Newsweek’s Daniel Gross explains the Consumer Price Index (here’s the official BLS site) in a very simple video. I could do without the goofy sound effects, but it’s a good, 2 minute explanation of how the government tracks inflation.
Per David Simon’s Berkeley talk, though, the video doesn’t go into why this matters. Perhaps they’ll cover that in the next installment of the Economics 101 series.
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It’s going to be shocking to many, but take note: Disney really gets this Internet thing. it’s the first of the major media companies to do it, and it’s continuing to lead the way.
December 18th, 2006 at 2:58 pm
c’mon man, hiring amanda congdon doesn’t mean much.
would love to see abc / espn allow video embedding and comments… if they simply matched the video sites’ features, they would certainly be leading the dinosaurs into the new world!
and, the philosophy for building an audience and making money in a 2.0 way has been out there for more than a year…
December 18th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Sure, not by itself. But it’s a company willing to experiment in new distribution.
For example:
first to itunes with free, paid, and feature length content
first to offer episodes online
second to comcast on demand after CBS
There are other plans and this company is still going to be first in a lot of things. I’m convinced that the whole “2.0 way” is so much bullshit wrapped around so much talk anyway.
Why? because no one wants to talk about the hard issues. Without major changes to copyright/IP laws, the major studios have to be involved. See iTunes or YouTube. Even Fred punts:
It’s great, but without revenue sorted out and without advertisers willing to have their brand “travel” with your content, it doesn’t go anywhere.
These are solvable, and perhaps some startup will beat us to it (YouTube is a good example of that). I wouldn’t doubt that. I’m just saying that Disney is being very aggressive compared to some of the other studios and I see good things coming out of that.
Sujal
December 19th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
agreed that disney is making significant advances in new media distribution since iger took over. as a disney shareholder, i love this.
just suggesting that hiring congdon isn’t a good example of getting new media, but engaging in conversation *is*.
Nah, 2.0 ain’t BS, and to suggest it is because right haven’t been sorted out is a cop-out. Studios will play ball if you can show them the money. The way to do this, if you’re not Steve Jobs, is to ask for forgiveness (see YouTube).
December 19th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
btw… forgot… but you need to ask for forgiveness b/c otherwise you have no leverage. if you’re chad hurley and go to the studios before youtube launches, they laugh in your face.
but if you have leverage by dangling millions of dollars in front of a media company that drops straight to its bottom line, it’s much more compelling for that studio to play ball.
December 20th, 2006 at 1:07 am
I would never suggest that YouTube should’ve waited until they got rights to everything… come on now. What I’m saying is that it’s going to be a great flash in the pan if they don’t have cash to maintain the business. YouTube is probably the worst example of my point, though, because they’re actually one of the few to get the scale and I actually think they have a product.
All I’m saying is that a philosophy is nice but a product would be nicer.
I also agree about the conversation bit. In hiring Amanda, whose first videoblog criticized the presentation on ABCNews.com, what do you think ABC is trying to do? Make their site less about conversation?
Sujal
December 20th, 2006 at 1:15 am
PS. What the hell does “2.0 way” mean, anyway. I think the phrase is bullshit, not whatever you mean by it
January 1st, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Nah, but this is typical big-media masturbatory conversation… let’s see them engage the audience in a meaningful way!
You know… *waves hand*… community, transparency, conversation…