TechAmericana

Think Japan, China or Europe have the edge on exclusive tech? Nope...we got 'em beat right here in the good ole USA! Gizmodo explores this very important topic with pictures!

Check out the story here.

Google Chrome

Today, Tuesday Google will officially release the beta version of their new browser CHROME.

From Goog's Official blog they point out some points of differentiation as to why a new Browser to take on IE and Firefox:

What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications

On the surface, we designed a browser window that is streamlined and simple. To most people, it isn't the browser that matters. It's only a tool to run the important stuff -- the pages, sites and applications that make up the web. Like the classic Google homepage, Google Chrome is clean and fast. It gets out of your way and gets you where you want to go.

Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today's complex web applications much better. By keeping each tab in an isolated "sandbox", we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren't even possible in today's browsers.

This is just the beginning -- Google Chrome is far from done. We're releasing this beta for Windows to start the broader discussion and hear from you as quickly as possible. We're hard at work building versions for Mac and Linux too, and will continue to make it even faster and more robust.

Google also created a comic book that takes us on a tour. See it here.

Why is this important for us radio folks?

• Let it serve as a reminder that leaders lead. Google is a leader and they are not content to have the best search engine in the business. They want it all. Radio take note.
• Technology continues to move at warp speed and radio is still tinkering with digital radio 1.0.
• Take note of the commitment to open source. Proprietary apps and closed architecture will continue to evaporate. This is important especially when we are thinking about our local station on-line communities. Sure build your own and build your database, but don't forget to be on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else your listeners are already loitering.
• Be flexible, versatile, and nimble. Not because you want to, but because you NEED to.
• Don't forget--Google is all about the money, profits, and growth. What innovations can radio stations roll out? Think entertainment and technology. For radio the two will go hand in hand.

Technology Is Forcing Change

May 10th, 1982 was the date that technology forced change...

26 years ago the technology was FM radio and it was an AM radio station forced to change. That station was WABC in New York. Music on AM was dieing and moving over to FM.

WABC's ratings had seen better days but it was still a big deal. Just like people all over the New York area I remember stopping whatever I was doing to tune in to hear the change. I had moved on (working in radio) and was listening to other stations; but this was the station that I grew up with--the station that I have credited more than a few times as being my inspiration that made me want to go into radio.

Here's a WCBS-TV news report from that day. The report says a lot.



Even back in the "dark ages," 1982, technology was a problem...

• There's a whole lot of media out there, wired and wireless--it's getting tougher and tougher to compete
• AM stereo launching to better compete with FM. AM what?
• More stations, more choices, no giants. How quant.
  

Maybe a little slow to make the right moves, but AM did get it right. Interesting that AM's savior was human voices--you know the long list of talk radio stars that made that happen.

The music died on AM when the public had free and easy access to FM. Will the music die on FM when the public has free and easy access to music on ~~insert new medium here~~? I think you know what my answer would be. I will leave it at that.

Please give some thought to history since it has a nasty habit of repeating itself.

***photo credit: from a wonderful website called Forgotten NY

"Don't Focus On The Product...

Focus on the experience you want to create, and build a system that gets you there".

Those words were said not with radio in mind, but with hard goods. As illustrated in this (goofy) picture:

Of course, our product is the experience...except if we are talking about HD radio and then it's about the hardware and not so much about the experience.

What was supposed to always be about the experience (whatever the intended experience was supposed to be) somewhere along the way the word experience was replaced by appliance. The appliance for music, news, sports, weather, traffic, etc. Like most appliances, after a while a new and improved appliance comes along replacing the old one. In this case that would be broadband and the internet.

Let's be honest. Radio was NEVER about the experience; programming was created in order to sell RADIOS. Now, as it turned out the experience was pretty good and it all worked out.

Today, as good as a lot of radio programming is, it's lost its luster as new more flexible platforms have come to market--especially with younger audiences.

What are we to do?

Focus on the user experience. How can we leverage our deep market penetration and our deployment of new platforms (broadband and internet) into a more competitive medium for today and into the future?

We need to think beyond "the morning show" and "10-in-a-row" and be open to and TRY new ideas (many of which will probably fail). "Focus on the experience you want to create, and build a system that gets you there".

And that brings me to the source of the quote: Peter Merholz who is the President of Adaptive Path a company that helps create products that deliver great experiences. Impressive group! Mr. Merholz put together an excellent presentation on the user experience and you can watch and listen to it right here:

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How the World Works

1) everything that’s already in the world when you’re born is just normal;
2) anything that gets invented between then and before you turn thirty is incredibly exciting and creative and with any luck you can make a career out of it;
3) anything that gets invented after you’re thirty is against the natural order of things and the beginning of the end of civilization as we know it until it’s been around for about ten years when it gradually turns out to be alright really.

So true!

Those are the words of satirist and novelist Douglas Adams.

He went on to say:

Apply this list to movies, rock music, word processors and mobile phones to work out how old you are.

We no longer think of chairs as technology, we just think of them as chairs. But there was a time when we hadn’t worked out how many legs chairs should have, how tall they should be, and they would often ‘crash’ when we tried to use them. Before long, computers will be as trivial and plentiful as chairs (and a couple of decades or so after that, as sheets of paper or grains of sand) and we will cease to be aware of the things.

This excellent piece was featured in another blog--one of my favorites: The Technium -- Wired founder Kevin Kelly's blog. His work has been linked in this space before--a smart and always fun read.

Social Media Not a Fad

That according to Disney President and CEO Bob Iger. Broadcasting & Cable Magazine has the story on-line today. Iger was addressing the attendees at the McGraw-Hill Summit in New York.

He criticized media executives for their skittish view of the multiple-platform approach to delivering content.

“Brand managers look at technology with a deep-rooted aversion,”

“People take a protectionist view of it, but we’re projecting the brand versus protecting the brand.”

And check this out:

Iger spoke of using technology to “completely change the perception” of the Disney brand when he took over in 2005. He forecasted $1 billion in digital revenue for Disney this year, up from $750 million in 2007.

Quite impressive for an old-line company to project 25% revenue growth in a very important sector of their business.

But here's where Iger shows his true understanding of where things stand in today's media world:

Iger stressed how social media was far from a Gen X or Gen Y fad, but in fact a part of everyday life for children. He said the computer will soon supplant the television as children’s screen of choice. “In the years ahead, broadband on the computer will be the primary source of entertainment for kids,” he said. “It’s just as important to them as the TV set now.”

And I would go so far to say that the word wireless should be included when talking broadband. One also could project that the traditional "computer" for today's kids will not be the typical box we use today and manifest itself in a much more portable form...maybe hand held and portable? Exactly.

As you read through this it's hard not to draw the many parallels between Iger's vision and plan for Disney and what the radio industry needs to accomplish.