Technology, Media & Marketing

Shelly Palmer and Richard Quest discuss Facebook's political ad policies and how the company may be adapting them on Quest Means Business (CNNi). Original Airdate: November 8, 2019 Continue Reading →

Does 5G cause cancer? No. No one knows what causes cancer. There are scientific theories, some with extraordinary supporting evidence, that clearly identify carcinogens. But when I asked Dr. Michael La Quaglia, my granddaughter’s cancer surgeon, how a 2½-year-old gets pancreatoblastoma, he looked me straight in the eye and said, “If we knew, we could prevent it. All I can do is try to remove it. And, with God’s help, I will be successful.” Those words ring in my ears to this day. So, it is with a great deal of humility, personal experience and a strong belief in the scientific method that I submit to you a reasoned rebuttal to the meme that “5G causes cancer.” Continue Reading →

How long does a digital file last? It depends how and where you save it. On a hard drive? It will last longer than 5 years, but less than 30 years. On a commercial CD, maybe 100 years, no one really knows. On a recordable CD or DVD? Less than 10 years for sure. On magnetic tape? More than 10 years, less than 100 depending upon how the tapes are stored. Sit with 100 digital archivists and you will get 100 different opinions about how to save digital files for future generations. Continue Reading →

You want to cut the cord. You want to take advantage of this brave new video world. You are excited about all the new shows. Just how many video streaming services do you need to pay for? What is on each? Which is best for you? How do you make sense of the streaming universe? Once you get over Streaming Sticker Shock, you’ll want to develop your streaming service strategy, and here’s how to think about it. Continue Reading →

Apple TV+ is live. You can start watching from the Apple TV app on your iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, online at tv.apple.com and on a whole bunch of non-Apple devices. Remarkably, Apple is the low-cost provided in the space. It's free if you purchased an Apple device recently, it's free for 7-days if you just want to check it out, and when you do start paying, it will only cost $4.99/month for up to six users. Apple is even offering a "deal." If you act now, you get 12 months for the price of 10. Too good to be true? I'll let you be the judge. Begun, the streaming wars have. Continue Reading →

Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, announced that Twitter will no longer accept paid political advertising. He tweeted his reasons, “This isn’t about free expression. This is about paying for reach. And paying to increase the reach of political speech has significant ramifications that today’s democratic infrastructure may not be prepared to handle. It’s worth stepping back in order to address.” Continue Reading →

Blaming "the highly competitive Pay TV industry," Sony will shut down PlayStation Vue (its video streaming service) on January 30, 2020. Ironically, this announcement comes as Disney, Apple and WarnerMedia are all entering the business. Continue Reading →

According to Reuters, Google has made an offer to acquire Fitbit. The report explicitly states that there is no certainty that the offer will lead to a deal. But think about this… what could Google/Alphabet be thinking? Google’s existing wearable strategy is not working. Fitbit’s wearable strategy is not working. WearOS requires more processing power and battery life than can be had in a smartwatch, so the user experience is awful (and I’m being kind). Continue Reading →

There’s an article in today’s New York Times with the title, “The Advertising Industry Has a Problem: People Hate Ads.” It says, “the advertising industry faces an ‘existential need for change,’ according to a blunt report published on Monday by the research firm Forrester. Now the agencies must ‘disassemble what remains of their outmoded model’ or risk ‘falling further into irrelevance,’ the report concludes.” Continue Reading →

Apple, Disney, WarnerMedia, and just about everyone who can configure a streaming server is getting into the direct-to-consumer (DTC) content business. In a couple of weeks, you’ll have so many options to pay for content à la carte, you won’t really know where to start. Wondering what all this will cost? Forget your calculator, you’re going to need a spreadsheet. Continue Reading →