This month I’ll follow up with the next piece from my series on education and the use of new media production techniques as a tool for learning.  I have already outlined the overall points in the first installment.  Last time, I discussed the ways teachers can save time and effort by putting podcasting and other new media production techniques to use in the classroom.

While it’s always helpful for an instructor to provide resources to students directly, there are a number of ways for a student to find the resources they need for themselves.  Students can find existing downloadable audio and video content via search engines and podcast directories that better fits their own specific needs beyond the suggestions of the teacher. But these students have the potential to be more than just consumers of new media. One of the most powerful aspects of new media creation is that anyone can produce it.  Savvy students are creating powerful study tools for themselves and others with a minimum of effort and skill.

It is through creativity that higher forms of learning takes place.  Learning progresses along many levels from the early phase of knowledge acquisition and rote memory through basic comprehension and into simple application of learned concepts.  Beyond this the student begins to take their learning and examine it in order to adapt it to new situations.  One great way to do this is through creation of new media that instructs themselves as well as others.

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This posting, from ADOTAS, covers the current situation between the IAB and the FTC on handling personally identifiable online data and it’s use in advertising targeting.

It’s a good read.

There are particularly good number of interesting blog posts this week about podcasting and downloadable media that I want to point you toward:

David Schroeder of American Chronicle writes about the value for marketers of reaching customers in niche markets.

TechMoz uncovers a new patent, filed by Apple, that aggregates specific snippits of multiple podcasts and talks about the implications for advertising inherent in this mash-up concept.

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I couldn’t help but notice a collective global sigh of disappointment this past January. It seems every time Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc; ticker: aapl; web: www.apple.com.) sticks his head out of his hole in Cupertino, whether he sees his shadow or not, manages to thrill people and change the world in some small though significant way. But not this time.A nd it’s not that he had nothing to say at the most recent Macworld. He introduced significant upgrades to the iPhone and Touch iPod. He revised the seminal tool of total home convergence, Apple TV, adding the ability to rent and buy movies directly and instantly through your TV to its abilities to play video, share music, and display pictures. He unveiled an all-in-one wireless router and storage back-up device. And, just because he could, he also unveiled the world’s thinest, lightest full-size computer. Any one of these is a first in the world. Everyone of these is unique. Each one is a significant achievement to be celebrated in the annals of computer lore.

Spoiled with Riches

Yet, the crowd at Macworld, and those following the proceedings via some form of live stream from work or home, all seemed to be craning their collective necks to see what else he had in store for them. What else was hidden behind that curtain. People were almost delirious in anticipation of the famous, “Oh, and just one more thing.”What were they looking for? More importantly, why were they looking? Because while these were all fine new products, there was nothing shocking. There was nothing that left people gasping in the streets wondering if it was too late to invest in Apple stock. The issue was, these were more like Dell or HP innovations, predictable and ordinary, not Apple announcements. It was at that very point that I realized that Apple was no longer a computer company, or a design engineering boutique, or a software company. Apple has become the social and cultural visionary of the electronics age. Apple is to the world today what Japan was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Read more »

Earlier this month, Duncan Perry (Treedia Labs), Risto Koski (Nokia), and myself (Podtrac) gave a presentation and panel discussion on behalf of the ADM at the “International Conference on Online Media Measurement” in Barcelona, (http://www.i-com.org).  The presentation and panel was well received and we encouraged all interested attendees to join the ADM. 

Several different associations and leaders in other online media from many parts of the world presented as well.  From the IAB, to international mobile providers, to IPTV platforms, to gaming platforms, many companies and groups of companies are trying to solve for how to package themselves in a meaningful way to advertisers, and how to assess and describe the value they are delivering.  

Agencies in turn are struggling to understand the unique dynamics of each ad media silo, make needed judgments about which media and metrics may be better for certain targets and objectives, make comparisons between old and new media, and then somehow bring it all together in a strategy that makes sense for their clients.  It’s a daunting task when considering the number of media silos, the variety of metrics, the amount of data, and the number of potential media partners in any one media silo. 

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The type of inventory that can be offered to advertisers is impacted by technology decisions made by publishers and platform developers. Client playback environments vary in capability, and while this introduces new advertising opportunities (advanced players may offer innovative new ad units), the lack of uniformity across platforms complicates the ad-supported media proposition.

Consider the evolution of the web browser as it pertains to the situation with media playback environments. The tremendous presentation flexibility of the browser as a standards-based platform provides a rich palette for creative expression on both the content and advertisement sides. The ubiquity of the Flash player and its cross-browser compatibility opens up even more creative possibilities.  This is an example of two different types of standards—one managed by a standards body (the W3C) and the other a de facto standard (Flash as a widely adopted rich client browser extension).  Early days in the browser wars featured debates over standards compliance versus innovation.  While the numbers show that Microsoft won the browser battle (for now, at least), adherence to standards has also won. Will standards develop around video playback environments to allow all participants in the content publication ecosystem to optimize their efforts? 

