Yesterday the dominating topic of conversation was Apple’s release of the iPad. Alot of people were speculating about how it would look and what it would do but the actual release went something like the third Matrix flick. The ideas of speculation were better and more exciting than the real thing.

Now that’s a harsh comparison.  The third Matrix movie was terrible at best and should have never been made.  That’s not the case with the iPad.  Once the tech world gets over the fact that it’s not a write-on supercomputer that brushes your teeth while high-five’ng your iPhone they’ll come around.

The truth is the iPad is a natural progression of digital media.  This is your new favorite book or an interesting magazine you read on the toilet. It’s the morning paper and your email you read while eating breakfast.  You iPhone was cool but tiny.  Your laptop was powerful but bulky.  The iPad feels more like traditional media than anything we’ve had before.  And at $500 most of us can have one!

Come one, you weren’t expecting the iPad to be that cheap (I wasn’t).  Especially if you had envisioned a keyboardless laptop.

So what’s next:  a stylus?  a bigger screen?
Maybe, but I’ll bet it’s a low wall outlet in your bathroom.

There’s nothing unfamiliar about The Book of Eli’s post-apocalyptic setting.  Eli, played by Denzel Washington, is every bit a Mad Max character wielding cool and very destructive weapons, clothed in scavenged attire and possessing the uncanny ability to not die.  The post-production effects of perpetually falling ash and a desaturated and dark landscape of destroyed and abandoned cars, buildings and junk all come together for a chord of danger and solitude.  What’s different about this film is Eli’s source of strength and conviction.  He’s a man of God, and not the sort you’re used to seeing on the silver screen.  He’s strong, honorable and knows the word like the back of his hand.

As a follower of Christ you get used to seeing Godly men portrayed as weak, simple-minded individuals easily swayed by circumstance.  The Book of Eli is a stark contrast.  Eli is surrounded by evil men raping and pillaging as they please in a time when the Bible has been nearly eradicated. His mission is to carry the last remaining copy of the Bible to a budding civilization in the West. Gary Oldman plays the boss of small town, supported by a secret water source and brutality, who wants the Bible to use as a tool of control and deception.  He tests Eli with all the usual temptations and when that doesn’t work tries to kill him for the remainder of the movie.  Eli does a great job of maintaining his honor by quoting scripture and fighting like Samson himself.

This is definitely a violent picture from beginning to end with people dying or loosing members in nearly every scene.  So don’t go if that’s not your thing.  What’s great about it is the sense of power and urgency it gives to God’s word.  Even Christians take it for granted today.  You get a copy nearly anywhere so we don’t consume it with the fervor we should.  We think we’ve got plenty of time to read it at our leisure.  The Book of Eli reminds us that when things get bad the word of God is all we’ll have to stand on and tomorrow it might not be so easily come by.  If you don’t believe me try taking a copy into China.

Since the beginning of Webdom banner ads have the been a zit on the face of web. Whether rapidly changing color like a horny cuddle fish, jumping out at you from nowhere or maybe just hanging out in the corner, these attempts at grabbing your attention most often lead to nothing.

I was inspired to write on this topic after seeing a small banner ad for bake mix of some kind (brownies I think) making a sad plea for my time. It was apparently the wrong size because a quarter of it was being cut off and the part that was visible simply showed me a picture of the product packaging, a tag line and a button that said “Click Me.” Day-um. Even if I had been interested in brownies I wouldn’t have clicked that banner. It was trying too hard (but keep trying). By attempting to communicate too much the message was lost all together.

The question they should have asked themselves was “What do I want to accomplish with the ad?”
Was it a click? Are you going to convert a brownie sale right there on the web? Doubtful. If you want brownies you’ll go to the grocery store. Likely the best you can hope for with a web ad for brownies is brand and/or product exposure. Maybe they’ll think of you next time their shopping. So why waste all that real estate with a tag line and button.

A more effective option would be to infuse the ad with humor, that way It’s more likely to be memorable and I, the viewer, would have received something from the ad.  A laugh can be very valuable and I’m likely to reward them with a purchase later on.  Admittedly humor can be difficult to achieve so a simpler approach might be to simply use all the banner real estate to communicate the product.  Fill the banner with the brownies and eliminate the tag line and button, no one will click it anyway.

If you have realistic expectations of what the banner can accomplish you’ll reap a greater reward.

