Apple's Ready to Ware v. Fast-Fashion

So Tim Cook hired Yves Saint Laurent CEO as Apple's VP of special projects.
So nothing changes: Paul Deneve already knows the company, he used to work there. And it's not about future lines of products (we didn't need Snowden to learn about iWatch, the smartwatch market is already crowded*, and smartwear has been in the air for a decade and a half), but about the future of a brand in mature markets where smartphones, tablets, smartTVs, smartwatches, smartaccessories and smartwear have technologically become commodities.

Long time no see! Reminds me  of the Pinault-Arnault web / telecom / luxury wars of the nineties!

Apple is used to conceiving articles that sell with a premium, but design itself won't make much difference for the basics. Anyway, Apple is now lagging in design (iPhone 5 < Galaxy 3), and brand loyalty has been decreasing ever since the company stopped delivering genuine innovation, focusing instead on legal battles, shareholder dividends, and shameless customer retention techniques leveraging purely on proprietary hardwares or softwares**.

Apple needs to revamp itself, to reinvent itself as a leader, and to stretch the brand umbrella beyond its now usual markets in terms of products and services, consumers, distribution channels... without destroying the most valuable parts of its DNA.

Apple won't shrink down to Nokia's Vertu, or even to the equivalent of 'masstige' fashion brands. But it will have to sustainably justify higher price tags.

Of course, differenciation in mature markets remains a much tougher challenge for Samsung.

BTW the company disbanded its strategic foresight unit yesterday: they didn't come up with successful suggestions for new businesses.

At least the family is already familiar with many markets, ranging from top luxury to fast-fashion...

mot-bile 2013

* e.g. "I see through you: City of Sin, Screens, and Smartpagers"
** e.g. "Anovations for Applelatres: Apple has lost its compass", "Omnipatent v. Impatent", "Apple - the end of the affair"...

Klout, I pronounce you Gilty

Buzztime for Gilt and Klout?

That's 3 hype words in one 5 word sentence, so let me rephrase it: online fashion retailer Gilt proposes discounts depending on the Klout score of its members.

Klout calculates individual influence scores (from 0 to 100) by aggregating behavioral data from various social networking services (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn...), and other partners. The concept rewards people who boast about how they fare on Klout, and actually monetizes social networking behaviors by offering 'perks' to the guys who behave well with selected partners.


That's were Gilt jumps in. For this member-only service based on flash sales, buzz plays a key role. Their glossy website looks quite different from the more sober Klout.com, but basically that's the same ego flattering concept: you're smarter than the rest of the crowd, you belong to a special breed of shoppers/influencers. A partnership with Klout makes sense to recruit new members as well as to ensure high turnouts for each sale...

Not to mention, of course, a more lucrative IPO.

mot-bile 2012

* see "Gilt Groupe, Inc. and Klout Partner to Offer First-of-its-Kind Reward to Users"

NFC goes shopping : live in Seoul

As announced (see "Grand NFC Korea Alliance"), the heart of Myeongdong, a major shopping neighborhood popular among younger generations and Japanese tourists, will be a key test bed for NFC transactions in Korea next month.

This "NFC special district" operation is organized by the KCC (since security is key, the national authority delegated the mission to its KISA unit / Korea Internet Security Agency) and involves all 3 operators (SKT, KT, LGT/LGU+), 9 credit card companies, and key players and enablers listed last June (more are expected soon, particularly in ticketing / couponing applications).

Now for the hard(ware) part ? Terminals are ready on both ends : 100 shops will be equipped with dongles, and enough enduser should be enabled from day one. The NFC payment solution has already been embedded in the Samsung Galaxy S II and other recent models, and rival iPhones can join in thanks to a plug-in developped for Korea Telecom.

Microsoft might join later, but I'm not sure the Samsung Series 7 Slate has already the solution.

mot-bile 2011

HomePlus subway virtual store gets "real" (from click and mortar to billboard and click)

Following the success of its QR code-based advertising campaign in Seoul subway with Cheil Worldwide (see "HomePlus subway virtual store - 2011 Cannes Lions"), Korean retailer HomePlus, a Tesco-Samsung JV, launches its first permanent virtual store in Seollung station, Gangnam area.

