Tuesday, March 26, 2013

HBO GO: Considering a new business model

I posted recently that HBO needs to re-consider its business model to offer HBO GO as a separate service. People are more frequently parting ways with traditional cable service, as a way to cut costs and find alternative sources for their media. I'm glad to have come across an article that states the CEO at HBO is considering this idea. It might not be a definite, but it it does send signals that the company is listening to their customers, or future ones for that matter.

The website and app still isn't offered  in Canada, but changing a business model for American customers means changing the business model for Canadians - whenever Canadian consumers will have access to it.

Companies hopefully learned that there is a real threat of becoming dated and obscure when it comes to technology and services. Netflix buried Blockbuster. There is a real threat of piracy undermining the development of some really great programs on HBO. At the same time HBO has to be flexible with its customers, and realizing that people just aren't purchasing traditional cable services that limit the customers ability to watch media on various devices will continue to push people away.

Check out the blog for further information;
http://www.cultofmac.com/220872/hbo-ceo-says-access-to-hbo-go-app-may-expand-to-cord-cutters/

Monday, March 25, 2013

Blogging: Money Maker?

I made money today off of this blog. A total of 97 cents.

That's 97 cents, that's one donut my body doesn't need. Even though I seem excited about making a ridiculous small amount of money online, I never thought I'd get a nickel out of Google. I think I'm more surprised than excited really.

Realistically the optimal time to make money in blogging was back in early 2000's, when people like Darren Rowse were quote, "in the right place at the right time". I feel like I just got into a bar and it's last call.

I have no illusions that my Blog will ever make more than a handful of donuts, but frankly I'm okay with this. As Rowese puts it "reality is between these two extremes" referring to a small minority of people who make blogging a career, and everyone else.

This concept is not much unlike YouTube, as for every Ray William Johnson (I hate that guys show) there's a million nobodies. The market of bloggers and YouTubers is extremely over saturated. It reminds me of my graduation ceremony in late 2007, when my professors eagerly tried to paint a positive spin on the job market and recession. Saying that as creative, and capable journalists the market was not dying but evolving into new areas of growth. Thus the responsibility was on us as recent grads to create work for ourselves. That to me was like telling someone to go to Hollywood and try their shot at being an actor. For every person who was successful, there's entire cities of people who failed. That's why this is something I do for personal enjoyment.

Below is a link to the post about making money blogging, by Darren Rowse. It provides an interesting perspective from someone who actually turned this into an unlikely career.

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2012/11/28/can-you-really-make-money-blogging-7-things-i-know-about-making-money-from-blogging/

Below is a conversation I had about my "fat stack". 








Thursday, March 21, 2013

WIND Mobile: For Sale?

Recently some of my peers have commented on my previous blog, where I accuse WIND of providing an inconsistent service. Interestingly enough a couple days later, I read an article in the Toronto Star that stated "Wireless carrier Wind Mobile up for sale".

I recently spoke about an important role WIND has played in creating competition and forcing the Big 3 to loosen their grip on our wallets. However, I believe I was also fair in my criticisms of WIND and the service they provide. Some people may be asking themselves, well how can you support WIND but criticize them at the same time?

It's simple. For example, I think BlackBerry as a company is good for Canada, as it helps promote jobs and and a sector that provides growth to various communities and cities throughout Canada. Exporting technology is something all countries "should" strive for. However, would I ever personally go out and buy a BlackBerry? Probably not, as it's not my cup of tea. It's about separating personal and professional feelings. People need to recognize what's good for them as an individual, and what's good for all of us. WIND is a perfect example of this. WIND wasn't good for me as a service provider, but its existence is beneficial to all consumers in Canada.

With the sale of Wind Mobile, raises some interesting questions in regards to who is going to end up buying the mobile carrier. For all of our sakes, I hope the government and CRTC make it clear that the big 3 will have no part in the purchasing or joint ownership of Wind Mobile. After all WIND's existence is largely in part of the federal government trying to spark competition between the Big 3 mobile carriers by introducing a 4th carrier.

