Pop Culture
The YouTube Star called Fred.
This guy is amazing. He is only 14 years old, yet he has more than 40m video views in total. His YouTube channel has been viewd almost 6m times and he has more than a quarter of a million subscribers. And all he does (from the little I could cope with watching), is talk incredibly fast in an artificially high pitched (pretending to be 6 years old) voice about stuff that matters to kids. It’s a show by kids for kids. Not suitable for anyone over 16. But the kids love him. They
“…just think he’s the funniest thing ever [...] fall on the floor hysterically laughing. They’re just mesmerized” (source)
This is what you get, when you let the crowd do their stuff. Would any CEO of a TV station or production company have signed this concept off or given any budget for it? And how much budget would a professional production company have spent to produce these?
It is surprising, to say the least, what gets popular these days and what doesn’t. Never underestimated user generated content!
When real life simulates virtual life
I couldn’t believe it when I saw it a few minutes ago. Someone actually simulated an incidence in Second life during a real life press conference. Do you remember the time when, during a second life press conference with Anshe Chung, the whole screen was suddenly covered in flying penises?
Well, now there was a similar incidence – however it was in real life (and it was only one flying penis). I was quite astonished at the fact that someone had the guts (balls) to do this. Someone let this thing fly loose during a press conference of Gary Kasparov (before a security guy smacked it to the ground).
Quite funny, isn’t it. Probably much harder to implement than the virtual flying things, but most likely much more provoking…
10 new buzzwords you might like (but not need)
Nevermind the fact that there are sooo many marketing buzzwords out there already, enough for a prolonged bullshit olympics, behind this link are 10 more you most likely haven’t heard yet – but might well hear often in the future 
Here are some examples:
2. Viruseful.
Viral marketing initiatives that are actually useful.
“Not only did Shave Everywhere make me laugh—I was able to configure and purchase my new electric razor online”4. Emotrics
The analytical measurement of emotions.
“Yes—we’ve seen the metrics. But what about the Emotrics? We need to measure emotional engagement!”6. Intercommunes
When people meet on the internet, form communities and eventually move into a commune together. For real.
“When I first started participating in social media, I didn’t leave the house. Now, I never have to leave the Intercommune.”
DLD 2008 started – follow the sessions online.
The German DLD Conference (Digital, Life, Design) just started a few hours ago. The next 3 Days should be rather interesting, even for anybody not attending, because they are putting videos all sessions online. In addition, there is a blog with live blogging from the sessions.
Stevenote in 60 Seconds
Steve Jobs announced some fabulous things once again during his MacWorld Keynote. The stockmarket obviously did not agree, as the share price fell considerably during Steves speach, but he gained one new potential customer (me).
For all of you who haven’t got the time to watch the full 90 minutes of the keynote – here is the essence in 60 seconds:
So here it is, finally. DRM is dead, I’m glad.
Business Week features an article that says Sony BMG drops DRM. Peere pressure or not, I don’t care, I am just very happy about this. That’s the last Giant of the 4 to drop DRM.
Will Apple now drop their DRM so that I can listen to the songs I purchased (and I did purchase some, indeed!), everywhere I like?
But Sony won’t make their whole collection DRM free:
Sony BMG, a joint venture of Sony (SNE) and Bertelsmann, will make at least part of its collection available without so-called digital rights management, or DRM, software some time in the first quarter, according to people familiar with the matter.
Sony apparently noticed, that there can also be positive sides to offering music online:
Sony has been experimenting with DRM-free songs for about six months. The company began giving away DRM-free promotional downloads for recording artists that sell less than 100,000 units, and at least one artist gained mainstream exposure through the effort.
Given that and the Pepsi Promo I blogged about earlier, I think we can savely look forward to 2008 being the year, when the music industry finally awakes and joins the digital era.
