However, something that the writers and YouTube/Google don’t realize is that there is a tremendous opportunity here. As the line between traditional media and online media gets further blurred, something that becomes apparent (to the credit of the writers) is that content creation is key.

That’s what makes this period very interesting: what if all of the writers jumped to online media? I doubt they would do it, because other writers would jump into their traditional media roles, and there may not be enough cash in the online world right now to keep all of these writers.

But, imagine that YouTube/Google had deep pockets, and could snatch all of that writing talent. Screw dealing with NBC for display rights, imagine getting all of that creative talent to write original content that can only be found on YouTube. Essentially, Google would have created an instant online media network, with the best creators money could buy.

If nothing else, the writers should investigate this option to put more pressure on the networks. Just a thought.

I’d hate for them to make the jump, considering how the writers develop all the shows I watch on TV, but can you imagine online media content actually surpassing its traditional media counterparts?

From all of this I gather that Universal hates to give consumers what they want. Truly. Let’s take a look at the points he specified and why they’re problematic (disclaimer: I own a PS3, and I love Blu Ray):

• Kornblau: Universal initially backed only one format, because it didn’t want a war. So let me get this straight: before, Universal backed HD-DVD exclusively because a format war is bad for consumers. Now, Universal is maintaining their support, because a format war is good for consumers? If it was bad then, it’s bad now. What this says to me is that they want the format war to continue, because the format they backed exclusively has not won.
• Kornblau: All the other studios get kickbacks for supporting hardware providers too. Quite true. However, the only studio to have exclusives with HD-DVD is Universal.
• Kornblau: Competition is forcing the price down. I don’t really agree with this at all. Blu Ray players are not dropping in price excessively fast. What’s more, Toshiba’s constant price dropping has all but killed the third party hardware support market. Toshiba has done a good job in dropping the pricing on HD-DVD players, by taking a huge loss. However, competitive pricing does not come from driving competing hardware vendors out of the market.
• Kornblau: Universal dropping their HD-DVD exclusivity would kill HD-DVD. Quite possibly true, but why is that any concern of theirs? Aside from having backed it exclusively from the start. Consumers are the ones who are making the choice in the market place.
• Kornblau: Blu Ray provides less interactive and connected features than HD-DVD. Universal hasn’t exactly been churning out the great next-gen must-have content on HD-DVD. What’s more, I’ve got a secret for you, Universal: I’m buying the movie primarily for the movie in high definition. Yes, extras are nice, but what I care about 95% of the time is just the movie. Plus, Blu Ray continues to innovate in this department.
• Kornblau: Backing HD-DVD is a long term and consumer-focused strategy. This is the most disingenous claim of them all. Backing HD-DVD is not a consumer-focused strategy. Universal is not looking at the market place. They’ve planted their flag in the sand and are stubbornly holding to it. If they were really consumer-focused, they would let the market decide the winner. To decide for the market is insulting.

All that said, here is an open letter to Universal, from yours truly:

To Whom It May Concern at Universal Studios,

I am a movie fan, and am disappointed that I cannot buy any of your content in high definition format. While I know you have movies available in HD-DVD, I can only play Blu Ray. What I don’t understand is why you steadfastly only support HD-DVD.

I am not asking you to drop support for HD-DVD. I understand you have backed them exclusively from the start, and do not want to waiver in your support. What I am suggesting is that you support Blu Ray as well. Just give it a try and see how the market reacts.

To continue to be the only major studio to exclusively back HD-DVD, while claiming this is for the good of the consumer, is a bit patronizing to your consumer base. The workings of the free market are such that market changes occur due to consumer choice. These subtle changes do not occur because you believe that they should be so.

The following is a list of movies and shows that I would have liked to have bought, had they been available in Blu Ray format (based on your release lists from July 2007 - November 2007):

- The Bourne Identity
- Hot Fuzz
- Shaun Of the Dead
- Serenity
- Heroes: Season 1
- The Bourne Supremacy
- Scarface

The problem is, you have a limited window. While it may be that I still want to buy all these movies later, I am in a buy-friendly mood right now, being that I have only gotten a Blu Ray player this year. I have to date already bought nine movies, and hope to buy more. I’m not even buying good movies, mind you. However, your continued
aversion to supporting Blu Ray means that I will not be buying any Universal movies. This saddens me, because in addition to the above, there are many Universal films that I would love to buy, including Jurassic Park, Spy Game, 12 Monkeys, The Blues Brothers, Back to the Future (trilogy), and many, many others. What’s more, my desire and
interest in buying these movies decreases as my Blu Ray collection increases.

