Yet again, the major tech and media news this Tuesday is less sexy and more melancholy. I am going to have to change the name of this blog to Tuesday’s Sad Tech Trifecta if things keep up. Just today Sony announced it was cutting thousands of jobs and Monday the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy. But, not all hope is lost, and we still think there are opportunities for the savvy among us.
1) Popular magazine goes virtual. Seventeen magazine, every teenage girl’s first publication, is launching the first-ever virtual issue, according to Digital Cynopsis. MTV is partnering with the magazine to offer a sneak peek of MTV’s new virtual world and provide schwag goodies to readers. This is an excellent example of my recent article on how newspapers will have to hybridize. Publishers CAN make it, contrary to all the reality we’re surrounded with right now. But, it’s going to take partnerships and innovations such as Seventeen’s latest attempt. (By the way, I haven’t checked out the magazine since I was in high school and I was grateful to see they’re still doing what they’ve always done–you can still submit your dating horror stories and find out what kind of friend you are, but now that it’s online, you can take hundreds of dating quizzes all day long!)
2) $99 iPhone? Fuggedaboutit. Wired breaks down the $99 iPhone rumor and other persistent Apple myths. Get over it, the article says, Apple does their own thing and they do it in their own time and at their own prices. Just because Walmart is going to carry the iPhone, doesn’t mean it’s bargain basement prices from Cupertino. They also finally explain in no uncertain terms why the company won’t be making a touch computer tablet in the near future.
3) Clerk Dogs does for movies what Pandora did for music. The new online recommendation site, Clerkdogs.com is decent. It’s still in beta and as the site says, “Match It works best with crime and suspense movies. We can‘t guarantee results for other genres during our beta period.” Too bad for a foreign film fan like me–my request was simply ignored. But, nonetheless, the site does provide some great suggestions and offers a five point rating system based on character depth, complexity, cinematography, suspense and action. Not too shabby. Ultimately, as TechCrunch points out, the site’s founder hopes to make his money selling the technology to larger movie sites and retailers.
