I am a big Apple fan and I am fast falling into the hardcore category, I work on a mac, I own a mac, I have an iPhone, an iPod. I spend most of my time working on apple products or software and I'm trying to save for an iPad as I want one to ease my working day.
This got me thinking of the Apps available on the iOS and what I'd like to see in future.
So I looked at what's currently available:
Mobile Me Related apps - iDisk, Find My iPhone, Gallery
iWorks Related - Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Keynote remote
iLife Related - iMovie
Remote (iTunes controller), iBooks
That's not to mention Mail, iTunes, App Store, Notes, Photos, Calculatore, Contacts that are built in iOS but also appear on my Mac.
So what could we see appear in the future, that i personally would like Apple to make.
I think that we will start with iLife applications, obviously iMovie has made the transfer and iPhoto is represented as Photos but what else.
First I think that the new release of iLife that's rumored to have a mystery application, will see an iOS flavor, whether that's something on the iOS already on Mac or a app release iwe will have to wait and see. I'm expecting an encoding/sharing software like compressor for creating iTunes content such as videos or audio maybe even iTunes LP's.
Next I'd expect iWeb to make an appearance in the apps store. This web building tool is for blogging, podcasting, updating my website so I'd expect to be able to blog on the road with the iPad or podcast on the iPhone and it sync with my Mac version especially if I'm publishing to Mobile me.
Garage Band is the program I think would be the most interesting to turn into a series of apps. It's so big but has three distinct sections I'd love to see as separate apps.
First is the most recent addition of 'Learn to Play" I can see this being a very advanced app, where it's a store for downloading lessons like the artist lessons already available, but extends the range of instruments and artists available, i'd also think it appropriate to provide sheet music via this store. Really breaking away the learning at the computer and opening up even more creativity.
Second, is the podcasting capabilities of Garageband and how that integrates with Podcast Producer another Mac program. This could become an amazingly useful app that could integrate with the iWeb app and social networks to bring something quite unique.
Thirdly the heart of Garage band is to create music so an app to allow music notation or basic music creation would be beatifically to any musician who finds the creative juice take hold.
These apps would complement what I currently use on my computer and bring my creativity with me always. For me though there are still things missing and these are found by more advanced users of Apple products.
ARD or Apple Remote Desktop is an application for administering computers among other tasks. Many of the features available in ARD are available in apps already but I'd like to have access to my ARD on an iPad when I'm away from my computer because that's always when I need access to ARD's functions.
Pro Apps - These applications are for the advanced photographers, filmmakers and musicians now I'm sure every application has some features that would be ideal for the iOS, for me though it falls into Final Cut Server. Though the program needs lots of work as a whole, what it does well I'd like to have access to as an app. Such as using the client app on my mac to look through files, play video and add meta-data to be able to do this on the move would be great. My ultimate wish would be to use my iOS device to send the data via a Final Cut Server App to my server, whether that's just the meta data notes or the actual files, all of it would befit the filmmaker. This I think will have to wait for the technology to catch up.
So by looks of it there are still potential for a lot of programs to become apps in the future its only our imaginations that can stop us.
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Monday, 12 July 2010
Privacy - Is non sharing costing us money
I've been thinking of this for some time but news headlines over the past few month has really got me thinking. Is non sharing of private information actually causing more issues and costing us more money than we would like.
First thing that got me thinking was Facebook's recent upgrades to share information from other websites with my friends. I've noticed other sites including more social integration too. I'm starting to see the benefits of sharing these things, though there are a few pitfalls of your information being totally public but then it is already fairly public.
The second was the recent coalition government in the UK announcing the axe of a number of databases due to their cost and the main fact being its duplicate information to other databases.
I then received this email as a joke at how bureaucratic things are:
So just think how much money each of these so called databases costs. One database I found googling, cost £225 million the proposed government ID cards would have cost £4 billion to kick off. All of these could be condensed. Id rather change my details in one database saving me time and money rather than waist as I did moving house then spending weeks changing my details. I'd also prefer having one ID card that's my National Insurance, passport, driving license, NHS number and donor card the five separate cards/books cost more money and waists more resources than one ID card being updated every few years.
So the proof is our information is everywhere and it does cost a lot of money having separate databases and cards. I do agree my core info shouldn't be publicly advertised to outside friends and family. Even some of that should just be known to me but at the end of the day the information is out there and its costing me more money I could be spending or saving that would help boost the UK economy.
