blending the mix

I blogged earlier today about Seesmic being the first web app (that I know of at least) to permit the sort of Twitter-style rapid micro-blogging but with video, yet one overriding thought occurred to me:

we are almost back where we started 10 years ago

But look what has happened. Before all this wonderful technology came around, people met and talked.

• Then they wrote and stopped talking (email)
• Then they wrote to each other (IM/email)
• Then they wrote something and hoped someone would read. (blog)
• Then they started to write to each other again (although with only 140 letters). (twitter)
• Then they started to talk to each other using video. (seesmic)

I am currently reading this, which presents new research to prove that as a species, we are wired to connect. We want to meet other people. The most subtle facial expressions can dramatically impact upon the perception of something we have said.

If this is the case, why are we only now finding ways to communicate visually online? Why have webcam networks never become as revolutionary as blogging networks for example, why has video telephony only recently taken off? Have technology restrictions meant that we have only just been able to communicate via video?

We have moved from face-to-face to text and email, are only now sending serial videos to each other.

Where is the real interaction? Is THAT the big opportunity in 2008?

What are your thoughts?

Tags: seesmic, twitter, email, sms, video, 2008, web app

I have to give a hat tip to my friend and colleague David Kinsella. We are looking to take viral to the next level having successfully created some excviting ideas of our own.

Asterpix is the next level and allows you (the user) to highlight moving objects within a video and associate a link with that moving object. Think how you might tag a friend in facebook). In the example below, you have a surfer. Why not consider that the link (once hovered over) might take you to a board-shop or somewhere you can buy sex-wax, or even a wet-suit.

Other than being a GREAT idea, this truly opens the way up for creator-revenues instead of brand-revenues from UGC. It has been a contentious issue that the big brands are making ad-revenhue from all the UGC out there and not sharing it with the user. Imagine the affiliate model of this application…

Now THIS is what we have been waiting for.

Technorati Tags: Asterpix

My Sony laptop is on the verge of packing in, after years and years of (ab)use it is at death’s door.

The CD drive does not allow me to burn back-up discs anymore and it is pot luck as to whether or not it will work from one day to the next.

So, I am offering a unique opportunity to sponsor ME.

Apple, Microsoft, Dell, or indeed any company willing to provide me with a half-decent laptop will have their name mentioned as part of my email signature.

In ALL communications in which I participate and which requires me to use the laptop (pretty much all the time!), I will apply the following signature text for a full 12 months (and I WILL provide weekly evidence of this):

Paul Fabretti

Director

Written on an Apple Macbook Pro by Company X.

Or

"Written using the latest Dell Precision M90"

or whatever suits the company providing it! You get the picture!

I may even think about something that sounds good too!

I am a minimum 3-times a day, 3-blog blogger with a (growing) average 800 unique visitors per month (ok, not a lot but growing all the time!). I am an active member of linked-in, openbc, ecademy as well as the pinkomarketing wiki and google group.

I am also an eBay (UK) Gold Power seller. A link to the company providing my laptop will also be included in ALL my eBay auctions.

Some will no doubt snigger at the visitor numbers (and advertisers may balk at the numbers!) but I am an extremely active member of the communities in which I mix, and present you with an opportunity to touch business professionals deeper than any banner ad would.

If this is of interest to you and you would be able to provide me with a laptop, I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Tags: ebay, Dell, Apple, Macbook Pro, laptop, pinko marketing

The BBC reports that OFCOM, the official telecommunications watcdog in the UK, is seeking a review and possible amendment to the regulations regarding the banning of the iPod gadget iTrips that can transmit the iPod content using FM radio signals.

The device was banned in the UK because it is argued that it is possible to interfere with commercial broadcasts already on that bandwidth.

The biggest dilemma seems to be how best to manage the acceptance given that the device is available all over the internet and there is a booming black market anyway.

If there is a change in the rules and we CAN use the iPod and iTrip in unison, we are facing some interesting times!

I think this opens up some exciting opportunities to create consumer-generated content radio stations as personal as the people put them out.
Live events like MESH 2006 could have instant MESH 2006 Radio, broadcasting (from the iPod) keynote speaches or event announcements. The Blogging 101 session from Tris Hussey could have been broadcast to all those who couldn’t make the seminar or someone may have missed Tara Hunt’s Keynote on Pinko Marketing, played again at 2100H on Radio MESH 2006 - all from an iPod!

On a more local level, parties and corporate events can be broadcast to friends or colleagues, either downloadable off company intranets or broadcast over “iPod FM”.

Each of these events could be sponsored with audio ads…the possibilities are endless.

Advertisers - are you keen to get into schools? Give a kid an iPod with some cool audio content on it to be broadcast at break time and lunchtime!
Does anyone remember Hi-de-Hi and its wonderful events broadcaster Ruth Maddocks? It’s here and it’s in the hands of Ofcom - advertisers, be ready!

Technorati Tags: iPod, iTrip, MESH 2006, Tris Hussey

Stowe Boyd started the ball rolling with his t-shirt auction, resulting in him getting this:

Then Tris Hussey posted his office picture here:

And it got me thinking - what does YOUR office look like?

Do you blog from home or from a communal workplace? Do you have 4 walls that you stare at day in, day out or have an office as exciting as a wet weekend in Manchester?

Send me your pictures and I’ll put them all up on my flickr feed.

“BUT WHY?” I hear you ask!

The public outpouring of support for Robert Scoble has been a wonderful example of just how close many thousands of people can become. Separated by thousands of miles, bloggers congregate to share their support for another blogger - a worldwide neighbourhood.

We forge close friendships with people we don’t know, so why not let our friends into our homes and workplaces too?

Send me your pictures to paul dot fabretti at gmail dot com (or click on the gmail button on the right!).

Here’s mine for starters:

You can now send video clips from your mobile phone to YouTube by simply emailing a special address.

With camera-phones increasing in resolution and quality all the time, we really are at an interesting point where Joe Bloggs and Jane Doe can report in real-time - without needing to wait untl they are at a PC.

Imagine the possibilities…it may even bring radio back to life if they could tie-in real-time feedback in the same way as SMS!

Technorati Tags: mobile phone, YouTube

After noticing that Yahoo! Audio is up and running I now see that they have put MyWeb2.0 into beta too.

Tapping into the del.icio.us online bookmarking as well as tagging it also allows the full importing of existing bookmarks.

is there ANYTHING Yahoo! aren’t into at the moment? They are really leading the pack in CGC and social tools at the moment.

If businesses are serious about listening to customers, they need to do just 2 things:

1) Show they listen in a way that customers care about

2) Be honest with themselves.
Customers know they can complain, but what is the point of complaining if your voice isn’t going to be seen to be heard. I have spent the financial equivalent of almost half a year’s gas supply calling British Gas to complain about our bill - and I want others to know what I have had to go through.

I don’t want to know that my complaint is going to be heard by a “customer service representative” and churned out the other end, never to be seen again. I want to SEE that I am being listened to, I want the company to demonstate to me that they have listened, learned from the mistake and are endeavouring to improve the problem.
Why not a simple feedback system that gets posted on their website/blog/wiki?

This then leads to the problem of honesty. Trade on eBay. Go on, give it a go and realise just how much extra effort you put into answerring that email, call or ensuring the descriuption is as accurate as possible or the photography clear.

The point?

Because you are being measured by means that the consumer can understand and judge you on, you are able to (even if things go wrong) demonstrate you care, that you listen - and that is the crux to happier consumer-powered marketing.

But for god’s sake don’t just hide and hope it will go away or else monsters like paypalsucks and nthell get spawned!