Live Internet Television

According to PaidContent.org, The Wall Street Journal is planning some new ways of delivering content. And they sound like the future of cable TV.

Micropayments: Pay-as-you go billing. A small fee per article, premium rates for specialist content. What WSJ is really offering is a way for people to pay less than $100/year for WSJ content if they consume it at a limited rate.

Cable companies, long slandered for charging consumers for shows they don’t watch, are no doubt looking at the viability of this kind of model in combination with monetizing online offerings. Should someone who likes to watch shows like “House Hunters” or ongoing programming on CSPAN have to pay $3-$60/month for the full cable lineup? (How much longer will people tolerate this model? CNet)

ReadWriteWeb points out that Google and Apple have already entered micropayment terrain for commercial video content:

So what about charging small amounts for high quality, downloadable versions of commercial content on YouTube as a way to bring in money? Sure, Google already tried that with Google Video, and shut that service down citing an “effort to improve all Google services.” But Apple has had a lot of success selling TV shows and movies (they sold a million of them in the first 20 days, and move tens of millions of video downloads per year through iTunes), so the model is sustainable.

All-device, all-platform online access for subscribers to the traditional format. Once a consumer pays for content, they should be able to read/watch it wherever and whenever they want. That is the new standard.

CNet reports that Comcast has plans in the works to meet this standard (for a price!):

What is known is that Comcast expects to offer the service free of charge to its existing cable TV customers. In a recent interview with PC World, Karin Gilford, the Comcast Interactive executive in charge of the cable provider’s Fancast video site, said with a user name and password, subscribers will be able to access any standard or premium cable content that their cable subscription entitles them to watch.

The service will let users watch TV on their laptops or computers, and eventually it might even be available on cell phones. What will make the service different from other online video sites, such as Hulu.com or TV.com (which is owned by CBS, publisher of CNET News), is that it will feature premium cable content from sources like HBO, ESPN, and CNN. This content has largely been off-limits to free online video aggregators.

These new models are not limited to content — Microsoft is developing its products to conform to online delivery and new monetization models.

While consumers have enjoyed Web-based applications such as e-mail for several years, there’s a growing business movement toward the Web. In addition to using the Internet as a primary way to interact with customers, corporate technology managers are running more of their applications online — “cloud computing,” as it’s called — to save money and be flexible.

As every industry struggles to keep ahold of profitability as their users move online and expect more flexible service models, strategists are watching each other closely and keeping an open mind.

I am the first to complain about the shoddy craftsmanship that our thirst for ever-lower prices on goods has brought to bear. I mean, I buy a dustpan and it doesn’t work. The edge is too thick, so a line of dust doesn’t go in. And then it cracks because the too-cheap plastic is degrading quickly. For example.

So I’m interested in making globalized manufacturing work better. I posted earlier about Bunnie Huang of Chumby’s thoughts about manufacturing in China. (His challenge was to ensure the Chumby was made in ethical factory circumstances 100% to specification.)

That was interesting but thanks to my fabulous Slashdot RSS subscription, I found a truly fascinating is new post at Huang’s blog about small hardware mashup firms. They form a subculture called SShanzhai that can produce small-run knock-off and innovated electronics with feature swaps and other modifications (iPhones with user-replaceable batteries, anyone?). They work cooperatively with each other through an open BOM system, and remain tightly knit until a firm goes legit and is thus out of the fold.

The post is great and includes a lot of thought about production and distribution models that support innovation, and the comments are just as interesting. Some really good thinking and questioning about IP rights, zoning regulations, creativity, economics, North Philly blight, you name it!

Oh yeah, and the WSJ covered Shanzhai as well.

WSJ Graphic

Texting “hi” in Hindi can take 21 key presses. That’s on a 12-key cell phone without predictive text. With predictive text, however, it’s just 6 keystrokes. Market research shows that text messaging soars after predictive text becomes available. From the Wall Street Journal:

The majority of users activate predictive text capability on their phones because, according to calculations by Nuance unit Tegic Corp., it is 30% faster than using the traditional method of hitting the “2″ key once for “a”, twice for “b” or three times for “c” with a Roman alphabet.

Language advocates have begun to see the development of predictive text for cell phones as the front line in preserving regional languages that have been declining in recent years. In a world where text messages outnumber voice calls (BizReport), a language that is easy and fast to type becomes a preferred communication tool:

Michael Cahill, linguistics coordinator for SIL International, says, “There are cases where texting is helping to preserve languages” by encouraging young people to write in their native tongue.

Native-language boosters in Ireland and Britain have successfully pushed for development of Gaelic and Welsh languages on cellphones for texting so they remain relevant for young people.

I was pretty sure that despite the buzz, and despite having loved the SNL classic about something in a box, I didn’t need to be the 8,425,632nd person to watch the latest video from Andy Samberg/thelonelyisland.

I got roped into it by Kara Swisher’s post “Finally, Original Online Video Done Right: Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island and “The Guild” on WSJ’s All Things Digital, though.

This post about professionally-concepted and produced online-only television-like content featured some references to a Microsoft online mini-episode series as well as something called The ‘Bu.

Regrettably, I looked at the Microsoft series first. Knee-jerk Microsoft bashing is boring, but I have to say, it happens for a reason. The episode and Christmas Special were stilted, predictable, and featured a single effective actor. Add some really bad-looking graphics and amateurish cartoon character representations and you have a whole lotta mess.

Contrast that with The ‘Bu — “young, sexy people that live in Malibu call it The ‘Bu, because when you say the entire word, it takes time, and then you wouldn’t be young anymore.” It’s a spoof of Melrose Place and hey! I lived by that show back in the day.

8 episodes in all were produced in January 2006, just about 3 years ago (Swisher didn’t mention that!). The comments are still rolling in (for Episode 1 as recently as 3 hours ago), and this week have mostly featured references to… the latest video from Andy Samburg/thelonelyisland seen so far by 8,425,631 people.

Make that 8,425,632. I had to watch it. And I might have to watch the CW remake of Melrose Place!

WSJ’s All Things Digital reports that a new Intel study has discovered that we currently value Internet access more than…how shall I put this delicately…the survival of the species.