The Open Screen Project

I recently completed a survey for Fierce Wireless, which asked about the mobile strategies my company was implementing.  It soon became apparent that the survey was really about Abode's mobile efforts, and was gathering information on how effectively Adobe made it's presence in the mobile space felt.

Apparently, Adobe has been quite busy in the mobile space for some time. Flash Lite, Adobe Labs and the Open Screen Project are a few of Adobe's more well known efforts, but they have been actively engaged in developing mobile solutions, to allow developers and end-users to benefit from the Adobe suite of products and services.

Adobe's mobile efforts are similar to those of Apple, Google, and more recently handset manufacturer, Nokia, who are taking steps to offer their current user base greater utility, driven by extentions of their current capabilities.  Adobe's efforts are equally ambitious, with the announcement of the Open Screen Project Fund, which they hope will generate Apple SDK, and Android-like responses within the developer communities, that will translate into greater Adobe-based mobile applications for end-users.

Will Adobe open up their own App Store?  Who knows.  Ultimately, I was glad to have been included in the survey, because it gave me a chance to look into Adobe's efforts, and extend my knowledge of all that is mobile.  If you're not up-to-speed on Adobe, definitely check them out.

Getting Money in a Recession

Everyone is all up-in-arms over the declining stock market and wondering if Obama's economic stimulus package is a real solution or a finger in the dam.  I don't know about the rest of you but the recession hasn't hurt me one bit. Perhaps that's because I own no stocks (all my money is in bonds) or because I'm African (American) and we're used to struggle, but the whole implosion of the world markets is an interesting footnote to my life.

But for those who are impacted, the economic climate is really f-ing things up.  So, in the spirit of Obama, here are a few economic stimulus tips for anyone ready to make moves:

1.  Mobile. Mobile. Mobile.  If you haven't noticed, mobile has been making slow but steady gains globally.  It's still in its infancy, so there are still plenty of 'first-mover' advantages for the wise, but this advantage won't last for long.  What can one do with mobile?  The more appropriate questions is what CAN'T one do with mobile.  Mobile today is like the internet was at its infancy, very few people 'got it' initially, but when they did, the whole dot.com thing happened.  Don't be on the bubble, when mobile breaks.  Get in now.

2.  Less is more.  Learn to scale back and work in a more efficient and productive manner.  I've always been a fan of guerilla-style tactics.  I'm an advocate of working small and lean, so that you have the ability to adapt rapidly to change.  Audit your company, processes and systems to determine where you can trim the fat.  Find out where you can scale and what aspect of your current business or operation is expendable. 

3.  Partnerhips.  If ever there was a time for allies, now is that time.  You should actively be looking for situations where the partnership adds value for both parties.  You should look for partners where you know they would add value to your operations or business, but also where you'll add value to their's as well.

4.  Be aggressive.  Forget all that 'the meek shall inherit the earth' malarky!  If you see an opportunity, seize it.  Right now, everyone is scared, and as the saying goes, 'scared money don't make none!'  You've got to be prepared to stake a claim and justify your position.  Difficult economic times are really a boon for the well prepared and the aggressive.  People want solutions and are willing to follow anyone who holds themselves out as a solution provider.   Be the one with all the answers, offering without hesitation and with unbridled confidence.

5.  Use technology.  I've always said that technology is the great equalizer.  That is true now, more than ever.  Use all that technology has to offer to get out there.  There are countless free or low cost solutions for building and hosting websites, mobile sites, building and deploying SMS campaigns, CRM solutions, project management, and the list goes on.  Make sure that you're not re-inventing the wheel and open-sourcing it all the way (unless you've got some ill cats developing proprietary ish you can get to market right away!)

A case study for this methodology can be found in my man Kenyatta 'Tally' Galbreth.  Over two years ago, we sat down in his attorney's Park Avenue offices in New York to discuss his mobile play.  He had a major international investor greenlight his media start-up, Gotham Jungle, and he wanted me to run his mobile division.  Long story short, the investor took a massive hit, and the money went away.

Undaunted, Tally still set up Gotham Jungle, with his own money.  He got a friend who was into web and application development to partner with him to develop some apps for the Apple App store, based on the SDK Apple had released.  Today, he's got his website up and they've got a few dashboard widgets available for download.

Tally's setup is still a little rough around the edges, but he's doing it.  And he's not waiting for anyone else to make it happen.

I'm not saying that by following these tips you're going to see a stimulus check tomorrow.  I am suggesting, however, that you can flip this whole economic downturn on its ear, and make positive revenue-generating moves for yourself right now.

So be like Mike and just do it!

The Future is Mobile

Years ago, I used to have this running debate with a friend of mine regarding which platform was going to be the dominant one in the future, Windows of Mac.  I was the Windows fan, because I felt that it was a superior business platform, and was far more ubiquitous than Mac (which I relegated to the world of artistic/design types).  My friend (the artistic/design type) was steeped in Macs (they gave them out at Princeton University), and believed that the people at Apple were on to something.

Every so often, we'd sit down and compare notes, and as the years progressed, we discovered we were both right.  Windows is still the dominant platform, installed on 95% of the world's computers.  But Mac is the dominant platform for media.  And so we called a truce to our ongoing debate, since virtually everything you could do only exclusively on one platform or the other (back in the day), could be accomplished on either today (and fairly interchangeably, read: Intel Dual Core).

