The case for context

These terms I’ve been using – “intellectual framework,” “systemic information,” etc. – this is what I mean when I say “context.” I’ve pitched you on the consumer benefits of context, but information creators are also slowly beginning to come around to the long-term ROI of delivering context as well, for several reasons. For one thing, our information becomes much more valuable and much more desirable to you as your framework for understanding it becomes better. Jay Rosen has astutely noted the uptick in attention to financial crisis stories after This American Life’s Giant Pool of Money episode laid out the context of the crisis. For another thing, the success of Wikipedia and the enduring popularity of items like “The Ultimate Guide to Everything You Need to Know About Social Media” has taught us there’s a real market for context. There are also significant advertising benefits to having more sophisticated structures for information than “latest updates.” We could dwell on the “why” for a long time.

if you’re in austin - put down your phone, stop stalking that girl you saw at the bar and go to matt’s panel.

The Newsonomics of time-on-site

$3.42 vs 10 cents. The Times is monetizing its time on site 34 times better than Facebook.

definitely click-through to this.  social networks are blowing news sites out of the water in terms of time spent on site but, it seems, aren’t doing a fantastic job monetizing it.

An Ongoing Lack of Imagination in Pricing (of Digital Content)

debbiestier:

maggiehilliard:

Interesting post about lack of creativity in digital pricing from Albert Wenger.

continuations:

…

Yet despite such clear examples, Amazon, Apple, the New York Times, book publishers, etc all seem stuck on essentially the one price model.  Can we please have some more imagination in pricing?  It is time to start creating offers that let readers self select based on how much they value specific content.  How would this work?  In the case of the New York Times here is just one of many possible examples.  Put on a weekly series speaker series and make priority access to limited tickets / limited realtime online viewing spots part of a higher priced subscription.

please click-through and read the whole piece.  i highlighted the portion that rang true.

the web in general is struggling with the economics behind its real currency - original thoughts, ideas and content.  i’m interested to see how boxee’s plans pan-out.  they’re letting it ride vs. the establishment and i’m sort of glad about that.  the “establishment” has been making subtle attempts like this for years but now is the time to just make the gross change.  move forward and innovate, let everyone else catch-up.  fear is big right now (understandable).  you don’t want to piss off the “audience” or lose them.  fine.  but while they’re looking to you for content they’re also trusting in you to move the needle.  it’s an unspoken thread that rumbles across the web - if you’re in the position to “do it” and you’re not, what’s the point?

for generations, content pricing had the luxury of it’s delivery factoring into cost.  now it doesn’t.  advancing technology has allowed us to fully focus on the actual value of something and it’s why everyone is freaking out.  paying too much for stuff that doesn’t deserve it while paying too little for the stuff that does.

i’m a proponent of on-demand streaming access.  sure, “downloading” as an act that keeps a local copy of content available is predominant but that’s only b/c - in the USA - our peer-to-peer tech and bandwidth lags severely.  i’m convinced apple bought lala because of their biz model and tech combo.  it’s a service that saw the media future and had creative, scaled pricing.  i can spend to purchase/own something all-out but i’d also adopt the cost of caring for it (which I don’t want anymore - I have no need to be a slave to external hard drives).  OR, i can pay to simply have access to it.  it stays in one place.  i can use it and leave it there when i want.

that’s just enough.

The future of the Twin Cities media ecosystem

I would love it very much if we stopped talking about the content we provide and begin talking about the value we provide. What I mean by this is that the pieces of content that compose our media – our articles, our broadcasts, our images – have never been what we got paid for. What that content delivered over time – understanding, expertise, perspective, entertainment, and yes, eyeballs – these things are what have been the foundation of the media’s support.

if you read this here web site, you’ve surely realized that i’m a broken record when it comes to the content & value sentiment.  also, linking to matt in general.

anyway, click-through to read the whole post.  it’s his transcript from a keynote.  moreover, it’s a great case study documenting collapse via gluttony and restoration via focused curation.

in other words, stop the mindless churn and start giving a shit.  FOCUS people.  focus on what you’re doing, what you’re consuming, how you’re thinking about it (you are doing that aren’t you?) and why it might matter to someone else.  most importantly, why it won’t.