Since you liked it (over 10,000 views), I'll play it again, Sam :


This time, 2D shelves will stretch deeper into the station : with screen doors and pilars simulating popular sections and products of the hypermarket chain, all commuters have to do is to direct their smartphones to the items they please. HomePlus also decided to beef up backhaul, multiplying the time slots available for home deliveries.

Major hypermarkets being already open 24/7, now there's no way consumers can escape from contextual shopping traps.

mot-bile 2011

Grand NFC Korea Alliance

Ten years ago, SK Telecom would carpet bomb Korea with 400,000 terminals ("dongles") to boost its Moneta mobile payment service. Yesterday, Korea Inc. announced 300,000 NFC-enabled Point Of Sales by the end of 2011 to put the country ahead of the pack in this very very strategic sector.

The difference ? This is not a solo act anymore : SKT alone couldn't succeed in setting the new standard in mobile payments at home and pushing the concept overseas, but this time, the whole value chain and ecosystem is following. And if it works, each player will claim a nice slice of a much bigger pie.

Under the regulator's umbrella (KCC, the herald of "NFC-based Mobile Smart Life Services"), over thirty Korean CEOs met at the Seoul Press Center to sign this decisive MOU in Near Field Communications, and if you throw in the members of the recently formed Grand NFC Korea Alliance, you've got the closest thing to a mobile payment dream team :

- all 3 Mobile Network Operators : Korea Telecom, SK Telecom, U+ (LG Telecom)
- the biggest card players around : Visa, MasterCard, Shinan Card, Kookmin Card (KB), Lotte Card, Hyundai Card, T-Money, MNO partners (Hana) SK Card and BC Card (KT)...
- key authorities and associations : KCC, ETRI, TTA, KISA (Korea Internet & Security Agency), MOIBA (Mobile Internet Business Association), RAPA (Korea Radio Promotion Association)...
- top manufacturers : Samsung, LG, Pantech...
- top enablers: UbiVelox, KEBT, MtekVision, 3ALogics Inc, KICC...
- top payment enablers / billing service providers : KSNet Inc, Mobilians, Galaxia, Danal Corp., KCP...

The only players missing on the picture are the endusers.

And as we saw before, pedagogy will be key in a country where hacking happens to be a national pastime (if you include North Korea in the package), where few people protect their handsets with a PIN code, and where distrust in smartphone security keeps spreading like wildfire.

Of course, "Near Field" meaning 10 cm and below, close encounters of the third thief will require more intimacy than via Bluetooth. Besides, many Koreans are already used to contactless micropayments thanks to T-Money (ie Seoul public transportations and taxis, thousands of convenience stores and vending machines...). Furthermore, NFC trials have been under way for quite a while : for instance KT's "Mobile Stamp" couponing system, SKT's Mobile Commerce Zone or Q Store pilots, or cross border trials between SKT's T-Cash and Japan's KDDI and SoftBank...

This MOU aims at multiplying testbeds and giving momentum to the technology, the bulk of the infrastructure being planned for Q4 2011. So where will NFC-based payments be available ? GS group plans to implement them in its convenience stores (GS25) and gas stations (GS Kaltex). Major retailers (Lotte Mart, Emart...) are joining the party. Seoul and Gyeonggi-do buses and subways, as well as many taxis will be converted. A major shopping area for tourists (particularly from Japan), Myeongdong has been identified as a strategic hotspot to feed the buzz.

Needless to say, the number of NFC-enabled handsets is another essential element in the equation. The alliance targets an ambitious 5 M units by the end of the year, leveraging on existing devices (Samsung Galaxy S II and Sky Vega Racer opened the way), and the Google-Apple war : since Android Gingerbread OS supports NFC, Cupertino had to consider it for iPhone 5.

And oh. This non-event : Samsung is expected to surpass soon Nokia as the world's top handset manufacturer.

mot-bile 2011

* sorry, not yet in English : "국내 통신사·금융(카드)사 CEO 최초로 한자리에 모여 NFC 서비스 활성화를 위한 MOU 체결"

Atos Origin and the Three Musketeers

Atos Origin and France's 3 MNOs Orange, SFR, and Bouygues Telecom created Buyster, a JV devoted to ecommerce with a focus on micropayments and a first batch of merchants already on board (Darty, Rue du Commerce, Aquarelle...).

Led by Eric Gontier, a mobile multimedia veteran with an Atos origin (via Axime, who merged with Sligos to found Atos Origin during the late XXth Century), the new platform targets within 5 years a 10% market share in ecommerce against the likes of PayPal.

