Monday, October 08, 2007

iPod Moments - Media Guage?

Today's MediaGuardian features an interesting article by Jeff Jarvis - buzzmachine.com - describing "iPod moments" as a type of media guage with questions such as:

When will television reach its iPod moment?
When we download video more than we watch broadcasts - "Then TV will face the upheaval music has barely survived."

When will newspapers reach their iPod moment?
With the emergence of a "relatively mass-market device on which reading a newspaper (and watching and listening to it) will seem quite normal" - web browser.

According to Jarvis, the iPod Touch and iPhone are just that...an iPod moment...except Apple got the timing right in the UK by launching iPod Touch first, but bungled it in the US by introducing iPod Touch after the iPhone's entry. What's the difference?

In the US, the iPhone is viewed as a phone with a few added features. By contrast, the British view the iPhone as a whole computer with wi-fi connectivity, and a web browser with ability to download and display, and capability to capture and share all media - text, photo, audio, video, interactivity.

Jarvis contends that, "Everything you can do on the web you can do with media on the iPhone, anywhere, any time." So, what's the challenge to newspapers and journalists?

The same challenge that's existed since the first commercial browser was released 13 years ago, says Jarvis, except more urgently we seek answers to these five iPod moment questions:

1. How do we use the device to give people the news and links whenever, wherever, and however they want?
MobileWeb?

2. How do we do this (1.) with efficiency?
MobileWeb infrastructure and networks?

3. How do we make it local and relevant?
MobileWeb infrastructure and networks?
Twitter?

4. How do we take advantage of the two-way relationship we have now, enabling people with these gadgets to share what they know?
Incentives and social platforms/networks?
Twitter?

5. How do we make money doing it?
One example is crowdsourcing (winnowing wisdom from the wash)...another the Twitter model...

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