Veoh is gone, Chinese comics are on the rise while American comics may not get so bright, and Books are making cash on the iPhone. You've got a geeky job urge, and I've got the news you need!
Careers:
How recruiting is going to change. Notes that jobs care changing as well, so old ideas of thinking of them don't work.
Economics/Geekonomics:
How often should we expect an economic crisis? Quite often, says the data. 'Well we need to fix that' says I. A look at meltdowns since the 70's, and some discussion. I actually think people are casual about economic meltdowns – which is a bad thing to be.
Regional:
New Jersey in state of fiscal emergency. As a California, let me say, 'welcome to the club.' Anyway NJ is getting spending freezes, which may sound great (and necessary or unavoidable), but as rarely help with recovery in an economic crisis. If you're thinking of relocating to New Jersey, keep this in mind. And if you think moving to New Jersey is a joke, there's actually a lot of great places to live and great businesses that are geeky – I nearly ended up there instead of California. Yeah, exactly.
(By the way, I'm trying out a new 'Regional' section to note regional news relevant to the lives, careers, and economic well-being progeeks, profans, and protaku).
Art:
5 free tools to make a portfolio. Artists, you know what to do.
Comics:
OK DC's 'Brightest Day' and Marvel's 'Heroic Age' may Not be so bright and heroic. Or this is backside-covering to deal with fans who like grim n' gritty. Not sure. I take it as a sign comics are still figuring out a direction if anything. I also question if, in tough times, people are up for a lot of grim n' gritty.
You've got Manga and Manhwa, well there's also Chinese Manhua from China. With my interest in Chinese historic, I may have to check these out. So now we have media product from 3 companies in Asia entering the US market – providing more competition, more inspiration, and changes to the demographics of media consumption. I wonder if China's government will twig onto the market potential and encourage more of this.
Media:
Veoh Shuts Down – It laid everyone off and shut down. Thus what was once a very promising company – you remember us going on about it here – is gone. A lawsuit with Universal certainly didn't help, and the CEO blames it for some of their problems. I don't think there will be huge impacts in the market as Veoh's issues were a given – it was what would happen to them that was the question. This also brings up the question – what will be done with all those videos – something for you Geek Law types to watch.
On the subject of Veoh, a look at just how many Venture Capitalists blew it in online video and why.
Publishing:
Books outstrip games in paid downloads for the iPhone – And are nearly equal in number. The book availability also means more iPhone apps are now paid for than free. Good news for books – and making money at books for that matter.
Video Games:
Video game sales fell 13 percent in January. More statistics after the link. Nothing overly shocking really – though perhaps a bit depressing.
Matthew Burns of Shadegrown Games discusses his career history in a multipart work. Go on and tune in and find out about his experiences, you know you want to . . .
Finally, if you're in silicon valley, visit the Weird Stuff Warehouse.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Can China capitalize on North America's interest in Asian culture effectively?
– Steven Savage