The concept also ties the Buyster account to a bank card (transactions will require a Buyster code), but it adds a link to the phone number, a key ID in this mobile world of ours. Conveniently enough, Orange, SFR, and ByT manage the bulk of France's numbers, be they fixed or mobile.

So long life to the new venture... and good luck for the URL : buyster.com is owned by an Australian retailer (buyster.com.au). From checks to kangaroo bounces... And oh, Box Creative LLC recently preempted buysters.com.


mot-bile 2011

eCommerce revolution in Korea: online sales become the first distribution channel

When I first came to Korea 20 years ago, Department Stores were becoming the main distribution channel for many consumer goods, taking over traditional door-to-door sales.

Convenience stores (FamilyMart, LG25 - now GS25 -, BuyTheWay, 7Eleven...) were also gaining ground. Then came the hypermarkets (eMart, Carrefour at one moment, Samsung / Tesco HomePlus, Lotte Mart...), and the SSMs / SuperSuperMarkets (Lotte mySuper, HomePlus Express, eMart Everyday...).

One by one, small groceries / mom & pop stores closed, and traditional markets plummeted, killed by discount shopping (or supposedly "discount" shopping : a recent survey pointed out that for many food items, traditional markets are actually cheaper). Survivors could count on one system that protected both food majors and small distributors : product packaging including the price tag regardless of the sales channel, which guaranteed the same price for such basic items as instant noodles or ice creams. But this system is about to be abandoned and anyway, it didn't mean much anymore : big discount sell their own brands of instant noodles, and my local SSM offers a year-round 50% discount on all ice creams.

Even as competition raged between discount shops, many opening 24/7/365, Department Stores (Lotte DS, Shinsegae DS, Hyundai DS, Galleria DS...), sometimes growing into ambitious complexes (ie Shinsegae Centum City in Busan) remained ahead for many consumer goods and fashion.

Until now : online sales have just become Korea's first distribution channel.

This doesn't come as a surprise for anyone living in "ubiquitous" Korea : beyond pure players (ie Auction), even brick and mortar leaders are pushing ecommerce very hard, prefering cannibalization to the loss of a customer.

Somehow, we're back to square one and door-to-door sales. The first door is your mobile, PC or TV screen, but everything is done to deliver it wherever you live (home deliveries keep booming), wherever you work (Seoul would collapse without cheap express deliveries), and even wherever you go (ie location based services and mobile couponing).

Like for ADSL or FTTH, Korea's economy of access is unbeatable. Because of urban density, because major players are ready to offer what comes as a premium anywhere else, and furthermore because in many cases for smaller fish, the last mile is provided by people working under the legal hourly wage, ready to make a buck even if it doesn't make any sense if you simply take into account transportation costs. When you see a truck carrying about five hundred eggs on a highway, you know something is wrong. And when you order a book online, the delivery person is rarely twice the same plain-clothes individual.

I guess that's one of the reasons why Amazon is not in Korea. The retailer tried to do some business via Samsung / SIMS more than ten years ago but failed. So Amazon ships from other countries to international customers while Kim & Chang law firm securely protects Amazon.co.kr URL.

Of course, Amazon would face pure players in cultural goods, such as Aladdin (now Aladin.co.kr), or Kyobo Book Center (very ambitious in the ebook ecosystem), but I don't think it's about competition : players differenciating themselves on logistic platforms tend to struggle here. Carrefour left the country in spite of commercial success for regulatory reasons : it couldn't operate with its usual purchasing power model. I think the logistics equation could be very tricky for Amazon.

eBay is faring much better in Korea (as Auction.co.kr) - it even wolfed down G-market, snatching it away from Inter Park... but eBay more into auctions and C2C than into retailing and B2C. And when it advertised massively on internet shopping, big retailers pushed the pedal to the metal.

But the biggest revolution for e-commerce in Korea this year is the end of Microsoft Explorer's de facto monopoly since July 1st : since 1999, all online shopping and banking services had to use ActiveX systems, but the Financial Services Commission put an end to it following the recent boom in smartphones.

mot-bile 2010 - see also my original post on Seoul Village

Woot flows with the Amazon

In his own words*, Woot CEO Matt Rutledge announced the agreement between his hot sales website and Amazon.com. The Woot brand shall survive like today : barely Audible, but with a music of its own.

