Daily Archives: November 26, 2006

Why can’t newspapers get away with charging for content online, except for highly specialized content? Because readers don’t see the labor that went into creating the story, which is the only aspect of the product that has tangible economic value. They only see the digital output, which increasingly and instinctively they know didn’t cost anybody very much money on a prorated basis. Most of the cost burden has already been assumed by the consumer in the form of hardware and ISP charges. And as Chris Anderson points out, technology is just getting cheaper. Continue reading →

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I’m skeptical about podcasting. Sure, the Ventura County Star was the first daily newspaper to launch a podcast, and I am always willing to give a good idea for a podcast a shot, but I keep wondering: where is the audience?

Jack Lail notes a couple of news stories about podcasting keyed off a study that says the daily podcast audience is just 1 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of podcasts produced is exploding. Is critical mass arriving or is content being put up that will just go unheard? Will video blogs overtake podcasting before it even begins? Where exactly does podcasting fit in?

The problem with a podcast is it takes time to download, and if you intend for it to be portable, move it to a portable MP3 player — and if you’re like me, that MP3 is filled with music. You then need time — like a commute, which we don’t all do — to listen to a podcast.

If I’m not going to download something and take it with me; if I’m going to be in front of the computer anyway — I’d rather just watch my news or entertainment. If I had a video iPod, I could see myself being more inclined to download video news and entertainment than audio, especially in advance of a cross-country plane flight. But maybe that’s just me. On the other hand, it’s been two or three years now and the audience hasn’t really developed, all the while video downloads are going through the roof.

[dels]podcasting[/dels] Continue reading →

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This NYT story starts with a cute, promising lede, but doesn’t follow through. I feel no more enlightened after reading it than I did before. It’s supposed to tell me something, I think, about how big media is grappling with the changing media world. It is supposed to do that by looking at changes in corner offices. Unfortunately, no two recent changes look a like and so there doesn’t seem to be a common theme. Except that the article is just as confused as big media.

UPDATE: It looks like Lost Remote got more out of the article than I did.

[dels]media, executives[/dels] Continue reading →

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You may not know what CAPTCHA means, but if you’ve ever left a comment on a blog, then you’ve probably had to type in a mix of letters that you copy from image files. CAPTCHA is designed to cut down on comment spam. It prevents automated programs from filling out web forms and submitting them.

The only known way around CAPTCHA is human eyeballs and human hands.

Fortunately for spammers, and unfortunately for the rest of us, there is a whole third world of cheap labor out there just waiting for a few pennies-per-piece work, and as this post points out, the technology is starting to reach these parts of the world.

Look at it this way: The future of spam will raise the standard of living for many people. Continue reading →

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Jason Calacanis says you can game Alexa, and he’s out to prove it. I have no doubt he’s right. I’m surprised this sort of effort hasn’t been more widespread. Continue reading →

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