We have posted four new videos today which cover a range of topics related to service design. Click here to check them out.

Have the television and film industries been paying attention to the painful transition that the music industry has been going through over the past eight years? If they have been paying attention, they will realize a couple things:

1 – You can’t fight technology – There is no putting the "genie back in the bottle." No matter how hard you work to control something, there are legions of people out there who are working even harder (and for free and often with a vendetta) to undermine your control. The harder you squeeze, the harder they fight. And your hand just is not big enough to squish them all. (This applies not only to the music industry, but to dictatorial regimes as well.)

2 – You have to adapt – As much as we might like to go back to quieter, gentler times – that’s not going to happen. So if you can’t fight (see #1) then you have to adapt. Just now – after eight long, bloody years – is the music industry machine starting to adapt.

3 – Find what your customers value and provide it – It took years for the industry and many musicians to realize that there is a way to create value besides selling CDs. Live touring, merchandise, special access, works in progress, collaborations, and as-of-yet-to-be-invented models will drive value and as a result, money.  If you want to be an artist and be absolutely true to yourself, then by all means do that. But if you want to be an artist and make money from your art, then you have to create something that people value and are willing to pay for.
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This Thursday we are on our way to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in support of our client, AnySource Media . They have what we believe to be a “game-changer” in the world of consumer electronics – they have developed a seamless platform for Internet-connected TV. In Las Vegas they (and their initial partners Funai, CinemaNow and ST MicroElectronics) will be demonstrating their Internet Video Navigator solution in their exhibit spaces. Essentially, they have developed the software that gets embedded into the silicon chips inside new HDTVs which enables you to plug your broadband connection directly into your TV, just as you would with any other media input. Using nothing but your standard remote, you use a simple up/down/left/right interface to navigate through virtually any “channel” of video from the Internet.

We are working with the team at AnySource Media to maximize the customer experience as well as to design a myriad of value-added services that this platform makes possible. AnySource Media is not only developing the embedded technology, but also pulling together the content providers (watch for their announcements soon) as well as the advertising platform that incorporates a wide variety of ad formats. There are a number of “connected TV” announcements this week at CES, but AnySource Media’s open approach is the only one that parallels the most successful business models on the Web today. (In fact, it’s very much like Apple’s wildly successful App Store).

If you are out in Las Vegas, get in touch!