Barely Audible ? I wouldn't be surprised to see Jeff Bezos use a loudspeaker for that one on social networking sites.

mot-bile 2010


* see "Amazon, Woot, and You: But Mostly Woot", following an email stating "BREAKING: Woot To Be Acquired By Amazon, Then Left To Amuse Ourselves - Holy crap! Woot has signed an agreement with Amazon - yes, the Amazon - to become an independent subsidiary of the ecommerce colossus. Woot HQ will remain in Carrollton, Texas, and will operate as autonomously as other Amazon companies like Zappos and Audible. Visit the blog for our usual snarky commentary and tell us what you think. - Woot" (NB at this stage, nothing about the deal on Amazon.com's corporate website)

Euphemism PR 101 : "Nexus One changes in availability"

As Andy Rubin, VP, Engineering, put it in Google's most elaborate backpedaling announcement ever, "innovation requires constant iteration".

I can't wait to see the next iteration of such innovative PR.

A few months ago, when Google was trumpeting online distribution for its Nexus One, I pointed out that "Google are not into distribution, IRL.*" This operation was bound to fail : not only because this is not Big G's trade, but also because Big G cannot grow bigger in every single dimension without endangering its own stability, including from a regulator's point of view. Furthermore, yes, "it's clear that many customers like a hands-on experience before buying a phone, and they also want a wide range of service plans to chose from".

So the only questions were "when" and "how". When would Google stop this joke ? The answer is today. For the "where", the official Google Blog was the natural channel. Now I really loved the "how" they did it :

- Google is not stopping online sales : "Nexus One changes in availability"

- Google is not abandonning independence : it offers "more retail availability" and is going to be "working with partners"

- Google is not closing its online store : "we'll stop selling handsets via the web store, and will instead use it as an online store window", and we even call this innovation "from retail to viewing".

Now it takes guts to deliver such a pitch without guffawing. Google probably learned that skill from Chinese authorities.

mot-bile 2010

* "Google Phone At Hand. No Kindling."

Korea Telecom Qooks ebooks

mot-bile 2010 - In spite of a long literary tradition, Koreans are not big readers. Worse : in 2009, 90% of Korean publishers didn't print any new book.

Through the Korea Electronic Publishing Association, the Ministry of Culture is betting on ebooks to revive the habit (target : 100,000 ebooks per year). Kyobo Book estimates the Korean market at about KRW 1 tn (over USD 900) EOY 2010 and KRW 2.4 tn EOY 2012.

The Ministries of Knowledge Economy and Education are joining this national effort, which will also benefit local manufacturers : those guys didn't wait for the local market to do something (ie Samsung Papyrus, iRiver Story), but the issue became sensible after the launch of the iPhone, and the iPad buzz.

Harmonizing the 40 or so existing distribution platforms is a key factor of success, and the association recently held an "e-publication standardization forum" at the Korean Education & Research Information Service (KERIS).

Education is key in a country where families spend fortunes to help their kids survive one of the most competitive education systems in the world.

Precisely, for its first ebook distribution partners, Korea Telecom picked Woongjin Thinkbig, Inc., which holds a strong position in private tutoring text books, and Wisdomhouse Publishing Co., Ltd., which also has a specialization in educational contents.

The funny thing about the service is the brand : we've already mentioned Qook, KT's umbrella brand for home services. "eBook cafe / Book Cafe" makes sense because book cafes are getting popular in Korea. But "QOOK Book Cafe" bookcafe.qook.co.kr) sounds like the Java hub for rogue accountants.

Wal-Mart's Vudu Trance - home entertainment and apps

mot-bile 2010 - What is exactly "home entertainment" according to Wal-Mart ? Everyday low prices for home movies or everyday more promotions for everything else on your TV screen ?

The Bentonville, AR giant acquired VUDU, Inc, an online video service embedded in broadband-ready TVs and Blu-ray players, and "combining VUDU's unique digital technology and service with Walmart's retail expertise and scale will provide customers with unprecedented access to home entertainment options as they migrate to a digital environment".*

But Wal-Mart also mentions VUDU Apps, a very crucial entry point in households for all sorts of services, including Twitter or Facebook, the kind of "web family names" we mentioned earlier as the hottest TV stars of the year (see "Skype on your TV : home improvement ?" - 20100106).

