Friday Chill Music (July 3, 2009)

Off to Tahoe for the holiday weekend and can't wait. Last week I got to see one of my favorite bands, Wilco, in concert at the Greek and they played one of the best setlists I've ever seen at a concert, by anyone. Here's a great photostream I found on Flickr from the show.

My favorite song on the new album is One Wing. I wish it went on for another 2 minutes. Maybe as they get used to playing it live, they'll stretch it out a little bit.

Muzzle of Bees is one of my favorite B-Sides and it was the second song they played. So smooth and I love when the guitars kick in. When they played this, I knew it would be a great show.

Thirteen is a song they didn't play but I really love it.

Wilco the Song is another great new one. The guitars are really sharp.

California Stars is always one of the best sing-a-longs. There's something magical about staring up at the stars at the Greek and singing this with Tweedy.

Wide Awake

Sensational interview with Paul Samuelson, a legend in Macroeconomics. One of the best interviews I've read this year. My favorite quote:


"By the way, I don't want you to think that I think that everything for the next 15 years will be cozy. I think it's almost inevitable that, with a billion people in China wide awake for the first time, and a billion people in India, there's going to be some kind of a terrible run against the dollar. And I doubt it can stay orderly, because all of our own hedge funds will be right in the vanguard of the operation. And it will be hard to imagine that that wouldn't create different kind of meltdown."

Funny

Reblog from Papi (who I almost convinced to move to SF yesterday)

Seth Godin's Malcolm is Wrong

Seth Godin wrote a great follow up to the Gladwell & Anderson debate that I spilled a lot of ink on last night. As  always, Seth writes it better than anybody else. Read it if you are interested.

Gladwell, Anderson & Me on Free

Great article by Malcolm Gladwell on Chris Anderson's book, Free. I saw Anderson speak about a year ago and wasn't convinced by his arguments. What he should be saying is that Free is the future for products that either, 1) Have a way to subsidize the production cost of whatever they are giving away, or 2) Perfect Substitutes (or at least close enough to be hard to distinguish) that must price at zero to temporarily ensure distribution until a choke point that offers pricing is available or they figure out a subsidy scheme.

The first case is where Google Search and Gmail fall. Google wants as many consumers to use Search as possible because they can subsidize the cost of that service with their integrated AdWords advertising product and still make a profit. Google has studied it and the bigger the funnel for the service the more money they can make on AdWords. So Google doesn't charge to ensure there is no barrier. What would happen if they charged $1/user? Lot's of people would drop out and they would make less. The second way they ensure a big funnel is by making the product the best available in the marketplace. This is often overlooked when talking about Google but it's very important. They differentiate the product.

The second bucket is where the Dallas Morning News (DMN) falls into. What is the difference between a recap of the Dallas Mavericks game between the DMN or the AP? Very little. I'm sure Mavericks fans enjoy the insight provided by a beat writer close to the team, but how big is that population? The DMN has a problem differentiating its product and doesn't have a choke point to enable charging. Paper used to be the choke point. Only a few papers in each metro could afford the printing and delivery costs, so a natural monopoly developed that ensured pricing. With the web, that monopoly is gone. Amazon, Apple and other device manufacturers with large market shares now own the choke point (their device). Google also owns a choke point on searching and finding the article at the DMN site or in Google News. Those parties have all earned the choke point by spending $ billions on R&D and finding a better way of delivery. If the DMN doesn't play the game and removes itself from the Google network or don't take Amazon's deal, how many people will care? Not enough and they will be replaced in consumer reading habits quickly.

The DMN and others find themselves in a temporary position where they must take what the Device & Web Services offer but if they re-engineer their business into something different or, gasp, build a better brand through focus (on the Mavs and 5 other core subjects for example), they will earn the audience and right to pricing power. The DMN and others like it have a difficult time seeing this though because they are competing against forces they've never had to worry about before. The paper monopoly was won long ago and they view the distribution monopoly as their right and not something that must be re-won (is that a word?).

Anderson wrote a good rebuttal of Gladwell and used the blog GeekDad as an example of a site (smallish) that produces popular content for a community, generates revenue, pleasure and recognition that can be monetized by a book deal (a subsidy). GeekDad earned its audience and now controls the economics of its Wired advertising deal.

Here's a more tangible example. Journalists have to eat right? They shop at supermarkets like all of us. In recent years "private label" goods have become very popular. These are knock-off goods sold at a lower price points with the supermarkets label. Consumers know that they are pretty close to the branded consumer goods sold by P&G, Clorox, etc. Some consumers aren't persuaded by the brands marketing efforts to differentiate so they buy the cheaper private label goods. As Gladwell says, $0 is just a price point, and in this example, private label products are not $0, but they are significantly cheaper. Free or cheaper is conceptually the same thing, it's the spread that matters. Why do the supermarkets get to offer private label products next to the branded goods? Because they differentiated by building their own brands, sinking $ billions into store infrastructure, and most likely, establishing a local neighborhood monopoly. Brands face the same dilemma as the Dallas Morning News, but they've been dealing with it longer, have learned how to co-exist and most importantly, don't own media outlets that give them the audience to complain about their problems.

Journalism is important and expensive, but it too is getting cheaper. Athletes are breaking news all over the place. How expensive is it to take what they say and re-package it? This trend will continue and make journalism even cheaper. I crack up everytime I see CNN reading Twitter feeds for breaking news. Where's the value add? CNN and other news agencies are in the process of being dis-intermediated. Happens all the time in the tech world. Editorial taste and opinion pieces still have significant value though and brands like the DMN need to focus on that. Let Twitter, the AP and everything else cannibalize the low-end of the news business and focus on building branded, higher value content that leads to a loyal audience. The audience will become their leverage against Amazon and others. Just as the P&G's of the world pour money into higher quality and brand building and deal with smaller market shares, so must journalism.

