Thursday, August 16, 2012

Apple Needs TIVO More Than Ever!

Apple Patent Application Design
Back in early June, I wrote a piece advocating the merit of Apple acquiring TIVO (please refer to Why Apple Needs To Buy TIVO Today). Recent stories in traditional media only makes my conviction greater! MacRumors reported yesterday that Apple is in talks to build a set top box.  It has also been widely reported that Apple has been recently awarded several key patents allowing "DVR like" controls to be incorporated onto a device which looks very similar to your friendly iPhone or iPod Touch.

Then today, the Wall Street Journal has run a front page article, "Apple's New Front In Battle for TV."  This article is sure to fuel renewed speculation on Apple's technological and tactical actions intended to advance its presence in the world's livingrooms beyond the innovative "hobby" which is Apple TV.

Of course all of this renewed speculation about the mythic product which Steve Jobs famously told his biographer Isaacson, "We've finally got it figured out!" has its share of supporters and detractors. Notably, the cable companies, which are also financially hopelessly intertwined with the content creators, have reportedly not reached any agreement with Infinity Circle to allow Apple to act as an  intermediary between them and "their customers," the cable consuming masses! Apple's ability to successfully intermediate in the entertainment consumption process (and profit handsomely in the arbitrage) has been put on stage for all to see as iTunes has consumed the music industry.....

Cable companies aren't likely to "give" Apple the keys to the cable box freely. Still, more and more content is being consumed via alternative sources-- Hulu Plus; Netflix; YouTube and more. All of this content which "cable cutters" are relying upon rather than traditional, expensive, packages of cable channels, must still run through a "pipe." Cable companies actually realize a much higher profit margin supplying the "dumb data pipes" to our front doors than thinner margins garnered from assorted channel packages....

Interestingly, Apple has recently and quietly added Hulu Plus to its Apple TV lineup! Techcrunch and others have reported on this event in recent weeks. Apple's expanding integration of Air Play which allows seamless and wireless mirroring of content between Apple products makes using services like Hulu Plus on an iPad or new MacBook along with your high end HDTV ridiculously simplistic. The ability to sign up for Hulu Plus through your Apple TV using your Apple Account removes another barrier to the process. This appears to be another foreshadowing of what Apple can accomplish without the direct support of Hollywood and the cable companies!

For Apple there is the complexity of dealing with multiple vendors each controlling a given region. There is also the non insignificant matter of  getting consumers to pay for a premium set top box rather than lease a set top box for a few dollars a month. It may not be lost on astute followers of the Apple/Google wars, that Motorola (now a wholly owned subsidiary of Google!) is a major manufacturer of cable set top boxes! (This good be a real scoop of  sweet posthumous revenge for Jobs whose disdain for Google is legendary.)

So why TIVO!? As I wrote in part my earlier post:

What would make this perfect for me is the addition of true DVR functionality. Imagine having access to all of your TIVO content (which would still be sourced through your cable or satellite provider) with a beautiful Apple interface..... Add Slingbox like capability allowing Airplay to work synchronously. iPad content to the HDTV.... "TIVO" content to the iPad anytime, anywhere...... Wow! Give Siri the smarts to do things like "Record the next Titans Game" or "Get me a Season Pass for Modern Family but skip reruns" and you have "cracked it" for sure. 

TIVO is still a household name. Like Kleenex and Google, it has become ingrained in our society as a "verb." I always say I will TIVO that.... I never hear anyone say I will DVR that show..... The TIVO interface is superior, if dated, to virtually every generic DVR I have seen. The problem is DVR's are now bundled with cable and satellite packages. You pay for them in the form of inexpensive leases buried in your monthly bill (and often forgotten about). Essentially, DVRs have been commoditized. However, for the most part the interface and experience is inferior to TIVOs (and in fact many of these DVR's utilize TIVO technology in a "dumbed down" form). Still "almost free is almost free" and TIVOs are decidedly not free. 

I wrote in an earlier post about the economics of TIVO versus the recently introduced Joey and Hopper DVR combo developed by Dish that the tides had turned..... In fact, I advocated dropping TIVO (of which I currently own four) for this new technology. Financially, it still is very much a justifiable migration for most.

