Unlike many, I think the Apple iPad will be a revolutionary product.
As I said in my summary on the iPad on it’s announcement, I think it will change the way many people / organisations function. Here’s a wonderful (and very cool) example – putting a DJ mixing desk into an iPad, the iPad Mixr DJ App. This App is bloody lovely, and if they give me a free copy, I’d happily review it on an iPad (when I get one).
To think that instead of carting milk crates and heavy equipment around, DJs will now be able to turn up to gigs with just their iPads and headphones, and play sets from there. Nice.
Looking at it from another perspective – it’s another great example of a technology undermining the current business. In the same way emails have undermined Australia Post, the way digital cameras have undermined Kodak, the way that Skype is undermining business travel, this app may well undermine Technics, Vestax, Pioneer and other manufacturers of DJ equipment. What these manufacturers should do is create high quality apps of their own, bringing in their experience and customer base and ensuring their relevance within this changing environment.
Here’s a ranting list – a collection of my highlights for 2009, in no particular order or sequence. As my friend Martin Reid said of 2009: “CTRL-ALT-DELETE”. I won’t go that far, but it did have it’s share of shitful periods, on a global and personal level. However, these are the things that inspired and motivated me over the year.
Song – RAED’s ‘Gotta Love This City’ – the funniest, most incredibly strange thing I’ve ever seen.
Concert – Sound Relief. Incredible lineup and over $8m raised for Bushfire Relief.
Laugh – Miles Munn @ Rob’s 21st, The¬†Trixie on Frappe Show, other random stuff that just made me laugh every day…
Meal – Taramosalata at Hellenic Republic. It’s the best I’ve EVER eaten by far.
Night out – Canberra, cold August Friday night on the town with Al. Who would have thought Canberra had so much to offer after dark?
Movie – The Hangover. Should win “Best Picture” at the Academy Awards.
Idea – Take advantage of ridiculously cheap flights to Europe. Did I actually do it? No. Proving the point that an idea isn’t worth shit unless you put effort into it.
Rediscovery – Michael Jackson’s incredibly rich, wonderful and brilliant career.
Word – SHAMON! A close second was “Totes”. As in, “totally”. As in, “Are you going to see The Hangover?” “Totes”. Preferably spelt with a lower case “t”, “totes”, if in written form, eg: when affirming a Facebook status update.
Expression – A toss up between “Hells yeah” and “Loves it”. Redundant plurals really were big in 2009.
TV Show – Chamone! Mo’fo Selecta – A Tribute to Michael Jackson, followed by Entourage, and others: 30 Rock and V 2009.
Cool thing – So many to choose from, but this would be up there: a machine that makes floating smiley faces – Happy Clouds – out of bubbles.
Website – Facebook. It gets better and better.
Clever, witty thing – Daniel Kitson’s show: “We Are Gathered Here“. I haven’t missed one of his shows in 8 years, and I don’t intend to – ever. He owns this category.
Purchase – my iPhone, PlayStation 3 and Piaggio MP3 250
iPhone App – Wunderradio or Evernote or Ustream Broadcaster
Geeky achievement – Three #1 trending topics on Twitter. #soundrelief, and also #heyhey & #plucka when I was working on the Hey Hey Reunion shows.
Feeling – Sound Relief – Towards the end of the night, Ant Hampel and I were sitting in the Red Cross box at the ‘G, watching Split Enz belt out “Message to My Girl”, having played a major role in putting together the gig, thinking, “we did a very good thing”. Closely followed by five babies being born into my immediate friendship group – very cool.
Person – The Victorian CFA. Incredible work from these great people under the most horrific of circumstances, and no assistance at all from the inept Victorian Government / DSE (referred to by the CFA as the “Department of Scorched Earth”). A difficult one recognising a single person who has done more than any other to impress this year – but I’ve got to nominate Simon Prestigiacomo, Collingwood’s veteran full back. Despite the fact that a number of us created a Facebook Fan Page advocating his selection, he was ignored by the AFL All-Australian Selectors (again), Prestigiacomo was brilliant at full back this year for the Mighty Magpies.
These kooky Germans attached banner ads to flies, and set them free in the giant Frankfurt convention centre. ¬†It’s brilliant, and very worthy of notice and talkability. ¬†God knows what they were advertising (If I knew, I’d buy it), but the whole idea of making something so ordinary so utterly brilliant… ¬†It’s worthy of praise. ¬†Check out the video:
Ustream is a live streaming service, where anyone can stream footage, video, audio and archival footage live on the web to potentially millions of people.  All for free.
It provides one of the easiest and cheapest tools for anyone or any company to become a media company.  Live speeches from political candidates, presentations at company AGMs, live streaming of a wedding for friends and family around the world, you name it.
BTW, “This is It” is a completely brilliant film / concert. ¬†You must experience it.
I hate fake fashion almost as much as I hate cheats. Check out this fantastic video from Behavioural Economist, Professor Dan Ariely, that proves a direct correlation between the two. ¬†He conducted some research that proved people who wear fakes are more likely to be cheats, and to think of others around them as cheats. ¬†Generally, these “fake fashionistas” are people of a lower moral standard.
He’s done an Augmented Reality film clip – you hold up the John Mayer Icon (Download it here: http://www.johnmayer.com/ar/JM_Battle_Studies_Icon.pdf), and then you appear in his film clip, holding up the set of the clip.
An augmented reality application like might help:
Increase (reward) sales (if you held up the CD or some tangible product)
Customisation – every person has their own unique experience.
Making your brand pretty cool by telling your story or displaying your content in a cool way (even if it is John Mayer).
How sick are we of telling another website what our name and details are?
How sick are we of remembering our various passwords?
How sick are we of having to make decisions ‚Äì and the risk that it might not be the right one? We‚Äôre the options generation, the people that have grown up in such a period of change that we‚Äôre afraid of making commitments in case the commitment takes us down a path that is made redundant or is superseded, or just boring. ¬†HEY, there’s something new here or something better, why didn’t I recognise this earlier?!
How many abandoned blogs MySpace pages and Twitter accounts are there in the world? How many ex’s? How many old toys? How many false starts? How many career changes?
I guess the key is learning how to make a single decision well – so that you may never have to make that decision again. You’ve decided correctly.
Seth Godin talks about the stress of choosing Apples. ¬†They’re just apples. ¬†They’ll be eaten in a minute. Why should it be so hard?
a blog by Con Frantzeskos about all things FUTURE, FREEDOM, FUN and FOOTY, encompassing: Digital Media, Marketing, Trends, Music, Culture, Entertainment, Politics, Business and Liberalism.
...and sport, particularly Collingwood!
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