AOL). But it might turn out to be a great thing. Content providers that can provide content in a more controlled environment should be more willing to generate and distribute superior content because they will generate revenue from its consumption.
Yes, it might be a great thing. It might be the salvation of media as we know it without disrupting the social media/conversational Web that we have come to know and expect.
Everyone likes their privacy, right? None of us want people peeking in our windows at home, watching us. Orwell gave us nightmares of the government watching us through our televisions.
As technology has advanced and so many of us have given more and more information (from names and addresses to credit card information), technology has also started to gather information about us that we don’t explicitly offer. Safeway knows when I buy bread but not milk, and they know how much more likely I am to purchase milk when they put bread on sale. Amazon knows enough about my preferences to make recommendations in music and books based on purchases and what I’ve viewed. Google knows what I search for and where I’ve been online.
Of course, I know they know. But do I know how much they know? And does it matter to me if I do?
Google has become not just dominant (in that it’s the search engine used almost 70% of the time) but pervasive. Google ads, powered by Google AdWords, are on seemingly every site. Google Analytics ties into Google AdSense, letting Web sites optimize and monetize. And the visitor sees ads that she actually is interested in, ideally, because of the use of data collected by Google about the user.
If we ignore privacy as a concern, it’s a pretty good deal. A win-win-win for users, content providers and advertisers.
But we like our privacy, right? Are we afraid of what they know, or afraid of not knowing what they know?
Google has to make sure that there’s no huge backlash against its market share, and it has come out with the Google Dashboard, which allows users to monitor settings and see what Google knows about them across its myriad of services (including YouTube, Google Docs, and others).
Is it enough? Is it too much? Will we even care enough to use Google Dashboard?
Two services that I use on a regular basis have been hit with service interruptions this week. T-Mobile has had ongoing problems with Sidekick services, and I’ve been personally affected/afflicted with an inability to use my phone’s browser. I called customer service about 24 hours after it started happening and was greeted with a pre-recorded general “We know it’s happening” message. Fortunately for me, I sit in front of a PC for most of my waking hours, so I can put up with the lack of service, especially since the company is going to be providing me a credit for an entire month’s worth of service.
Facebook, too, has had its problems this week. An unknown number of users have been unable to access their accounts and they’re not pleased by it. Facebook has some 300 million users, and if even one percent of users are locked out, that’s a lot of potential anger.
People put so much of their lives—their contact information, their primary communication mechanism—into Facebook that when it’s suddenly unavailable for an indefinite amount of time for an unknown (or at least uncommunicated-to-users) reason, frustration is natural. And, unlike T-Mobile, Facebook cannot simply refund user fees because (obviously) it’s already free.
Facebook is, at some level, a victim of its own success and its users’ high expectations. If it hopes to maintain its dominant position in the social networking universe, it needs to have plans in place to avoid emotionally isolating its users when technical snags arise.
Ever notice how useless and negative the news often is? Well, as long as we are keeping abreast of all kinds of silly things that are going on out there, we might as well brighten our day at the same time. Here are two sites that report only positive news. Seriously… it’s pretty refreshing.
We’re happy to announce that Phinney Bischoff Design House is a proud sponsor of Ignite Seattle, which is happening tonight over near Belltown. Details can be found on this post by Brady Forrest over on the O’Reilly Radar Blog.
What is Ignite you ask? Picture a quick succession of 5 minute powerpoint presentations on a wide range of interesting topics. Speakers get 20 slides which automatically advance every 15 seconds.
Lively to say the least.
Doors open at 7:00, Paper Tower Competition begins at 7:30, and presentations start at 8:30.
Here’s a video of one of Ignite’s most popular past talks - “How to Buy Car (without getting screwed)” by Rob Gruhl:
PBDH’s Interactive Manager, Bryan Zug, nabs the highly coveted Geek of the Week title over at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Bryan discusses streaming-video tea parties, pinewood derby, and the question that defines all geeks: Star Wars or Star Trek? Get the answers and the state of Seattle geekdom on the PI’s Web site.
It seems like everyone has a case of the Green Fever these days. But is “going green” just a marketing scheme or a trend? I don’t think so. At its core, the so called “green movement” is the latest in the steady scientific and social progress that has brought us vaccinations, democracy and pasteurization. These things are no more trends than flushable toilets.
Phinney Bischoff Design House has heard the call, and we’re on board. But what can a brand/design firm do? As an an earth-conscious designer, I’ve wrestled with that question for years. At times I’ve felt like I was in exactly the wrong industry, promoting consumption and creating printed materials that inevitably will end up in a landfill. Trying to reconcile my personal values with my career has at times seemed like an exercise in futility. However, I have since learned that I am in a unique and fortunate position to affect change from within the industry, and continue to do what I love to do at the same time. Thankfully, my peers at PBDH feel the same way.
So we formed the “Green Team.” A group of employees dedicated to helping the company and our clients reduce, re-use and recycle. We came up with some ground rules to guide us:
1. We’re going for measurable results - energy saved, money saved, trees saved, waste reduced - in dollars, gallons, kilowatts, etc.
2. Whatever we do must be economically viable. Anyone can “go green” if they have enough of money to play with, but can we do it within existing budgets?
3. Quality and quality-of-life will not be sacrificed. Our client’s printed materials will look and feel as luxurious as ever, and we’re not turning the heat off.
