Comments on: AOL launches myspace competitor http://blendingthemix.com/2006/05/10/146/ A look at the new world of marketing and PR Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:44:05 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: paul.fabretti http://blendingthemix.com/2006/05/10/146/comment-page-1/#comment-156 paul.fabretti Thu, 11 May 2006 16:54:34 +0000 http://blendingthemix.com/2006/05/10/146/#comment-156 I couldn't agree more Ann. AOL for me has always been the Nintendo of the ISP's (excuse the analogy!) Whilst Sega and Playstation were busy making games where people pulled each others' throats out (!) Nintendo concentrated on making games which were equally addictive and vusually stunning but ultimately friendly and largely non-comabtive. They were the "friendly" gaming company. AOL meets that same sort of family-based market and with that comes a responsibility to translate the current "fads" into usable technology to enhance the lives of their subscribers. Someone pointed out on www.gapingvoid.com the very same thing with regards to the BBC. Whiulst the BBC is a publicly-funded service, it has a very serious responsibility to bring the latest technology to the people in a way in which it will enhance (and keep up to date!) the lives of the British public. Podcasts, blogs, CGC are all now topics of conversation that are littered throughout the BBC website as they attempt to educate the public. I couldn’t agree more Ann. AOL for me has always been the Nintendo of the ISP’s (excuse the analogy!)

Whilst Sega and Playstation were busy making games where people pulled each others’ throats out (!) Nintendo concentrated on making games which were equally addictive and vusually stunning but ultimately friendly and largely non-comabtive. They were the “friendly” gaming company.

AOL meets that same sort of family-based market and with that comes a responsibility to translate the current “fads” into usable technology to enhance the lives of their subscribers.

Someone pointed out on http://www.gapingvoid.com the very same thing with regards to the BBC.

Whiulst the BBC is a publicly-funded service, it has a very serious responsibility to bring the latest technology to the people in a way in which it will enhance (and keep up to date!) the lives of the British public.

Podcasts, blogs, CGC are all now topics of conversation that are littered throughout the BBC website as they attempt to educate the public.

]]> By: Ann Handley http://blendingthemix.com/2006/05/10/146/comment-page-1/#comment-154 Ann Handley Thu, 11 May 2006 16:35:06 +0000 http://blendingthemix.com/2006/05/10/146/#comment-154 You might be right, Paul. But there's another factor here: kids grow up. Sure, the teens/young adults on MySpace feel tremendous ownership -- and that probably won't change. But their little sisters and brothers may go looking for other options. At the very least, they won't feel such an intense ownership. In my view AOL's whole deal is introducing the masses to technology "innovations" that have actually been around for a while, and that have already built a passionate but nonetheless select following. It's what they are doing now in blogging, and I guess what they are doing with taking on MySpace, too. You might be right, Paul. But there’s another factor here: kids grow up. Sure, the teens/young adults on MySpace feel tremendous ownership — and that probably won’t change. But their little sisters and brothers may go looking for other options. At the very least, they won’t feel such an intense ownership.

In my view AOL’s whole deal is introducing the masses to technology “innovations” that have actually been around for a while, and that have already built a passionate but nonetheless select following. It’s what they are doing now in blogging, and I guess what they are doing with taking on MySpace, too.

]]>