Saturday, November 12, 2011

Whoa, Sony and Panasonic



Wow, I knew Sony was doing badly in its consumer division, but this article in SplatF shows just how much money they are losing in their professional division as well.  Combined with Pansonic losing $5.5 BILLION (much of it in their consumer TV division) this year, it really shows how much the landscape is changing at the top of the food chain.  Sony, however, did make a profit in their film division.  Panasonic will be closing facilities which will affect LCD and plasma production.  I still have not seen a break out of the financials for the professional products division at Panasonic.  What does all this mean for the era of professional quality gear with better and better specs at ever-cheaper prices?

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

For Lovers Only- $.99

This week the Polish Brothers movie I discussed previously, For Lovers Only, is available as an iTunes rental for $.99.  It's a good chance to see a good movie and to check out the iTunes Store rental experience at the same time.

The film was made with only a cast and crew of three, the two Polish brothers, one on camera  (a 5D) and the other an actor, and one actress.  It is being self-dstributed online only for now.   It's been getting a lot of press lately in the film world.  It's an interesting experiment, as cameras become ever light sensitive the whole idea of what is needed in a film crew will evolve.  It is also a lot more honest than asking a whole host of people to work for free.  Although, I did finally meet for the first time someone who worked on a "spec" project who got paid (a small amount, ten years later) when the project got picked up by a cable channel.

Here's the trailer, again:


for lovers only... from Polish Brothers on Vimeo.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Google, Pay TV?


Matt Rosoff is doing a good job on concisely focusing on Google and what they seem to be doing as far as becoming a content distributor.  This piece complements the other stuff that I've been posting about Google recently.  As an armchair quarterback, to me it seems what will ultimately determine Google's success in the longterm is whether they can recognize that online TV is about more than how content is distributed. They do have the social platform in place for complementing online content, but it's a big if as to whether they can position Google Plus as a product that is so ubiquitous, like Facebook, that it becomes a natural extension of any online distribution products they create.

From Rosoff's article, it seems as though they're taking a cable TV-centric view of what they're doing.  Here's to hoping that they don't end up just recreating what already exists, only more and through a different portal.  Otherwise, it could end up in the Google Graveyard.  Strangely, this list doesn't include Buzz or Orkut.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The History of Improving TV


Just a short post, I want to point everyone to this funny article by Matt Rosoff: a pretty definitive list of "iTV Failures."  Ah, the memories, Web TV in the 1990's.....wait a minute...it's still supported by Microsoft!.