The impact of the iPod (Mashable), me: "genius of fake-control model"

Amy-Mae Elliott interviewed my for this nice Mashable piece the other day.  Here are some good snippets from me and from others that were interviewed:

Leander Kahney, editor of Cult of Mac and author of The Cult of iPod, sees the iPod’s primary impact in terms of the “connected device. “Gadgets are no longer stand-alone products,” Kahney says, “they connect to a range of software and online services. Think Internet TVs, stereos like Sonos, handheld gaming devices, GPS bike computers, in-car stereos, high-end watches, Internet radios, even printers — the list goes on and on — and the iPod was the first to do that...."

...Wikström says one could argue that iTunes has been more a hindrance to the industry than a help. Despite the billions of sales using the platform, the music industry has still suffered over the past decade. Did the dominant iTunes business model blind the industry to alternatives? “iTunes prolonged the industry’s dependence on the old model, and made them believe that it actually might be possible just to shift from CD to MP3, just as they had done in the past when they moved from vinyl to tape to CD,” says Wikström. “This is just speculation, but perhaps the most important impact on the music industry is that iTunes delayed the shift from a retail model based on control to what we now start to see emerge as various kinds of cloud-based retail models, such as Spotify and its peers.”

Futurist Gerd Leonhard, author of The Future of Content and co-author of The Future of Music: Manifesto for the Digital Music Revolution also sees iTunes playing a part in the decline of the music industry. “The genius of the iPod was (and still is, with the iPhone) that, while the music industry actually believed that it had found a good (i.e., closed and controlled) way to extract money from otherwise freeloading consumers, the iTunes/iPod/iPhone ecosystem became the dominant hardware solution for the consumption of free music.”  |itunes / control image added by Gerd, source unknown |

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TeleMedia Futures: both my presentations -and video- from Management World 2010 / TM Forum in Nice

Updated: VIDEO below. here are the PDFs (creative commons non-commercial / attribution- licensed, as always) of my TM Forum  / Management World 2010 Executive Roundtable presentations, as promised at the session in Nice on May 18, 2010:   Download PDF of TM Forum Exec Roundtable Public Gerd Leonhard 15 MB

Download: May 17 TMForum Board Presentation: TeleMedia Futures Public Low Res 5 MB PDF

TeleMedia Futures: Gerd Leonhard Talk at TMForum Nice 2010

View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard.

Updated again: here is a low-tech video of the Executive Roundtable presentation (just my talk, nothing else). It's kind of home-made using a Kodak ZI8 (thanks to Jeffrey Hayzlett, Kodak's amazing CMO) but still offers good value I think.

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Video of my MIPTV presentation "Social Media and building an Entertainment Brand Online"

The engagement at MIPTV (see yesterday's post) was an all-around good event and everything flowed very smoothly (including, I think, my brain;). Really lovely auditorium and first-rate tech services - wish I could say that every time;). 

UPDATE: I had to remove the actual video from this page as it turns out to be auto-play-ONLY which is not good and creates havoc when surfing in multiple browser windows.  For now, please kindly go to the Brightcove page to watch the video; right now there is no better way to do this. Sorry!

For more videos, please go directly to MIPTV.com; for some blog coverage on my talk, please go here. If you want to click along with the video, here are the slides (well, most of them;).

Social Media: From Push to Pull, Building an Entertainment Brand Online (MIPTV 2010)

View more presentations from Gerd Leonhard.

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Announcing the payment model for my new iPhone & Android mobile apps: pay what you think it's worth

2 weeks ago, I launched my free iPhone app, followed by the Android version just a few days ago, powered by MobileRoadie in LA. Now that I am very close to the first 1000 downloads I  wanted to share how I intend to 'charge' for the apps and the exclusive content that I plan to make available there. So here it goes.

As you may have noticed, almost all of my content is free, including this blog's full RSS feed,  65+ slideshows, 100+ videos, most of my books & PDFs, and, for now, the new iPhone and Android mobile apps. I make a living with speaking engagements, keynotes, think-tank events and seminars, advisory work, CEO coaching sessions, and various other, mostly fun things; and I am indeed very privileged to really enjoy my work and make a living at the same time (an usual combination, I hear).

I want to continue to provide you with lots of great and free content even though many (if not most) people have suggested that I should start charging upfront for my content. However, instead of going down the road of requiring you to 'pay before you get' my content, i.e. to pay for my apps via iTunes or the Android Market I have decided to deploy my own version of the often-cited 'Radiohead Model' (borrowed from the group's (in-)famous approach to selling their music for 'whatever you think it's worth'), i.e. you will continue to receive a lot of stuff for free but yes, you can indeed make a payment if you like what I do. And I would be delighted if you do.