Speaking of finances, TIVO currently has a 1.1 billion market cap. Apple could buy the company at a 100% premium! for $2 billion and it wouldn't even be a rounding error. (Apple currently has about $100 BILLION in CASH in the bank!) I am sure TIVO even has a war chest of patents which could partially justify the acquisition without any further analysis.
If you wish to read my entire earlier piece on this subject, click here. TIVO also has the manufacturing expertise to build boxes which are compatible with virtually all cable networks using an industry standard (if  still somewhat flawed) Cable Card interface. No need to rely on Motorola (or provide Google with any profit potential building boxes for Apple) to produce modified cable boxes. And let's not forget those TIVO patents which are always now part of any tech takeover math!

I still believe TIVO and Siri would make a great match! More importantly, Apple's design and interface expertise coupled with TIVO's DVR power would be a powerhouse product which would get me to line up at my "corner" Apple store! If the cable companies don't allow Apple a seat at the table, TIVO could change the channel on its own with this acquisition and the company's piggybank wouldn't even lose 2% of its value....

What are your thoughts on Apple's possible entry into this market? Please share your thoughts and comments below. If you enjoy this article, please share this on Google Plus, Twitter, and FaceBook!










 
I currently participate in Associate Programs and certain item links included within this post may tie to these affiliate programs. By using these links, you help support Music Row Tech, We appreciate your support.



Companies: Apple, TIVO




This commentary is not meant as an endorsement of any company or to provide financial advice.  If the author has any financial interest in any company mentioned at the time of this article’s posting, it will be explicitly noted. I welcome feedback and comments. 






Thursday, July 12, 2012

Xfinity is Closing The Door on Unlimited Broadband.... This Is A Troubling Sign For You and The Country!




Xfinity (aka Comcast)  dropped a service announcement in my inbox a few days ago. The announcement isn't news in so far as the death of "unlimited" broadband has been the subject of chatter for several months. The "roll out" of this evolution to my geography (and Xfinity account) is new.

I find many aspects of our current economy, political system, and morality disheartening and truly hazardous to this country's longstanding promise of innovation and prosperity through self-driven hard work. I could easily list a dozen events and trends spanning local, national, and international theaters which bring real concern not only for myself, but (immediate) future generations. Some of the issues I take umbrage with span "hot button" topics.

Sadly, some of  my most profound concerns serve as flash-points for often derisive political diatribes amongst my friends and family. This site is devoted to technology and more broadly how technology impacts business and personal lives for better and at times, worse. I shall continue to try and refrain from using this "dais" as a sounding board for broader economic and political circumstances which don't have a direct impact on technology, business, and/or marketing.



Click to Enlarge- Chart from The Next Web

Xfinity's decision to formally cap broadband access is a harbinger of a trend which can cripple our fragile economy more than many other forces today! Let me provide a bit of a macro perspective before opining about the impact of this change on society at large, my clients, and business. As the nearby chart details (you can see the original chart here), the USA lags fourteen (14) other industrialized countries on every important broadband metric! The United States has far slower access (4.8 mbps versus globe leading Japan's 61 mbps); broadband penetration (around 75% versus nearly 90% in Iceland and the Netherlands) and cost per month per 1 mbps  ($3.33 versus 27 cents in Japan; 45 cents in Korea and others).


These statistics are shameful! If the United States is going to have any hope of leading the world in innovation  this century, we must also provide a twenty-first century infrastructure to allow a free, ubiquitous, flow of ideas, thoughts and information. Not only have we willfully allowed ourselves to fall to the middle of the international pack on all these metrics (and this is a kind analysis), this "highway to the future" isn't getting any meaningful discussion outside of tech circles.

Our politicians, lost in election year posturing, infighting, and a seemingly limitless ability on both sides of the aisle to spend vast sums of newly minted dollars on pet projects while arguing about "shovel ready jobs" and "rebuilding our country's roads and highways," don't ever bring up the most important highway project of the coming twenty-five years, the "information highway!" Rapidly, the USA is becoming akin to a one lane, unpaved, road in a backwater third world, whistle stop! This isn't a "sexy" topic, or something which is likely to incite "swing voters" to go to the polls next November, but is a terribly important component of our ability to compete (or not) in an unarguably global marketplace.

