Media

Virtual Stars Part 1: An Analysis of Viability

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(I've noticed talks about the Vocaloid Concerts echoing around the internet, and wanted to address the idea behind virtual stars in more detail.  Seriously, when you see a post on it at an econoblog, you know it's time to comment.)

If you pay attention to the news, you'll see occasional discussion about Virtual Stars, completely manufactured media people.  The ones I see talked about are mostly in Japan, such as Kyoko Date back in the late 90's, or the prominent Vocaloid phenomena today.  These creations ventures often seem to be a cultural curiosity (especially outside of Japan), an oddity, or something out of a bad anime or science fiction film.  I think there's something useful in the virtual idol/virtual star concept that I want to explore as worthy of actual consideration as a viable commercial exercise

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Do I HAVE to Be A ‘Personality’?

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I recall when I was first called an "Internet Personality."  It was at a convention, and that was how I was described in the program booklet. That was quite a few years ago, and it seems that over time in the age of the internet, megamedia, and 24-hour news cycles the world is filled with "personalities."

Personalities are everywhere.  News personalities.  Internet personalities.  Writers are personalities.  Colorful local personalities.  It seems some of the most successful (or at least famous) people we know are, well . . . personalities.

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Reboots, Remakes, and The Total Tolerance of The Public

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A new Superman movie.  A new Spiderman movie.  New Star Trek.  Reboots and remakes raining down rapidly on us in a seemingly endless procession of "let's do it over again."

Now I'm not necessarily against remakes.  I find them appropriate at some times, and at other times at least intriguing – seeing how material is handled by different people.  But it seems like we're really getting swamped in start-it-over stuff as of late.  This led me to a question.

"What are the limits on remakes?  How many years can you go between remakes?  How many times can you remake something?  In short, when does this not become profitable and accepted and just becomes a joke or worse?"

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