So here, below, are 4 ways to return the favor, help me pay for my iPhone apps and to otherwise monetize (terrible word but appropriate):

1) You can go to my Lulu bookstore and either buy a dead-tree i.e. printed, packaged and shupped version of my books, such as Music 2.0 for $17.75 or Friction is Fiction for a whopping $60.40 (sorry for the price but it's a lot of pages, 4c,  the cheaper b/w  version is here), or any of the PDFs ranging from $2.50 to $7.50 (even if you already have it... that's OK, too).

 2) You can  go to Amazon and order my 'old' and first book "The Future of Music"which is still a great book (co-written with Dave Kusek); just keep in mind that since this book is owned and marketed by a publisher (Berklee Press) it is not really the most direct way to ship a few $ directly to me;) - but still very much appreciated. The audio version is here, btw. The self-published, Lulu-powered "Friction is Fiction" book mentioned above is also available via Amazon so I'd prefer you to buy that first, or ... just get both.

 3) If you want to 'pay with attention' and give me some social capital rather than real money, that's OK, too (I shall ask my landlord to accept facebook points, soon, as well - seriously;). 

To this end, I would suggest these mechanisms:

• A nice, juicy blog post about my work, my presentations or my videos, or books
• A series of tweets, or retweets
• A nice review of my books (Amazon or Lulu) or iPhone / Android apps (Apple App store is good)
• Nice comments on my slideshows or videos (incl. my Youtube channel)

4) Finally, and most efficiently, you can just make a payment for what you think my stuff is worth to you; and guess what - there is no limit! Use this button, below (Paypal). And you can do it more than once, too.

 

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New Podcast: Mobile First! Again.

I just uploaded a new podcast on my "Media Futurist" iPhone app, entitled "Mobile First", sharing some thoughts on why I think this is a very important paradigm shift, for me, my clients and... the world;). As I mentioned yesterday, for now, these podcasts are exclusive to the app - so... get it now!

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Mobile first, from now on: the Media Futurist iPhone app is now ready for 1000 free users

As Google's Eric Schmidt said at the Mobile World Congress a few days ago: from now on, it's MOBILE FIRST. Right he is! He probably didn't know this (or disguised it cleverly) but incidentally my iPhone app, powered by the very swift and happening MobileRoadie people in LA, was approved 2 days ago and is now live in the app store.

The app will provide you with a much simplified and quicker way to access pretty much everything that I publish (now that's a scary thought), including my videos, my podcasts, my blog, my tweets, my lifestream, my images and illustrations, and of course my slideshows - pretty much everything but my bank account;). 

Talking about 'bank': I will be creating a lot of app-exclusive content in the next few weeks, and will really build up my mobile presence in order to be ready for the iPad and other tablet devices which I intend to use for 'futuristic' publishing purposes, i.e. for monetizing my work in new ways. Therefore - and in keeping with the Freemium theme - the first 1000 users will get this app for free, afterward my costs will go up a bit and the app will cost a whopping $1.99.

So hurry and get your free version now, while you still can (several hundred have already been downloaded in the past 24 hours). I would also be delighted if you could share this news with anyone that may be interested; it looks like lots of students and university folks are already downloading it and that sounds like a good fit, too. Please re-tweet and spread the word.

I will, of course, offer an Android app as soon as MobileRoadie comes up with the goodies, and the same goes for iPad-ready formats (I have some very special plans for that... too early to share but... it will be exciting). As to the Freemium: I will probably try to offer both a basic, free version as well as a paid version, in the future - it all depends on the demand. You tell me.

If you don't have an iPhone, don't despair: you can still use my mobile lifestream site, read my blog's mobilized version, or get the entirely mobilized Music 2.0 book for free, as well.  

Lastly, if you like this app and want one, too (does anyone not?), I do have some discount codes for the MobileRoadie platform - ping me to find out more.

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Video: the Wired Magazine Tablet Application (Demo), my comments

Everyone in the content industry should watch this demo, below, of what the Wired guys are working on - it's fantastic food for thought; exciting stuff. And just gotta love Scott's Matrix-dude-like, gravely voice in beginning;). Well done, guys.

4 'IF' comments: 1) If the publishers can and will provide very addictive, immersive and interactive experiences at LITERALLY no-brainer prices or via bundled services (big 'if' here) 2) If the media companies and 'rights-holders' decide to get rid of all that crippling and legitimate user-insulting DRM and other technical protection models (remember, Protection is in the Business Model) 3) If the advertisers and brands are really going to fast-track their support for these kinds of new platforms 4) If everybody can finally resist the temptation to make this yet another 'walled garden' competition, albeit with prettier flowers....THEN indeed, we just may have something here. I'll be watching (+).

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MidemNet 2010 Presentation: The New Generatives - selling Music in a connected World

This is the PDF from my presentation at MidemNet 2010: Download Gerd MidemNet Academy new generatives for Music Public 25.1 MB PDF

Please note: this is slightly different from what I actually presented this morning - please stay tuned for the audio and video versions of this talk, via the MidemNet blog and Twitter.

