Friday, March 02, 2012

Pinterest Competes With Twitter, Instagram With FourSquare

InstagramImage via WikipediaLies, Damn Lies And Statistics: Instagram hits 25 million users – you heard it here first

I am talking in terms of my web diagram. I think Pinterest has the potential to surpass Twitter just like Instagram has surpassed FourSquare.

Pinterest feels mainstream like Twitter never did. Twitter has always felt a little nerdy. A very smart friend once asked me what the hashtag was. The idea of checking in can be a barrier. But sharing photos? Photos with twists and tinges? That old adge about a picture being worth a thousand words. And the whole thing about social. Fred Wilson once derisively referred to Facebook as "a photo sharing network." Another way to look at it is that was a compliment.

At universal gigabit speeds there might be video versions of Pinterest and Instagram. But something tells me photo has staying power. A photo can be consumed in a split second. But short videos can play. And there are so many details to a video. There is room. There will be room.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Eric Schmidt: Mobile World Congress

Kim DotCom On Outdated Business Models

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - FEBRUARY 22:  Kim Dotc...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Kim DotCom: "Piracy comes from, you know, people, let’s say, in Europe who do not have access to movies at the same time that they are released in the US. This is a problem that has been born within this licensing model and the old business model that Hollywood has where they release something first in one country but they show trailers to everyone around the world pitching that new movie but then the 14-year-old kid in France or Germany can’t watch it for another six months, you know? If the business model would be one where everyone has access to this content at the same time, you know, you wouldn’t have a piracy problem. So it’s really, in my opinion, the government of the United States protecting an outdated monopolistic business model that doesn’t work anymore in the age of the internet and that’s what it all boils down to."
I had never heard of the guy before his arrest, although there was no avoiding the MegaUpload name. I agree with the statement above. Movies should be released globally online at once. For $1 per viewing. The movie studios would make tremendous money at that price point.

The Movie Industry's Non Innovation
What Price A Movie?