Blockbusting?

If you were running a video or dvd rental store, and you were aware of the rise of NetFlix and it’s bretheren, what would you be doing now to save your business?

Would you be conceding defeat? Time to pack it in and lease the shop out to another mobile phone seller?

Here’s what I might consider:

• Let my customers browse online to see what is actually on the shelves for borrowing right now, like I can with public libraries. I’m sure some stores already do this, but I haven’t seen them.
• Work out a way of letting customers in-store look up all the reviews on the web so they don’t end up with a crappy movie they hate.
• Setup special deals that tie in with well publicised lists like 100 greatest movies. Make it easy for people to watch all those movies, and make it cheaper too.
• Be smarter about recommending movies to people, send emails about movies they might not have heard of, but match viewing patterns
• Reward people for being loyal, with something better than $2 off a rental. It should be something they can’t easily get elsewhere. Movie memorabilia maybe.

What would you do?

February 25, 2010

In which I list the significant events that have occurred since I first got orthodontic braces

• I have lived in Cambridge, UK
• Moved back to Sydney
• Contracted for a few years
• Spoken at a web conference in New York
• Become a father
• Joined Campaign Monitor
• Celebrated my 10th anniversary
• Moved south out of Sydney

It’s been nearly 5 years, and there are a lot of people in my life who have never seen me sans-jaws-teeth. Next week they come off.

February 19, 2010

Where are the smarter ebooks?

I have a Kindle 2 which I love. It is great for straight ahead reading of books with an excellent screen and fantastic range of available titles (especially once I connect to the US store). Physically the Kindle cursor movement and selection is a bit painful, but you don’t need to use it too often.

I love having the built in dictionary, and I find myself trying to find the definitions for words in print before I realise what I am reading. But ebooks could be so much more. The dictionary can only show me definitions for common words in English. I want to be able to click (or really, touch) a characters name in a fiction novel and have a short bio pop up, telling me who that person is and what they’ve done so far in the book.

I want to read Tolkien and touch the name of a battle or a location from the Lord of the Rings and get quick access to the information I need to know, or a map of the location.

Obviously this means a lot of extra work up front for publishers, but there is an opportunity to make the ebook so much better than the print version. There’s your way to justify paying a decent price when there is no printing and transporting to do. Books might well start to come with DVD style extras, with Cliff’s Notes accessible as you read or even come with soundtracks.

I’m sure these are all things that are being worked on already, I’m just impatient. Give me my smart ebooks today, on a Kindle or iPad or Hitchhikers Guide. The device itself is just a convenient carry case.

Is this going to happen, or is it a colossal waste of time? Tweet me @mrpatto with your thoughts.

February 4, 2010