Message From Michael -- June 25, 2007

THE JESUS PHONE

INTERNET OVER THE AIR

ONLINE VIEWING GROWTH

NETWORK AND CABLE NEWS DIFFERENCE

TECHNOLOGY INDIFFERENCE

STEPPING INTO THE WAYBACK MACHINE

COCKTAIL CHATTER

MURROW AWARD CONGRATULATIONS


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THE JESUS PHONE: That’s the somewhat cynical description by media technology site SYS-CON MEDIA of the Apple iPhone because they say it’s being hyped like “it was the Second Coming.” Adding to the hype, Apple has announced it will be able to play YouTube video clips. It’s supposed to be released this Friday, June 29th, after what technology website Engadget.com calls “years of speculation on perhaps the most intensely followed unconfirmed product in Apple’s history.” Technology guru Mike Wendland who writes for the Detroit Free Press admits he is not as enamored of the device as many but he’ll still be standing in one of those long lines waiting to buy one. His concerns are the fact that it is using AT&T’s lower level broadband network, that it won’t allow direct music downloads (you have to go through your computer) and that it doesn’t have an actual keyboard.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced its own “second coming” device – surface computing, or as some call it, table technology. It’s a coffee table like computer that allows you to move and redesign pictures by simply touching the surface, or download pictures from your cellphone by simply laying it on the surface, or… well, you name it. I can’t do it justice by writing about it, but it’s worth viewing. Just go to Microsoft.com/surface.

INTERNET OVER THE AIR: As long as we’re on a technology kick, a group of major technology companies are joining forces to convince the federal government to allow high-speed Internet access to be provided over TV airwaves. Microsoft, Google, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Philips say they have developed a prototype device which would use idle TV channels, known as white space, to beam the Internet out, according to an article in Washingtonpost.com. They say the device will take WiFi to a new level. Meanwhile, as the article says, the major telephone and cable companies are “watching warily from the sidelines.”

Keeping on the technology theme, researchers at MIT have shown that it’s possible to wirelessly power a 60-watt lightbulb. The power was only a short distance away (two meters), but the researchers say the experiment paves the way for wirelessly charging batteries in laptops, mobile phones and music players as well as cutting the electric cords on household appliances.

ONLINE VIEWING GROWTH: Two different reports and different sets of numbers but the same end conclusion. More people are watching more videos online. The Magid Media Futures national online survey found that a majority (52%) of online Americans 12 to 64 are using online video once a week or more. A survey of online users by the Online Publishers Association put the number at 44%. (Oddly, the same number Magid reported for last year.) The numbers are also different when it comes to daily use with Magid reporting 14% watching videos online every day while OPA reports 8% watching online daily. (Again, oddly, almost the same as Magid reported last year.) Both say the prime users are young males. And both say the top content items are news. OPA says nearly half (45%) access news videos weekly while Magid says more than a third watch online video news stories regularly. Both also put weather as a top online video content item, followed by jokes and bloopers. The OPA report says the Internet dominates all other media during the purchase process, leading in terms of initial awareness of a product, learning more about a product, deciding where to buy and, finally, in the actual purchase decision. Of course, this was a survey of online users, but the report says the numbers range from 48% to 57%. The second most influential part of the purchase process – Word of Mouth. The Magid report says nearly half (41%) of Internet homes have wireless networks and predicts that TV sets will be part of home networks in the years ahead.

NETWORK AND CABLE NEWS DIFFERENCE: One of the criticisms we often hear from the public is that all local news “looks the same.” Well, now research from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds the same criticism of network news BUT not so much for cable news. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of those surveyed say network news operations ABC, CBS and NBC are “all pretty much the same.” (Despite ABC’s recent jump in the ratings.) Only a fifth (18%) say there are real differences. But while two-fifths (40%) of the public say cable news operations CNN, Fox and MSNBC are pretty much the same, nearly half (48%) see real differences. Further evidence that people think they’re all the same was the fact that the first word out of their mouths when asked to describe either network, cable or public radio news was the word “good.” OK was the second word used when people were asked to describe their impression of network news. Excellent was the second word used to describe Fox and NPR. The second most common word used to describe CNN was informative. Other words used for the various news organizations were liberal and biased. Consolation for the network news executives is that two-thirds (63%) say they regularly get their news about national and international news from one of the three major network news organizations while cable news operations was regularly viewed by about a third or less (37% for Fox, 35% for CNN and 26% for MSNBC.)

