The end of the VCR generation

Don’t worry, I haven’t slipped back 10 years to the launch of the DVD.

I’m just thinking about the speed of change in technology and business – inspired by an incredibly depressing trip to my local Blockbuster rental store on Saturday.

Two rows of rentals, a few racks of bargain-priced pre-owned DVDs and games and a few new releases for sale.

And while I’m a huge advocate of making content downloadable online, and services which mail DVDs to your door (like Blockbuster, Lovefilm and Netflix), so that you can forage in the Long Tail, I couldn’t help feeling sad at how the rental store has declined.

It’s probably showing my age, but I remember a time before Blockbuster showed up. The first local video store was a real ‘mom and pop’ type shop, and had a tiny selection, but for a young film fan whose family had just got their first video recorder, it was amazing.

Then I experienced Blockbusters. So many films under one roof that my first trip was almost accompanied by the kind of golden glow you’d see in TV adverts as I wandered down every row, checking out every possible title vying for my attention (Something I’ve never quite kicked, which is why I tend to get left to browse in record shops, video stores and computer games emporiums – few friends and family members have to make sure that they’ve checked every possible option for entertainment).

Sadly, the decline has been noticeable for a while, probably demonstrated by the fact I hadn’t paid a visit to my local store in at least a year.

I’ve got films on Freeview (whoever first put adverts in the middle of films and live sporting events should be shot, by the way), I’ve got films on demand via my Xbox 360, and I’ve been a happy subscriber to Lovefilm. And that’s despite UK broadband speed and data limits meaning I’ve been a latecomer to downloading films via PC or Xbox (TV via iPlayer is another matter!).

I’m not saying that DVD rental shops should be saved for any reason – the only possible solution I could envisage keeping them going for a while would be a Print-on-Demand service to burn a DVD of any catalogued film for those who don’t yet have the bandwith – but that’s a stopgap on the way to extinction.

It’s just rare sometimes to hear anyone advocating a digital revolution/evolution admit that they might feel bad about the end of a dying medium, and without a rational explanation!

Jury still out on Plinky – micro-inspiration for content creation

Plinky is a new service which aims to ‘help you create inspired content on the web’ by prompting you with questions and topics each day – e.g. ‘Which wild animal would you have as a pet’, or ‘Which three songs would you have on your roadtrip tape’.

Plinky Logo

It’s got some pedigree, with CEO and founder Jason Shellen formerly of Pyra Labs (which developed Blogger), formerly Product Manager of Google Reader, and also VP of Product Development at LiveJournal.

Not only does he know his stuff, but his name has meant favourable coverage on ReadWriteWeb, Scobleizer (including a video demo), Louis Gray and Venturebeat.

I think Louis made a good point that it isn’t a tool for early adopters as much as it is for people who might not have updated their blog for a month due to a lack of inspiration.

But still…

I’m on there. I quite like the idea. I’ve discovered that one of my best friends loves a song I’d never have predicted in a million years. I’ve written about the most bizarre animal I’d like to own. And I like the ability for my answer to be posted to my blog.

But I think my favourite query for any new service is going to be a stumbling block.

Relevancy.

So far, there’s only 9 prompts (I believe one is posted daily), and I realise I’ve got a pretty specific focus on my blogs – microblogging on one, social media marketing/digital publishing on another, and my Nissan on a third, rarely updated Blogger site.

But even on a general lifestyle blog, I’m not sure it wouldn’t look completely random to answer more than one or two prompts from the limited selection of 9 so far.

And I’m not sure it’s more informative yet than looking at a Facebook profile etc.

I think there is a space for an inspiration tool like this – but I suspect the number of prompts needs to increase pretty quickly, and perhaps be categorised by topic to make more sense for many people.

It wouldn’t be hard, for example, to use Plinky once a week to create a post from a selection of prompts on whatever your focus might be e.g. all sport prompts, or all music prompts.

