The future really is bright, if not with a slight orange glow. Want to play the latest game? Watch the latest movie? Listen to the coolest tracks? But are too fat to nip down to the shops? Fear not, just download it straight to your computer and save more than calories! But then there’s the catch…

All but a very few of those brave new online download retailers offer their goods to non-USA citizens. iTunes music store being one thorn in my eye. But there are others. Check out the all new BitTorrent.com site, now with fancy music and video downloads. But it’s for USA folk only

I understand it’s because of rights issues and licensing. To be honest I think it’s because US companies simply don’t care too much for markets outside their homeland. To be fair, there are new download services – like musicload.de in Germany for example – outside the US of A but they only carry crappy old content and it always lacks the original language or quality.

While we are on the topic of downloading legal content (for a change), what’s up with the whole numbers anyway? AACS used stupid software to protect their goods, serves them right. It’s comparable to a careless shop owner who sleeps at his desk only to discover people freeloading on his merchandise, and complaining about it. How do you want to sue over 700,000 16 year old PFY’s across the world?

Until those large corporations realize that they are about 100 years behind the times and that we live in a truly global village, i doubt that people will stop damaging their bottom lines (no pun intended).

Simple: Close the doors! brighterComputing.com is now by invite only and services are only available to those who demand simply the best and know they will pay for it. This way both sides are happy. The customer can rely on me as a service provider and I can concentrate on serving them without distraction.

The invite only idea isn’t new but I strongly believe that if you want to make something special, it can only be available to a selected few. Although most people want “special” things they are usually just made to feel like it is, without actually getting it. So they usually don’t pay much for it either (i.e. budget airlines). Those that get the real deal, don’t ask how, why or how much – they just put their demands on the table and expect it to get done. Somehow that sounds like a much better thing to do to me, than trying to fake happiness to my customers and give them barely anything for their 99cents. I’d rather not serve them, than serve them badly.

Please feel free to comment or email me if you want real “happiness”. Otherwise, take the blue pill and never mind the rabbit hole

Snakes on a Plane, the new movie with Samuel L. Jackson, has created a lot of buzz online even before it was made. Bands like The Arctic Monkeys came to light because people on MySpace’s spread it through word of mouth by recommending them to their peers. Spencer Kelly writes that you cannot pay bloggers to push a product without loosing their credibility, which although true is not entirely correct. Many underground marketeers, especially brand strategists employ bloggers and key people in the groups the brands target. They have done so long before the Internet gave us blogs, podcasts and social networks. They are doing so carefully however, as not to destroy what they seek to build.

You simply cannot just pay someone to promote your product or brand but you can sponsor events, websites and integrate consumers into their brands definition. By empowering people to openly criticse your brand and dealing with this feedback constructively you can build strong, well respected brands with a large community following. You don’t “pay” community leaders to advertise, you just give the communities what they are interested in. Be it servers to play their games, help organise on/off-line events with them or simply create products and services they want, the way they want it.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/5304892.stm

If you are interested in the evolution of independent broadcasting on the Internet or want to find out more about this new trend, then I strongly suggest you visit these fine sites:

Video Blogging Links:

• Akimbo – Subscribe to several vlogs, in addition to its other video-on-demand programs
• VloggerCon – Video Blogger conference in New York, Minneapolis and Los Angeles
• Y! Video Blogging Group
• VlogDir – Video blog directory site
• WatchThis – Annoucements and recommendations of interesting feeds
• WikiPedia entry on vlogs
• CreativeCommons License