Syndicated TV is Dead...

... Long live Syndicated TV.

Syndicated Tv will not lose, as the CEO of of Dicovery, David Zaslav, is banking is strategy upon. The distribution of that value, however, is and will be forever changed. Xbox is one example, Roku, Apple TV etc... My bet is a separation of content development and content delivery. The days of building a cable box, performing a poor install with holes in walls and cables floating in thin outside air, and charging for an static piece of hardware are soon history. Charging mechanisms to pay the bills are in question and need to be resolved, but ultimately, the consumer demand for on demand, in control and pay for preference, and evolving content experience instead of the cruel pay for package will prevail.

Change Management cues from nature

I was reading an article by David Quammen, a biologist, on migratory behaviors that include - linearity, undistractibility, special start and stop behaviors and stored energy.

Undistractability was one that doesn't necessarily equate to the common change management tools such as vision, communications, and understanding change fatigue etc....

--- During migration, animals will forgo an easy meal in order to stay focused on the end goal which is reaching their destination.

So if you are trying to change something, take note if any distractions are being thrown out there. In thinking of some of my projects, I have a whole new view on those delicious short term gains that are impeding progress.

XBox and Home Theater

I have to say the whole Kinect idea fascinated us enough to buy and XBox 360 Kinect Bundle. It is truly a fantastic technology, but the poor product capability release cycle has left us a bit befuddled and confused. It seams there are Kinect connectivity difference between and original XBox 360, an new XBox 360 S and a Kinect bundle.

In an attempt to simplify the connectivity of the Kinect camera/devise, Microsoft combined the information cable and the power cable. This means you no longer have to plug the Kinect Camera in. But they missed a user profile in their design efforts. That user is me and at least a few other adults who have their equipment across the room from their fantastically clean wall mounted (mine above the fireplace) TV's.

Their 10ft cable and optional $50 9ft extension cable just doesn't cut it. Additionally, the limitations are not clearly communicated in any of their marketing materials so I was unable to make an educated decision. The misstep leads me to believe -- Microsoft either doesn't understand a portion of their users or they chose to ignore us.

You be the judge. User design is far from clear or clean cut to even the most heavily invested corporate giants.