Add that relevancy, and the ability to easily schedule posts for a certain day – e.g. a regular ‘Plinky’ Friday post, and I’d be more convinced of the ability to scale and grow. It would not only become a useful tool for inspiration, but also a way to minimise blog guilt and missing days/weeks of posting due to other pressures.

And even for those of us who try to get one or two days ahead at the weekend, having Plinky inspiration could be a great way to get some ideas out without my usual Google Reader marathon session on a Sunday!

Two throwaway thoughts on a Monday

Both coming from recent updates on Twitter:

1. If we need proof that people are inherently social, how the hell did everyone find out about fire and the wheel before Mainstream Media? Or Social Networking, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 for that matter?

(brilliant response by both @epredator and @dalvado – seeing a wheel rolling past on fire!)

Wheel of Fire 5 by SanGatiche on Flickr (CC Licece)

Wheel of Fire 5 by SanGatiche on Flickr (CC Licece)

2. In a hyperconnected world of broadband and mobiles, will we see a premium on those things which allow us to break away and enjoy solitude – for example, with motorcycling, the supposed thrill of speed became a byproduct for me of experiencing solitude, extreme concentration, and getting close to experiencing ‘flow’.

That thought came from seeing @gapingvoid tweet that in a world of oversupply, ‘hope’ is pretty much the only thing people are willing to pay for.

The best G1 application, augmented reality and Moore’s law

I’ve been meaning to blog about Mobilizy‘s awesome Wikitude AR Travel Guide for Google’s G1 Android mobile since I saw the video demo embedded below (You might need to click through for a big enough display).

It reminded me of the chapters in Howard Rheingold‘s Smart Mobs where he discusses examples of wearable computing and real-life cyborgs – it seemed a bit of a stretch even as recently as 2002 when the book was written – the word cyborg instantly conjures Terminator and Robocop – but in the intervening seven years, it’s become incredibly obvious that the mobile device is essentially the wearable computer in all but attachment (bluetooth headsets?).

And Moore’s Law (strictly speaking: doubling transistors on a circuit every two years, but adopted by many to be about the exponential improvements in technology) seems to be applying particularly to the mobile space at the moment, with the rise of the Smartphone.

Although my mobile is infamous for being a much-abused antique, I’ve been looking at the mobile space for years with regards to social networking, applications, and which phone I’ll pick when I think it’s the right time for capabilities vs price.

18 months ago, my choice was simple, as the Nokia N95 was able to offer connectivity, wifi and the right tools for content creation – and I’ve continued to monitor pirce tariffs for it ever since, even with the release of the iPhone which I consider is for content consumption, not creation.

But now things are changing ever more rapidly. There are new possibilities, like the essentially open G1. And cheaper options for connectivity, like the INQ1 from Hutchinson, with ‘unlimited texts and internet‘ (actually 1GB according to Ts and Cs), plus integration with Facebook, Skype, Windows Live Messenger and Last.fm.

The Samsung Pixon seems to offer amazing video creation.  And the LG Cookie is a more affordable touch screen mobile with handwriting recognition and motions sensor.

Personally, the one mobile connection that I would consider essential is Twitter, but the idea of fully augmented reality for location-based services is pretty enticing.

Imagine never needing a brochure or guide book because you can just point your phone and find all the information you need automatically. Forget browsing directories or searching – we could soon be told what we’re looking at in any museum, which of the restaurants in plain sight does the best food, or any number of possibilities.

Forget cyborgs – we’re MoBorgs.

Proof? Nokia was the biggest computer maker in 2008. (More on Nokia via Communities Dominate Brands).

MoBorgs get the connectivity, creativity, etc of the wearable computer cyborg, but with one major difference – you don’t look like a tit or an extra from a scifi film.  It’s concealable if you wish, and upgradable.  And sharable.

The next evolution will be towards services which augment reality in numerous ways via mobile, adding to what is already around us, and improving our connections/social networks.  It’s where I’m looking for genius ideas.