Apple TV - My VIDEO Interview on USA TODAY (via Jefferson Graham)

VR Panel By Day, WWDC Radio By Night -- A Day In The Digital Media Life ...

Busy day yesterday in LA.  In the morning, moderated a VR panel at the SLUSH Future Brunch, hosted by ultra-connected Ken Hertz and organizers of Helsinki's "must know" SLUSH digital media and tech conference held in November (picture below to the right shows me pontificating as I introduce the great panel, which included Mike Rothenberg of Rothenberg Ventures which runs the first VR accelerator, River; Danny Gabai of Vice Media; Andy Cochrane of Mirada Studios; and Neville Spiteri of WEVR) (picture below left shows me with Ken and event organizer Isabelle Lawrence).  In the evening, guest on USA TODAY tech reporter extraordinaire Jefferson Graham's weekly "Talking Tech" radio show (picture to the right shows us after the show in which we discussed next week's Apple WWDC; guests included animation and video legend Fred Seibert of Frederator Studios immediately behind me and Jefferson immediately next to him).  Just another day ....

USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham - My EXCLUSIVE Audio Interview (The "Next Big Thing" In Tech)

Yesterday, USA Today's long-time lead tech reporter, Jefferson Graham, interviewed me about all things Apple in advance of next week's WWDC -- iTunes Music, Apple TV, iOS 9 (here is the link to his interview).  Following my interview, I bumped into him at a local Greek Restaurant -- and turned the tables on him.  This is my interview of Jefferson about how USA Today's historical print business -- and his professional life -- have been fundamentally transformed by the mobile-driven digital transformation of media and entertainment about which I continuously write.  All tech and digital media roads lead to Jefferson.  So, his candid insights are worth listening to (despite our occasional chewing ...) -- including what he calls the most exciting thing in tech right now.  Listen on ....

Apple Watch! WWDC Preview & Predictions, That Is ...

Apple Watch!  No, not the Watch itself -- but rather "watch" as in your local station's "Storm Watch" (anytime a drop of rain is expected) -- as in my preview of (and predictions for) Apple's upcoming World-Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) next week.  All eyes in the business world will obsessively fixate on San Francisco once again, as Tim Cook kicks off on June 8th what everyone hopes to be "the next big thing" in our increasingly tech-hungry lives.

So, will it be the kind of "big thing" that will excite the Apple flock?  And, if so, what will "IT" be?  (I discuss that question with USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham later today on his video show -- and then, once again, Thursday night LIVE at 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern on his "Talking Tech" radio show via TuneIn Radio).

Four big buckets of announcements are expected -- (1) Apple Watch, (2) iTunes Music, (3) Apple TV, and (4) iOS9.

(1) APPLE WATCH -- No big surprises here.  Tim Cook will update us all on the expected massive initial numbers for Apple's latest product expansion (and also impress us all with the increasing number of native apps that require no iPhone link).  (I just got mine shipped this past week and am wearing it now for the first time as I write this -- that is mine in the picture above -- NOTE to Cupertino: I tried to change the time to 6:08 to make it more relevant to Tim Cook's June 8th keynote, but the settings weren't very intuitive).

(2) ITUNES MUSIC -- Apple bought Beats last year for $3 billion for a reason -- and, this reason finally comes to light next week when Apple announces its new "Spotify Killer" $10/month subscription service.  No ad-free alternative here -- it's all-or-nothing with this new service (although a limited free trial period is expected).  So, what is Apple's "special sauce" to make a dent in the Spotify machine?  Actually, the Apple core has a good story to tell here.

First -- the Apple juggernaut is just that ... a juggernaut.  It is a marketing machine -- with both online  and offline (retail) channels.  Spotify can't compete with that.  If Apple wants to make a dent, it can by its sheer heft.  It can simply throw gazillions of dollars at the problem/opportunity.  There is nothing else like it.  That's the beauty of being the most valuable company in the world.  Short-term losses are no problem if they lead to long-term success.  And, Apple's tantalizing prospect is to convert a significant portion of its 110 million iTunes users (who spend an average of $30/year) to a subscription model (yielding $120/year instead).  Which leads me to my next point ...

... Second, unlike Spotify, Apple's iTunes subscription service can be a success even if it loses money because, ultimately, it functions as marketing for Apple hardware (iPhones, Apple Watches, etc.) (Here's my separate relevant discussion/analysis in the context of Apple v. Netflix of why this is the case).  Spotify doesn't have that luxury.  Spotify must make money from the service itself -- and, that hasn't happened yet (no matter how massive it is -- with 86% of the U.S. on demand streaming market, 15 million paying subs worldwide, and $1 billion annual revenues).