First thing that got me thinking was Facebook's recent upgrades to share information from other websites with my friends. I've noticed other sites including more social integration too. I'm starting to see the benefits of sharing these things, though there are a few pitfalls of your information being totally public but then it is already fairly public.
The second was the recent coalition government in the UK announcing the axe of a number of databases due to their cost and the main fact being its duplicate information to other databases.
I then received this email as a joke at how bureaucratic things are:
Dear Sirs,
I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.
For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my pension book, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my National Health card, my driving license, my car insurance, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms.
Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be abso-fucking-lutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!!
I apologise, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my fucking address !!!!
What is going on? Do you have a gang of Neanderthal arseholes workin' there? Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last fucking people I'd want to tell!
Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get another fucking copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of £30. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe makes sense. You'd rather have us running all over the fuckin' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then have to find some arsehole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic fuckin' morons) Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if we wanted to? Because we're totally pissed off!
Signed
An Irate Citizen.
I'm in the process of renewing my passport, and still cannot believe this. How is it that Sky Television has my address and telephone number and knows that I bought a bleeding satellite dish from them back in 1977, and yet, the Government is still asking me where I was bloody born and on what date.
For Christ sakes, do you guys do this by hand? My birth date you have on my pension book, and it is on all the income tax forms I've filed for the past 30 years. It is on my National Health card, my driving license, my car insurance, on the last eight damn passports I've had, on all those stupid customs declaration forms I've had to fill out before being allowed off the plane over the last 30 years, and all those insufferable census forms.
Would somebody please take note, once and for all, that my mother's name is Mary Anne, my father's name is Robert and I'd be abso-fucking-lutely astounded if that ever changed between now and when I die!!!!!!
I apologise, I'm really pissed off this morning. Between you an' me, I've had enough of this bullshit! You send the application to my house, then you ask me for my fucking address !!!!
What is going on? Do you have a gang of Neanderthal arseholes workin' there? Look at my damn picture. Do I look like Bin Laden? I don't want to dig up Yasser Arafat, for shit sakes. I just want to go and park my arse on some sandy beach somewhere. And would someone please tell me, why would you give a shit whether I plan on visiting a farm in the next 15 days? If I ever got the urge to do something weird to a chicken or a goat, believe you me, you'd be the last fucking people I'd want to tell!
Well, I have to go now, 'cause I have to go to the other end of the poxy city to get another fucking copy of my birth certificate, to the tune of £30. Would it be so complicated to have all the services in the same spot to assist in the issuance of a new passport the same day?? Nooooooooooooo, that'd be too damn easy and maybe makes sense. You'd rather have us running all over the fuckin' place like chickens with our heads cut off, then have to find some arsehole to confirm that it's really me on the damn picture - you know, the one where we're not allowed to smile?! (bureaucratic fuckin' morons) Hey, do you know why we couldn't smile if we wanted to? Because we're totally pissed off!
Signed
An Irate Citizen.
P.S. Remember what I said above about the picture and getting someone to confirm that it's me? Well, my family has been in this country since 1776 ......... I have served in the military for something over 30 years and have had full security clearances over 25 of those years enabling me to undertake highly secretive missions all over the world. ......... However, I have to get someone 'important' to verify who I am - you know, someone like my doctor WHO WAS BORN AND RAISED IN PAKISTAN !
This letter got me thinking to when I recently moved house and how many different databases I had to change my address in just to get bills, letters and how much that actually cost my already stretched bank balance.
Why do we have to duplicate so much information, why cant they be kept on a central database and information released at our request to relevant companies, government departments. The main details I always have to fill out for any form even a job application are as follows:
- Name
- Date of Birth
- Address
- Phone numbers - home, work, mobile
- Email address
- Work information
- Next of Kin
- Security question - normally mothers maiden name, first school or first pet.
So just think how much money each of these so called databases costs. One database I found googling, cost £225 million the proposed government ID cards would have cost £4 billion to kick off. All of these could be condensed. Id rather change my details in one database saving me time and money rather than waist as I did moving house then spending weeks changing my details. I'd also prefer having one ID card that's my National Insurance, passport, driving license, NHS number and donor card the five separate cards/books cost more money and waists more resources than one ID card being updated every few years.
