Media Wonk




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Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting is the editor of ContentAgenda.com and a columnist for Video Business. He has covered the home entertainment industries since 1985 for Billboard, Variety, Publishers Weekly and other leading business publications. He is based in Washington, DC.


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  • Posts Written: 317

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May 08, 2008

Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting, Editor
ContentAgenda

I want my ZeeVee TV

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[Digital Home]  [E-Content]  [Streams & Downloads]  

Media Wonk says: keep an eye on ZeeVee Inc., a company with a terrible name but an interesting approach to bringing PC and broadband content to the TV screen. I know, I know, who doesn't have a product or service for bringing broadband content to the TV set? Some of them even work. But the ZvBox (ZvBox??) has the sort of intuitive simplicity that could well appeal to non-gear heads.

The slim back box--which is being built by Lite-On in Taiwan--attaches to a computer like a monitor, through the VGA port, along with one USB cable. You plug the other end into the coax cable most people already have running through their homes courtesy of their cable or satellite provider. ZeeVee then searches for an unoccupied frequency on your cable system and occupies it, creating in effect a new "channel" on your cable system. To watch conten...Read More LEAVE A COMMENT
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May 07, 2008

Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting, Editor
ContentAgenda

Downloading illegally? Shame on you

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[Consumer Trends]  [Digital Copyright]  [DRM]  [Legal]  

It's said that you can't legislate morality. But is it possible to graft a moral framework onto the intentionally anarchic and extra-jurisdictional Internet? Media Wonk sat through a day's worth DRM panels at the Digital Hollywood Spring conference in Los Angeles Wednesday (Do Not Attempt, Media Wonk is a trained professional) where the emerging gestalt seemed to be that shame and the loss anonymity could do more to deter rampant copyright infringement online than all the encryption systems yet devised.

"We did a survey of college students recently, and 85% of them said that taking music for free online was wrong. But 71% admitted to doing it anyway," RIAA senior VP of technology David Hughes said. "We have a whole generation of kids who know something is wrong but do it anyway. The college adm...Read More LEAVE A COMMENT
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May 07, 2008

Paul Sweeting

Paul Sweeting, Editor
ContentAgenda

Signs of hope in (Digital) Hollywood

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[Consumer Trends]  [E-Content]  [Platforms & Formats]  [Streams & Downloads]  

Media Wonk is attending the Digital Hollywood conference in Los Angeles this week, where on Tuesday he sat in on a panel that underscored how far studio thinking about digital platforms has come over the last few years. As Media Wonk argued in a previous post, the web rewards enablers, not distributors or publishers. For content owners to thrive online they're going to have to figure out how to profit from enabling consumers to use--not just access--their content. At the panel on Hollywood and the Digital Consumer Tuesday, there were signs that at least some folks at the studios are starting to figure it out.

Some highlights:

Derek Broes, senior VP digital entertainment Paramount Pictures: "Consumers today have more control over their lives than ever before, in terms of w...Read More LEAVE A COMMENT
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Rene
May 7, 2008
Response to:
Signs of hope in (Digital) Hollywood

As a web video producer myself, I'm finding myself having to realign the way I think about the content I'm providing. After all, narrative pictures are simply a medium for story, so enabling users to use story seems to be the holy grail. However, I'm filled with problems and doubts. Aren't stories inherently interactive? How can I enable a user to "use" a story? I'm reminded of those grade-school assignments where students are asked to analyze a book the class has read. Surely the solutions must not be so academic? So I've found myself focusing instead on the controlling idea of the stories I'm telling and thinking about how to tie in web content so when a user finishes watching the video, they're compelled to action beyond the video. In a way, the story and web resources are irrevocably tied, enabling a movement towards change in a user's life. For example, a romantic comedy about two deaf lovers could be the core of a "deaf persons dating site." In this train of thought, however, I'm having trouble keeping the focus on the video content, instead of the video content simply being an intro to some other media on the site. But am I missing the point? Isn't Google simply an expressway to other content, should I see my video content as simply a way of spurring people into the world with newfound focus? It's extremely confusing.