Wal-Mart was not the only bidder for this entry point : it won over direct rivals (Amazon & co), victims of Vudu curses (Blockbuster & co) media manufacturers turner entertainers (Sony & co), or the usual Redmond suspects (Micro and Soft).

Now back to the smaller screen, but still in the retailing arena : SK Telecom and Hana Bank eventually released their joint services** in Korea. Push and pull location-based marketing make sure you have always an incentive even if you came out without your paper coupons.

Note that in their latest TV ads, SKT are marketing Android a very cute way with a green robot dancing on "That's the way (uh uh uh uh) I like it", and that's likely to boost the brand's fun factor. The Android brand, I mean : the character bumps into SKT's dull "T" logo and roars at it... There was probably a smarter way of celebrating this encounter of the third kind.

* "Walmart Announces Acquisition of Digital Entertainment Provider, VUDU" (20100222)
** on this killer alliance, see "SK Telecom's Wild Hana Card" (20090612)

iPhone wakes up Korean mobile internet market

Amazing : Korea, a world leader in mobile innovations in the early 2000s, Korea, still nowadays the land of broadband and home to such IT giants as Samsung and LG, Korea is lagging behind European countries in both IPTV and mobile internet.

As we saw with IPTV (see "IPTV in Korea, an update"), lobbying and regulation played an important part in this paradox, and the country is finally trying to fix the bug.

For mobile internet, the first opening came last year with the abandon of WIPI (Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability) as the mandatory platform for smartphones, opening the market to Blackberry and other players. Today, we can hardly speak of a shift from an industry-based to a consumer-based regulation, but the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) just cleared the way for iPhone in Korea by stating that Apple, after all, doesn't need an extra license for Location-Based Services as long as there's a MNO with the relevant license in the loop.

KT is expected to launch the iPhone in the weeks to come (October or November), and to subsidize the device down to a retail price of around KRW 240,000 (about USD 200). Apple wants more than the 300,000 units announced by its Korean partner, who will have to release its own KT Apps Store ahead of the iPhone in order to mark its territory. In order to leverage on the operator's strong leadership in fixed and fixed wireless services, KT's apps will be downloadable by Wi-Fi.

Competitors have been bracing themselves for the iPhone, fearing market disruptions : wireless leader SK Telecom opened the first App Store earlier this month. But unfortunately, "T Store" has been bashed by the critic : users can browse as much as they want on their PC (tstore.co.kr - about 6,500 references), but can only download apps via their 3G phones, and via 3G only (not Wi-Fi). Worse : the price doesn't include connection costs ! Needless to say the service is WIPI-based : SKT is the mobile leader and bets on a wider installed based from the start. I can already see marketers scratch their heads : we want our customers to rediscover their own handsets and find them sexier than the ultimate hype machine... good luck ! Needless to say T Store won't remain WIPI-based : SKT plans to go "global" within two years and to generate a 1 trillion won turnover in 2013. If SKT maintains its 30% cut, we're talking about over half a billion bucks. And since SKT happens to be also a major content provider, that's a rather conservative estimation... provided the store succees, of course.

Korean developers will have fish to fry, as well as the editors' sectoral federations (ie games), in charge of okaying new apps. Furthermore, Microsoft is also roaming the country to snatch some gems (USD 19M planned for game developers over the next 4 years).

Netcos have been barred by cellcos but grow new ambitions, like NHN for its "web" brands. Beyond Naver, NHN wants to push Me2Day, a K-"twitter" acquired last year and already on iPhone.

Now How about endusers ?

Mobile TV is very popular but doesn't require 3G. And wireless internet echoes more Wi-Fi / WiBro than 3G. Even if half of the core target (12 to 59 year-olds) is somehow using services, mobile internet over 3G remains ways too expensive, and most players would like operators to slash connection costs, particularly to welcome revenues from social networking platforms. MNOs already had to undergo significant cuts in calling charges, but their rates remain high and the percentage of turnover made on wireless internet very low (below 20%) compared to advanced European nations (in the mid 30%s).

Usages are bound to soar once MNOs accept to share more with the rest of the ecosystem, to grow a much bigger pie. All together, now.

