Tags, the valuable ingredient of all web content

I have come across this interesting article that presents the latest statistics on YouTube video views in terms of number and spread over time from the initial upload. Most videos have a decent chance of being viewed early, even those from unknown videographers with no previous activity on the site. However, some videos keep drawing the crowds in depth of time, viewers keep coming back again and again.

After billions of hours online, I have also come to the realisation that it is risky to try to put barriers between content types of text, video, photographs or whatever. Thinking about it, I go to certain sites not because of the content type, but because I find the quality high and the experience useful or entertaining. Some sites offer many combined types of content so the division is virtually no-existent, everything is seamlessly integrated in the web page.

Twentieth Century Fox movie rentals coming through Apple iTunes store

Only yesterday we wrote about internet TV and how large players with power in the marketplace will certainly try to get in the TV and movie business in a big way. Reuters reports that Apple and Twentieth Century Fox will announce such a deal that will let consumers rent Fox’s movies via Apple’s iTunes online store. It is a significant move and if followed by other movie studios would change the $9 billion movie rental business in the US. After the news Netflix and Blockbuster shares are down 4.5% and 4.8% respectively.

Movie downloads are a natural progression for the iTunes store, especially now that Amazon and others have entered the music download arena with DRM free files. Hollywood is definitely in search for new distribution channels but I would have thought that if iTunes were successful with movies, the DVD rental middlemen would be replaced by a single more formidable one. As always, pricing and the ease of viewing the movies with mobile devices and at home theaters will be the critical factors that will tip the balance one way or another.

Link: Reuters

How I would like to watch my internet TV

I watch very little conventional TV, not because I dislike some of its programs, but because I have zero control over what I watch and when I watch it. Standard definition channels are not that great either, certainly not good enough to keep me away from streaming video sites and free downloadable programs. So is TV going to die slowly? Impossible I think for the moment. But it is going to change from what we know now, that is for sure.

One reason TV keeps going so strong is the failure of internet video to get to our living room in a convincing and simple fashion. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal addresses these very difficulties and proposes some solutions. At least in the US it is clear that if you want to stream internet TV you can make it mainly via cable with one of a collection of boxes. Unfortunately, cable is not available in all countries and the boxes used are aimed at certain markets with a subset of the total of programs that consumers could possibly access in total.

The pressure on Hi-Fi and home cinema audio equipment

Gadgets and electronic games are the rage before every Christmas season. Behind all this onslaught of new products there is the traditional scene of hi-fi equipment as well as the scene of the now mature but still evolving home cinema. A good amplifier and impressive loudspeakers no longer attract attention, the headlines are full of iPods, gaming consoles and mobile devices. So how come that such impressive equipment is getting so little coverage compared to small devices with questionable sound and small screens? Here is a few reasons…

Decades of improvement in analogue electronics reached the point where sound quality is extremely high with small margins for improvement. The successful matching of amp and speakers is still difficult business that requires extensive testing and experience -maybe some luck also- but delivers formidable results and a system that can be simply switched on and enjoyed. Unfortunately, all this comes at a price. You thought your Voodoo PC was expensive? Well, set up at home a decent home Hi-Fi and you will change opinion. Set up a home cinema where the number of speakers is multiplied by three and video equipment is extra and any PC will seem a bargain.