News of the Day 7/1/2009

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Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Was the US debt problem caused by trying to keep up with the effects of wealth concentration?  An analysis of a much headier read.  If the author's information bears out, some social shifts will be needed.

Anime:
Crunchyroll gets yet another simulcast.  We haven't had any Crunchynews, and they just keep going – and no rivals so far.  I'm wondering when even more VC gets poured into them because they know what they're doing.  I saw this as a user.

Publishing:
Ganett lays off 1400 people – 3% of their workforce.  It's been relatively stable on the news/publishing scene lately, so not sure if this means a new wave or if it's an isolated incident.

Social Media:
A look at how social media maps to communications.  A heady read.  Take it slow, but it makes some good points.

Facebook makes some changes to privacy and settings – and some twitterlike additions.  Facebook seems to be continually evolving, and this appears to be done to make communication – and indexing – easier.  Note that with vanity URLs, etc. Facebook seems more than glad to take cues from other social media, which may explain their success – but also suggests what is the norm in social media . . .

Technology:
In two years iPhone startups have gotten $100 million from Investors.  Exciting, but remember some of this is probably only a few million for some companies.

Television:
SyFy may remake the Alien Nation TV series.  I was a fan of the series before the movies, very well acted and well done.  A remake makes me wonder what else is being considered for remake on the smallscreen – or the internet.  Even more remakes on the way since they're safe?  Is that good or bad for media careers?

Video:
Hulu is working on it's UK launch.  They'll be even more relevant when they get this – so where's the inevitable rival?  Their competition seems to not be doing too hot.  Now where will their jobs be . . .

As Hulu marches on, here's a great analysis of what went wrong with Joost.  A great acutionary tale.

– Steven Savage

What level are your career issues really on?

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So you're not happy with your job.  You know it.  Maybe your whole career isn't working out.

Usually, you're pretty sure what it is – your boss, the position, the company.  However I'd stand back a second and ask yourself this:

Are you sure of just what you're dissatisfied with?

I often find people are dissatisfied with their job on a different "level" than they expect.  They may be happy in a particular industry, but not like the position – but have soured on the industry they work in.  They may dislike an industry and figure it's the position.  They may even dislike a particular technology they have to use.

It's too easy to get our levels of dissatisfaction mixed up.  A small thing can make us dislike an otherwise ideal job, we can do the ideal job in an industry we dislike, etc.

This is a complicated issue, but one I think is important – especially in geeky jobs where we assume we'll love everything about our career.  Dissatisfaction's origin is not always obvious, and possibly isn't at the same "level" we think it is.

So if you're not happy, ask yourself if you're sure why you're not happy.  You may be looking too high or too low, and miss what's right in front of your face.

– Steven Savage

News of the Day 6/30/2009

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Career:
Use Venture Capital websites to direct your jobsearch? An interesting suggestion from Jason Alba. I'd also note that places like www.startuply.com, www.ventureloop.com, etc. can help.

Things may be tough economically – considered an apprenticeship?

Networking is still the way to go for job searches – So says Dan Schawbel's latest research. Odd note here – craigslist also stands out. Worth a good read.

Economics/Freakonomics/Geekonomics:
Home prices still falling – and should for awhile – As long as this is occurring, it's going to have an impact, even once the worst is over, we can probably expect a continuing decline – and it's effects on the economy. Put it simply, I wouldn't want to be in real estate or home construction for the next three years – and all of us will feel it.

And a dose of Freakonomics: Companies have gained in productivity over the years, but squandered gains competing. Companies in short need to radically rethinkin their approaches in a changed world. This comes from an interesting study I'm going to need to read – more here.

Anime/Manga:
Second Evangelion remake film does huge in Japan – even better than the first. Wondering if it'll get brought over to NA and what the imapct will be – considering I STILL see NGE merchandise everywhere, I imagine there's a market for it. Could provide a minor stimulus to the anime market over here.

Technology:
Adobe is shutting down North American operations for a week and will probably do this again in the future. That's a big ouch there, and a bit surprising considering how well I'd EXPECT them to be doing. Considering their marketshare in many spaces I'm wondering why they deem this neccessary, and want to know more. For those of you sending resumes, I'd remove Adobe from any of your top-tier companies to work for until we have a better idea of what's going on.

iPhone/Kindle/Netbook replacement/envy alert: Dell is working on a portable web device. This is big as Dell has reach and momentum and a reasonable reputation. It sounds like the gizmo is a simple portable browser – running Fan To Pro Crush OS Android. Pricing could be a pain to compete with the iPhone line, but Android makes it cheaper, and I can EASILY see this also being a Kindle-competitor (or running it . . .). This could also herald something between Smartphones and Netbooks. Keep an eye out.

Sony jumps into the licensed product market for peripherals – for the Playstation products. Nothing may come of this, but it gives them a chance to leverage other companies ideas to get more things to do WITH their systems (and the PS2? Still?). With the idea of the Sony Phone or PSP phone, the Go being open to non-game apps, it seems they're trying to throw their market wide open and tell developers "go for it." More barreling through and throw-it-all against the wall strategy, but then again that may just work for them – and it may unsettle potential rivals. There's also a prediction Sony will displace Microsoft in the console wars in 2015, but that's so far away I consider the prediction laughable.

Video:
Joost is cutting staff and re-inventing itself as a kind of technology/portal/provider
in what sounds like a move to eventually be a technical platform and
probably a sale. May I suggest NOT sending them a resume in the near
future?

Hulu owns 10% of the online video ad market
– which is impressive, but not so much in the scheme of all video/TV ad
sales. It's not going to replace the losses of TV ads that's for sure.
Hulu isn't beating the big boys, but that's a respectable chunk of
money.

Video Games:
X-box adding rich media, Silverlight ads to X-box – Not sure how well this will go over (and I have my doubts on Silverlight). X-Box seems to be doing well, but going WAY over-commercial very fast. That's a potential disadvantage depending on how they handle it.

Used game sales number 100 million annually in the US and apparently has little to no negative impact on new game sales (and may assist it). Though I expect DLC will kill off used game sales, it's interesting to note the DLC change could bollix up marketing, impulse buys,etc.

Now-purchased ID is gearing up for a new project – Not sure they have the same celebrety glow about them, but I wouldn't mind seeing more Hexen (a very underrated series of fantasy actioners). Maybe they can buy the rights to Duke Nukem Forver and achieve a near-undreamed of burst of free marketing? I am NOT joking here . . . anyway, keep an eye on this, see how their brand helps or hurts them.

– Steven Savage