The day suddenly got full... running, running...
The revelation of the weekend was the 2.0 update for the iPhone. It's interesting playing with it after reading all the yawning reviews of the new iPhone 3G on Friday. The story is, as many did indicate, the new application store, which you can use from the phone itself, and not so much the new phone. Then the really real story is the transformation of the device via these apps and the potential that adding 3G to those apps creates.
I have never thought of dumping the Blackberry as "the mail phone" and the main phone until now... and I haven't even bought a 3G yet. Between the truly revolutionary website for The New York Times - which isn't just regurgitation, but actually allows you to browse news in a different way, led by photos, not words... and fascinatingly leads with Business and Op-Ed - the AOL Instant messaging services, photo and community site access from most of the big providers, working radio from dozens of internet radio providers, improved gps, video beyond YouTube, and all kinds of wonderful toys, this is an experience that steps as big and wide as the initial iPhone’s use of the touch screen.
When my phone can actually – in a functional way, not a "it should work, but doesn’t quite" way - listen to a song on TV or radio, figure out in less than 20 seconds what the song is, who is singing, and where I can watch a video or buy it on iTunes (a program called Shazam), my phone is no longer just a phone. And it’s not a toy either. It is an integrating life organizer offering real opportunities for business to capitalize on my access.
The very real question for the movie and TV industry of “what is the price point?” remains a problem to consider for the future. And pricing on the majority of paid applications available will make for a fascinating study in the months to come. (With 10 or more Sudoku apps available, will I choose randomly or will I stick with buying the EA branded one because the brand makes me feel safe?)
Anyway…
I think the Obama New Yorker cover “controversy” is a pig in a poke. The false stereotypes exist out there and the more openly discussed they are, the better for Obama and for the country. It’s so lacking in subtlety that I’m not worried about it being popular as “We told you so” fodder outside of a KKK meeting.
And…
Did someone give birth somewhere? Is that the sound of me crying because anyone anywhere who is not friend or family to this couple is really spending more than 10 seconds on what came out of Angelina Jolie? We are a planet of fucking morons sometimes.
Did I Mention…
I am chewing on the fascinating – and quick! – evolution of the Finke-to-Goldstein-To Bart blog revolution. Here is a trio that actually works the same beat much the same way to completely different results. And I’m kinda finding it thrilling. There’s an enormous amount of junk journalism coming out of it. But in the classic 3-is-a-trend of EW thinking, this group is creating their own genre in the e-blogosphere.
I think this notion really started to sink in via the combination of considering Charlie Joffe’s lifespan as a talent manager and the bouncing of some of the same stuff through each of these blogs. Nikki HATES Bob Shaye and Jeff Robinov with the insane obsession of someone who has no idea other than her rage (also vented at Patrick’s BFF, John Horn, who dared to actually do some reporting on her rose-petal covered agency turf) and Patrick is calling them (or their boss) up and running whatever prattle falls from their tongues and pretends he got insight. Meanwhile, PB is over there pissing on Hancock, then running away ("Variety’s own critic wrongly predicted mid-range results" and you, Pete, predicted The Last Action Hero treatment for Will Smith before Hancock assured itself of being no less than the #3 film of the summer in America and probably #2 worldwide, and no worse than the 4th biggest film of Smith's career )… sucking up to Guillermo, then attacking comic book movies… being on the cutting edge of the “children are not going to be a good movie market” bullshit after finally retiring the “teen boys aren’t going to the movies anymore” lie Variety has been selling for the last couple years since Sharon Waxman invented the Fake Slump of 2005, and mocking box office guessing games that Variety has been a leader in for years.
I’m sure I will write more on this in the months to come as three of the best fed, thinnest skinned journalists in town continue to expose themselves, redefine themselves under fire, and expose themselves again. The joy of Blogville is that people actually have to go on the record – even Nikki, who overwrites her many mistakes in recor… uh, reporting (and leaves many others) is seeing that sham figured out by more and more people, though most of her very narrow audience still wants to see her attack people they wish they could attack – and being on record exposes not only what and how you think, but how you do your work.
I, for one, am actually getting more comfortable with Patrick and Peter and Nikki as they circle each other in their Polish firing squad. The old boy’s club of Hollywood (which Nikki pretends she is beyond, when it is all that she has… at least Patrick and Peter smile and shake hands in public with their “sources”) is coming out of the closet. I can live with that. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And if people want THAT, God bless ‘em. All I have ever wanted from any of these writers or any other journalists on this beat is truth in advertising. And blogging is the Sodium Pentothal of journalism. Toldja!
Read the complete post at http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/archives/2008/07/monday_in_the_p.html