Platforms

We’ve been round and round on WeatherBrains on the topic of weather information on Facebook and Twitter, and, of course, my postion is right.

Building a business on someone else’s platform, one that you don’t own or pay for, is a dangerous strategy.  Old model media companies have been unable to effectively develop their own platforms which is one of the reasons (and the herd mentality) so much effort is being put into value creation for companies other than your own.  Don’t misunderstand, I get it that there are a lot of people on Facebook and Twitter.  The error is in how we trained people to use them.

There was an interesting meeting at the latest NWA convention and a comment from a “regular” person rings in my ears every day.  They were discussing the April 27 tornado outbreak in Alabama and the woman said, “I heard there was a tornado, so I started searching on Twitter.”  I would have hoped she would have searched a more direct source of information.  Training is important, and habits are hard to break.

Fred Wilson, venture capitalist, has some thoughts on the subject.  The links in his post are worth a look too.

iPods and Papers

The announcement of the new iPad last week, and stories like this one about CBS, has me thinking about the past and future, and the enormous disruptions to the “media” industries.

iTunes was a fundamental disruption to to radio.  When combined with the iPod we could chose our own songs and unbundle the album delivery system.

For newspapers it was Craigslist.  In one move the disruption of classified advertising decimated that business for local papers and vaporized 45% of revenue.

The CBS article linked above explains how Les Moonves worried about the disruption caused by an Apple program distribution model.  This is a tough spot for the networks, which own valuable moneymaking assets in all of the top markets.  If individual programs are widely available without the local affiliates…that is a problem.

This morning we are switching television and internet providers in my house.  The new service isn’t any better than the old, just temporarily cheaper, and a little faster.  They are all a rip-off of course, I’m tired of subsidizing the ESPN habit of my neighbors.  All any of us really want is the programs we want, unbundled, and that option is coming.  Apple will make it happen, life finds a way.

Television hasn’t had it’s Craigslist moment yet (it may come this year with an Apple TV).  The local affiliates and the networks will scramble when it comes.  Although, given that we’ve been able to watch other industries (add publishing) we should have learned some lessons.

Quality Snowballs

I often refer to Seth Godin and Terry Heaton, and a new post today from Heaton references and earlier post today from Godin (oh…the rapture!).

Heaton writes:

“quality snowballs (products/services that users can spread) are where the new scarcity exists, and that’s why the value shifts from attention to production”

So, put on your, “how does this affect me glasses”, and read the posts remembering this:

“There is no competitive advantage to automated weather data.”

(that last quote is from me)

Life Finds A Way

One of my favorite movie lines is from Jurassic Park when the Jeff Goldblum character says. “Life finds a way.”

Quite a bit has been said and written over the last few years about the ongoing argument between Rupert Murdoch and Google.  Murdoch says Google, and other search engines, are “stealing” his content by linking to it and selling ads next to the links.  Google asserts that they are sending traffic to Murdoch owned sites and he is free to tell them to stop at any time.  I believe what Mr. Murdoch really wants is for Google to give him a share of the money Google makes by selling ads next to the links to his properties, otherwise he would have shut them off years ago.  He likes the traffic…what he doesn’t like is “sharing”.  Why should someone else make money from his work.  Not fair!

On the most recent episode of WeatherBrains Dr. Russ Schneider, Director of the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), joined us.  One of the things that caught my ear was a discussion of social media and how SPC was looking at working in that space.  He told us that one of the models they were looking at was creating one feed of storm information and making it available to all.  Brilliant!  Instead of trying to deal with multiple platforms and distribution channels, the model, as I understand it, is to create the data feed and let everyone come to the trough.

This is the right way forward.  Data, like life, “finds a way”.  Create the data points, brand them, and let anyone “share” the information.  Oh, but wait…sharing is not part of the old model, is it.  Darn.

Costco, Cold Fronts and the 10:00 News

A few years ago I was in Costco and bought a set of Forstner bits for woodworking.  Some time later, after we stopped shopping at Costco, I was visiting with a friend who worked for the company and we were talking about the fact that we no longer shopped there.  The reason, for me, was that while I liked Costco, I could never depend on certain things being there all the time.  Lowes’s and Home Depot always have Forstner bits.  Costco just happened to have them that one day I was walking through the store.

What does this have to do with weather?  Almost nothing.  What struck me, as I watched the beginning of one of the local newscasts last night, was the fact that none of the stories in the first block had to do with anything I needed, or was particularly interested in.  Any number of websites, that deal with information I want or need, are just a click away.

Relevance, or lack there of, is just one of the things shrinking the audience for the 10:00 news.  There was recently an interesting comment thread on Facebook about consultants, and the use of cold fronts.  The question (should you use them or not) is not new, but what was interesting was to watch the participants in the conversation choose sides.  Some said use them, some said don’t.  Almost all of them said “people want” fronts (or no fronts).  Well, which one is it?

The correct answer is both, and this is key to where we go next.  During the single distribution point of the 10:00 news you have to decide to use fronts or not.  ”Some” people want fronts, “some” people don’t.

Pick a side while you are on TV, just know that more and more people will be wandering the aisles looking for what they want.  Are your products available at Costco, or Lowe’s?

 

Teaching

Most mornings the principal at my son’s school stands out front and greets the kids. About a week ago I teased her, after a cold front had come through that night, about standing inside the building rather than outside and holding the door.

On Tuesday we had a sharp cold front blowing through our city during rush hour.  The temperature dropped 11 degrees during the 10 minute drive to school.  This time, wearing only a sweater and standing inside the building, the principal saw me coming and with a smile, yelled out, “I should have listened to the weather!  I don’t have a coat this morning!”

The front had been well advertised.

If you’re thinking that I’m at fault for her not having a coat…you’re right.

Glasses

This presentation from Le Web has nothing directly to do with weather but I think it is well worth the 20 minutes if you put on your “What does this mean for me?” glasses.

(Found through Fred Wilson’s blog avc.com)