And this situation is getting worse.... Xfinity is taking the "slippery slope" approach to ending unlimited broadband in exactly the same fashion the country's mobile providers have shoved the same capped restrictions down consumers' throats in recent months-- arguing this change will only impact the top "one percent" of users who take up a "disproportionate amount of resources." And by the way, for the rest of you, "don't worry" you aren't going to see anything change! Hell,  Xfinity tries to make this sound like a "win:"

The vast majority of XFINITY customers use far less than 300 GB of data in a month. Based upon your
recent usage history, it appears this new data plan will have no impact upon
you, and you won't need to do anything, or change your Internet usage. If you are
not sure about your monthly data usage, please refer to the Track and Manage Your Usage
section below.


We want our customers to use the Internet for everything they want and your
service will not be limited to the 300 GB monthly data allowance we provide as
part of XFINITY Internet. While we believe that 300 GB is more than enough to
meet the Internet usage needs of most customers, you can always buy more data
in additional blocks of 50 GB for $10 each.



In other words, "Don't worry, be happy!" this will only impact the "elite" users, you are going to be just fine..... If you believe this propaganda, I have a bridge (to nowhere) I can't wait to sell you! Once capped and tiered plans are introduced, all bets are off. If 300 Gigabytes doesn't effect "enough" users for the company to make its bottom line quarterly profit targets, the cap will simply be lowered. If your behavior doesn't change as the company desires (e.g. You Netflix and YouTube cable cutters who are no longer paying for those 200 channel HDTV cable packages any more in favor of a Roku box or Apple TV and a "dumb" internet pipe better "come back" and watch traditional cable television again!) the company will literally make you pay! (Since it is "illegal" and downright insensitive to throttle traffic based on competitive considerations-- there is already vocal concern that carriers such as Comcast are discriminating against competitors such as Netflix in terms of bandwidth-- the alternative is to classify heavy internet video customers as among the "elite one percent of users" and get their pocketbook and attention in this manner.....

This is just the literal tip of the iceberg. Your local coffee shop, restaurant, or watering hole which offers free wi-fi today may well change their policy after receiving their next xFinity bill. Hotels in this country will routinely charge for wi-fi access or face yet another uncapped fee eating into already slim profit margins. You may start telling your kids to stop using Facetime (Apple's marginally popular video phone service which until now has been relegated to wi-fi only use in part to keep users from burning through capped wireless data plans) when talking with their friends at home.


The changes will be far reaching and in many regards black swan events (inherently unknowable). No matter how individuals and companies modify their behavior and pricing, it will make us less competitive in the global marketplace and the changes will stifle the free flow of information and thought. This isn't about that Nerd down the street locked up in his room running a Bit Torrent Stream downloading dozens of illegal movies a month!, it is about capturing incremental revenue for the companies who have been given a de facto geographic monopoly to provide broadband access across our fruited plains!

And monopolies require regulation.... One can argue that wired broadband spectrum is fundamentally different than wireless data. There exist technical differences between moving data across federally regulated airwaves and landlines which have very different technical bandwidth constraints. There are some pundits who argue that wireless data should be treated more like a traditional metered utility (i.e. water; gas). This argument is far harder to credibly make for wired broadband. xFinity has ample "pipe" to provide a seemingly endless number of HDTV channels (as long as they can find willing lemmings to buy this "content"). The same lines that feed you seven or more HBO channels can also bring you NetFlix, YouTube and more..... Follow the money, it always works!

Further, every major metropolitan area in the country has four or more wireless carriers vying for your business. In Nashville, as in all other markets in which Sprint competes, you still have at least one mobile carrier differentiating itself with unlimited wireless data plans. (In point of fact, AT&T has continued to get my cellular patronage solely because they have "grandfathered" my iPhone and iPad accounts with unlimited data plans.) I would LOVE to have the option of switching to Verizon's wonderful FIOS product but it appears the company has severely curtailed, perhaps capped, expansion plans! The reality is, the majority of Americans have far less choice in broadband providers than wireless carriers! As far as I can discern, the only constituency which might be proactive about this trend toward capped data plans are Comcast/TimeWarner/Charter/et. al. shareholders who believe their stock appreciation from this change will outweigh whatever individual costs they may incur from the announced data tiers....