I hope WIND was two steps forward, instead of one step forward and one step backwards.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

WIND Mobile: Pay for What You Get


Buyer beware for anyone shopping around for a mobile provider. Low monthly fees, all inclusive packages including unlimited data, sounds too good to be true? On some level WIND is providing "some" of the service they claim to offer, but there's a lot more going on that the average person isn't aware of.

Fundamentally I want to support WIND for what they've tried to do, which Koodo/Telus was suppose to do but didn't - that was to create competition and lower prices for the average consumer. Rogers and Bell have long since been accused of price fixing and creating a modern monopoly in Canada's telecommunications.

WIND is running on its own network, meaning that they have their own towers which their network is based off of. WIND is constantly adding new areas of service, as they are focused on continuously expanding their network. It's important to understand that there's only four companies who have their own network, which is Rogers, Bell, Telus, and most recently WIND. There's companies such as Mobilicity, Koodo, Virgin, and many others that run off of these networks. This is important to mention as their is many companies, and few service providers.

To make it simple, WIND is still in its infancy phase. The towers provide significantly less coverage than that of Rogers and Bell - and of course they would, Rogers and Bell have had a twenty year start on them. There's plenty of areas that are technically "covered" by the WIND network but are actually "dead zones", where there is little to no coverage. My house is technically a "dead zone", as I constantly lose connection to the network and have pretty much given up on the idea of using my phone at home. On the flip side, some of my friends and colleagues have no problem getting a signal at their places of residence. It's hit or miss, and that to me speaks volume about the inconsistency of being a customer of WIND. Walmart is another place that is an impregnable fortress when it comes to getting a signal on WIND. I've been in various Walmarts but I am always incapable of getting a signal. Usually this means I have to manually re-connect to the network, this happens on almost a daily basis where I lose signal and have to manually search for the network and reconnect to it.

My conception of wireless phone plans were staunchly negative until I realized what truly a "tab" meant. Being on a tab sounds great on paper, you don't have to stay with the company if you don't want to, the monthly fees are generally lower, etc. I ran into a situation where my mobile phone malfunctioned two months out of warranty, so I took it back to WIND. They told me they could send it to Samsung but since it was out of warranty they would likely charge me around $100 to fix the phone, and since WIND only guaranteed me a one year warranty they weren't going to do much more than that. Realizing my phone was still worth several hundred dollars, I agreed. I got a call about a month later from WIND letting me know that Samsung came back with an estimate of $240 to fix a malfunctioning button. If I was on a contract with Rogers or Bell, they would have most likely nullified the plan and gave me a new phone - as long as I agreed to sign up for another 2 or 3 year contract from the point of me getting a new phone. After years of fighting the concept of mobile phone plans, I am beginning to see less of a problem with them. That is as long as the monthly fees are not outrageous. It's not like I'm going to wake up tomorrow and decide I don't need a phone.

I don't want to see WIND fail, but I also can't continue to justify paying a company money for a sub-par service - mainly because I hate their competitors. Hopefully most Canadians realize that when it comes to telecommunications we're getting screwed, hard.

 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Game of Thrones Season III

Season three of Game of Thrones is schedule to be released on March 31st. This highly anticipated show broke record download numbers last season, as it was most pirated show in 2012 - boasting numbers of over 4 million downloads for a single episode.

The affects of this is felt differently throughout the cast and crew. Some notable actors, such as Nicolaj Coster-Waldu who plays the character Jamie Lannister, was quoted during a BBC interview as saying "at the end of the day it's stealing" - noting that there was an initial part of him that was thrilled about the positive reception the show has had via online downloading.

One of the show's directors, David Petrarca noted that this "might not be a bad thing". Petrarca suggested that this may do more good than harm, as he was quoted during a panel discussion at the University of Western Australia by saying shows such as these survive on a "cultural buzz", and benefit from exposure, noting that "this is how they survive".

I applaud HBO for taking on big projects such as Game of Thrones, and I as a viewer realize the cost and scope of a production such as this. Each episode is a multiple-million dollar production. HBO had to previously cancel production of ROME, due to low viewership and extensive budget costs. Many people were opting to pirate the show, as opposed to purchasing an HBO subscription. I'm hoping this won't happen to Game of Thrones. Hopefully this also changes some minds at HBO in regards to giving up their "exclusive rights" to the show, and looking for creative ways to create revenue.