ADDENDUM 20090927

More precisions regarding the cuts in mobile charges (announced this week-end) :
- wireless internet basic rates : 50% reduction for LGT, 88% for KT. To be defined for SKT, but from next March on, the leader will calculate call charges per second (every 10 second now). note that Long Distance has disappeared in Korea : calls within Seoul and outside will cost the same. VoIP also gains ground, even if rates are not as slashed as in other countries (ie nothing is actually free).
- basic access fees slashed (KT : from KRW 30 to 24,000 - SKT : from 55 to 44,000)
- loyalty discounts (KT 5,000 / mo, SKT up to 22,000, LGT up to 25,000) - NB: all 3 MNOs have also triple play discounts. Logically, #3 LG Telecom (mobile portal brand : Oz) is the most aggressive player.

Amazon Basics : private label, low profile kick-off

If you visit Amazon.com store this week-end, Kindle remains on the top shelf of the Electronics section. The Top brand, with 171 references, is Amazon, but that's mostly Kindle stuff (the grey machine itself surrounded by more colorful accessories). No mention of AmazonBasics here.

If you want to get products from Amazon's new private label*, you have to type the direct URL amazon.com/AmazonBasics. And you'll get is really basics : blank media (ie DVD) and accessory cables branded Amazon. No-frills, smartly marketed as "Frustration-Free Packaging" ("a multi-year initiative designed to alleviate "wrap rage", featuring recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials"). Even IKEA is more direct : we're just bringing the costs down, who cares if the packaging looks poor ?

Oviously, AmazonBasics is designed to alleviate Wrap rage from Amazon providers : we're not tapping your cash cow see ? We're only competing with your cheapest competitors, making up for the decrease in CD and DVD sales. For starters.

But everybody's got the message : we're there now. If Amazon becomes your "blank media" provider, and your "non blank media" publisher (ie CreateSpace), it can fill a few other blanks in the process.

Smarter products and services may follow.


* "Amazon.com Introduces AmazonBasics" (Amazon 20090919):

"We saw an opportunity to create a line of consumer electronics basics that combine quality and low prices for an overall focus on value," said Paul Ryder, vice president of Consumer Electronics for Amazon.com. "We drew on our history of developing other private-label brands and combined that with our mission to give customers the ultimate in selection and value. AmazonBasics is the result. We will continue to gather input from customers and evaluate opportunities for new products under the AmazonBasics brand. We aim to offer our customers as wide a selection as possible, and we think AmazonBasics makes a great addition to the brands we already carry."

News BioRhythms

Before the introduction of printing in Europe by Guthenberg, people would travel for books. Then books could multiply, move and reach different readers in different locations. Now you don't even need paper and anyone can consult any priceless ancient manuscript from anywhere without fear of damaging it*.

Earlier this year, there was a exhibition in the library of Florence's Convento di San Marco on the process of book making, featuring beautiful objects and illuminations. I remember thinking, as I moved from one marvel of patience to another, about how people would look at a newspaper press a few years from now.

Doesn't it already seem like a black and white scene from Citizen Cane ? The journalist getting his scoop, writing it down, submitting it to the chief editor, the prints running like crazy, a headline splashing on a newstand, yelled by a street vendor...

Scenes from last millenium.

The future of newspaper definitely looks like "more news and less paper".

Many players are folding their last issues, and folding, period. The sector had been looking for new business models for years when depression struck, precipitating bankruptcies in an already fragile ecosystem.

Sourcing, writing, editing, printing, distributing, advertising... now it's less a linear value chain than a shape shifting value cloud. But there's still value out there, be it in relevance, ergonomy, utility, actionability, exclusivity, analysis / insights / advice, local, reassurance, trust, fun... or why not, the quality of the paper (actually, that's the reason why there's still a thriving market - readers and advertisers - for certain magazines).

Likewise, brands are more often scattered among media, platforms, authors, journalists, and contributors who can even be anonymous members of a popular online forum. With a high churn rate because things and people tend to come out of fad more quickly by the day. Any local newspaper can get its 15 Warholian minutes of fame because say, their cute kitten rescued from a fire in Armpit, TN has been over-retwitted as a scoop of michaeljacksonian magnitude.

Reading has become a multimedia experience with pop-ups, background music, rollover images... you start reading an article and end up watching a movie while purchasing virtual pop-corn for your tamagotchi.

