Entries from January 2009
There are times when you must stray from your stated purpose and venture into silliness. So today I step away from camera techniques, editing tricks and insights on how to make great personal videos and bring you three of the worst music videos of all time. I am not entirely certain they were created with anything more than a genuine sense of goofiness, but I am pretty sure the creators were serious about their craft. While there is fun in looking askance at another’s efforts, you have to give credit where credit is due. All three of these videos represent someone who had a vision and stuck with it. Of course, they may have stuck with it a little too long.
For the past five years I have been convinced that David Hasselhoff’s epic, “Hooked on a Feeling”… complete with bad spinning video cubes, two faux angels, insulting parodies of world cultures, spears, wind machines and a rubber fish, is the worst music video of all time. What’s not to love.
Well I have found two more gems that are worth noting. The first, “I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper” reminds us that it is amazing we survived the 70s as a race of thoughtful people. It is amazing those of us who were in college made it to see the 80s. I particularly like the guy who throws the glitter up in the air. Wonder what he does for a living now?
And the third video… well… The word INTENSE doesn’t even give this video justice. As one wag noted, “Somebody tell me where i can buy a Mark Gormley t-shirt. I don’t care what they cost. Mark Gormley is a legend of rock, that i can’t simply just watch pass me by.” I couldn’t have said it better. Enjoy.
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To no one’s surprise, tape is dead in consumer cameras. And 1080 (again to no one’s surprise) is THE format in the consumer space.
Personal video on the web is moving away from the "one to many" model of YouTube over to the "one to few" model of Facebook. Hard drive and flash memory cameras are making it not only possible but easy for folks to put their movies on the web. Cannon, Panasonic, Sony and Samsung are all showing great little HDV cameras file based cameras.
But it is the advent of the uber-simple cameras like Pure Digital’s market leader Flip camera that are having such a huge impact on personal video. And the Flip MinoHD is not the only 720p mini camera on the market. The Kodak Zx1 camera is a direct competitor to the Flip. And is just as easy to use. It does not have the clever built in USB plug, but it has multiple zoom levels that don’t appear to be as dreadful as the Flip’s. Both come with software and both create files that are native H264 QuickTime. It should be fun to see if there is enough room in the market for these players.
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The second floor in the back of the convention center is always my favorite place during any tradeshow. It’s where you find the startups, the dreamers, the companies working the margins of an industry. Here at CES it is no different. Cheap radios, funky lighting systems, low voltage muscle massagers. It’s a 21st century flea market. I love these guys taking a break in the muscle massage chairs.
Green technology is seeing very little visibility at CES. I expected more but perhaps the green movement is falling by the wayside with the current economic turmoil. An expensive “convenience” for consumers. That is for everyone but Panasonic. They have devoted a significant amount of floor space to emerging green technology and it was great to see. 
But interestingly Greentek is green only in name.
The companies that are traditionally the big technology drivers are only putting a careful toe into social networking. It is very hard to find evidence of social networking technology on the floor. It appears evident most of the big tech companies don’t know what to do with it. Sony has created a walled garden for gaming and media distribution, but so far I have only seen Microsoft show how all the parts fit together.
Who is missing from CES? As always there is no Apple. But I was surprised that technology leaders Phillips and Pure Digital (makers of the Flip Camera) are no-shows. And I would have thought Adobe would have been here touting their flash media player and online media solution. Real is here in a big way.
I can’t wrap my head around 3D television. To me it smacks of a desperate ploy by broadcasters to stay relevant as distribution models change. It is just like Cinemascope in the 50’s when television first appeared in America’s living rooms. The super wide screen was a gag, and ultimately didn’t change the storytelling experience enough to survive. It feels like broadcasters are worried about how internet distribution and channel creation makes them largely irrelevant. Besides, who other than a couple of 15-year-old gamers want to wear those dopey glasses while watching television?
Finally, my room at the New York New York hotel is an epic dump. But at least I have a room. Be happy for the little things.
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These posts appear to have stacked up in the cue, so let’s get them posted now. Sorry for the delay.
Everyone is overcranking their refresh rates. 60hz, 120hz, even 240hz for clearer playback on high motion video.
The other trend is (unlike me) tvs are getting bigger and thinner. LCDs at 82". How about Sharp’s 108" monitor?
OLED (Organic light-emitting diodes) screens are getting bigger. Last year the screens were 11”, now Sony is showing 21” & 27” and other manufacturers are showing up to 32".
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