So the proof is our information is everywhere and it does cost a lot of money having separate databases and cards. I do agree my core info shouldn't be publicly advertised to outside friends and family. Even some of that should just be known to me but at the end of the day the information is out there and its costing me more money I could be spending or saving that would help boost the UK economy.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Selling to the Enemy
The other day virgin announced it had finally sold its main channel portfolio to Sky, this included Virgin 1, Challenge, all Living and Bravo channels. Now considering the public spats between Sky and Virgin you'd think that this is rare indeed. Truth is Virgin has been trying to sell it's channel portfolio since it became Virgin Media. Sky was always in the frame, there were others but sky was always the only candidate to buy these channels.
Now the problem has always been the value of these channels, Sky didn't see much value to them and Virgin did. Hence the period when Sky pulled all its channels from Virgin over the price to show channels on respective platforms. This forced Virgin to regain its channels values. Living was already good but Virgin pushed its value that little bit more. They dropped teen channel Trouble, this in respect was the cheapest move but I'm a firm believer that the audience was there but the channel was stuck in the nineties. Virgin then built the Virgin 1 brand which in a stroke of genius did 'Living on Virgin 1' this showcased the best of the Living format on a free platform. On top they made some smart purchases for the channel and created a good channel. They then began to turn their attention to Bravo and have pushed that to a new level. This was all backed up by the extra income from the challenge channels.
Now I'm a person who feels sad these channels are leaving Virgin and going to Sky as, Virgin were providing fresh programming. I wanted to see what they would do next, would they look at the Bravo 2 channel, would Trouble make a return, maybe Virgin 1 would have 'Bravo on Virgin 1'.
What next, well Sky have some decisions to make on the way the channels would run in their business. I have a few suggestions.
Now the problem has always been the value of these channels, Sky didn't see much value to them and Virgin did. Hence the period when Sky pulled all its channels from Virgin over the price to show channels on respective platforms. This forced Virgin to regain its channels values. Living was already good but Virgin pushed its value that little bit more. They dropped teen channel Trouble, this in respect was the cheapest move but I'm a firm believer that the audience was there but the channel was stuck in the nineties. Virgin then built the Virgin 1 brand which in a stroke of genius did 'Living on Virgin 1' this showcased the best of the Living format on a free platform. On top they made some smart purchases for the channel and created a good channel. They then began to turn their attention to Bravo and have pushed that to a new level. This was all backed up by the extra income from the challenge channels.
Now I'm a person who feels sad these channels are leaving Virgin and going to Sky as, Virgin were providing fresh programming. I wanted to see what they would do next, would they look at the Bravo 2 channel, would Trouble make a return, maybe Virgin 1 would have 'Bravo on Virgin 1'.
What next, well Sky have some decisions to make on the way the channels would run in their business. I have a few suggestions.
- Re-jig all Sky's programming across the new channels, Supernatural and 24 would fit perfect on Bravo.
- Living could benefit from Sky's funding to bring more glamor, not that it needs it.
- Bravo 2 could be made more female orientated, with shows like House and Supernatural.
- Make Living 2 more male orientated with glamor and fashion shows aimed at men.
- Challenge is another income for Sky and Sky will make it more interactive, integrating it with Sky player.
- Virgin 1, will be re-named and should become a showcase channel. I suggest Sky Showcase so it can run 'Living on Sky Showcase' bringing more people to the sky pay channels via the Freeview platform.
So where does this sale leave virgin. Answer is in good place to build itself as a provider but also at risk if ever Sky pulls channels from the platform again. Virgin still own half of UKTV, though this is being lined up to sell to Channel 4, they also own Film-flex their film on demand system.
Virgin though have to step up their game to be a provider against Sky and the growing IPTV market.
- They need to offer more HD content and a lot of it in their basic package.
- Video on demand needs improving and taking to the next level, a system they launched so well is now dying from lack of upgrades.
- Multi-room and a online offering needed. People have more than one TV and the business should reflect this.
- The program guide needs updating, their system is old clunky, unreliable and has many services that are so stuck in the nineties I'm surprised if anyone still uses them. They need a major and regular overhaul of how their system works.
- Competitive on demand pricing. People won't hire a film for £4 is you can buy it for £3 or subscribe to several for £7 a month. They won't hire a TV series for more than it costs to buy.
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Rotting Apples - an the multimedia hardware giant turn around it's rotting apples?
