Last week I was invited to speak at Digital Innovation Summit in Berlin, organized by VDZ, the German Magazine Publishing association. In this series of posts I’ll cover some of the topics discussed.

Susanne Kunz, media and communications director, Procter & Gamble, Germany, spoke at Digital innovators summit in Berlin last week, and had some very direct words to say to publishers. She stressed the fact that magazines are facing competition for ad money – and they aren’t necessarily delivering premium value.
First she explained that magazine publishers in Germany are missing the most important value they could provide – customer insight. Publishers are not investing enough in knowing their customers and provide valuable information to advertiser.
Second, she believed that companies and brands should be present on all platforms, cause their customers are on every platform too.
Third, she stressed the fact that with content becoming more and more open and free, magazines should focus on bringing truly unique content to customers.
And last but not least, she mentioned mobile as more than a content distribution platform – but also could be used for virtual goods and product delivery.

The session was meant to be a wake up call to publishers – it seems that at least in some cases it worked…

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Apple doesn’t like Flash. We know that already. Steve Jobs recently called Adobe lazy, and we all know that iPhone and iPad doesn’t support Flash. But the story is a bit more complex than that.

Apple’s opposition to Adobe is linked to HTML 5 – an open standard that would enable developers to use open formats to deliver rich media experiences. As such, this format is a threat on Adobe. And as Apple Insider analyzed in a great post about Flash vs. Apple:

By not putting Flash on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, Apple is creating a significant installed base of affluent users who simply can’t be reached via proprietary binaries like Flash and Silverlight. That has successfully shifted attention both to Apple’s own App Store platform for mobile apps and to the open web, encouraging developers to embrace standards-based rich web apps and multimedia delivery based on open specifications.

Yesterday, I quoted this post on my Facebook profile, stating that Apple are promoting open web standards, by supporting HTML 5 over Flash. This created an interesting thread of responses, that you can see here.

I’d like to better explain why I still believe that Apple are supporting open standards in comparison to Adobe. HTML 5 is not propeatiery format. It is not owned by a single company. Also, Apple played a key role in creating H264 format – one of the key events in online videos in the recent years. As such they are clearly more supportive of open standards then Microsoft (especially if looking at the browser wars) or Adobe.

Now, it doesn’t mean that Jobs help old ladies cross the street. Apple are supporting open standards from selfish reasons – they want to diminish Adobe’s power, and especially keep it out of Apple’s ecosystem. Also, they can support open standards, and still build a closed garden such as the app store.

You see, supporting open standards is not good, bad or anything else. It is, first and foremost, a business strategy.  But from some reason, some think that open is “good” while close is “bad”.

Do you think that Skype is evil? No. But they have a proprietary  protocol. They chose this strtategy as it got them to the market faster then going the standards route.

For more about this topic, from Skype, Cisco, Jabber and Radvision, check out this panel that I had the honor to moderate couple of years ago as part of my role in IMTC. We discuss the value of standardization as business advantage in details:

Just my two cents. Also note that the views in this post are my views as an individual, and do not represent IMTC, a standardization organization, in any way, shape or form.

The blogsphere has more killers than American Maximux Secutiry prison.

Twitter would kill Facebook. Facebook would kill Google. Friendfeed would kill Twitter. And now, the latest addition to the new-product-that-only-geeks-use-and-bloggers-shout-that-it-would-kill-the-frigging-internet – Google Buzz. Last week the blogsphere was plastered with those statements, as if Facebook’s millions of users, Twitter’s proven power to create addiction with hyper connected individuals, and the need for many just to write emails, without sharing their photos all over the place, doesn’t exist.

It seems that there is a routine in our world:

1. A new hyper-connected-social-network-that-sends- your-pictures-and-status-all-over-the-place-but-is-not-exactly-Twitter-or-Facebook is launched

2. The echo chamber rejoices, and writing zillion posts, all quoting the same Techcrunch/GigaOm/Financial Times/Fox News article – competing with hysterical headlines.

2. Tons of users logging in. Scoble’s among them.

3. The homepage is filled with Scoble’s remarks about how great the tool is, and changing the way we think about communication.