Sometimes, the article you're reading is being edited under your very eyes. Like that page devoted to post-elections unrests in Iran on HuffPost, or DemConWatch's SuperDelegate list, which I consulted about every other minute last year.

News and hoaxes are everywhere, and each individual has what I call his or her own "News BioRhythm" : depending on the context you consume more or less but you somehow have to be fed at certain moments of the day.

The future of newspaper ? The term will more often cover the medium instead of the media brand : you won't be talking about the NYT nor the WSJ, but about your favorite epaper smartphone application, your favorite dedicated device (ie your Kindle, your foldable screen...), where you chose to consult the news.

We all have tools to arrange our own newspapers, but that's not necessarily what you want nor need. I started with My Yahoo! around 1995-96 but quickly switched to a more pervasive browsing mode. There are usually about 30 sites always on on my screen - half of which about news, news gathering, or keeping track of news I read.

I know, I have a problem with my NBR... I should twit my shrink about it (he takes only $13.59 + taxes per character).


* These days, you should fear more for your dutifully purchased ebook (see "Kindle's Total Recall")
---
initally published on blogules.

Kindle's Total Recall

If wonder if Amazon fully considered the pros and cons of their embarrassing Orwellian moment : remotely deleting "1984" or "Animal Farm" ebooks was a perfect proof of concept for content providers, but a terrible PR operation for consumers.

From the start (see "Kindle Kindle little star - take my Word"), the retailer seemed to be targeting partners rather than than endusers. And here again, the message is more meant for publishers : look, I control the value chain and have the capacity to fight piracy... stop being afraid and come on board !

If Amazon gave some consideration to its other customers, it would prepare a nice PR campaign instead, providing some time to their customers, and some buzz to a much wider audience. And why not, a nice promotion on top of it.

But no. They decided to go for the automatic, intrusive option.

This goes much further than a product recall : it means that what you purchased is not your own, including the device. Somehow, your Kindle is not your own.

ADDENDUM 20090723

An Apology from Amazon

This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our "solution" to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we've received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com


NB: no kindling ?

SK Telecom's Wild Hana Card

Since their coming out as an item on May 22, SK Telecom and Hana Bank have been advancing on their JV project (Korea's leading MNO taking 49% of Hana Card, the credit card unit of Korea's #4 financial group).

SKT seems to be seizing a great opportunity : Hana is lagging in the card business, and regulations were eased after the crash last autumn : big non financial groups, previously forced out, were ripe with cash. But even without Hana, SKT is not a small player in cards and financial services.

SKT's mother company, SK Group, boasts 30M OK Cashbag card members. The operator's own loyalty card is used by 40% of its 23M customers, and Moneta, its mobile finance / mobile payment platform, is already one of the most advanced on earth : wired and wireless, Mifare contactless payments for subway, hundreds of thousands of dongles across the country, 3G USIM / EMV Over-The-Air, T Cash / Mobile T-money - a partnership with T money... SK Telecom is the closest thing to a bank you can get in the MNO world.

Financially, the partnership could secure the MNO's business model in the long term at the national level, and facilitate the internationalization of its platforms.*

Hana doesn't bring much of a customer base, nor even disruptive solutions, but certainly new marketing opportunities. A more comprehensive understanding of customers would come handily for a mobile leader who tended to loose his fabled mojo.**


* see "SK Telecom's Semestrus Horribilis"
** see "KT-NTT Venture Forum". Well. The integration of Hanaro Telecom by SKT and KTF by KT didn't inspire much both leaders : triple and quad-play promotions badly lack imagination and appeal.

Nokia's Ovi Store - a follower-leader

Embarrassingly too late, Nokia decided to open its online Ovi Store globally. Or to revive the buzz around it.

About two years ago, I had some doubts about OVI's ability to counter Microsoft ("OVI, a Door facing Windows"). But since then, it also left Apple snatch the bulk of a market it was supposed to rule (the App Store recently celebrated 1 billion downloads). The mobile phone leader definitely lost his mojo a couple of years ago.

Yeah... I know there's this coopetition between the Scandinavian King and MNOs, who prefer a hyper hype partner taking a bigger cut, but on a pie customers want to pay for.

Luckily for Nokia, there's always AT&T, ever the enthusiast for MVNOs and other pipe-fillers. For a Texan, anything coming from Finland must be cool.

S60 does have a cool factor, after all. 50M users can't be totally wrong. What if they decide to turn what they saved by not chosing iPhone into more apps ?