Apple - computer genius, music maestro, communication artist and now publication facilitator. Apple is all these things, and more. The once struggling company has taken its time and effort to build not only a successful brand but also a variety of products made for the IT generation.
What makes apple so popular is its ability to innovate but still have a reliability and stability to it's products. That's not all, they create a buzz around their products and an education on how to use them, as they innovate the basic functions that were outrageous to begin with become normal.
With the launch of the iPad and the fact it's sold two million of them, I turned myself to the less innovative products. The ones that have been starting to rot with time.
The World Wide Developers conference may be the place for these rotting apples to get a new lease of life. Apple's chance to update the lines and innovate products to mass appeal or to let them rot away.
So what are these products and what are my predictions:
iPhone - It's a year since the iPhone had any hardware upgrade and recent leaks show that an all new 4th generation iPhone should be on it's way. There may be a few surprises but my betting is we wont see 4G technology or secure meemory card technology to enable apps to take advantage of existing products such as Visa's Pay Wave or London tube's Oyster card for at least another year.
iTunes - With the recent release of iBooks on the iPad and promises it will join the iPhone in the summer, that can only means iTunes will get access to this little bookstore and the ability to read books on your computer. Also there are talks of iTunes getting streaming capability, but this is apple they will have some other surprises and upgrades, my money is on Genius and Home Sharing.
Apple TV- Known as Apple's hobby this year is the make or break for the device that could be so much but delivers so little. So betting is Apple will be showcasing some updated hardware and hopefully a fully fledged software upgrade that takes the things they do so well in their other products. So I expect to see video streaming, video/audio app integration and a new improved Home Sharing.
iLife - The media application suite that ships with Mac's hasn't been updated since iLife'09 so maybe there will be an announcement of a 2011 version with some new feature. Faces and Places improvements no doubt top of the list but maybe some app versions for the iPad and iPhone. I would love to see garage bands Artists lessons as an app or an ability to edit podcasts on the move.
iWorks - Again not updated since the iWork'09 but since then iWorks.com has been updating slowly, the iPad version has been released. So surely the Mac version will get some updates to improve stability between these and some new features itself. I think iWorks.com may come out of beta or some major changes will appear.
Mobile me - This hasn't had a major upgrade since it's launch but it has had a number of major tweaks and recently a new version of mail in Beta. My bet is a few more announcements on mobile me, especially if there is a new iPhone and iTunes finally brings its streaming capabilities. Maybe we shall see more integration of iTunes and iWorks.com.
ARD 4 - Apple Remote Desktop hasn't had a good update in years, some may ask what the big deal. Well the answer is simple, Business. Business needs to keep updating their computers and help IT control from a distance, ARD allows this to happen and more on Apple computers. What I'm predicting are some major changes and some surprising ones. First up is Boot Camp support, apple have no control over rebooting a boot camped machine or even installing Boot Camped images over a network and with more and more companies going for this set up, there is a cry for this control. iPhone & iPad support, with the OS4 bringing a raft of business enterprise features, why cant we see these being distributed and controlled from ARD. I myself would like to see the Find my iPhone feature from Mobile Me brought to ARD.
Publication software - This is more a prediction than any hard evidence but all the same there is a gap in the market and Apple could fill it. When the iPad launched the publishing world, particularly print said it could save its industry. Now it's still early day but it does have that potential and you can see those trying to make it work, but that's where it stops. Apple needs to bring a Pro App software for print publications. I think apple will be looking at something revolutionary that will receive news stories or assignments, integrate with Final Cut Serve to bring video, audio and pictures to attach to stories. Give them the ability to write stories and create ePub magazines/papers and publish to the web with just a few clicks. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw iAd integration in the output and that there was an iPad app for the journalists to send stories in. I also think Apple would create this so that lots of social media could be taken advantage of and that news hubs could be created so local newspapers could supply national newspapers or UK and US editions of magazines could share stories and articles.
I think I'll wait and see what Steve Jobs says in his speech at the World Wide Developers Conference on June 9th.
What makes apple so popular is its ability to innovate but still have a reliability and stability to it's products. That's not all, they create a buzz around their products and an education on how to use them, as they innovate the basic functions that were outrageous to begin with become normal.
With the launch of the iPad and the fact it's sold two million of them, I turned myself to the less innovative products. The ones that have been starting to rot with time.
The World Wide Developers conference may be the place for these rotting apples to get a new lease of life. Apple's chance to update the lines and innovate products to mass appeal or to let them rot away.
