chroma

Managed Scarcity

Great post from Grant McCracken, on the genius of Netflix.  Highlights have been added, because these are exactly the issues that always puzzle me in regards to nearly unlimited access of digital content, value and meaning creation.

mostly the power of Netflix comes from it's creation of "access constrained by interval" and the recreation of a kind of scarcity (a "managed scarcity").  With Netflix, I have access to just about all the movies in the world.  But, given my subscription model,  they come to me only 2 at a time. 

Two movies are not a lot.  In a world of nearly limitless access, this should be irksome.  But it ain't, of course, because these are almost always exactly the movies that interest me.  Two movies has a deeper virtue.  "Two movies" is an elimination of all the movies that might otherwise bid for my attention, damaging my sense of value and, God knows, even my identity formation.  (And there's been quite enough of that, already.)

The fulfillment model is especially clever.  I can speed up the interval at which I receive new movies.  I do so merely by returning the old ones.  This is an interval I do not choose or need to dwell upon.  It is set in train naturally when I finish watching my present movies.  In effect, I am setting my own wave.  I am managing access.  I am mediating plenty in a post-scarcity world.  I am, to this extent, restoring a sense of value.  (The Tarantino picture I own outright on DVD may be diminished by its ubiguity.  The same picture come to me from Netflix is precious because it's engagement, as we used to say, is limited.)

Reasonable Interview

Douglas Rushkoff's new book, coming out mid-December according to Amazon, stresses the need for companies to focus less on branding and more on their own products.  Peep this short interview from Being Reasonable's Marc E. Babej.

(thanks Ernie, for the tip)

Link Quad

Audio branding: Leo Burnett's resident artist project.

Take some time to read through Mark Cuban's post on the future of TV (via creativegeneralist)

Advice from rich people: Business 2.0 "My Golden Rule" article (via randomculture)

Ads soon searchable with TiVo (?)

Makes Sense?

This is the first I've heard of the MIT artificial intelligence project, Open Mind Common Sense, so I'm not sure how long it has been around.  Pretty mind-blowing stuff!

Computers today are just plain dumb! The Open Mind Commonsense project is an attempt to make computers smarter by making it easy and fun for people all over the world to work together to give computers the millions of pieces of ordinary knowledge that constitute "common-sense", all those aspects of the world that we all understand so well we take them for granted. This repository of knowledge will enable us to create more intelligent and sociable software, build human-like robots, and better understand the structure our own minds. We hope you will join us by registering below!

Links Left Over

One of the best online games we've seen, for Virgin Digital

Jupiter: Young people have "little idea of music as a paid commodity"

Brats!

Google: What you get for 400 bucks a share

Where's the Bling at?

Not long ago, certain words from the "urban vernacular" would remain there, and you could have been sure that they would never show up on, say, an abstinence billboard in Iowa.  (via adrants)

Bad Breath

Might this be one of the silliest inventions you have ever seen? It comes pretty close.

Everyone is born with it. A desire to be near the ones we care about most. And we find ways to remember them when they're away. A lock of hair. Letters. An old photo. And now there's Breath Capture™. Capture the breath of a loved one or friend and keep them close. Forever

Sky Is Falling In Hollywood

It's a little sadistic, but I can't get enough of these mass-culture-is-falling-apart articles appearing in all the major newspapers with increasing frequency.  It probably has everything to do with all the years I've spent in the independent music scene.

Here, the LA Times looks at some of the economic and cultural factors at play in the alarming drop in movie attendance.

era of moviegoing as a mass audience ritual is slowly but inexorably drawing to a close, eroded by many of the same forces that have eviscerated the music industry, decimated network TV and, yes, are clobbering the newspaper business. Put simply, an explosion of new technology — the Internet, DVDs, video games, downloading, cellphones and iPods — now offers more compelling diversion than 90% of the movies in theaters, the exceptions being "Harry Potter"-style must-see events or the occasional youth-oriented comedy or thriller.

Anywhere you look, the news has been grim. Disney just reported a $313-million loss for films and DVDs in its fiscal fourth quarter. Sony has had a disastrous year, with only one $100-million hit ("Hitch") among a string of costly flops. DreamWorks not only has had theatrical duds but also saw its stock plummet when its "Shrek 2" DVD sales fell 5 million short of expectations. Even Warners, the industry's best-run studio, laid off 400 staffers earlier this month.

Although the media have focused on the economic issues behind this slump, the problem is cultural too. It's become cool to dismiss movies as awful. Wherever I go, teenagers say, with chillingly casual adolescent contempt, that movies suck and cost too much — the same stance they took about CDs when the music business went into free fall. When MPAA chief Dan Glickman goes to colleges, preaching his anti-piracy gospel, kids hiss, telling him his efforts don't help the public, only a few rich media giants. Say what you will about their logic, but, as anyone in the music business can attest, those sneers are the deadly sign of a truly disgruntled consumer. (continue reading)

Rejected iPod Engravings

(via methodshop.com)

Customized iPod engravings are pretty cool, but seeing what you can get away with is where the fun is.

Smart Park

What floor did we park on again?

Incredible spiral parking garage, from Smart P.

Just one of many amazing, inspirational designs and ideas on the awesome wemakemoneynotart weblog.