Today, publishers have a tradeoff to consider.  They may be able to obtain a high value from innovative, engaging ad units that creatively deliver the advertiser’s message, or better target the desired audience, but possibly at the expense of broad reach.  In a browser environment, this might not be much of a tradeoff. Thanks to a standards-based presentation layer, highly innovative ad types can be delivered to most all viewers.  But as digital media consumption moves beyond the browser, the lowest common denominator comes into play, and the lack of standards constrains the type of ads that are universally applicable. Over time, we may see standards emerge in non-browser playback environments, and this will lead to innovation built on top of those standards.  Today, however, the advertising value calculation has to take into consideration the capabilities of all the environments the publisher wishes to target, and the complexity associated with a client-specific publication process to support client-specific ad units and ad delivery methods.

I mentioned in my New Media Resolutions post at the first of the year that I want to do whatever I can to improve the quality of audio on line and in downloadable media. I was reminded of that “cause” this past Sunday morning by the folks at, well, Sunday Morning. The CBS show presented a piece on how vinyl records are becoming “cutting edge.”

Just as I pointed out in January, the sound of what is being sent into the cloud needs to improve, if for no other reason than to avoid trying to figure out how to cram a “record” into your iPod. Seriously, for those that are my age, it’s unfair for us let those brought up on listening to audio in the mp3 format think that’s the best music can sound. For those that have never heard the sound of a vinyl LP you owe it to yourself to hear all of what the artist labored to put into the music, especially the parts the mp3 format has had to discard.

I know, I know, you’re going to say that the human ear can’t detect the difference between a vinyl album, a CD, MP3, WAV, etc. I’m sorry, I disagree. I hear a difference. And it’s especially noticeable in the MP3 format, the most popular format for portable devices and online streaming. The reason it is the most popular, if you didn’t already know, is that it is the smallest file size. An MP3 file is a fraction of the size of, say, a WAV file. File size is directly related to download time.

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Downloading today’s available update to the Apple TV (aptly named “Take 2″), I can now experience within my living room, the promise that was buzzing about at last month’s MacWorld conference.  That is, the Apple TV may very well revolutionize the way we consume (and track!!) downloadable RSS media.

These are tall words.  You’ve probably heard this story before (the Roomba will revolutionize home cleaning? Pet owners might disagree);  but let me explain the two reasons why:

1. Watching and listening to podcasts is straightforward and simple.   Quick navigation leads to consumption without the prior subscription hassles.  Devices need not sync.  Desktop media management disappears, just sit back, and watch or listen.  The navigation of popular and featured content is a snap.  When (if?) Apple comes out with a qwerty entry device instead of the painful text entry process via the super-simple remote, we might soon easily explore the over 125,000 available subscription points within the podcast directory.

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I just recently had a conversation with a Podcaster who was not aware that there are conferences, podcamps and meetups for podcasters to share knowledge and learn from each other. The biggest, but not the only, event may arguably be the New Media Expo coming this August in Las Vegas. In case you’re not aware of the New Media Expo or of the many others events occurring this year, I’ve listed them to the best of my ability below.

• PodCamp Nashville - February 9, 2008 (Tomorrow!)
• PodCamp MidWest (Kansas City) - February 15-16, 2008
• PodCamp Toronto 2 - February 23-24, 2008
• PodCamp Salt Lake City - March 15, 2008
• Podcamp DC - April 18-20, 2008
• PodCamp NYC 2.0, April 25-26, 2008
• PodCamp San Antonio 2 - May 3, 2008
• PodCamp Chicago - June 6-8, 2008
• Podcamp Austin - June 20-21, 2008
• Podcasters Across Borders - June 20-22, 2008
• PodCamp Ohio - June 28, 2008
• Podcamp Boston 3 - Summer, 2008
• New Media Expo - August 14-16, 2008
• Colorado Podcamp - Late Summer/Fall, 2008
• BlogWorld and New Media Expo - September 20-21, 2008
• PodCamp Pittsburgh 3 - September 27-28, 2008
• PodCamp Arizona 2.0 - November 1-2, 2008
• PodCamp San Fransisco - January 18, 2009

Wait, there is more! I recommend doing a Google search and checking out meetup.com to see if there are regional podcaster meetups in your area.

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Last month I had the pleasure of participating in the Mac Podcaster Meet-up at Macworld Expo. We had a great discussion (as Matt was so kind to mention), and one of the points we touched upon was that many of us “long-time” podcasters haven’t seen much subscriber growth in the last 12 to 18 months. We developed our audiences early, and subscriber numbers have basically stayed the same. This means our attrition matches growth almost exactly, and nearly all of us on the panel were seeing it.

A listener wrote me recently with a potential solution: ask your audience to evangelize your show. It’s so simple, really, and I’m surprised more of us aren’t already doing it. We all know that we are creating content in perhaps the most engaging media type ever, and while we’re all busy here trying to figure out how to (properly) use that engagement for advertising dollars, etc., we can also use it to further our reach. If we simply ask our audiences to tell their friends about our shows, even going so far as to explain that you don’t *need* an iPod to view/listen, it could really help. If only 10% of the audience does it, and they each tell two people, and only half of all the people told stick around, that’s a 10% increase in listener/viewership. That’s huge!

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