Techno-politics

CBS is preparing to announce a huge web distribution initiative. The network will provide television programming to several web outlets, including MSN, AOL, Joost, and the forthcoming NBC Universal-News Corp. video service. VONAGE CEO Michael Snyder has left the beleaguered company. A patent infringement lawsuit from Verizon has the company in “crisis mode.” MGM will Continue Reading →

MySpace will hold an online Presidential Primary vote next January. Most major candidates have created profiles on the social networking site. Barak Obama has the most MySpace “friends” by a very large margin. The FCC issued a statement, saying they would not reconsider the current ban on in-flight cell phone use. Notably, a soon to-be-released Continue Reading →

GigaOM reports from the CTIA Wireless conference, in Orlando.  They reveal a few choice details about Sprint’s WiMAX service, after speaking with a Sprint Senior VP.  They have also posted a thorough overview of newly-announced phones. NewTeeVee provides a quick review of the benefits of Brightcove.  The video streaming service has gained a strong client Continue Reading →

Get ready for two great conferences in March. First, meet me in Los Angeles on March 19th for OMMA. I’ll be moderating and hosting the Online Video track with Keynotes from Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post and Jason McDonell, marketing director for Frito Lay’s Doritos brand (“Crash the Superbowl”). Then we’re off to San Continue Reading →

There's a business school case study about the fledgling airline business in the early part of the 20th century. According to the story, after the Wright Brothers flew their airplane, some entrepreneurs decided that they should fund an aircraft company. They thought about where to get the money and decided to seek out one of the richest, most powerful corporations in America. They arrived at the offices of a giant railroad company and made their presentation. The executives listened attentively to the pitch and then summarily dismissed the nascent aviators, telling them, "We're in the railroad business, not the airline business." Continue Reading →

November 8, 2006 — It’s about 1:30am on the East Coast. Election coverage is winding down. The Democrats took control of the House and everyone is still waiting to see what will happen with the Senate. Of course today’s really big news is that Verizon will be offering YouTube content on its Vcast and FIOS Continue Reading →

TO LISTEN TO HOWARD STERN’S new radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio, you need a satellite radio receiver and a paid subscription to the service–or do you? The show is being rebroadcast (albeit slightly delayed) on a bunch of “pirate” radio stations. It’s all over the Internet in the form of podcasts and progressively downloadable Continue Reading →

Some major telcos have started lobbying our elected officials for the right to create a two-tiered Internet, “regular” and “premium.”  You guessed it, not only would the telcos get to charge everyone more for the faster service, they’d also get to deny the faster service to competitors.  Ouch! As you can imagine, the prospect of Continue Reading →

Cable and Congress are at it again. During a hearing that was supposed to be about indecency, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin brought up a study which “concludes that purchasing cable programming in a more a la carte manner in fact could be economically feasible and in consumers’ best interest.” The idea of a Continue Reading →

PEOPLE ALL OVER AMERICA WERE emotionally and intellectually overwhelmed by the plight of the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Everyone wanted to do what they could to help – but how?  That was the question, and to answer it, America turned to trusted brands: The American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, MSNBC, MTV, CNN to name Continue Reading →