Sadly, I predict the company's will successfully mollify the clueless politicos by granting unlimited access to public schools (for the kids), public libraries, and government buildings (for the gatekeepers). Once again, the losers will be the small business owner and working middle class who will pay more even as we watch our country fall further behind the world we helped create.

Sadly, the "usage meter" applet xFinity is so kindly providing may become your "best friend" if you pay the bills in your house! Add "Internet Usage Police" to your roles in the family, if you have teenagers, they are sure to love you all the more! A few months ago, I argued that the big mobile providers should provide rollover data in addition to rollover minutes. By the end of September, I will extend this rant to include my broadband provider, what a shame and we are letting this happen in front of our eyes.....

If this development troubles you, please forward this post! Share through Google+, Twitter and Facebook! We welcome your comments (which you can provide via the comment form below). The complete xFinity/Comcast Change of Service Notification is included below for those of you wishing to read the company's response unedited and in full.










 
I currently participate in Associate Programs and certain item links included within this post may tie to these affiliate programs. By using these links, you help support Music Row Tech, We appreciate your support.




Companies: Comcast




This commentary is not meant as an endorsement of any company or to provide financial advice.  If the author has any financial interest in any company mentioned at the time of this article’s posting, it will be explicitly noted. I welcome feedback and comments. 


Dear XFINITY Internet Customer:
At Comcast, we recognize the ways our customers are using the Internet are
evolving, and that our services should evolve as well. Starting on August 1, 2012,
Comcast will introduce a new Internet data usage management plan in Nashville
that increases the data usage allowance for all XFINITY Internet customers from
250 GB to 300 GB and provides more options for usage.
What This Means for You
The vast majority of XFINITY customers use far less than 300 GB of data in a
month. Based upon your recent usage history, it appears this new data plan will
have no impact upon you, and you won't need to do anything, or change your
Internet usage. If you are not sure about your monthly data usage, please refer
to the Track and Manage
Your Usage
section below.
We want our customers to use the Internet for everything they want and your
service will not be limited to the 300 GB monthly data allowance we provide as
part of XFINITY Internet. While we believe that 300 GB is more than enough to
meet the Internet usage needs of most customers, you can always buy more data
in additional blocks of 50 GB for $10 each.
In order for our customers to get accustomed to this new data usage management
plan, we are implementing a three-month courtesy period. That means you will
not be billed for the first three times you exceed the monthly 300 GB allowance
during a 12 month period. Should your usage exceed the monthly allowance after
the courtesy period expires, you will automatically be provisioned for
additional $10 blocks of data each time you exceed the 300 GB allowance.
For more information on the data usage plan, please visit
www.xfinity.com/datausageplan/nash
Track and Manage Your
Usage

Comcast provides you with several tools to easily track and manage your data
usage:


  • Usage Meter
    - See how much data you have used with our usage meter, available in the Users and Settings
    tab at www.xfinity.com/usagemeter.

  • Data Usage Calculator - Estimate your data usage with this tool available at
    www.xfinity.com/datacalculator.
    Simply input the quantity of your typical Internet activities and the
    calculator will estimate your monthly data usage.

  • In Browser Notices and Emails - We will send you courtesy "in-browser"
    notices and emails to your Comcast.net e-mail account letting you know
    when you reach 90% and 100% of your monthly data usage allowance.

If you have any additional questions about the
new data usage plan, please visit
www.xfinity.com/datausageplan/nash.
Thank you for being an XFINITY Internet Customer.
Sincerely,
Comcast 




Sunday, July 8, 2012

LastPass 2.0 Still King Of Password Managers....