So what are these products and what are my predictions:
iPhone - It's a year since the iPhone had any hardware upgrade and recent leaks show that an all new 4th generation iPhone should be on it's way. There may be a few surprises but my betting is we wont see 4G technology or secure meemory card technology to enable apps to take advantage of existing products such as Visa's Pay Wave or London tube's Oyster card for at least another year.
iTunes - With the recent release of iBooks on the iPad and promises it will join the iPhone in the summer, that can only means iTunes will get access to this little bookstore and the ability to read books on your computer. Also there are talks of iTunes getting streaming capability, but this is apple they will have some other surprises and upgrades, my money is on Genius and Home Sharing.
Apple TV- Known as Apple's hobby this year is the make or break for the device that could be so much but delivers so little. So betting is Apple will be showcasing some updated hardware and hopefully a fully fledged software upgrade that takes the things they do so well in their other products. So I expect to see video streaming, video/audio app integration and a new improved Home Sharing.
iLife - The media application suite that ships with Mac's hasn't been updated since iLife'09 so maybe there will be an announcement of a 2011 version with some new feature. Faces and Places improvements no doubt top of the list but maybe some app versions for the iPad and iPhone. I would love to see garage bands Artists lessons as an app or an ability to edit podcasts on the move.
iWorks - Again not updated since the iWork'09 but since then iWorks.com has been updating slowly, the iPad version has been released. So surely the Mac version will get some updates to improve stability between these and some new features itself. I think iWorks.com may come out of beta or some major changes will appear.
Mobile me - This hasn't had a major upgrade since it's launch but it has had a number of major tweaks and recently a new version of mail in Beta. My bet is a few more announcements on mobile me, especially if there is a new iPhone and iTunes finally brings its streaming capabilities. Maybe we shall see more integration of iTunes and iWorks.com.
ARD 4 - Apple Remote Desktop hasn't had a good update in years, some may ask what the big deal. Well the answer is simple, Business. Business needs to keep updating their computers and help IT control from a distance, ARD allows this to happen and more on Apple computers. What I'm predicting are some major changes and some surprising ones. First up is Boot Camp support, apple have no control over rebooting a boot camped machine or even installing Boot Camped images over a network and with more and more companies going for this set up, there is a cry for this control. iPhone & iPad support, with the OS4 bringing a raft of business enterprise features, why cant we see these being distributed and controlled from ARD. I myself would like to see the Find my iPhone feature from Mobile Me brought to ARD.
Publication software - This is more a prediction than any hard evidence but all the same there is a gap in the market and Apple could fill it. When the iPad launched the publishing world, particularly print said it could save its industry. Now it's still early day but it does have that potential and you can see those trying to make it work, but that's where it stops. Apple needs to bring a Pro App software for print publications. I think apple will be looking at something revolutionary that will receive news stories or assignments, integrate with Final Cut Serve to bring video, audio and pictures to attach to stories. Give them the ability to write stories and create ePub magazines/papers and publish to the web with just a few clicks. It wouldn't surprise me if we saw iAd integration in the output and that there was an iPad app for the journalists to send stories in. I also think Apple would create this so that lots of social media could be taken advantage of and that news hubs could be created so local newspapers could supply national newspapers or UK and US editions of magazines could share stories and articles.
I think I'll wait and see what Steve Jobs says in his speech at the World Wide Developers Conference on June 9th.
Friday, 7 May 2010
The Stiffling Competition Comitee
It's after election day and I'm actually not going to talk about the big vote, instead I'm going to cover a personal gripe I have with the competition committee. I'll state from the off this is my view alone but its one I feel strongly about and if people can show me that my views are wrong I'm willing to accept them but this is entirely my view.
Lets start with the election, its a day of cleaning out the government we feel we don't want and bringing in one the majority of the country do want. I've watched some of the debates and there have been talks of government reform, as with every election there is a promise of reform in some areas. It was the other night though that got me thinking, as I was watching 'First Time Voters Question Time' one of the audience mentioned something that rings in my ears from other people. "We just don't make anything anymore in this country", this is in a large part true. In the UK a lot of the traditional businesses have been brought by other companies outside of the UK or gone bankrupt due to high costs compared to other parts of the world. A recent example of this is Cadbury's take over by Kraft, a company who many years ago brought Yorkshires, Terry's Chocolate and closed the production in the UK.
