Saturday
Feb162008
Content is king and why 2008 is the year of HD......
Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 4:42PM Further to my last post on the Apple TV, I thought I'd best explain the comment I made..
After only spending a hour in front of the Apple TV Take 2 it made me re-assess my own content and make a major strategic change in my approach, but perhaps I'll leave that for another post!So this is that other post! I have to admit that I was pretty blown away by the potential sea change brought about by the Apple TV Take 2. Podcasts simply become additional "on demand" services that can be viewed simply by clicking on a few buttons and watching the content streamed effortlessly into your living room. What I quickly realised was that my current "free" versions of the ScreenCastsOnline tutorials, were not really optimised to take advantage of the benefits that this great new platform could offer. Some history first...... Basically, I've been using the availability of HD content of the tutorials I produce as a differentiator between the free service I offer and the paid membership service or ScreenCastsOnline Extra!. For those that don't know, I make my living as a full time podcaster and I'm reliant on providing a premium service to earn the money to pay the bills. Initially, I decided that HD content was a big plus for members and used that as a primary element with which to "entice" people across to the paid membership scheme. I've been producing HD content for 18 months and the bulk of the back catalogue (over 140+ tutorials) has always been available in HD format (1280x720). The split between the free and premium content was initially 3:1 i.e. 3 free shows in low resolution each month and 1 member only show, but the member only shows were all in HD. After various conversations and surveys, it became apparent that the HD format was not the primary reason that people signed up as members, the primary reason was to get the additional premium content. Yes, they enjoyed the HD format and it made the show so much easier and clearer to watch but it wasn't the deciding factor. So a few months ago, I change the ratio of free to premium to 1:1 i.e. alternate free and member only shows each week, but again, the free content was only in low resolution but members get everything in HD. So now the dilemma is that the low resolution free content looks awful on the Apple TV. If you have an Apple TV, you have a HDTV, period. Apple have restricted the use of the Apple TV to only work on HDTVs and have now released iTunes Movies in HD and are actively promoting HD podcasts, both on the iTunes store (via the Apple TV) and even by Steve Jobs himself in this years keynote. 2008 is the year of HD!
The resolution to my dilemma is simple....from this week, I'm releasing all new free content in HD and re-branding the show as ScreenCastsOnline HD. I've also released the past few free shows and Trailers for 2008 in HD also. So now if your a current subscriber to my free feed, you'll receive HD content as standard every week. If you really want iPod or iPhone compatible versions, I've created a new free feed to get the iPod/iphone version.
So will this major change impact the current ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members or stop new members signing up? I don't think (hope!) so:
- Extra! Members still get twice as many full shows than the free content
- Extra! Members still get access to all the previous shows in HD, the free HD content is only from 2008 onwards.
- Extra! Members also get access to:
- special full resolution HD version (the free HD version has built in overscan bars to guarantee that they will display correctly on HDTVs with overscan)
- a HD overscan version (from Jan 2008)
- a 960x540 version of every show
- plus an ipod/iphone version of every show
So from this weeks episode, the free feed will have the new HD content starting with a free show all about Apples update to Leopard 10.5.2 plus a tutorial on using Spaces in Leopard.
Now I had planned on changing the look and feel of the show (along with the sound!) and fortuitously, I'd arranged to have a new theme tune commissioned by Geoff Smith before Macworld. I've been holding on to this whilst I tried to learn a bit more about Motion and create some new opening and closing credits. The move to all HD gave me the required kick up the pants so this week has seen some long days and nights putting the new show format together.
I hope you like it!
Technorati Tags: Apple TV, Apple, Podcasting
So Apple TV Take 2 is now amongst us with the first updates being delivered to Apple TVs yesterday evening. The update was pretty painless albeit a little lengthy with a couple of reboots and then bingo! Straight into a gorgeous new opening animation.
Of course, being in the UK, I wasn't able to check out the movie rental experience but relying as I do on my podcast for a living, I headed straight over to the Podcast section to check things out.
Oh my God!
This changes everything!
I'll own up to be a bit perplexed during the Steve Jobs keynote as to why so much emphasis was placed on Podcasting as why so much of Apple TV segment was devoted on pushing HD podcasts. Yes, of course I know how cool they are but even as a podcast producer, I was surprised and somewhat relieved that Apple still made Podcasts a big deal.
Now I know why.
Apple TV Take 2 removes the need for the convoluted and confusing "subscription" mechanism for accessing podcast content.
Apple TV Take 2 transforms podcasting into an on demand streaming content delivery service in one fell swoop - literally overnight.
Apple TV Take 2 wraps a simple, colourful browser interface around the podcast content making it super easy to just browse and view.
Apple TV Take 2 organises podcasts into genres for easy selection and provides guidance to show you similar podcasts that other people have watched when you select a podcaast.
Apple TV Take 2 gives you access to podcasts by network provider "legitimising" podcasts and giving yet another way of accessing mainstream or repurposed content
Yes you can subscribe to your favourite podcasts if you want but Apple TV Take 2 has just turned into a new type of "cable" set top box with unlimited channels for every type of content imaginable.
This is huge for the independent content producer, absolutely and undeniably huge.
After only spending a hour in front of the Apple TV Take 2 it made me re-assess my own content and make a major strategic change in my approach, but perhaps I'll leave that for another post!
So podcasts are a very big deal now and Apple gets it, they get it big time.
So will the Apple TV Take 2 be a hit? There's still a lot of education and marketing required by Apple to push the benefits out to the average punter. The movie rental and integration with Flickr etc will probably be the means by which the device gets into most homes, but once there, once people start to browse the rich seam of independent content available via the podcast channels on the Apple TV - wow!
All we need now is for the independent content producers to up their game and start producing consistently high quality shows.
If you thought Podcasts were cool before, Apple TV Take 2 has just raised the bar and could be a major turning point for independent content producers.
Exciting times ahead!
One of the great things about going to Macworld is meeting up with all the other Mac podcasters.
This year, Adam Christianson from the Maccast arranged another Mac Podcasters Meetup, the second of what hopefully will be an annual event. It's basically a panel of Mac Podcasters discussing the current state of the Podcasting Industry with an open mic for contributions from the audience and other podcasters.
Although not on the panel (perhaps next year!) I did get invited to participate on the subject of monetisation, being one of the few podcasters doing it for a living.
If you want to take a listen you can find the podcast of the discussion 
Bill Palmer over at iProng Radio has now published the inaugural December edition of iProng Magazine. You may remember I did an article for the mag covering the iPhone launch in the UK which subsequently was published on the iProng site.
Even though you may have read the article, there's plenty more good stuff in there!
Download a copy from here
I'm delighted to announce the launch of a new mac media group - 