A few months ago, I examined the two heavyweights in the field of password creation and management-- LastPass and Roboform. In the article, Roboform Is No Longer King of Password Managers.... LastPass Is A Tool You Need Today! I found LastPass to offer superior value and flexibility to Siber System's, Roboform. My opinion hasn't changed, but since my post in late April LastPass has introduced a significant upgrade. Version 2 of this product further separates LastPass from the competition and many of the enhancements are worthy of mention.

It should be noted that Roboform has also released a few incremental upgrades since my last review. However, these "dot releases" to their Version 7 platform primarily fix and enhance existing features across various operating systems and browsers. This link provides a complete listing of these incremental fixes to Roboform's platform.

The current version of Roboform (7.7.8) also falls under Siber System's new licensing scheme which was put in place with the introduction of version 7.4. While the company has made efforts to simplify various licensing options which I have found overly complex, and potentially expensive, in my earlier review. The revised pricing and versioning still falls short of the simplified LastPass model. Siber also requires accredited users of Version 6.XX to pay an upgrade fee when moving to 7.XX. While many companies impose upgrade pricing on past subscribers for significant version changes, it is worth noting this stipulation given LastPass's introduction of Version 2 at no charge for their existing customer base.

In a nutshell, LastPass offers two versions-- totally free and a $12/year Premium version which allows password synchronization across mobile devices, no ads, priority support, and more. With these caveats out of the way, here are a few of the LastPass Version 2's new features which warrant your consideration (unless specifically noted, all new features below are available in the FREE version):

LastPass Wallet


  • Documents, including PDFs, can be added to Secure Notes (which are Password Protected files). Secure Notes allow you to securely store information for later retrieval.

    A related, free, iOS, feature, LastPass Wallet, builds on Secure Notes.
    Wallet allows you to keep secure digital copies of various items typically found in your physical wallet- credit cards; government identification, and more. It has been widely reported that Apple intends to offer a similar product, Passbook, as part of its upcoming iOS 6 rollout. I do not review beta products unavailable to the general public and which may undergo revisions before public release. I can recommend current and new LastPass users who also rely on iPhones and/or iPads to review and download this free LastPass extension (unlike LastPass core features, LastPass Wallet is only available on iOS at the time of this writing). (Download the iPhone App here. Download the iPad App here.) When iOS 6 is formally released, I will cover new features, including Passbook.
  • FREE credit monitoring alerts. This feature is limited to United States users (but does not require purchase of the Premium version). Somewhat confusingly, LastPass offers a premium credit monitoring service (which is separate from LastPass Premium) for $9.95/month which offers more robust credit and identity resolution solutions. At a minimum, I hope the company renames this service to better differentiate it from the global $12/year premium upgrade.

    This free feature relies on TransUnion reporting data. You are provided a notification and email if negative inquiry(s) are detected. This isn't a substitute for more robust credit/identity theft services, but may serve as a useful (and free), first line of defense. It should be noted that some current LastPass users have expressed concern about the addition of this new feature from a standpoint of product focus and over release of sensitive data. (LastPass stores and encrypts your login data on  your local computer keeping you in complete control of your data vault; only you are able to unlock the underlying authentication information. The free credit monitoring feature requires you provide additional data "outside" your local computer's hard drive, including Social Security Number, which is an understandable concern particularly among security conscious users. No breaches have been identified and I am currently using this additional free service without incident. Still, you should be made aware of the concern.)

  • A faster, more  uniform, user experience across various desktop and mobile browser plugins. It should be noted, LastPass offers plugins for many mobile platforms beyond Android and iOS including Symbian, Dolphin, Blackberry, WebOS and Windows Phone. LastPass is especially well suited for those of you looking for mobile password security on "secondary" mobile platforms which may have little or no support in alternative products.


For a complete list of LastPass features, both free and premium versions, click here.