So what's this got to do with competition committee, well it's mainly to do with project kangaroo. A joint group by public service broadcasters to bring together all their on demand project. Basically an online TV, the competition committee decided that this was not good for competition. So kangaroo died, it's since come back under new management as a commercial system, but is still the loan UK based portal. It no longer hosts the taken kangaroo would have but uses the same technology. So what has this decision done, first public service broadcasters now have no one stop shop for on demand content which is a big hurt for consumers used to using a single device to find multi-broadcasters at one touch button. The other problem is a raft of US owned portals heading to the UK. This shows that the committee are actually not looking at competition in a global business or in the case of consumer habits.
This is not the first of these, the competition committee often looks at things and in my opinion undertake the wrong view. The UK is part of a global economy so we must look at it as such in terms of media. There are of course UK based issues to look at competition of UK company against UK company but those words still ring true, "we don't make anything in UK any more" truth is we do but they are part of the global market like space exploration technology, computer chips, all designed and created in UK but made on mass abroad, we are part of a global competition it's time to start thinking like one.
I think it's time for a reform of the competition committee, its a government body that need to start looking at global competition for industry. Lets kick start the economy again by thinking of competition globally rather than loaclly.
Lets start with the election, its a day of cleaning out the government we feel we don't want and bringing in one the majority of the country do want. I've watched some of the debates and there have been talks of government reform, as with every election there is a promise of reform in some areas. It was the other night though that got me thinking, as I was watching 'First Time Voters Question Time' one of the audience mentioned something that rings in my ears from other people. "We just don't make anything anymore in this country", this is in a large part true. In the UK a lot of the traditional businesses have been brought by other companies outside of the UK or gone bankrupt due to high costs compared to other parts of the world. A recent example of this is Cadbury's take over by Kraft, a company who many years ago brought Yorkshires, Terry's Chocolate and closed the production in the UK.
So what's this got to do with competition committee, well it's mainly to do with project kangaroo. A joint group by public service broadcasters to bring together all their on demand project. Basically an online TV, the competition committee decided that this was not good for competition. So kangaroo died, it's since come back under new management as a commercial system, but is still the loan UK based portal. It no longer hosts the taken kangaroo would have but uses the same technology. So what has this decision done, first public service broadcasters now have no one stop shop for on demand content which is a big hurt for consumers used to using a single device to find multi-broadcasters at one touch button. The other problem is a raft of US owned portals heading to the UK. This shows that the committee are actually not looking at competition in a global business or in the case of consumer habits.
This is not the first of these, the competition committee often looks at things and in my opinion undertake the wrong view. The UK is part of a global economy so we must look at it as such in terms of media. There are of course UK based issues to look at competition of UK company against UK company but those words still ring true, "we don't make anything in UK any more" truth is we do but they are part of the global market like space exploration technology, computer chips, all designed and created in UK but made on mass abroad, we are part of a global competition it's time to start thinking like one.
I think it's time for a reform of the competition committee, its a government body that need to start looking at global competition for industry. Lets kick start the economy again by thinking of competition globally rather than loaclly.
Friday, 30 April 2010
Uk politics in the Media
I'm normally immersed in a world of news and tech, and surprisingly sometimes despite this I do miss the big stories of the day but the one I can't miss is the upcoming UK election. I make my political views known. I say things like, "if you don't vote you have no right to complain about anything you don't agree with the govenment is involved in".
So why am I writing politics now and why is it a big deal? The truth is the biggest shake up in political history is happening right now and the media is at the center of it all.
In the past the papers would decide which party they were backing, the sun for example supported conservative for years until it decided Tony Blair and Labor was the horse to back and supported them, and now they are trying to back conservative once again, with the hopes of persuading the voters once again.
Now for the first time ever, the three main parties have done three live TV debates, a surprise when you consider this is the norm in America. The main reason is a loss of voters, the UK has seen voters, especially the young deserting the polls. Another reason is it's the first time that no party was clearly going to win from the beginning.The reason it hasn't happened before the party in power was certain to win and those out of power knew it.
So with these debates now all over what can we learn? The media has really opened up democracy in the uk. The debates have given platforms for the parties and we have seen big changes in the way people want to vote. The press coverage has increased in a way I've not known and the reaction from the debates has started bringing politics into daily conversation like an Eastenders storyline.