Even though state-side Blu Ray is outselling HD-DVD 2:1 (as showcased in the recent multi-format release of 300), I know that this format war is still early. It could in fact be that the high definition video war will succumb to the direct-to-download model. However, this is still something you should leave to consumer choice.

I want very much to give you my money in exchange for high definition versions of your movies. Please consider my plea, along with the plea of many other Blu Ray player owners. If we have already bought a Blu Ray player, we are obviously quite willing to spend even more for high definition videos. (In fact, we have self-selected ourselves as
people who are willing to spend large sums of money!) Do the capitalist thing and listen to your potential customers. We would certainly be willing to pay!

Sincerely,

John

Now, for some rampant unproven speculation, which the Internet is famous for! This is why I precede all of the following bullet points with “I believe” — it means it’s an opinion, and not fact.

• I believe Universal is getting kickbacks from major corporations to continue their exclusive backing. (Microsoft? Hello?)
• I believe these kickbacks far exceed the revenue that Universal anticipates they would receive from Blu Ray sales alone.
• I believe Universal thinks that they can boost their multi-format sales, by getting people to buy into HD-DVD as much as possible now, then switching to Blu Ray when it emerges later, forcing a re-buy.
• I believe Universal is stubborn, in that they wanted to support one format from the start, and are unwilling to change their stance lest they have to admit a mistake.
• I believe Universal hates the idea of backing anything Sony-related (as Blu Ray is), as Sony has a competing movie studio.
• I believe Universal thinks that the high definition market is still too small for serious consideration.

There you go! Am I right? Horribly off? Let me know in comments. Hi HD-DVD fanboys!

However, one of the things that really frustrates the hell out of me are those stupid coupon code boxes. You know the ones. You’re cruising along, happy as a clam, and then suddenly:

If you’re in the know, you’re all set. However, if you’re like most people, you stare forlornly at that empty box, knowing that fabulous discounts are hidden away from you because you don’t know the secret password. It’s almost like it’s there to intentionally taunt you. Why oh why do online stores do this to you? Why can’t they just charge lower prices?

Apparently I wasn’t the only one feeling this frustration. A friend of mine started this site with coupon codes to bring help to the masses:

The idea is simple: providing a clearing house of coupon codes for folks who need it. If you know a coupon code, enter it on the site for others. If you need one, come to the site and look it up. They even have a bookmarklet so you can look up a site with just a click.

This is exactly what’s so great about the Internet: there’s a problem many people have, so someone writes a solution to it. Everyone can benefit from this solution, for free. Awesome. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some shopping to do.

Oh Palm, what happened to you? At one point, you were the de facto source for PDAs. A brief flirtation with Kyocera brought you to the phone, and culminated in the ultimate convergent device: the Treo.

Then Blackberry started eating your lunch. You had the Treo camp, and you had the Blackberry camp, with the BB camp recruiting new users daily. (Quiet you Pocket PC owners, you were never in the game.) You released the Treo 650, which was a nice upgrade. Then the Treo 700 — an incremental move. Then, the 750…then the 755p…small improvements that went quietly in the background, while Blackberry started cranking some some seriously usable devices. It was time to really strike the market, and show people that Palm was an innovative company. The next product was going to be a must-have device.

So what the hell is the Foleo? Here’s what I don’t understand:

• Going away from convergence. Palm really put convergent devices on the map with the Treo. An all-in-one device that was small enough to take everywhere — this was great. Everyone rushed to follow suit, because the consumers really wanted this. People want a device they can use on the go. They don’t want separate devices. So why does Palm suddenly think people want a separate device? No one else thinks this, and as the voice of one consumer, I can tell you: I do not want this.
• Sizing is not portable. This thing is a beast. If it’s a mobile device, it has to be small. This thing is not — it’s the size of a laptop, which brings us to the next item…
• It competes with a laptop. Most business users have a laptop. I have three of them. Am I really going to want to add this thing beside my other laptops? What’s the point? If I’m going to be viewing documents or surfing the web, then of course I’m going to prefer my laptop. However, rather than focus on making the Palm work better with the laptop, Palm is creating a laptop replacement.
• It’s priced competitively with a laptop. So, this thing is not a laptop. It lacks a hard drive, it’s underpowered, and doesn’t give much in terms of choice of operating systems or software. Yet, it costs $600. Sure, you get a $100 rebate, but it still will cost me $600 out of pocket. I can get laptops for that amount. Full-blown, fully functional with hard drive laptops.

I want to know what the management at Palm was thinking. Who thought this would be the end all, be all? If this were released near the beginning of April, I would think this must be some kind of April Fool’s Day joke. Oh, what has become of the almighty Palm? Are they just trying to make themselves an easier acquisition target?