HBO GO is HBO's website and mobile 'app' that allows subscribers to view over 600 hours of content. Currently users in Canada who subscribe to the movie network or HBO do not have access to this service. An idea that has been suggested - one which I personally support is making HBO GO a service that can be purchased separately. This would mean a person would not have to purchase a TV subscription to HBO to receive HBO GO. Users who prefer to watch content online would pay for the service they use, and at the same time support television they actually want to watch. 

TOP THREE CHARACTERS TO WATCH THIS SEASON


Actor: Ciarán Hinds
Character: Mance Rayder

Bio: Most notably known for his role in HBO's Rome, as Julius Caesar. For those who never saw ROME, you may also recognize him from the movie Tinker Tailor Solider Spy. As an actor Hinds is capable of powerful emotional outbursts, and well delivered monologues. I didn't initially recognize Hinds in part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. However, after looking into Hinds acting background it turns out he played Aberforth, Albus Dumbledore's brother. In Game of Throne's Hinds takes on the role of Mance Rayder, a former member of the Nights Watch and the current "king-beyond-the-wall". Mance is clever, intellectual, and capable. Anyone who has read some of a Song of Ice and Fire can attest to the depth that went into creating this character. 



Actor: Tobias Menzies
Character: Edmure Tully

Bio: Tobias Menzies and Ciarán Hinds share several things in common, first that they are both from the United Kingdom. Secondly they both had major roles in HBO's Rome, as Menzies played Brutus - Caesar's most famous assassin. Since Rome Menzies had played various small roles in both television and film. In Game of Thrones Menzies will take on the role of Edmure Tully, son of Lord Hoster Tully. Edmure is currently inline to become Lord of Riverrun. Edmure is Catelyn Stark's younger brother. Edmure grew up with Petyr Baelish, as his family fostered the young Baelish. Edmure was the first to give Baelish the nickname "little finger".




Actor: Clive Russell
Character: Brynden "Blackfish" Tully

Bio: Clive Russel is another British actor, but I swear he wasn't in ROME. He's worked on various television shows mostly in the UK, including a brief stint on Coronation Street. This British actor is not known to many Canadian viewers, however his acting work in the UK has given him a reputation of being a talented, and well respected actor. Brynden, or Blackfish is an interesting character as he believes in honor and duty, but personal conflicts with his older brother Lord Hoster Tully have previously distanced him from his family. Blackfish plays a role in the first two books, assisting his nephew Robb Stark on his war council and commanding various battles.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Life of Pi - Thoughts on the Conclusion

I recently watched Ang Lee's adaptation of Yann Martel's Life of Pi. I was dazzled by the ingenuity and creativity of the filmmakers and crew that went into developing a film such as this.

Like most people, I began a discussion after watching the movie and hearing Pi present two plausible stories to the reporters about an account of what had happened during his journey. A quote that was used by Pi, "and so it goes with God", was used to present a case for believing or not believing. It challenges the viewer to make an act of faith.

My partner I watched the film with chose to believe that the story with the animals actually took place. After some reflection I chose to believe the opposite. I believe that the moment in which the spotted Hyena or Cook killed Pi's mother or Orangutan , Pi became the embodiment of the the Tiger. It was out of necessity that Pi took on characteristics of the Tiger, as a means of survival. Unfortunately this paints a darker picture of human nature, but I feel a more realistic one.

Richard Parker did save Pi's life, without Pi betraying some core-concepts he previously held (not eating fish or meat being one of most significant) Pi would have never survived. The monent where Richard Parker waits on the island in the boat was significant as he was telling Pi, "Life is more than just eating and surviving. Being here is existing in your basic form".

When Pi was found washed upon the shores of the Mexican coast, the Tiger leaves him. Saying goodbye to Richard after being together for over two-hundred days was extremely hard for Pi. This was because Pi relied on Tiger's strength and determination to survive. Richard leaves Pi, as Pi himself no longer needs Richard. I believe this movie is a psychological testament of our ability to create and manipulate reality for the purpose of self preservation and survival. I can only imagine the physical, emotional, and psychological hardships someone like Pi must have gone through to survive.