Thinkcorps

Wow. If there’s anything more disruptive (in a good way) than open source, I haven’t seen it. I bought a Linksys Network Storage Link the other day because I was interested in setting up a home NAS, and when I heard that the Storage Link’s Linux OS had been hacked open to allow the installation of other apps, I had to have it. I specifically wanted to set up an iTunes server, to share my sizable music collection on the laptops in the house. It’s totally brilliant, BTW. All hats off to the uNSLUng folks.

I always thought Linux was great, but that it’s primary stumbling block was the user’s learning curve. I think you’re going to have that problem with any computer, BTW. There’s just a lot to learn. On an embedded device however, the limitations make it much easier to handle. The uNSLUng app that handles software installation—ipkg—is very simple to use, even on the command line. It connects to the Net, downloads and installs the SW all by itself. Very slick.

If anyone stumbles on this post while having difficulties, here’s a few suggestions:

1. Follow the instructions to the letter. Be anal, make sure everything works at every step, restart the unit when advised to.
2. Firewalls OFF! This is advice so obvious that no one mentioned it in the posts I read, and so I didn’t think of it. Your firewall is probably causing your Windows networking problems (and your inability to connect to the NSLU2). Turn it off, see if things work, then ratchet up your firewall protection until you find the maximum level that allows you access to the NSLU2. Same goes for virus protection.
3. Logging into uNSLUng as ‘root’: I had trouble logging in to my uNSLUng unit when I reconnected the hard disk. (I think there’s a password stored on the HD that was interfering?) I restarted with the HD disconnected, logged in as root, and then reconnected the hard disk. After the HD initialized, I could then run ipkg and install software.
4. Creating an mp3 folder for mt-daapd: create this folder from a remote PC, not from the command line, since you’re logged in as root there and the permissions you’re advised to set in the installation instructions won’t be sufficient.

I waste a lot of time actually trying out technologies like bittorrent, steeping myself in different apps to understand their inner workings and dynamics. Clearly, most journalists (even the tech ones) don’t bother. It’s always bothered me that you have to get to the media fringes to find real experts, but I suppose it’s always been that way. I think experts are naturally drawn to the fringes, where they can more easily pursue their obessions and interests. Mainstream journalists are focused on maintaining the tragectories of their careers, and that’s why they gravitate toward big publishers/media, despite a lack of talent and skill. We all make our choices, after all, and we rarely do it for anyone other than ourselves, let alone some amorphous concept like “media”.

In that sense, the Media is really an afterthought, a result of a lot of low-level individual decisions. It’s not the Eisners that make Media what it is, it’s the beat reporters and editors. My personal experience only allows me to see into the arena of tech journalism, but I have to assume that the problems are the same with all other beats.

What’s funny, is that I just wanted to jot down a simple thought on TV torrents. How did I get onto media? Ahh, the wonders of blogging. Anyway, here are a few thoughts on why TV torrents are or are going to be so popular.

First, (and this is what prompted the above rant) many torrented TV shows are recordings of HDTV —the best quality you can get. Way better than I can record on my Tivo (I have analog cable). The torrent is widescreen and super-sharp. The Divx encoding is excellent, btw. It’s like watching a DVD. Faced with a choice, I’m going to go with the torrent every time. I’ve never read anything that mentions how this P2P market spreads not only many shows, but the best available quality of recordings—and that quality is only getter better.

Second, of course, is the removal of commercials. The improved continuity radically improves the viewing experience, in my opinion. Good TV can be so much more immersive, almost movie-like. Which brings up a very valid point about the shortcomings of the commercial. New episodes are plugged like crazy, and yet we’re forced to swallow commercial repeats—and some extremely unimaginative ones as well. Yet there are many outstanding commercials that make it to watercooler discussions. I suggest that advertisers rethink the way they approach their commercials. More variety, more often, focusing on the spots that actually resonate with audiences. So many commercials are just tired, boring and irrelevant.

It’s really not our fault that TV advertising sucks, is it?

I feel like this post rambles all over the place, and yet, I’m still going to just post it and get this stuff off my mind. Done and done.