Gmarket vs Skype and Stumbleupon - e-business as usual for eBay

Losing ground at home vs Amazon, eBay decides to build a new fortress in Korea, combining over two thirds of Gmarket with its Internet Auction Company there. Almost gone the Skype hype, fumbled Stumbleupon... back to core business.

Inter Park, distant third behind Gmarket and IAC (8% vs 47% and 34%) owned 34% of Gmarket, which will operate separately from IAC. Besides, Korean authorities may ask some further concessions, but they already okayed the deal.

Beyond national marketing, technological, and logistical synergies, eBay intends to build an international platform from this new local giant in the long term. Nice way of putting things for a rather defensive move : Korea will neither open the gates to Japan, nor take over eBay's operations in China and Taiwan. Maybe strengthen some positions around LA and Orange counties.

The deal will be completed by the end of H1 2009, Skype will be IPOed H1 2010, eBay will keep non-technological bubbly start ups at bay until the recession itself recedes.

* "eBay to Expand Asian Operations Through Combination with Gmarket, Korea's Largest Online Marketplace" (eBay - 20090416)

Amazon to Authors Guild : "Read My Lips - no new taxes" - Microsoft goes Intel

The WSJ pointed out a potential legal battle around the Kindle ("New Kindle Audio Feature Causes a Stir" - 20090210) : Authors Guild's Paul Aiken denounces the new text-to-speech feature (see "Kindle 2 v. Print") as a copyright law infringement : "They don't have the right to read a book out loud. That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law."

Amazon should know : it owns Audible.com, an audiobook shop which allows downloads for every platform. But today on Amazon.com, the link to downloads on the Audible FAQ page leads to the Kindle homepage. Business is business.

Where does audio book start and audio enabler end ?

The computerized reading of an article cannot be compared to a well edited audiobook. The user experience is generally painful, and if you can get the idea of a text, it is not as if someone actually read it to you*. Text-to-speech media only makes sense for practical reasons (ie you are visually impaired, or you don't have a divergent strabismus bad enough to drive and read your e-mail at the same time).

Let's consider an article you downloaded for 10c on Kindle. You shouldn't have to pay more if you listen to it through the device's text-to-speech enabler, a mere alternative way of accessing the information you paid for. But if the text-to-speech version of the article is say a mp3 file with a life of its own, then there is a DRM issue.

No DRM issue for Stephen King : ever the early adopter for innovative distribution channels, the author proposed "Ur" exclusively on Kindle.

Meanwhile, another champion of the late XXth century seems less successful in embracing the new millenium : Microsoft's lack of vision is clearly becoming an embarrassment, and its latest move in retailing echoes more Intel's admission of failure than Apple's (over)hyped extravaganzas.


* the only case where text-to-speech beats the real thing is for my articles : some can be downloaded in text-to-speech version, and they are as nonsensical to the ear as to the eye, but at least the computerized female voice sounds much sexier than my own (not exactly your James Earl Jones, Barack Obama, or Morgan Freeman... rather inaudible dot com).

Sekai, AirTag, AirFlag, AirBag and Social Net Walking

I just read an article by Joel de Rosnay about "clickable environments"*, which may introduce some confusion between Tonchidot's "air tagging" concept (the Sekai Camera / "world camera" application for iPhone, quite popular in Japan since last autumn, marketed as a "social tagging device") and the AIRTAG brand (a French NFC enabler targeting retailers and service companies).
Mentioning the risks of such intrusive technologies, Rosnay made a pun on "clickable" and "flicable" : in French, "flic" means "cop" and "fliquer" could be translated as "to control, watch and monitor the Big Brother way".

As a matter of fact, we are bound to see at least two killer apps beyond the usual location based cloud marketing fantasies :

- I want to remain as far as I can from this person / kind or people / person in this kind of mood / friend with "leave me alone" Facebook status... (variations : I'll never set foot in this restaurant again / don't even think about dropping your car at the following places / Celtic fans are not welcome in this Rangers joint...) : let's call that an "AirFlag".

- Leave me alone. When I'm roaming IRL, I don't feel like drowning in a syrupy cloud. I am not only opting out but building a protective sphere up around myself : that should be your "AirBag".

Safer social netwalking ?




* "L’environnement cliquable : une virtualité bien réelle"