The dominant platform today, as I see it, is not Windows or Mac.  Its not even computer based.  It mobile.  Period.  Full Stop.  There are more mobile phones in operation today than there are personal computers.  In 2006 browsing on mobile phones overtook browsing on PCs as the dominant way to surf the internet.  Today, virtually any task you can perform on a computer can be accomplished on a mobile device.  And smart phones, like the iPhone, Blackberry and Treo, are affording the types of business productivity, typically offered by laptops.

While there are still issues of interoperability, and lots of content, applications and functionality is not yet device or carrier agnostic, these issues are being addressed.  Unlike the clash of the titans, between Mac and Windows, mobile device manufacturer, carriers, aggregators and the like, are utilizing lots of different standards, thereby giving users lots of options.  What's more, its not likely than a single uniform standard is on the immediate horizon.

But what's of singular importance, is the fact that mobile is still a vast untapped, undefined horizon.  Its the wild wild west (Kool Moe Dee, not Will Smith).  I stay preaching about the virtues of mobile, and regularly encourage my clients to get up on it (Salt N' Pepa style).  There is soooo much money to be made by content creators and aggregators.  And there are few barriers to entry.

Mobile phones are inherently social networking tools, and so anyone interested in capturing an increasingly mobile audience, needs to start capturing mobile phone numbers (as well as email addresses) to truly stay connected.  Failing to adopt a mobile strategy, in addition to an internet or web strategy is a fatal flaw in any marketing or promotions plan.  The low price point for acquiring a mobile phone, means that an ever increasing audience is ripe for the picking for the really focused player.

At the end of the day, mobile is where its at, and where its going to be for the foreseeable future.  

The following was a public service announcement.

You Didn't Hear This From Me

I heard through the grapevine that Kenyatta "Tally" Galbreth is moving beyond the entertainment/music industry fold into the content aggregation/distribution world.  Word on the streets is that he's been in numerous rounds of meetings with some heavy hitters and big money folks to set up his own content company.

Anyone familiar with Tally, knows that he was a former Senior Director of A&R at Sony, where he was responsible for multi-platinum acts including Jay-Z and Ghost Face Killah.  Since then, he formed his own entertainment company, Arsenal Entertainment, and has been involved in numerous major label and independent acts, including Jon B, Next and Adina Howard.

From what I've learned, the venture is called Gotham Jungle, and will offer content deliverable via OTA and the internet to PCs, mobile phones, hand held devices and gaming consoles.  So far, they've lined up deals with numerous independent artists, and they're amassing loads of content.  In addition, GJ will include some social networking and an  interactive media component as well.

There's a holding page up right now at http://www.gothamjungle.com/ with a notice that the site is being updated.  But you didn't hear it from me.

Its Now or Never

I've been intending to put my thoughts down for years.  After several aborted starts, I've committed myself to sitting at this computer daily, and really pushing this agenda forward.  

Some background is appropriate.  I am a former attorney who has been in the entertainment/media/technology space for as long as I can remember.  In my youth, I used to hang out backstage at concerts with Nas, Biz Markie, Mary  J. Blige, Special Ed, A Tribe Called Quest, and countless others.  I'm sure none of these people, if pressed would have recalled meeting or even seeing me at any of the D.C. haunts, where they made their bones before hitting superstardom, but that's not my point.

I've worked on cybersquatting cases, filed a lawsuit against Funkmaster Flex, beta tested Russell Simmons' Global Grind, developed media delivery kiosks with Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center and created digital distribution platforms with software developers from Australia (and this is really a top-of-the-dome recollection of some of the things I have done or been involved with).

I offer that to show that my opinions (and those I will offer in the future) are grounded in experience.  A lot of bloggers, reporters (and really  people generally) will give their two-cents from a particularly detached perspective, leaving the reader no wiser.  My hope is that anyone reading my blog or anything else published by me is singularly informed, and can practically apply what they read about.

Most of what you'll read here will be about things that I am actually doing (to the extent that its not covered by some oppressive NDA), and/or things that are of particular interest to me.  You'll find, though, that I regularly interact with some of the most influential (and/or up-and-coming) personalities and businesses in the digital, technology and new media spaces.  Sometimes you'll know who I'm talking about, sometimes you won't.  But I'll always try to put whatever it is that I'm doing or writing about into some practical perspective.

What will I be talking about?  The iPhone, iTunes, iPods, DOT.TUNES, the Marksmen, Capitol Records, mobile phones and computing, recording artists, record labels, digital distribution, ringtones, the state of the music industry and why the RIAA is dying (or already dead), Live Nation, 360 deals, Gino Green, Omar Jermain, Selwyn Hinds, Russell Simmons, Global Grind, software, hardware, CEOs and CTO, virtually anything and everything relevant to the Digital Black Experience.

Oh yeah.  Why did I call this the Digital Black Experience?  Well, for starters, I wanted a name that I was certain people wouldn't forget.  I also wanted something that sounded great and had some brand appeal.  Since I am a person of color, I also wanted to be able to play with words, but not pigeon-hole myself into being perceived as a "black" blogger (although I do not eschew the association).  In the final analysis, I really wanted to call it 'digital black' full stop.  But that url was taken, so I decided upon the next best thing.