We’ve all been pretty excited about actually launching this thing, and it’s finally live! From a poll on how you’ll vote in 2008 to a quiz on what kind of cat you are, it has a broad range of topics. Plus, people can actually create their own quizzes too.

Some other good ones on site:

• Family Guy Trivia
• Match the song to the artist
• How healthy is your relationship?
• Arrested Development Quiz

Quiz sites aren’t exactly new, but this one is pretty slick. Check it out!

I have another prediction: there will be an adult site targeted specifically to the Wii Internet browser. It’s only a matter of time. Surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) mature-themed sites have always maintained a cutting edge nature, so moving into this new medium is just a natural expansion. Look at porn specifically for PSP or iPod. This will happen.

This makes me sad in some ways, because it’s just yet another way to slander gamers and the game industry for news ratings. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just remember: parents should take responsibility for their children. Would you really want a game company responsible for your child anyway?

• 1x Need For Speed: Underground
• 1x bottle of 18 year old Glenfiddich scotch
• 1x Person willing to drink and drive a virtual car

Fortunately, I was able to procure all of these items from the contents of my home. Need For Speed: Underground is an interesting choice, because it involves racing at high speeds through city streets. Granted, if drunk, I would hope that racing through the streets at high speeds wouldn’t be first on my mind, but what can you do. 18 year old Glenfiddich scotch was selected because a) I’m not particularly fond of Glenfiddich — it’s okay, but not my usual scotch; and b) I have two bottles of it. Dosage will be in one shot increments. Let the experiment begin!

No Shots

Wow, I have a little trouble navigating the roads at high speeds even when sober. It takes me several tries to finish some of the races. I ponder how short my career as an underground street racer would be in real life. Bonus tips: apparently, I can race pretty well, if I can slam into walls to lose some speed. Oh, and apparently, no matter how bad a smash up I may have, my car will emerge unscathed. They apparently must be making cars a lot better than they used to.

One Shot

The shot is warm going down, and I start to feel a little light-headed. Did someone turn on the heater? I start a race, and I’m the man. I’m reading the terrain in advance, and corning like a pro. When I power slide around a tight turn, I begin to think that I actually know how my car handles.

Two Shots

The second shot goes down easier than the first. Scotch, you say? I start wondering if I should turn on the ceiling fan. My racing isn’t as slick as after the first shot, but I can power through it. The nitro button makes my car do things I don’t like it to do. Mental note: if I’m ever drunk and driving (God forbid), do not I repeat do not engage the nitrous oxide system — it won’t end well.

Three Shots

It’s a little hard to stomach the third shot, as I feel the first two still settling in. My car has an affinity for trees, for some reason. Why do they keep jumping out in front of my car? It’s annoying to be cruising down a street at 90 MPH, only to suddenly be at 0 MPH in front of a tree. The other racers don’t seem to have this problem. Stupid cheating computer.

Four Shots

Hmm, why did the game makers make the screen all blurry? Is it to emphasize speed? Then I realize it’s not the game that’s blurry. I’m thanking the game makers for putting in the hard edges to the race track, or God knows where my car would be right now. Probably heading to a Denny’s.

Five Shots

If I’m getting into the underground racing scene, do I really want to be driving a Civic? Clearly not. I trade in my car for a Mazda Miata, which proves that I still have motor function enough to work menus — good news for late night food runs. Bad news for random eBay purchasing. The Miata has much more speed and acceleration than the Civic, which I’m starting to regret in my condition. I get out of my chair and sit closer to the TV. I don’t think that would be possible in a real car — the seat will only move so far forward.

Six Shots

There are a lot of colors on the screen. I hope none of them are ambulances. I’m pretty sure I saw a squirrel run by. Screw driving, I’m going to bed.

So there you have it, a cautionary tale in action. Drinking and driving is verifiably bad. No real news here, but I encourage you to try virtual drunk driving yourself to see how bad. Just watch out for the next morning, because though you may have only been virtually driving, you’ll feel like you’ve been in a real accident. I’m going to find a quiet place now.

Social networking sites have been reluctant to do something like this because they don’t want to encourage activity off site. This is wrong. People do in fact do things on the Internet on other sites, so having a way to interlink that content is a good idea [tm]. Another friend of mine syndicated his site into his MySpace profile, but there’s nothing automated to do this yet. RSS is not new. It’s designed for syndication. So, aside from blog readers, why is there a dearth of good implementations of syndication cross-site? It’s not like enabling this functionality will cause people to go in droves to set up their own blogs. Chances are, it’ll provide more dynamic content to the profiles of those who already blog on other sites, making those profile pages just that much more interesting.

So kudos to Facebook for understanding syndicated content. Let’s hope the other social networking sites follow suit.