Third -- and more important than most people think -- unlike Spotify, Apple takes great strides to portray itself as being creator and artist-friendly -- and that matters.  Spotify proudly trumpets its emotion-free tech-first heritage -- and has lost some allies along the way because of it (Taylor Swift, anyone?).  But, emotional appeal matters -- because humans (especially artists!) are emotional.  Apple's fearless leader Steve Jobs set the tone in this regard by smartly placing artists first in his initial iTunes/iPod marketing (which was natural, since he was very much an artist himself).  And Apple's Tim Cook stayed true to this DNA when he bought Beats in significant part to bring Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre into the fold (and, consequently, all of those other artists who respect them).  By doing that, Cook bought numerous allies that can help him shape a differentiated user/listener experience.  Listen closely next week.  That artist savvy will permeate discussion and functionality of the new service (with significant impacts to Pandora as well).

(3) APPLE TV -- everyone expects Apple TV to get a major face-lift next week (clues in this regard were obvious in the WWDC invitation itself), but how "major" will that face-lift be?  Will "IT" simply be "a better little square box" -- or will it be the long-anticipated full-fledged all-in-one beautiful flat-screen iTV?  As much as I would like to say the latter, I don't expect it ... yet (although that day will come).  But, the Apple TV "hobby" we know and love (at least some) will have more power ... including new features like Siri integration and initial hints to home automation ... and, most significantly, may even come with its own new OTT streaming service (aka "Netflix Killer").  Apple has long faced major hurdles with studios and broadcasters to license a critical mass of content -- and those challenges continue -- so it's not certain that Cook will yet announce the on-demand streaming video service.  But, I think he will.  Cupertino lawyers are feverishly trying to ink those final deals right now -- and they can be persuasive (after all, Apple's war chest doesn't hurt).

But, once Apple does launch its inevitable OTT video service, can it make a dent in the Netflix machine?

I absolutely think it can -- and for many of the same reasons that apply in the music/Spotify discussion above.  In fact, I previously wrote about Apple v. Netflix at length -- analyzing the threat Apple poses to the market leader.  Definitely worthy of a read (as self-promotional as that sounds).  And, don't forget, Apple's inevitable OTT video service will feature both VOD and live linear TV (including ESPN).  Netflix certainly doesn't have that.

(4) iOS 9 -- Virtually everyone expects new iOS 9 to be announced next week -- which makes sense since it is a developers conference after all.  Yes, this ain't the sexy stuff, but it is still "stuff" that matters to us all -- because the OS defines our individual user experiences.

Any major "gasp"-worthy new functionality in iOS 9?  Not really (although there is some chatter about some early Augmented Reality (AR) functionality) -- which follows Apple's recent purchase of AR company Metaio.  Performance will be optimized -- and some "nice to haves" that many others have already discussed.  But, it's always nice to get new features.

Steve Jobs Revisited - USA Today RADIO Tech Roundtable - My Thoughts

This past week, USA Today's resident guru of "all things tech" -- Jefferson Graham -- led a roundtable discussion revisiting the legacy of Steve Jobs in light of the new "kinder, gentler" image portrayed in the new biography "Becoming Steve Jobs" that is making the rounds. I was one of Jeff's "panelists" for this discussion -- and here is the full audio interview (below) in which I and others give our candid thoughts about the "man" (both professionally as a visionary, and as a man "wholly").

Apple v. Netflix & The LA Tech Scene - My Radio Interview with USA Today

NEVERMIND the picture, PLEASE! (I had nothing to do with it, believe me)!  Here below is my AUDIO interview with USA Today's leading tech expert Jefferson Graham (and posted by him) in which we discuss (1) Apple v. Netflix (and who will win the "cord cutting wars"), (2) the LA Tech Scene (and why I find it to be both vibrant and extremely gratifying), and (3) Manatt Digital Media (and why I think we can do what others cannot).  Jeff's a great guy -- and asks lots of good questions.  Hope you enjoy it.

Evergram Featured in USA Today

One of my favorite passion-fueled start-ups is Evergram -- about which I recently wrote as being a "must check out" service (here is the link to my earlier post).

USA Today, among other big names, also recently have taken note.  In fact, USA Today just featured Evergram -- and Founder/CEO Duncan Seay -- yesterday.  Worthy of a read -- and watch the video too.

I like what they do.  I like why they do it.  And, I like the deeper meaning (and story) behind it.