Regardless which password manager you elect to use, the general advise from my past post remains valid. (The excerpt below was part of an earlier post on this subject and can be read in full by following this link.):

Online security experts often offer a number of authentication recommendations. Most of the advice is sage and will go a very long way towards ensuring you aren't a victim of identity theft. Following these steps also minimizes any potential damage (and liability) which may occur should one of your accounts happen to be compromised. Among the most important rules:




  1. Use strong passwords. So called dictionary attacks makes it increasingly trivial to hack into an account secured by a user password, or even minor variant, which can be found in a modern dictionary. So if your idea of a "good password" is using the word, "simple" or "simple123" even a rookie hacker is likely to be reading your email or checking your bank balance in a matter of minutes if they are so inclined.
  2. A close corollary to the first point, use pass phrases if at all possible! It is orders of magnitude more difficult to divine a pass phrase such as "simple solutions to 123 cake recipes" than "simple123."
  3. Far better than a dictionary prone phrase, is a truly strong, twenty (or greater) character password such as, "Uq7ZT2D8YeNIS9lO2tbz." This character string contains UPPER case, lower case and numeric characters. The odds of such a password being discovered using even today's sophisticated hacking tools and powerful hardware are extremely slim.
  4. Again, the value of such a strong password is greatly enhanced if you generate UNIQUE passwords for each of your various online accounts. If someone discovers the password for your old Hotmail account you haven't even reviewed for a month, the damage is very containable IF this same password isn't also the key to unlocking your online bank account or ROTH IRA!
  5. This is almost a given, but using easily discovered personal data in your authentication scheme is an extremely bad idea. In today's electronic universe of social networks and search engines, it doesn't require a rocket scientist in most cases to unearth your mother's maiden name or the fact  your cute lovable pet's, moniker.
  6. Which brings me to one more security point worth mentioning. Even if you follow my advice and practice good password policy, if you answer those security questions with easy (or in fact true) responses, you still leave a rather big security hole in your online fortress. Especially for highly sensitive sites such as your bank and/or investment accounts, consider answering, or resetting, the security questions to information that is not available anywhere. In this case, telling a white lie or two is the better part of valor. There is nothing that requires you to answer these questions with the truth! It is really only necessary that you know the answers! So if one question is, "What street did you grow up on?" Avoid telling the truth. If you lived on "Eastside Avenue," respond instead with, "Westside Street." (Just remember what subterfuge you employed so if the worst happens and you truly do need to reset one of these sensitive accounts, you don't outsmart yourself! See Safe Notes, below.)
The nearby advice is all sound. There are additional nuggets of online protection which are well worth your consideration, but one thing all of these rules have in common is they are virtually impossible to follow if you are relying on traditional ways of generating and recalling your authentication information. Unless you truly have an eidetic memory, you need help! This is where Roboform, LastPass and other utilities fill a very real need.





Sadly, online and offline security issues remain very real. LastPass offers a great frontline defense for free (or a $1/month if you also rely on mobile devices). The question isn't "should you use one of the programs" but which program should I use....? For the moment, Version 2.XX of LastPass seems to offer a better mousetrap than RoboForm version 7.XX. Most importantly, begin using something before the bad guys get the jump on you! Using one of these tools doesn't immunize you from disaster. If you are interested in reading about a recent issue I experienced, you might want to check out, Ironic Identity Theft.... Is There Such A Thing?





Enjoy! If you find this post of interest, please share through Google+, Twitter and Facebook! We welcome your comments (which you can provide via the comment form below).




 
I currently participate in Associate Programs and certain item links included within this post may tie to these affiliate programs. By using these links, you help support Music Row Tech, We appreciate your support.




Companies: Syber, LastPass, Transunion



This commentary is not meant as an endorsement of any company or to provide financial advice.  If the author has any financial interest in any company mentioned at the time of this article’s posting, it will be explicitly noted. I welcome feedback and comments. 











Thursday, July 5, 2012

Are Local Newspapers Finally Facing The Proverbial Tar Pit?

Apparently, the Times-Piciyune in Louisana, one of the state's premiere newspapers, is moving to a three day a week publication schedule. In print for a staggering 175 years, the paper has acknowledged the necessity of change. This move is driven by economics and the politics are against it. As part of the the rollback, the paper's ownership is promising that they will enhance their online presence (clearly in an effort to placate those that feel an important "voice" in the region is being muted, while attending to the hemmoraging logistic cost of producing and disseminating a "daily" in today's marketplace).

