Neulich in der österreichischen Presse

Auf diepresse.com gibt es Poster, für die ist Helmut "alles war immer korrekt und nie flog ich wo raus" Brandstätter viel zu rot und praktisch ein Kommunist. Das erinnerte uns ein wenig nostalgisch an unsere Kindheit in uptown Bregenz, wo alles außerhalb der Kirche, der Bauernbundfraktion in der Landesregierung und dem Bürgermeister von Alberschwende praktisch durchgehend im Verdacht stand, nichts im Sinn zu haben, als dem internationalen Weltkommunismus und Rotchina Vorschub zu leisten.

Hätten diese Burschen(!) zuhause sich damals getraut, so zu reden, wie ihnen die Hirnwindungen und der Schnabel eigentlich gewachsen waren, hätten sie schon die Juden und Zigeuner auch darin involviert gesehen. Aber dafür hatten sie leider unter den Negern und Marokkanern vom 45er bis zum 55er Jahr zu viel Schiss aufgerissen.

Schön, dass man heutzutage noch erleben darf, dass nicht alle liebgewordenen Schemchen aus der Kindheit schon vollkommen ausgestorben sind. Was machen diese Leute, wenn die steirischen Bischöfe zusperren und die gegenständliche Marke an die neoliberalen Ungläubigen von Bananistan verkaufen?

Es ist so schade, dass Du so bist wie Du bist, dass Du leider gar kein anderer bist, dass Du leider leider ganz Du selber bist.

Wir werden dem, glauben wir hier, noch nachtrauern, wenn es nur mehr Soße und Grießbrei gibt.

Media, Hot and Cool, Episode IV - Terms High and Low Definition

While we have already determined that "hot & cool" - in this pair and application - stem from talking, writing and argueing about afroamerican jazz music, we still have to look at the terms of high and low definition as well as those of participation and completion.

Obviously our Professor McLuhan, like any academic maverick, would naturally feel the urgent need to back up his "probes" by binding them down to the imaginary worlds of the more respected natural and social sciences by using such terms (definition, participation, completion, ...) to provide the rational reasoning, so coveted by academia since the old Greeks, influenced by writing vowels, getting too much sun and too much spear training, invented it.

First, about definition

Being lazy guys here in Jamaica and most of the time, for easy questions we just ask the n° 1 mainstream public wisdom collection:

Historically, the term high-definition television was first used to refer to television standards developed in the 1930s to replace early experimental systems with as few as 12 lines. Not long afterwards John Logie Baird, Philo T. Farnsworth, and Vladimir Zworykin had each developed competing TV systems, but resolution was not the issue that separated their substantially different technologies, it was patent interference lawsuits and deployment issues given the tumultuous financial climate of the late '20s and '30s.

The British 405-line system was the first to advertise itself as high definition and see widespread use. Most patents were expiring by the end of World War II leaving the market wide open and no worldwide standard for television agreed upon. The standards introduced in the early 1950s stayed for over half a century.

Now, if we believe this jedi archive and compare this to the tight binding and high popularity the concepts of high and low definitions have with television, at least provisionally we can take that description for granted. Taking into account how badly both HD audio and HD radio flopped, still inclines us further towards persuasion that the opposition of HD/LD ought to be applied to TV, mainly. LD of course is called SD in our positive times, unless you like to be a history buff and still want to call 12 lines television LD and think that PAL, NTSC and SECAM provide wholly statisfactory standards.

We would still have to mention that the original French system offered a black and white 819 lines system from 1949 to 1984 which probably gave rise to ideas of HD definition, having 12.5% more vertical resolution than modernday 720p HDTV.

A good 35mm negative has a vertical resolution of up to 3000 lines while NTSC in NA has one of 525 lines - theoretically. We so constate that Mr. McLuhan was entitled to relatively oppose TV and film as low and high def.

We will look at the concept of single channel fill-up and the task of applying this very discrimination to text, audio and other media as well as to comparing different media to each other in a minute - or so.

Actually Outdated

Just to drive home yesterday's point let us illustrate 20th century newspaper baroque. Not up to date any more. Matters littly, for as we have read before young men with lower educational grades soon won't be reading anymore, anyway.

Only problem is, the 50+ readership despite all progress of genetics and the chemical industry, despite any efforts of surgeons and life support machinery is shrinking nevertheless. Those losses, we regret to say, will definitely not be compensatable with iPad apps, not even for high quality oriented setups like "Bildzeitung". plink, nix,    praise or blame!
 

