Monthly Archives: January 2010

The iPad Media Expectations

January 31, 2010 – 5:20 pm

TweetFor a large part, the Apple tablet was seen as a potential solution for the media industry problem: a digital infrastructure for delivery and transactions encompassing a vast array of media products — instantiated in a device destined to become a de facto standard. Many blame the media industry for not being able to come [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (23)

iPad Thoughts

January 31, 2010 – 5:19 pm

TweetLet me start with an important caveat. For this I’ll refer you to a post from my favorite high-tech blogger, David Pogue. “Don’t pass judgment until you’ve tried it!” Wise counsel: three years ago, industry sages “knew” Apple had no business making a phone. Normal humans voted with their wallet. Customers come in two categories: [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in hardware, mobile internet | Tagged | Comments (15)

The Numbers Behind the Paywall

January 24, 2010 – 6:21 pm

TweetFinally! The New York Times is coming out with its paid-for content strategy. A quick summary of the Gray Lady’s paywall plan: a monthly allotment of stories to be read  for free and, above that, a flat fee for full access. Subscribers to the print version (including those who only get the Sunday paper) will [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in advertising | Tagged , | Comments (11)

Mobile Payments

January 24, 2010 – 6:21 pm

TweetLast week’s note on Apple licensing generated a good flow of comments, all appreciated. I’ll respond, but not before we get Apple earnings and the putative Jesus Tablet out of the way. I’ll approach today’s topic, mobile payments, using an Apple Store moment. Some cables keep disappearing. In particular, the ones that connect MacBooks of [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in mobile internet, venture capital | Comments (4)

The Death of Joe Average

January 17, 2010 – 7:49 pm

TweetForget Joe Average, he’s dead. Ten or twenty years ago, analyzing audiences was much easier. Medias enjoyed well-defined and relatively unchanging target groups. For television, networks had a precise idea on who was watching what, and specialized cable outlets knew their viewers pretty well. Newspapers had their content structure sliced to fit various audiences by [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in advertising, online publishing | Comments (13)

The Apple Licensing Myth

January 17, 2010 – 7:46 pm

TweetLegends die hard. In the pre-Web days, they got printed and reprinted, told and retold and so became official, like spinach being good for you because it held the iron your red cells needed. After decades of the disgusting veggie inflicted upon young kids – I remember, a scientist went back to the bench and [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in hardware, software | Tagged , , | Comments (21)

A New Gallic Idea: Taxing Google

January 10, 2010 – 5:50 pm

TweetThe French cultural elite has come up with a bunch of ideas to stimulate the legal consumption of digital goods. The basic principles are stunningly original: subsidize and tax. These creations are detailed in a report ordered by the Président de la République to the Ministry of Culture. This is the way it works here: [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in online publishing | Tagged | Comments (21)

The Nexus One Puzzle

January 10, 2010 – 5:49 pm

TweetLet me state it at the outset: I understand the buzz generated by the Google Phone a.k.a Nexus One. But, the more I look into details and their ramifications, the more I’m puzzled. What exactly is Google trying to do? Make Android, their smartphone OS platform the “Windows” of the new era of really personal [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in mobile internet | Tagged , | Comments (13)

The 2010 Media Watch List

January 3, 2010 – 6:22 pm

TweetNo predictions, just a few of many hot topics for the newborn year. Paywalls. 2010 could see a significant number of newspapers jumping into the paid-for option. Among the conditions to be met: – Grouping around a toll collector. It could be Journalism Online in the US, a big media group in Europe, or even [...]

Edited by Frédéric Filloux | Posted in advertising, magazines, mobile internet, newspapers, online publishing | Tagged , | Comments (13)

The 2010 Tech Watch List

January 3, 2010 – 5:52 pm

TweetLooking back at last year’s “Things to watch in 2009”, I’ll narrow the field a little bit: no more discussion of the auto industry, electric car markitecture notwithstanding, nor disquisitions of congress shenanigans, too much raw sewage material. Let’s stay with safer and generally cleaner/happier computer industry topics. Microsoft 2.0 a.k.a. Google. What is known: [...]

Edited by Jean-Louis Gassée | Posted in hardware, mobile internet, software | Tagged | Comments (2)