TV vs. the Web

I saw a few interesting articles and lectures on "Augmented Reality" -- basically the overlaying of meta information on top of our actual real time perception of reality. This is a great opportunity for advertisers. Imagine that as you drive down the street near lunch time, that an ad would pop up on your display (whatever that might be) indicating a nearby special suited just to your preferences. I think the effectiveness of this advertising would be much more effective. Right product, right place, right time, and hopefully right price.

I caught a few more podcasts and articles, but probably the most interesting is the lecture from Peter Hirschberg on TV vs. the Web. A lot of good information was presented, including the historical context of the current situation. It was intended to highlight the convergence of various media and to show the benefit of connecting with the consumer. Probably the most important take-away for me was a quick comment Mr. Hirschberg made regarding shifting paradigms. It really made me think: if I am involved in trying to market (internally or externally) a product that is completely different from the way people normally think (and are comfortable with) how can I communicate the value without alienating the listener.

Newspapers versus Internet

I listened to the podcasts regarding the bleak fate of the newspaper industry and I am certainly of the opinion that the hard copy version of the newspaper doesn't have much life left. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure how it has lasted this long. But I don't think the news organizations should change the way they generate news -- via quality research and investigation, in depth analysis, creative and interesting writing, an so on. The medium just needs to change to suit the modern readers. Ironically, I saw a news story about a 90-something woman who bought an iPad just to read books because it can easily blow up text. So I don't think electronic formats will alienate older readers because stories, ads, software features, etc., can be catered for the specific reader. The news aggregators (read bloggers) tend to be very superficial and would have a hard time competing with a well-constructed pay news organization. I also read the "What is New Media" paper but didn't get much out of it, as it was somewhat dated and obvious.

Link to Article on Microsoft Ad

The link below is about an ad for a social network capable phone from Microsoft that was pulled because people believe it promoted sexting. In the article, there is also a link to an older article about another "failed" viral ad from Microsoft.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20002756-71.html?tag=mncol