4. All the cool kids logging in and saying – hey it is like Twitter. Err Facebook. Err something. But with pictures. Myself included.

5. Slowly people see that it is another network they need to maintain, another profile, and another level of noise.

6. Porn starts, Viagra merchants, and so called “power networkers” that are spending most of their days in friending total strangers, are taking control of the platform and start spamming everyone. And Kevin Smith.

7. Privacy/usability/stability are not what they seem, and users are starting to realize that it might not be the best thing since sliced bread

8. Scoble leaves the platform, saying it is useless.

9. A new hyper-connected-social-network-that-sends- your-pictures-and-status-all-over-the-place-but-is-not-exactly-Twitter-or-Facebook is launched

Yes, Buzz is awesome, but I left it after couple of days. I am still on Twitter and Facebook, cause they provide me enough value – and my friends are there.

Let’s stop diminishing user base, and actual usability of platforms, and wait a second before we hail a new online platform as the new king. Life is way more complicated than a headline in a  blog post.

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Image via Wikipedia

Canon EOS  7D, Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D90 – if these models sound like a foreign language it means you weren’t paying attention. These are models of hybrid video and DSLR cameras called HD-DSLR. And they are changing the industry as we know it. Canon 5D Mark II, full frame high end Canon DSLR Camera, had one small feature, that looked like an after thought – the ability to shoot full HD videos. Like many other ground breaking products, this feature was severly crippled. In the first version of these cameras, the video mode was fully automated – which means that the photographer couldn’t control ISO and frame rate among other paramters – making it very limited for serious video shooters. But Canon released a new firmware with the ability to fully control all video parameters besides frame rate. And this is nothing less then revolutionary.

Why?

In order to understand that, let’s look at the wet dream of a videographer:

1. The ability to change lenses – each lens has its own capabilities, that affect composition, depth of field, and eventually storytelling abilities.
2. Manual control on all image parameters
3. High quality sensor
4. Good low light performance
5. versatility in frame rate
6. Pro audio interfaces
7. Post production friendly recording format.

Canon 5D Mark II covered amazingly well the first 4 items in this list. And I am talking about amazing. High image quality, based on the best glass and sensors out there, with unbelievble low light performance, made this camera a game changer.

But this is not the whole picture. The price point was unbelievable- all that for $3500. A pro video camera with these capablities would cost more then twice the price.

Not everything was so grand in the 5DMII field. First of all, it shot only at 30 frame per seconds. And exactly at this frame rate. Not the video industry standard of 29.97 frame per second. Second, it had non professional video interface, and automatic gain control (which means that the camera adjusts the volume automatically, an audio mixer nightmare). And third, it recorded videos in H264 format – a highly compressed video format that is definitely not editing/color correction friendly.

Still, this camera changed the world of video in a fundamental way. Relatively low price point, coupled with unbelievable image quality, endless lenses possibilities, and manageable workflow – all together signaling a fundamental shift in the video market.

Sofia’s People: Canon 5dmk2 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

And then Canon released the Canon EOS 7D, and again changed the market. Canon fixed many of the flows in 5D Mark II for videographers. It changed the strange 30 frame per second format to industry standard 29.97 fps. It added additional frame rates – 25fps, 50fps and 60 fps, as well as the most coveted 24fps format, wet dream of indie filmmakers.

And all that for $1,700. Personally I found it mind-blowing - and bought one…

It didn’t however improve the audio control, nor add a detachable monitor, two important features of video cameras.

Hecq Vs Exillion – Spheres Of Fury from Tim.Chris.Film on Vimeo.

HD-DSLR cameras pose a challnege to videographers, with its unique audio, focus, and handheld shooting issues. Also, no camera can make you a good cinematogrpher or filmmaker.

But these affordable cameras definitely get you as close as you can get for the money to unleash your creativity, and create visuals that were impossible to achieve in the past.

In the next posts in this series we will discuss some of the methods to overcome the flaws of these cameras, get some advice from pros using these cameras, and look how they are changing the market.