The New Generatives: Selling Music in a Connected World

View more documents from Gerd Leonhard.

**Update: video now available

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Free mobile version of my Music 2.0 book for iPhone, Android and Blackberry

Many of you may have already downloaded my free Music 2.0 book as a PDF, or read it on the iPhone using Instapaper via my very basic mobile page, or even purchased the dead-tree version (note that Amazon is sold out now, all future orders should be done only via Lulu.com)

Today, I am delighted to announce that a much better mobile-optimized version of the book is finally available here - and yes, it's still free. However, I really don't mind if you make a payment for the free PDF via Lulu.com;)

As you can see, below, this includes all of the chapters in an easy-to-read, mobile-native format, and all kinds of ways to share it via eMail, Twitter and Facebook. The best thing is, however, that you can now add all of the chapters of the book to your Instapaper app (iPhone only, I think) with just one click, and then read the whole thing offline, as well. Way cool! We are also working on a 'real' iPhone app.

Note: Instapaper was covered on the new Indicatr site, yesterday, as well). Please spread the word - and don't forget: if you are entirely and utterly mobile-only you can track most of my tweets and shared items here.

Indicatr hunch: Instapaper iPhone (read webpages on your iPhone, offline)

 Further to Monday's announcement on my new venture, Indicatr, here is a new video about the amazing, 'green' and addictive Instapaper iPhone app. I blogged about this last year but it just keeps getting better - no more printing for me; I just bookmark all those cool webpages and read them offline on my iPhone or Kindle. More Indicatr hunches are here.

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Crucial Intelligence: the latest Internet & Economy Trends by Morgan Stanley (via Web 2.0 summit)

Once again, great stuff by Mary Meeker and her Internet team at Morgan Stanley, via the Web2.0 summit. The video, embedded below, is good, too, but in my opinion it's the the slides that matter most: every single page packs a punch and makes you think. Great mix of facts, statistics and some key foresights. A must-read (and then... digest). Techcrunch has some great comments on this presentation, here.

Economy & Internet Trends - Morgan Stanley Presentation

View more presentations from kvjs.

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New mobile lifestreaming page now available: get all my shared stuff on your mobile device

I met Michael Reinsch and the other cool guys from Mobalean at Tokyo 2.0 back in August 09. Now, they have put together a pretty nice mobile version of my Lifestream Page (see the regular version above) that makes it very easy to view all my latest updates on your iPhone,  Blackberry or Android phones. This includes all the stuff that I share via many different platforms, incl. Twitter, Slideshare, Twitpic, Google Reader etc.  We are using the Friendfeed API here, in case you were wondering. Check it out, and please let me know how you like it! 

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Gerd Leonhard's Life-Stream via kwout

iPhone mania: there's an App for that (2 videos)

The trend towards everything becoming an iPhone app is really amazing. Go to a bar with your buddies and you'll be certain to hear 'hey - there's an iPhone app for that'! Some of us used to talk about cars, sports, tech... now it's all about 'check out my cool iPhone apps' and swapping them. Techcrunch just reported a pretty cool, 30-day online background music app by designer Philippe Starke, too. A-mazing... I'll be watching.

The official Apple version The spoof (really funny)

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AllTop: presenting my favorite feeds from around the Web, AllTop + Instapaper = better than RSS?!

Guy Kawasaki's Alltop is a great way to tap into the flow of the best blogs and their RSS feeds from all over the web, without having to use a feed-reader. As an example, check out my Alltop recommendations; these are constantly updated via RSS and work great on the iPhone as well. Just click on a topic or header to bring up the new page with the content. Louis Gray provides more good tips on the iPhone mobile AllTop experience, here, but this is what I do:

1. Go to the mobile version of the Alltop page that you want to use (such as mine, here) 
2. Click on any link that interests you
3. The link will open in Safari which is not so great because of the all the zooming and formating you'll need to do to read the webpages (unless they are mobile-optimized already), therefore:
4. Sign up for the great (and free!) Instapaper which offers one of the best iPhone apps that allows you to read web-pages offline after  you bookmark them. Install the app on your iPhone (the Pro version is much better, btw, and only costs a few $), then be sure you install the bookmark link in your Safari browser (follow these instructions using your iPhone) - it's a bit geeky but hey... even I did it!
5. Now, when you bring up a new web-page that you want to read without zooming and fooling around in Safari you can just add it to your 'Instapaper Unread' items by clicking on the bookmarker
6. Bring up the Instapaper app, update, and read the article (which certainly beats Safari on the iphone, hands-down)

Enjoy!

Audioboo - yet another way to Podcast and share thoughts - now via the iPhone

Audioboo is a pretty cool new app that allows you to record something on your iPhone and then upload it to  your page on Audioboo.com, as well as syndicate it via widgets - as it says, it's an iPhone blogging app. Interesting?  Check out my first 'Boo' below.