A few books I keep mentioning, thinking about and recommending these past few weeks. Rework is cute and smart, quick, like a powerpoint in hardcover more than anything. Priceless is more academic and wonky, but still well written and alarming in its suggestions. I have changed the way I price products now that I have read it. (And now question how I value everything I purchase.)

Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It) by William Poundstone

Please comment with other books you have been enjoying. Thanks.

America wins the Americas Cup for first time in 18 years and nobody cares, for now. . . This race was much like The Big Boat vs. Stars & Stripes in 1988 where 2 hideous machines raced for the cup, and then fought even harder in court to win the cup. SDYC won the lawyer battle and that race went down in history as yucky. 2010 appears to have topped the yuckiness with 2 spaceships competing in the shadow of lawsuits. These yachts are awesome to see, but no one did – not even televised in America. BMW Oracle destroyed Alinghi. Alinghi is a yacht from Switzerland. Switzerland is landlocked. Probably the most notable aspects of the race were BMW Oracle Skipper Russell Coutts winning his fourth Americas Cup and BMW Oracle Team Owner Larry Ellison watching his company gobble up Sun Microsystems while sailing in the Med.

There may be hope. Larry Ellison promises to return to monohulls and restore the glory. He has burgeed under the San Francisco Yacht Club but recently purchased a Newport Mansion, so it is likely that 34th Americas Cup will be fought offshore a great American Harbor with a nice suspension bridge. I can’t imagine America won’t shine to the idea of a beautiful yacht defending the cup off our shores. Hopefully the costs, courts and recent lack of interest won’t keep the competition away. My bet is that the Chinese enter the fray.

Now would be the time to lock in a sponsorship while the whole Americas Cup brand is bruised and lonely.

Stylus. Sketching, drawing, handwriting, notes. And, two handed multi-touch gesturing.

make your own predictions with this handy tool. I think there is an app too.

http://unweary.com/2010/01/prediction-score-card.html

Note that almost none of my predictions are even on the prediction sheet. . .

Via Vimeo / Via Blogotheque – brush up on your Spanish.

PaidContent is reporting that the movie studios are working out a new licensing deal with distributors where new releases will only be available for sale and then available for rent 30 days later. Evidently DVD sales are declining and rental models are booming (Redbox, Netflix, iTunes, etc.). Certainly there are films where ownership makes sense, children’s movies that are watched ad nausea, personal favorites and workout videos – but the lion’s share of films we watch are one time events. The attempt by the industry to force DVD sales is understood, there is more money to be made. There is money to be made in selling $300 Hamburgers too (as long as you outlaw $5 hamburgers).

I do not think this is another example of Media struggling with technology, this is Media struggling with customer behavior. It seems that the average consumer is gorging media like never before, but like a whale – thousands of small morsels make up a meal. And the economics are almost the reverse of tradition. We are not buying titles, we are renting access, we are not loyal to sources, we are loyal to choice and we excpect our $200-$400/month internet, cable and mobile investment covers the licensing of the content. I have AT&T, Comcast, XMradio, and iTunes expenses. I do not subscribe to a newspaper or magazine and I have not purchased a DVD in years, but my Media costs have skyrocketed. I do not think there are large sums of my money headed to the Studios, they too are earning like whales eat.

The studios are also losing the one-to-one connection with the consumer. Never mind the physical resonance with the brand when we purchase physical media, but the satisfaction of rental is reflected on Netflix, not Paramount. The marketing, packaging, retail and distribution choreography is major part of the Studio’s workload and presumed value.

So, there is still money to be made, lots and lots of money, but in a whole new manner- finish movie, upload to server, collect money forever (no need for grand opening weekends). Just let Apple and Netflix manage marketing and distribution. Best part about this model, the Studios can focus on making great movies, not forcing us to reluctantly buy landfill-destined media we watch once. Making great products means making happy customers – the essence of a good brand and great business model.

(Another thought – Apple has $34,000,000,000 cash on hand – how much of that would they need to buy Netflix?)

WordCamp Boston 2010 will be held at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) center in Kendall Square, Cambridge, on Saturday January 23rd. Never been to one, but it looks interesting. You can read and see more at 2010.boston.wordcamp.org.