The Green Team identified two major spheres in which we have influence as a company: Our client’s print production and our own office facility. So what’s cookin’ over here? Here’s a sampler, measurable results included:
FSC Paper:
As print production manager for many of our clients, we are able to make smart choices about printing and paper. Whenever possible, we now select paper for printing which has been approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an organization dedicated to managing and protecting our forest resources and reducing virgin timber consumption. We’ve now used 80-100% post-consumer recycled, FSC-certified paper for three large print-run printed brochure projects, which together have had the following impact (data provided by FSC):
- Fully-grown trees preserved: 50.7
- Gallons wastewater flow saved: 21,562
- Pounds solid waste not created: 2,385
- Pounds net greenhouse gases prevented: 1,990
- BTUs energy not consumed: 65.84 Million
Saving Energy:
Using less energy costs less and pollutes less. Approximately 60% of America’s electric energy comes from polluting, coal-fired power plants. Here in the Northwest we are lucky to have abundant hydro-electric power, but that still comes at a cost - especially to sensitive local environments (salmon). PBDH has taken steps to reduce our office energy consumption. By replacing our 65-Watt incandescent light bulbs with efficient, 15-Watt Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs), we will eventually reduce our electricity usage by 13,716 kWh per year ($835 in savings). And, by the way, CFL light color/quality is now virtually indistinguishable from traditional light bulbs.
Conserving Resources:
We now have two full-time bike commuters and one successful carpool team keeping the planet cool. Between just the four of us we estimate that we have not driven 5,472 miles in the last year. That’s 347 gallons of gas not burned, 4,420 pounds of greenhouse gases that did not go into the atmosphere and anywhere from $500 to about $900 in our pockets, depending on gas prices. We have also reduced our internal office paper consumption by simply switching to Xerox High Yield Business Paper (17.7 Lb) in our copier and printers. Compared to traditional 20 Lb copier paper, the high-yield paper:
- Uses 50% fewer trees.
- Turns wood into pulp via mechanical grinding vs. chemical means.
- Requires fewer chemicals and less bleaching.
- Reduces fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 75%.
Besides these bigger projects, we’ve begun a number of smaller initiatives around the office to encourage the use of re-usable grocery bags, coffee cups and water bottles. Seattle Waste Management has provided us a Yard Waste bin which is now diverting our food scraps, lunch boxes, paper towels and other compostables from the landfill to a garden mulch facility.
This is just the beginning of a long growth process for us as a company and as individuals. We are re-thinking some everyday tasks and changing habits one at a time. In many cases just stopping to ask “what if…” will yield all the answers you need - and Google is there for the rest of them. Now imagine if all 300 Million of us Americans got on board. What would those numbers look like?
WOW. That was fast. John Platt, owner and executive chef of St. Clouds Restaurant in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle, and participant in last night’s ideation lab about Step Two, has just created the first event enacting the Step Two theme of finding common ground for all citizens to communicate with each other. Here’s the details from his email:
Greetings Friends,
A very exciting Inauguration coming up on Tuesday - a cause for celebration and cause for a genuine national conversation about our country’s direction and future. We’d like to host both at St. Clouds on Tuesday night, January 20, 2009. We’d like to help build community through shared celebration and through shared dialogue. We have found ourselves in troubling times, but as Barack Obama has said time and again, in order to find our way out of these tough times, “We have to do this together - we are one nation.”
We’ll have tables pushed together to encourage conversation.
We’ll have a big screen tv in the bar showing both clips of the speech and live coverage of the evening’s celebration.
We’ll have cocktails, beer, and wine to lubricate the celebrating and the dialogue.
We’ll have dinner and snacks available and encourage gathering together around food.
And, seriously, if you come with a member of the opposite political party from yours, we’ll buy you both a drink for coming together and believeing, “Yes, we can!” Alternatively, if you find yourself in discussion during the evening with someone who leans in a different political direction than you, and you two find a way to talk about the issues not as competing parties but as fellow Americans trying to solve a problem, we’ll buy you one tasty drink to share together. Really.
It’s time for us all to find some common ground and enjoy sharing that sacred ground together. Reservations welcome, and bear in mind we’ll be seating everyone at group tables. Should be quite a night, following quite a day, the start of our shared future. Maybe we’ll do this once a month… Yours in hope, John and Pablo
John Platt and Paul Butler, Owners
St. Clouds Restaurant and Catering www.stclouds.com
Last night, Wednesday January 14th, we had our first Ideation Lab around the Step Two idea. We had a full house and was very inspiring. We will be getting the notes together in the next couple days and publish the results here on steptwo.org. A special thanks to Ryan Scherler here at Phinney Bischoff Design House for putting this site together and enabling the blog.
The one theme that kept recurring last night was the need to find common ground for all Americans to dialog and understand each other. It can’t be about Liberals/Conservatives, Democrats/Republicans, Right/Left. It has to be about the problems we face and coming up with appropriate solutions. Actionable solutions. Many ideas were generated to help this happen. President Obama has asked us all repeated to do this, so here we go. More to follow.
Please comment with thoughts and/or ideas towards this effort.
PBDH welcomes our newest, cutest and most cuddly housemate yet, Scout Phinney-Bischoff (not sure if that’s hyphenated or not). Congrats to big brother Woody (who is equally as cute and cuddly) and proud parents, Leslie and Karl. Bring on the chew toys and puppy breath!