This is Funny

via Mark Lisanti

Honesty

courtesy of the Walm via Capital Chronicle.

Silver Springs Staredown

The Sports Guy recommend this Silver Springs clip because of the stare down between ex-lovers Nicks & Buckingham. Pretty epic. Love this song too. Hope it treats you right after the great weekend everyone had.

Fleetwood Mac Silver Springs
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The Bakeoff

During my last couple quarters at Kellogg, I wasn't exactly the model student. I didn't do my reading as much as I should but I knew there would be time to catch up down the line. So when I graduated, I went through all my old packets from my favorite classes, and pulled out things that looked interesting, but that I hadn't read. I've been slowly making my way through these articles the last year or so.

This week, I read the Bakeoff, by Malcolm Gladwell. It's the story of making a healthy cookie and Gladwell chronicles three different approaches to the problem: 1) the Superstars, 2) Open Source, and 3) Slow & Steady Small Team. It's a great read and if you are building teams, it's a must.

Old School Pepsi Ad

Great, old ad.

One More from MJ

I remember watching this version of MJ's Man in the Mirror when I was a kid. What a great song. Cheers MJ.

via Frangry (who is hilarious and is a good Reader add).

Friday Chill Music (June 26, 2009)

We're saluting the King of Pop on Friday Chill Music. I always felt bad for MJ. I know he did some bad things in life but he was a sympathetic character warped by fame and his family. He'll be missed at Kenny Kellogg Headquarters where we regularly request MJ at every wedding we attend. Tip of the cap to you, MJ.

First up is Beat It. Unfortunately YouTube disabled embedding but click through for the awesome video.

Next is Thriller. This song was soooo big back in the day. Just amazing and so was the video. Reaching back in the memory machine, I remember when this song was played at the Golden Skate, my Friday night hangout in San Ramon from ages 10 - 13. The lights used to go off, the black lights turned on, and it was party time on roller skates for little Scotty. (A little trivia: I went by Scotty my whole life until I met Scotty Fausel sophomore year of college. He got the "Scotty" handle and I became "Orn.")

Third is Rock You. I've always loved this song. It's kind of sensitive but no apologies from me.

Fourth is Billy Jean. Perhaps the greatest beat of all time. A tour de force. One of the best songs of all time.

I'll end with one of my favorite Pearl Jam b-sides, All Those Yesterdays, from the Single Video Theory DVD. Seems oddly fitting for MJ...

Dont you think you oughtta rest? 
Dont you think you oughtta lay your head down? 
Dont you think you want to sleep
Dont you think you oughtta lay your head down tonight? 

Dont you think youve done enough? 
Oh, dont you think youve got enough, well maybe..
You dont think theres time to stop
Theres time enough for you to lay your head down, tonight, tonight

Let it wash away
All those yesterdays



Bonus points if you recognize that earlier this decade I drove the same kind of Volkswagen 1970 Fastback that Eddie pulls up in.

USA Soccer Dream Team

I played soccer from age 7 through 15 and really enjoyed the sport. However, basketball was my first love and the seasons conflicted once I got to high school so I quit playing soccer. I still love the game though and watch games on ESPN a lot. I was really happy to see the USA team beat Spain, what a big win to beat the #1 team in the world.

I love to play "What if" with soccer because in the U.S., our best athletes play hoops, football and baseball. They never get introduced early in life or they quit like I did when they are teenagers. What if soccer was our national sport? What would our lineup look like? Here's my hypothetical USA Soccer Dream Team.

Goalie - Tori Hunter - MLB Outfielder - Amazing hands, speed & quickness and anticipates the ball perfectly.

Sweeper - Lebron James - Hoops Forward - Fastest 6'9' human ever created. Can swoop in and be physical when needed. No one would get by him. Great on headers from corner kicks.

Fullbacks - Carl Crawford & Matt Kemp- MLB Outfielder - Both are strong, skilled and incredibly fast. They're exceptional outfielders who can anticipate where the ball is going. Crawford could hang with the less physical forward from the other team and Kemp could take their big boy.

Stopper - Patrick Willis - NFL Middle Linebacker - Freakish speed and incredible strength. Used to reading the field and seeing a play develop. Sets a physical tone for the defense.

Center Midfielders - Baron Davis & Chris Paul- Hoops Point Guard - Incredibly strong and quick feet with explosive short bursts. Would control the center of the field.

Outside Midfielders - Allen Iverson & Rajon Rondo - Hoops Point Guard - Lean & can run forever. Good size and exceptional speed. Can burst up to support the strikers.

Forwards - Terrell Owers & Randy Moss - NFL Wide Receivers - Some of the fastest humans on earth and both go 6'3' to 6'5'. Would be deadly on free kick headers and could out run any defender for a free ball in the corner.

Who did I miss?

JibJab Creative Process

JibJab has put up a bunch of blog posts on the creative process behind the making of He's Barrack Obama. Really interesting stuff from the creation of the storyline to the graphic design. This is a great "how to" series and aspiring creative type should read through it.

Full disclosure: I have a professional relationship with JibJab.

Mad Men Tidbits

Great interview of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner by Melissa Maerz in Rolling Stone. Mad Men is my favorite show and I can't wait for it to come back on. Weiner is amazing.

Thanks to Alex Bain for the link.