I was asked by my students to prepare a list of recommended films. So this is the first batch of films that I love. In this batch I concentrated on the ones with somewhat darker themes, the next batches will include additional angles… 

Abre Los Ojos - an amazing Spanish film from 1997 by Alejandro Amenbar, tells the story of a handsome guy wounded in a car accident, who tries to rebuild his life, but believe that he is losing his mind. Beyond philosophical aspects in the tale of a man haunted by his past, this film tells his story in an appealing and intriguing way. You feel that you are loosing it with the lead actor. Do yourself a favor and skip the American version of this film – Vanilla Sky (not linking to it so you won’t be tempted to go and see it). This is a great example why some films should not be touched.

Tesis – made by the same director, this psychological horror film tells the story of a film student doing a thesis on violence and media, that stumble upon a snuff film. What’s so special about this film is its use of soundtrack and audio in general. In one of the scariest scenes I’ve seen till now in a horror film, there are no visuals, just the soundtrack of the snuff film. Scary as hell. This is an early film of Amenbar, and you can feel that it is not as polished as later ones. But the raw quality is there. The cast is pretty much the same as in Abre, and Amenbar stated that the plots are connected. Watch for yourself and try to find the links.

The Conversation – a masterpiece by Coppola. A story of a surveillance expert who feels uneasy about his last assignment, and slowly starting to feel that he is being followed. Two very unique elements in this film are the strong feeling of being watched, even as a viewer, and the last scene, when the life of the lead role crumble.

Lost Highway - Lynch made many amazing films, but this is my favorite. A story of two men who face their deepest emotions and fears in LA, filled with gangsters, porn stars, and other dark figures. This is one of those films you can watch over and over again, and get a new perspective and insight about the characters and what they mean (Lynch, you know….). My favorite scene is the one at the party early in the movie where the white faced gangaster tells Fred Medisson that he is in his house – and that he can call and find out. You don’t want to know what happens next.

Watchmen – Yes, it isn’t as good as the original comics, and it lost some of the layers in the original masterpiece. But still, it gets you thinking about the limitations of power. Some strong scenes, and probably one of the best opening sequences I’ve ever seen. Read the original, a true multilayered story with many storytelling tricks that makes you think.

Repulsion – Polanski tells a story of a young beautiful woman, left alone in her sister’s apartment, slowly losing touch with reality and forced to face her deepest fears – or fantasies. one of the most disturbing I’ve ever seen. Watch out for the rabbit.

Chinatown – a true masterpiece, also by Polanki. Story of a PI getting way too much involved in a case of a young woman hiring his services. He wasn’t perepared for the level of perversion he would face by the end of his journey.

8 MM – probably the only Nicolas Cage film worth watching. Cage is a PI asked by an elderly woman to find a girl filmed in a snuff film found in a safety deposit box of her late, rich husband. Cage is drawn to the siddy world of underground porn to find the girl, while losing himself in the process.

Here is the video archive of the panel (a bit choppy, but audio is great). Thanks Jeff for inviting us to speak and listen.

I am very excited today. Channel 2 News, Israel’s biggest news company, just launched its iPhone application, developed by Pravda Media.
The application allows viewers to watch videos, text news items, and weather reports. It also allows users to send images directly to Channel 2 News Desk, and report scoops and exclusive images.
We’ve been working with Channel 2 News company, especially with Liran Dan, head of interactive, and Tom Sharon, iPhone project manager,  on various digital projects, among them the integration of Twitter with TV shows and in their general workflow.
We believe that media companies, as well as marketers, should reach their customers on every platform, network, mean and channel. We help our customers to achieve this goal with building the needed tools, strategies, and technologies.
It was extremely exciting to work on this application. And it is only the first version. We are planning to release exciting new features soon.
(*SSP – shameless self promotion)

What is really awesome in this one is the fact that Demi Moore, a Holywood top actress, is just shooting away a webcam video to youtube, without fancy lighting, top camera, or even script (noticed how many times she asked guys to keep it clean)? You actually see the study room of the Kutcher family in the background.
Her ex, Bruce Willis,  who obviously have a worse webcam, posted this one:

Yes, it is a part of promotion to her new perfume, called WANTED. But it is done in such an adorable way. Authenticity in its best.

Wish we’d see more of the real life of those who we see on the screen.

Here is little something to make you remember this amazing show. One of my favorites is around 8:40. NSFW (language), mind you…

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