No doubt you’ve heard a little ( or a lot) about the Conan vs. Leno debacle but in case you haven’t here’s the skinny.  NBC promised Conan the Tonight show several years ago.  Seven months ago that became a reality as Jay Leno moved to a new show, with a similar format, on prime time. Conan took over the Tonight Show and frankly was doing a jam-up job.  Leno’s show, however, was a flop and NBC recently announced its cancellation.  Now, Conan show had lost ratings so understandably NBC desired to turn back the clock and restore their late night superiority.  Unfortunately, in life, when we make decisions we don’t have the option of jumping in the time machine.  We must make do and press on.  The decision makers at NBC did no feel the same way and attempted to push Leno’s show back and Conan’s with it.  Of course Conan was not on board with this decision.

Calamity ensued and the war began.  Now let me say that I am not a fan of Jay Leno.  We both have a love for cars and I respect the man but I’ve never found him funny.  My wife will attest that the only time we would watch the Tonight Show with Jay Leno is while waiting for Conan. In contrast my father has been a long time watcher of Leno and never watched Conan O’Brien. What I find interesting is that my father did start watching Conan once he took over the slot and now he won’t shut up about him.  He can’t get enough.

It’s been a mix of fun and awkward watching Conan’s guests come on the show and only want to talk about Conan and the raw hand he’s been dealt.  It’s also been fun listening to Conan joke about the predicament.  I think most of us thought NBC would wake up and give in to Conan but that’s not what happened.

Today NBC announced that they would let Conan walk away and pay him to do so to the tune of 33 million dollars, with an additionally 12 million for his staff.  Insanity?  I say yes.  Leno has dominated the time slot for a long time but it’s easy to see who has the public’s support in this matter.  There have been rallies, empathetic guests and a barrage of blog and media coverage.  Meanwhile Jay Leno has been receiving a backlash from his guests and the public.  It’s commonly accepted that Conan and his rising popularity is/was the future of late night for NBC and frankly their cash cow.  In my mind NBC has effectively traded it’s future for the past.  Will I start watching Leno now?  Certainly not, and I’ll bet a ton of other people won’t either. So to Conan O’Brien I say, “See ya on Fox!”

Sometimes the change caused by technology happens so fast we don’t see it coming.  Other times it leaves us tapping our fingers, waiting for things to catch up.  TV on the web seems to be the later.  It’s not a new concept.  Webtv was a front-runner of the web but the public wasn’t ready.  Now many of us are ready and there’s little to be had.

Now I’m not saying you can’t watch TV shows on the web because you can.  Networks like ABC and NBC, as well as secondary providers like Hulu, have been providing online programming for quite some time but that’s beside the point.  My question is why can’t I see the shows I want to see whenever I want to see them?

As far as I know, networks make money by selling advertising.  And the TV commercial has been somewhat of a phenomenon for oh, a gazzillion years, yet I still can’t watch a full episode of Bear Grylls wrestling up a tree without having cable?  The cable companies must be to blame, right? Maybe they’ve got tight contracts with the networks guaranteeing them exclusive rights to the content.  But why? The internet is nothing new. If you own digital content, which is what TV shows amount to these days, why not distribute them through as many channels as possible?

I can, however, watch 30 Rock, but only the most recent episodes. The current model here seems to be very much based on fear.  Certainly the cable company is worried the internet will take over and for good reason, it is!  But why then are limited “network” shows available? I really don’t have the answer myself.  Storage and hosting costs should certainly be offset by advertising revenue, theft may be an issue but once it’s out there, it’s out there and the damage has already been done or maybe they are afraid of hurting DVD sales.  I’m hoping there’s another reason I’m not smart enough to think of.

Tell me this, how much money are episodes of Hell’s Kitchen Season 4 making Fox right now?  Are people flocking out to buy the series on Blue Ray?  I doubt it.  But I would certainly watch it on Fox.com or Hulu.com.  My wife and I just finished watching Season 5 and 6 online and we’re ready for more, yet it simply isn’t available.  I’m sure one could argue that selling advertising for an older show is difficult but why?  Unlike cable, when I watch a show online the provider knows. Therefore we can( and do) sell advertising based on views.  An old show suddenly becomes just as valuable as the new one.  Especially at the end of a season!

Hopefully it won’t be long before this post is irrelevant but right now I’m wishing for more. In a time where every dollar counts you’d think less would be left on the table.