TECHNOLOGY INDIFFERENCE: Another part of the Pew group, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that nearly half of Americans (45%) say information and communication technology gives them less control over their lives OR makes no difference. And a third (32%) of those with either cell phones or Internet say they need help setting up or using their new electronic gadgets. Reviewing why some people still refuse to join the communication revolution, associate director John B. Horrigan argues that the technology industry needs to improve its design of electronic gadgets and the industry needs to improve its sell of the benefit of such gadgets. Although he notes there are some “contrarians” who just don’t want to adapt or adopt the new devices. As a lesson to all, he quotes a report by the World Economic Forum on “digital ecosystems,” which says that while “not all companies that experimented with new organizational structure have flourished, all companies that failed to experiment have floundered.”

You may remember from a previous MfM that the Pew group provided a quiz to find out what kind of technology type you are – an omnivore, mobile centric or whatever. If you want to find out where you fit, the link is http://wwww.pewinternet.org/quiz.

STEPPING INTO THE WAYBACK MACHINE: Anybody out there remember Peabody and Mr. Sherman? Okay, never mind. In any case, a new feature for the weekly MfM is an occasional look back at what was ‘making the news’ in the MfM this time last year.

This time last year AOL relaunched Netscape.com with readers voting on the hot stories of the day. The site is still up and running but the voting is still low with stories garnering anywhere from three votes to 99 votes but not much more than that. Also this time last year we announced the launch of two new websites designed to broker people’s pictures to the press. The sites, scoopt.com and celljournalist.com are still up and running. The Online Publishers Association reported in June of last year that the Web was the dominant medium during work hours (followed by radio) and the second most used medium at home (after TV), proving, according to association president Pam Horan, that the Web’s “rise to mass media status is now clear and incontrovertible.”

COCKTAIL CHATTER: The invention of barbecue may be a key reason for humans developing larger brains. Scientists say that 1.9 Million years ago the brain of Homo erectus doubled in size. Harvard professor Richard Wrangham says that coincided with the development of cooked meat which allowed more calories to be consumed faster which led to a shrinking of gastrointestinal organs and an increase in brain size, essentially trading “guts for gray matter,” as MIT’s Technology Review puts it. The National Science Foundation has given two professors $150,000 to develop video games that can be used to teach students computer science, according to the website Next Generation which focuses on “interactive entertainment.” A study sponsored by a group called Electronic Arts in the U.K. and conducted by FutureLab, a non-profit education ‘advancement’ organization found that video games could be useful in teaching several other subjects as well. California is the fourth largest wine producer in the world, behind France, Italy and Spain with Australia in sixth place.

MURROW AWARD CONGRATULATIONS: To all the stations that won Murrow awards, but a special Mazel Tov to Belo-owned KVUE-TV in Austin, Texas, and friend Frank Volpicella for winning for Overall Excellence in small market television. Ironically my friends at KEYE-TV, also in Austin, won for news series. Another Mazel Tov goes to Media General-owned WSLS-TV in Roanoke and friend Shane Moreland for winning for best newscast. Media General-owned WTVQ-TV in Lexington, Kentucky and friend Mark Pimentel won for spot news coverage. Another irony is that my friends at Gray communications-owned WKYT-TV, also in Lexington, won for continuing coverage. And a final Mazel Tov to Jeff Hoffman and Raycom media-owned WAFF-TV in Huntsville for winning best website.

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