I guess we’re always gonna want it both ways—eat our cake and have it, too. But it seems obvious to me that if you want people to embrace your “brand,” to create communities under its tent, to integrate it into their lives, then your going to have to be willing to give up control of that brand—for better or worse (hopefully mostly better). To that end, you should be providing those folk with the tools or elements to mold your brand into their identity. Not many people do this, actually. What’s viral about viral marketing is that the marketer creates an idea, packages it with any necessary assets, and pushes it out into the sea—just like a message in a bottle. The waves are going to take it where they will, you have given up control of that message. Now, it’s true that you retain the illusion of control because you’re sitting in a helicopter, dropping bottled messages wherever you see fit, but those are adjustments from the 30,000 ft. view. Give up control. Offer tools to manipulate your brand. And just put it out there. You can’t really have a conversation if you’re not willing to listen to what the other party has to say.

I don’t have a definition of blogging on hand here, but I’m beginning to think that the Gawker sites (Gawker, Gizmodo, etc.), by removing comments from their sites, have forfeited their status as “blogs.” They’re just tiny newsy sites now, link aggregators that don’t innovate much on the editorial front. I think comments are a key component of blogs, and one of the reasons blogging is so special.

I liked the idea that I think Doc Searls put forth the other day that old news stories are often little more than fishwrap, which calls into question the value proposition of a walled online archive. Now, I don’t totally agree with it, since there are many stories that involve collecting research and information that retains value over time. But time is an important factor in determining the value of editorial that I imagine most media execs are loathe to admit. There is a long tail in editorial, but it involves only a tiny fraction of your total archive.

The other thing that bugs me, is why can’t I customize the display of the NYTimes? It’s not a real paper, all the content is in a database. I would like to control what I see. I want stories from certain sections, over a certain time period, sorted in a certain way. I’d also like to see (on the originating site) some Technorati data, something visible like a popular icon, or something more graduated, colored degree of popularity. Something like that. Everyone will admit that people take the paper, and grab the sections they want to read, discarding the rest. It’s high time they enable that same kind of interface on the Web.

A NYT article today on ensemble cast advertising (subscription req.) completely misses the opportunity these types of commercials offer, IMO. I’m always surprised when I hear someone dressing up the wolf in sheep’s clothing—TV commercials dressed up as sitcoms—do they think we are stupid? With everything that’s going on in our lives, the intense competition for our attention from everything, do they really think we are going to invest in the “plot line” of a 30-second commercial advertisement?

First, a lesson to advertising execs: love (or at least like) your product. Commercials are not TV, but they bring us TV. It’s a beneficial symbiotic relationship. Most people do not watch commercials these days, regardless of the presence of Tivo in their homes. We all have busy lives, we all are used to juggling what the world throws at us. Even the most technologically challenged of us get up or surf during commercials. Why do we do this? You, the advertisers, have failed to deliver on the basic promise of television, a sin too great to ignore.

Every week, we tune in to televisions shows—why? Because they are new. Some times, we watch the reruns, but that is either because we are catching up (and it’s new to us) or because we accept the comfort of that show’s regular programming schedule in our lives. For that season at least, we have invested our time. So what’s with advertising? When a slew of new ads are presented, like during the Superbowl, we all love it. We treat it as a big event, a showcase. And we’re all totally into it.

Advertisers accept that the Superbowl raises the bar, and yet it’s business as usual throughout the rest of the year. I have news, people, it’s not the Superbowl that’s raising the bar, it’s the entire mediasphere. The competition for our attention is fierce: to think that you only have to address that competition once a year is just foolish.

So, make a good commercial. Make it funny, emotional, give it impact. But more importantly, make it cheap. Do not expect us to worship your spot. Drop the projected frequency of that spot by at least half, and make twice as many spots. Make them resonate with your audience(s) and the TV environment they’re placed in. If you create a highly popular spot, only then increase its frequency.

The best example I can give currently is the GEICO insurance commercials. They are numerous and short with great creative. The fake reality show “Tiny House” spot is so brilliant, I (surfing and only catching part of it) thought it was a real upcoming reality show until I finally saw the whole spot. And I wanted it to be real. The GEICO spots know they are commercials, they announce it, in fact. And they are always giving us something new.

Too many advertising execs exist in this bubble where their client is only competing with a select group of competitors. No! You are competing against everything that comes through that TV set. Everything. It’s an intense sea of information of all types, and you have to catch and hold my attention over the very alluring prospect of finding something else good on another channel. That’s a very difficult prospect and certainly not one you’re going to win with another tired commercial retread.