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Just as I was posting my last blog on Tuesday, Sony announced an “unauthorized person” was able to obtain user’s personal data, including login information and passwords, and possibly credit card information.  Users have been warned to be cautious of fradulant activity in their accounts, and to be on the lookout for scammers contacting them via email, telephone, or snail mail.

Unfortunately for me, I had previously used my primary debit card to purchase games via the PSN.  Admittedly, I have not canceled the account, but keep a very close eye on the activity daily.  I’m not sure if that is the best plan of action at the moment or not, but for now, I sense the hacker’s intention was to cause a disruption, rather than personally profit from this stunt.

On a positive note, I will be getting a 1 week credit on my Hulu Plus bill for the month.  $2 each back in the pockets of the good guys.  Tiny Victory.

It’s a growing battle: Discs vs. Downloads.

According to NPD entertainment research, discs are still ahead of the game when it comes to home media viewing — but it won’t stay that way forever. The days of physical media are limited. Stephen McGill from Microsoft even went so far as to say that “Blu-Ray is going to be passed by as a format. People have moved through from DVDs to digital downloads and digital streaming…. So, who needs Blu-ray?”

Kaz Hirai from Sony says, “To think everything will be downloaded in two years, three years or even ten years from now is taking it a little bit to the extreme.” There are two sides to this argument.

1. Physical media will be around as long as the generation that used it is still alive (case in point: my great grandmother prefers VHS).
2. The mainstream style of home media viewing could lean in the favor of digital downloads quicker than people think. Just look at how much computers have developed. In 1977 Ken Olson of Digital Equipment Corp. said “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” At the exact same time, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were working on a project that would impact the future immensely with Apple, Inc.

No one can deny that digital media downloads are becoming more and more popular. But there are still some reasons for sticking with disc. Some people argue that quality is better, you can bring it anywhere and borrow them from friends, and what about the special features? These are all concepts that digital downloads will have to address sooner or later.

Click after the break for the top sources of digital media download and streaming.

Read more…

The New Media department of Great Lakes Media was honored to create a digital highlight reel for high school athlete, Lewis Smith. Lewis is the Nephew of Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer extraordinaire, Chad Smith.

The digital highlight reel is a great way for high school athletes to capture the attention of college recruiters. The video is a simple 2-3 minute piece, highlighting the athlete’s abilities and stats. It can be uploaded to youtube, a website, or put to DVD.

The video can be seen here, and is part of our New Media March promotion. We are offering 20% off digital media services. We are now also offering new services, like the digital highlight reel, and encoding for portable media devices.

CNN recently published this article suggesting digital alternatives to the business card:

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/01/digital.business.cards/

Are we seeing the last generation of paper business cards?  Or is this just a fad?  CNN seems to suggest that the business card is yet another casualty of the conversion to all-digital media.

Each of the digital suggestions in this article have their own unique merit – the ability to record where you met someone along with their contact information, and endless customization possibilities, for example.  Certainly for someone in a fast paced, technology centered industry, any of these would make a great addition to her virtual identity.

However, I don’t see how digital business cards can render the paper version obsolete.  There’s always merit to something tangible.  I believe it creates a lasting impression where a digital substitute cannot.  It gives the feel of exclusivity – a personal invitation to contact someone again.  If I were told to simply “Google” someone, this would not make me feel special.  Anyone can find that information.  However, if you hand me your business card with 3 different contact phone numbers, I feel like you’re making that extra effort to ensure that I get a hold of you again.

Sometimes the newest, flashiest product isn’t always the best choice for every situation.  At least that’s my opinion.  Feel free to disagree

DVD, Blu-ray, Digital Downloading Stop Fighting… Consumer Satisfaction Follows!

Everybody seems to pit optical media formats versus something. DVD vs. Digital Downloading. DVD vs. Blu-ray. Blu-ray vs. YouTube. ENOUGH FIGHTING!!! It is confusing everybody. It looks as though Hollywood is going to mediate a peaceful resolution. The Disney movie Bolt will be released in a package that contains a DVD, a Blu-ray Disc, and a Digital Copy.

When I buy a movie, I want it to work on everything. I want it to work on my phone, my blu-ray player, my DVD player. For once in the last 5 years, I think the industry is doing itself a favor. Plus, disc manufacturers like GLMT should be salivating over the opportunity.

Marketing Downloadable Content as “HD”

A Suspicious Value Statement

It is logical to assume that in the future we have a “mystical box” that pipes in high definition movies and games to any television/monitor in the house. This HD content will be relayed wirelessly to our cell phones, maybe even our virtual reality visors. We will command it by voice, it may even have a name, and it will know us, and download movies it knows we’ll like without command. This “magic box” will sense our every entertainment want and need and predict, download, and present it in glorious high definition on any type of screen we want. The cost of this box? Nothing. The cost to download a movie? Zilch. Writers will never strike and meaningful HD content will be bountiful.

As we step back to planet earth we see industry giants capitalizing on this ideal of entertainment utopia. At CES 2008, Apple announced its “HD” version of Apple TV. You can download “HD” programs to your XBOX 360. Some of the major networks are even letting you download “HD” video versions of their sitcoms. The problem is that none of these downloads are truly HD and marketing them as such is potentially fraudulent.

George Ou, a technical Zdnet.com columnist, confirmed the industry-wide misrepresentation in “Don’t Believe the Low Bit-Rate Lie.” The article draws a clear distinction between resolution and bit rate, which few understand. As a review, resolution is simply the physical number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display. Bit rate refers to the actual amount of video data being transferred per second to the display. The true measure of whether something is HD should be measured first by bit rate then by resolution. This confusion has led to many media conglomerates taking advantage of the bewildered consumer.

When the consumer goes shopping for an HD display, they are pursuaded to choose between resolutions as a measurement of quality. There is a price disparities between resolutions. For example, a 1080p display will command a premium over a 720p display. However, the amount of video data being transferred to that display is more important.

What is more interesting is the fact that a standard definition (480i) DVD played on a 720p display with a bit rate of 8 mbps will look better than the “HD Movie” downloaded on your computer, XBOX Live, or your Apple TV with bit rates less than 5 mbps. DVDs are not marketed as “HD” despite the fact that they can be scaled to display on any TV resolution. The fact that some digital downloads advertise themselves as “HD” when really it is worse than DVD quality is puzzling.

The HD bit rate has been set by the next generation formats as being a minimum of 36 mbps. This is why when you view video presented in HD-DVD or Blu-Ray it is spectacular in comparison with all other forms of HD.

It is suspicious that Dish Network and Cable frequently wage war against each other on the amount of HD it offers. What is lacking in the battle is a discussion on quality of HD. However, when a digital downloading service is advertised as offering “HD”, and the quality is less than the standard definition DVD quality, it should remove the “HD” label altogether. Offering something that transfers 9 times less video data at a resolution often used by HD video should not be labeled HD as consumers associate “HD” with high quality.