Well Understood

The people who designed the title of this Austrian free newspaper are the only people who really understood the grid pattern that ORF On introduced into Austrian web design and developed it into a really efficient ad machine.

Everybody else kinda just fetishized one aspect of this pattern and wrecked the pattern into a slight embaressment.

The Broadcasting World: No Petting Zoo

Austria's top online and digital media strategist, a director of ABC (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) who's first turn in office is about to complete its run has not been invited to this year's "Media Future Conclave" congress of his private business competitors where they usually elect the next temporal King of DMA (Digital Media Albania).

Given the fact that our hero - in stark contrast to his market driven peers - for 4 and a half years now has demonstrated that he and his team of eminent experts have been able to a) conceive and b) really really implement "central" strategies, we think the non-invitation is a veritable scandal.

At least one man does listen.

While even we here in Jamaica since having read this impressive and brilliant interview with Austria's top media and animal rights expert in Austria's top business journal have finally understood the secrets behind digital success, the wolves of media street have not. So, despite having amply demonstrated you are not really interested, listen up, private media sector bosses, there is a still one thing or the other you could learn from an extraordinary leader.

Update: The interview is not available any more but contents can still be glimpsed from this related press statement.

The Situation

While from the late seventies to the very early 2000s being the most attentive follower of public ideas was a sure receipt for winning and easily hold one's own against the so called first mover advantage and disruptive innovation. But since the mid zero years, the rise of new global behemoths and the rise of the tiny glowing screen you might need ever more and newer stuff to land a coup in the media market place. Without a vision and a consequent precisely conceived and concisely formulated and understandable strategy nothing is to be won any more. This is precisely what most of the publishers in the german speaking world say they have but really lack the strictly political means to transform into big money. Having such a vision the corresponding operational plan is exactly what distinguishes our protagonist here.

On the other hand, by a certain greed for the public's daily tribute to the destruction of our forests and the continued usage of rags seems to lock the yellow as well as the self declared quality press into old-fashioned text-heaviness and blindness towards newer digital mind over matter innovations. Let us listen to to what the digital strategist has to tell us. (For the link availability see above.)

The Vision and Strategy

Wir haben unser zentrales strategisches Vorhaben, ORF.at zur multimedialen Plattform auszubauen und damit auch die Marktführerschaft im österreichischen Medien-Online-Markt abzusichern, erfolgreich umsetzen können.

Now this sentence is exactly where we can learn how it is done. Simple and clear. But imagine all the work that is behind these concisely formulated and operationalised objectives. Getting the right terms selected is essential. And while private publishers still follow old time values and fetishes like "portal" and "services", the afore cited phrase contains practically all the decisive ingredients of the digital future: "platform", "multimedial", "leadership", "market", "successful", "implement", "secure", all neatly combined into a single understandable positive statement. To quote an old truth, a single picture tells more than a thousand words, and moving pictures at 25 frames per second, even more so. Think about that, publishers.

The Tactical Implementation

In a rare gesture of generosity, the guru not only speaks his strategic mind in public - which is often rather common with visionaries - he also details the revolutionary tactical elements, aptly split into 4 clearly distinguishable moves that have safely carried said strategy to the down range and even the green.

Erstens wurden die größten ORF.at-Angebote technisch und designmäßig optimiert, modernisiert und barrierefrei gemacht sowie die Integration von Videos verstärkt. Das ist z.B. bei „news.ORF.at“ und „sport.ORF.at“ bereits geschehen. „oesterreich.ORF.at“ und die neun Bundesländerseiten sowie „wetter.ORF.at“ werden noch heuer im Sommer folgen.

While now we have enumerated the essential elements of strategic conception above, this technical terms here are of comparable essentiality: "offerings", "technical", "design", "modernized", "freely accessabile" and "integration" of the next big thing, video, are the key components of deployment. Headquarter strategies aren't worth a penny if you cannot carry them downrange or as we used to say, if Charlie does not feel them applied to his bodily sensations.

Zweitens ist mit der Videoplattform ORF-TVthek die wichtigste Online-Innovation des ORF der vergangenen zehn Jahre entwickelt und erfolgreich realisiert worden. Heuer hatten wir im Schnitt bereits 8,5 Mio. Videoabrufe pro Monat, Top-Monat seit Bestehen der ORF-TVthek war – nicht zuletzt aufgrund der auch online intensiv genutzten Japan- und Libyen-Berichterstattung sowie Dancing Stars – der März 2011 mit 10,5 Mio.