These debates and politics in the media still need to be improved, as you can tell there's lots that has gone wrong over this debate. That could actually be a good thing, with little spin just the person laid bare has it's advantages, but on the other hand we like things to run smoothly. I'm hoping that this is the start of an ever evolving politics in the UK, too long we have stuck with the safe but flawed system. Democracy should develop with its citizens and for the first time in a while we are seeing another shake up to bring democracy into relevance of today.
I guess the only way we will tell if these changes are going to work is by the results on election night. I for one hope it's just the first step on the long road and step they'll step away from.
So why am I writing politics now and why is it a big deal? The truth is the biggest shake up in political history is happening right now and the media is at the center of it all.
In the past the papers would decide which party they were backing, the sun for example supported conservative for years until it decided Tony Blair and Labor was the horse to back and supported them, and now they are trying to back conservative once again, with the hopes of persuading the voters once again.
Now for the first time ever, the three main parties have done three live TV debates, a surprise when you consider this is the norm in America. The main reason is a loss of voters, the UK has seen voters, especially the young deserting the polls. Another reason is it's the first time that no party was clearly going to win from the beginning.The reason it hasn't happened before the party in power was certain to win and those out of power knew it.
So with these debates now all over what can we learn? The media has really opened up democracy in the uk. The debates have given platforms for the parties and we have seen big changes in the way people want to vote. The press coverage has increased in a way I've not known and the reaction from the debates has started bringing politics into daily conversation like an Eastenders storyline.
These debates and politics in the media still need to be improved, as you can tell there's lots that has gone wrong over this debate. That could actually be a good thing, with little spin just the person laid bare has it's advantages, but on the other hand we like things to run smoothly. I'm hoping that this is the start of an ever evolving politics in the UK, too long we have stuck with the safe but flawed system. Democracy should develop with its citizens and for the first time in a while we are seeing another shake up to bring democracy into relevance of today.
I guess the only way we will tell if these changes are going to work is by the results on election night. I for one hope it's just the first step on the long road and step they'll step away from.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
UK Film Marketing - needs pirates
I've had a busy few weeks and I have lots of things I want to blog about but I was relaxing in front of a film last night and a subject close I like to talk about came up. UK Film, in particular in this case the marketing.
I was watching 'the Boat that Rocked' and I realized something, despite its OK success, it's marketing was crap. The trailer just didn't sell the film in UK, I've since gone on line for this blog and found an American trailer that sold the film so much better.
This isn't the first time I've seen this, I quiet often have my head in film trailers and enjoy watching films when I can and especially British, but sometimes the trailer doesn't sell the film in the way it should. I'm first to admit there have been some dodgy UK films that had the potential to wow but didn't because people were put off by the trailer. Recently I've seen UK cinema improve to its glory days but the marketing is just bad, its like the person who edited the trailer didn't actualy watch the film, or didn't care enough to create a trailer that sold the main idea properly.
Here are some of my favorite, trailers for good films, that didn't quiet sell the film. Though I must admit it was the whole marketing that failed these.
The Italian Job
Lesbian Vampire Killers
I Want Candy
I was watching 'the Boat that Rocked' and I realized something, despite its OK success, it's marketing was crap. The trailer just didn't sell the film in UK, I've since gone on line for this blog and found an American trailer that sold the film so much better.
This isn't the first time I've seen this, I quiet often have my head in film trailers and enjoy watching films when I can and especially British, but sometimes the trailer doesn't sell the film in the way it should. I'm first to admit there have been some dodgy UK films that had the potential to wow but didn't because people were put off by the trailer. Recently I've seen UK cinema improve to its glory days but the marketing is just bad, its like the person who edited the trailer didn't actualy watch the film, or didn't care enough to create a trailer that sold the main idea properly.
Here are some of my favorite, trailers for good films, that didn't quiet sell the film. Though I must admit it was the whole marketing that failed these.
The Italian Job
Lesbian Vampire Killers
I Want Candy
So here is what I advise to UK film industry, get better marketers this country can sell papers on a celebs latest drunk night out. They can make and break politicians with facebook updates but they we sell a film, why is that. The UK film industry needs to find a way of creating the revolution music saw in the boat that rocked, then maybe it can have it's summer of love. Pirate radio promoted music people loved, so maybe pirates are what are needed to promote cinema people love. I don't condone pirate videos but maybe its whats needed till the industry can supply what the public want.
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