The squeeze play is on! Even if Rupert Murdoch and Warren Buffet believe newspapers are an (undervalued) asset worth saving, the marketplace seems to beg to differ. How we as consumers are driving this crossroad is something worth contemplation and discussion. In fact, the reality got me to give serious thought towards my consumption and subscription habits. My analysis leads me to have sympathy towards the publishing community; while applauding the democrazation, and globalization of news.....

Ubiquitous internet access, coupled with an abundance of social network feeds, Apps, and easy to use blogging tools, has redirected many people's information access. Across flyover country, fewer and fewer neighbors begin their day coffee cup in hand strolling out the front yard in search of the local daily which the neighborhood "paperboy" has deposited (hopefully on or near your doorstep).

A couple of months ago, I gave my impressions regarding magazine distribution changes taking place in, "A Tale of Two Magazines. Magazines Take Different Approaches to Digital Publication."  National print magazines are typically consumed differently than local dailies, but the challenging economics of publication and distribution are more imposing for local papers. Daily delivery and twenty-four hour news cycles create more challenge. Local newspaper consumers rightly demand unique local content....

Increasingly, my local paper provides less meaningful local insight while feeding off the Reuters, AP, and select national paper storylines to fill pages (often a day after these national stories break). In many ways Craigslist began the descent of local papers by redefining lucrative classified advertising. This "overnight" transformation should have served as the clarion call for papers to reimagine themselves. It seems to me the loss of the low hanging advertising fruit only added to denial.....

How do you consume news today? Increasingly, I rely upon aggregation services such as Zite, Pulse and FlipBoard. All of these companies rely upon RSS feeds (or other means of providing streams of information). A number of these the feeds I regularly consume are derived from information sources I may have explicitly paid for just a few years ago. (For a more complete discussion of these applications, please refer to this earlier post.)

The WSJ shields online content  unless you
pay  (potentially multiple times!).

Many newspapers, including one notable "offender" in my mind, a Murdoch holding, the Wall Street Journal, has elected to paywall its information,with only passing success. In the case of the WSJ, even paying subscribers of print content are asked to pay substantial incremental fees for online access to identical content. By creating a gauntlet requiring "law abiding" readers to pay for their content multiple times across multiple platforms, they are alienating some users and not focusing all of their energies on adding value to non-print information streams.

In my mind, there is a very real need for quality local reporting across our country. I rely on national online and conventional sources, including the Wall Street Journal, for the bulk of my news but there are times when local events are so compelling I want to learn more. At these moments I am "forced" to rely on the sole remaining daily in this marketplace, The Tennessean. Candidly, I don't think this publication is particularly great in terms of coverage, fairness, or layout, but it is the sole remaining daily "voice" in this region. (There exists a good free alternative The Nashville Scene, but it isn't published as regularly and isn't as widely distributed at this point.)

I actually find it more than a little ironic that the homeless in this area seem to distribute their $1.00 publication (printed monthly but available seemingly 24/7 at nearly every streetcorner) with greater efficiency than the venerable Tennessean. Perhaps they should incentify this "sales force" to disseminate daily papers and forgo continued direct home delivery....

In all seriousness, I don't know what the answer is but the Piciyune is another canary in the mine! More local papers are going to succomb unless they embrace a new business model. A model based on online distribution, new advertising (and subscription) realities and a real concentrated focus on balanced reporting of  important local events. Leave the national guys to report global stories, feel good pieces, and the crossword. We all still need and want local coverage and local issues still present themselves seven days a week.

Do  you still subscribe to your local paper? Is it an important news source in your world or would the demise of your city's paper go all but unnoticed? If you do believe a local paper performs some services of value, what do you think they need to do to survive? Do you know of a local/regional paper with a truly good online delivery model? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.




Enjoy! If you find this post of interest, please share through Google+, Twitter and Facebook! We welcome your comments (which you can provide via the comment form below).







 
I currently participate in Associate Programs and certain item links included within this post may tie to these affiliate programs. By using these links, you help support Music Row Tech, We appreciate your support.




Companies: Fox News



This commentary is not meant as an endorsement of any company or to provide financial advice.  If the author has any financial interest in any company mentioned at the time of this article’s posting, it will be explicitly noted. I welcome feedback and comments.