Now this may not be obvious but paid CONTENT is different from paid SEARCH LINKS where Google dominates almost 70 percent of the global market. There’s some concern that the public will not pay subscription charges to read articles, view videos or the right to participate on discussion forums.
Personally, I think ordinary consumers would pay if there’s a PURPOSE, CHANNEL FILTER and CONTEXT to that content. As a consumer I wouldn’t pay for content that was simply mindless noise or dross. I’d pay for the content if I needed it to complete a project, though. For example, I’m prepared to pay for substantial quality McKinsey / DataMonitor / Jupiter Media Matrix reports; I’m not prepared to pay for tweets by Ashton Kutcher on Demi Moore’s derrière, although others would pay. That type of content is harmless and purposeless banter. Now contrast this with Demi Moore showing women how to apply make-up in a YouTube video. THAT is content some women would probably pay for if they wanted to look like a Hollywood A-lister (and there’s your context — LOL).
I know someone who’s at the Sun Valley conference so I’m going to see if he’ll tell me anything!
Marc Andreessen closing a US$300m VC fund is pretty remarkable since Google Venture’s fund is a third of that size at US$100m and the fund raising environment remains testy. Prior to officially successfully closing the fund, in an interview with Charlie Rose, he said that over the last three years, he and his investment partner (Ben Horowitz) had made 36 investments of up to US$200,000 and were aiming to raise a US$250 million fund. This means they’ve overshot their target by US$50 million and is good news for start-ups. His new VC firm will allocate up to US$1 million on technology companies they decide to invest in.
A word of caution, though: we’re already seeing how the global economic crisis is affecting tech sector layoffs:
The Rubik360 goes on sale in Hamleys on 15 July 2009. Here’s how it works in action:
This is Erno Rubik in a Time magazine interview, holding the original Rubik cube:
For brain health, it’s important to play games which test our mental and hands dexterity — yes, computer metaverses as much as toys like the Rubik360. Every so often I can be found in Hamleys:
Rivals to the iPad will come in similar shapes but all screen sizes, judging by the launches here in Berlin on Thursday of tablets from Samsung and Toshiba (pictured). The competition is also packing its cheaper devices with features the iPad may not have for some time, such as cameras with video calling. Tim Bradshaw gave […]
Google, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Hulu and Sony are all providing a way for viewers to purchase video content online. However today’s Lex writes that content providers might not be fully on board just yet: “While renting out old shows and films individually or on subscription generates some extra cash, there is little incentive to […]
There are two ways one could think about Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab. One would be to look at its slick casing, its compact 7-inch form, the latest Android software and extensive 3G support from European mobile operators, and say: here is a device which proves the iPad isn’t the only show in town. The other would be […]
Apple is making a more serious bid for the set top box market with 99 cent TV and $4.99 new movie rentals that are streamed through a smaller version of AppleTV. Chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the new device at an event in San Francisco. It will cost $99, down from $229, and is available for […]
Sony is challenging Apple and Google with an internet “cloud-based” music streaming service that will be available on many of its networked consumer electronics products. The MusicUnlimited service was announced at IFA, a major consumer electronics show in Berlin, barely an hour before Apple’s own music-themed press conference in California. After the jump, […]
The FT tried something new today. We took to Twitter to answer questions about one of the day’s bigger news stories in the digital-media world: that the UK’s advertising regulator, the ASA, is extending its rules on accuracy and decency into corporate websites, social networks, blogs and mobile apps. Seeing as many people already discuss the […]
Just ahead of Apple’s expected announcement of an autumn refresh of its iPod lineup today, SanDisk has unveiled an update to a rival portable media player in the sub-$100 category. SanDisk claims parity in market share with Apple where the iPod shuffle plays and says its Sansa Fuze+ has far more features. Daniel Schreiber, head of […]
Hewlett-Packard is announcing an entertainment-oriented refresh to its notebook computer line today–and the most notable addition comes with its own 3D glasses. The HP Envy 17 3D’s glasses automatically turn on when the user is watching a 3D Blu-ray DVD on the machine and then turn off again, giving the glasses a projected year of […]
This is a guest post by FT Media Editor Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson Not much has been heard of Beyond Oblivion since the FT pulled back the veil on its ambitious vision of tackling piracy by asking devices manufacturers and broadband providers to pay for music consumed over their products and services. At the time, we reported that Adam […]
One of the trickiest challenges for a company is continuous innovation - to keep updating and refreshing its products when the excitement of a product launch is past - so I take my hat off to Google. In contrast to Microsoft, which in the past let products such as Internet Explorer and Hotmail get […]
