Eric Berlin

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  • Eric Berlin  I think that's a good way of thinking of the two Reilly, they're different kinds of "lifestream services." The great thing about both is that you have the ability to customize them to use in ways that work best for you.
  • • 2 weeks ago
    •   Twitter and FriendFeed: where the future may tread
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Hmm... So the argument you're making if I'm reading you right is that accountability leads to less fun/creative ads? I actually believe the opposite -- if you're hitting the right people at the right place at the right time, I think there's lots of room to be fun and creative. People groan at Punch the Monkey or seeing a boring insurance ad for the millionth time, but seeing a beautiful banner for an album that you're interested in while on a fave music site... that's actually a valuable experience, "ad content" that's you (in this example) actually seek out.
  • • 2 weeks ago
    •   The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Very interesting thoughts Reilly. In a very real sense the Internet is revolutionizing both content and advertising, creating unlimited means for distribution and consumption while at the same time creating means for measurement (which to be sure are still in very very early forms). No wonder why Hollywood is scrambling to figure out what to do about it !
  • • 3 weeks ago
    •   The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade
    •   Online Media Cultist
  •   Reilly  Agreed, Eric. What measurement creates is accountability. What accountability creates (often, at least in my perspective) is a winners-only environment. Unfortunately sometimes that means the more branding-focused (and sometimes) creative and fun ads won't deliver. But they could still be valuable. I still loved Where's The Beef? when it came out 20 years ago and never clicked on an ad. I never even ate at Wendy's, really. Can Where's The Beef - level advertising exist when measurement rules? Who knows. But I think overall the quality of ads are on the rise due to accountability, if that makes sense.
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  • Eric Berlin  Well, I think it could be a game changer in terms of how high end content producers (Hollywood, TV people, etc.) think about how to break through on the Internet. And it has potential to lead out how web distributed content will be produced and consumed. I guess we'll see !
  • • 3 weeks ago
    •   The future of content may come in the form of a Cavalcade
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  I would argue/predict that the things that poise the Kindle for mass use -- ease-of-use, relative affordability (down to $350 or so, no monthly fee, discounts on most purchases vs. print), lightning quick download speed, portability, tie-in with Amazon account, etc. -- will also add value for many college students. While the purchase price will be expensive for many -- match it against the overall cost of college texts, throw in some discount pricing... and you can make back the cost relatively quickly once the academic publishers are rounded up and books brought to digital format.
  • • 3 weeks ago
    •   College textbooks on Kindle = no brainer for brains
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Granted, there's bias there if only to defend the prediction that Google's purchase of YouTube wouldn't pay off longterm, but I still see some solid basis to the fact that YouTube has a longterm problem in monetizing UGC video... along with every other UGC video platform out there, by the way ! That said, it should be noted that Google is in the rarified position of not necessarily basing YouTube's performance directly on revenue. They snatched the most popular video site on the Internet away from anyone else with the purchase, and now have the ability to experiment with video on the web -- including video advertising -- on the greatest scale possible.
  • • 4 weeks ago
    •   Mark Cuban: Hulu kicking YouTube’s ass
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  I think most web publishers understand that making money online is extremely difficult. Most do it for the enjoyment of the process, to take part in the greater online conversation, and if a couple of bucks can be made from it, all the better. Lets remember too that ALL forms of publishing are extremely competitive. Web publishing at the least is egalitarian -- anyone can do it, which may of course lead some to have unrealistic expectations.
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Bridging the Blogging 1.0 and Blogging 2.0 divide
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  That's a great description / dynamic, succinctly stated, about Digg's and Reddit's transition. Will ponder some more on that topic.... cheers, EB
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Link Sharing: 5/17/08
    •   Webomatica
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  • Eric Berlin  Agree with Lucas -- that was my first thought: $36 CPM seems awfully high. Perhaps they get it for a limited amount of inventory but can't imagine it's across -the-board. Also agree with Mathew that Ars could be a good fit for Conde -- they're putting together a pretty interesting digital portfolio.
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Ars Technica snapped up by Conde Nast
    •   Mathew's comments
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  • Eric Berlin  Great job as always Louis. Semi-related: I've been wondering how friendfeed decides to provide users with friend-of-a-friend updates -- anyone know how that's done ?
  • • 2 months ago
    •   louisgray.com: FriendFeed Friday Tips #1: Five Ways To Use the Hide Function
    •   louisgray.com
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  • Eric Berlin  I'm getting pretty frustrated with the outages too -- hope they get their scaling issues under control one of these days
  • • 2 months ago
    •   I’m Boycotting Twitter Until They Get Their Act Together
    •   Webomatica
  •   webomatica  I also hope they can figure it out. It would really be sad if they "snatched victory from the jaws of defeat" in that their service can't technically support the increasing number of folks that want to use it.
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  • Eric Berlin  Thanks so much for liking, posting, stopping by, and all of the above ! :-)
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Online Media Cultist honored by The Industry Standard
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Thank you ! You should do a competing Louis Gray List, pulling from your monthly column ;-)
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Online Media Cultist honored by The Industry Standard
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Totally see what you're saying Reilly but I think the counter-argument -- that I'm somewhat but not 100% sold on -- is that if the curated detritus is yet more detritus... is there a point to the whole operation? That's why I completely agree that the future as I see it for the social news platform is to find niche environments and niche communities -- probably with some sort of editorial overlay.
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?
    •   Online Media Cultist
  •   Reilly  Good point. At some point there's just detritus overload. I agree with the notion that social news sites should become more vertical, but some of the early attempts at that have been slow going. I happen to like cars a lot and most of the social news sites for cars have been useless. Other than Digg/Reddit (which are somewhat horizontal, but as we know basically internet culture stuff), are there any truly vertical news sites?
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  • Eric Berlin  Can you explain a little more what you mean, Spuds? Do you mean that people who are into social bookmarking can find use in sharing what they're into on an online platform? thanks!
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?
    •   Online Media Cultist
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  • Eric Berlin  Social news sites are by their very nature going to be driven by what the community thinks is important. If you find Digg to be a useful resource, that's great -- obviously man others do as well. I'm probably biased these days as I find Twitter and Friendfeed to be pretty amazing ways to discover "what I wouldn't easily find." Alternatively, browsing through Digg and Reddit today, it felt more like sifting through the aisles of a thrift store: there are some jewels in there, but you have to have patience, as well as some luck on your side.
  • • 2 months ago
    •   Are social news sites like Digg useful anymore?
    •   Online Media Cultist
  •   aseever  I certainly agree about single-river popularity sites; you'll always get bread and circuses. The new crop of services seeking to compartmentalize that crowd-sourced news dynamic based on interests sound good on paper, but I wonder if you wind up with some hybrid of friendfeed and a message board. In the end, as you allude with the thrift store analogy, the democratization of news is a net loss for signal/noise ratio.
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  • Eric Berlin  I like to read, and the Kindle has helped me to catch up on some book learnin' even if it's just a few pages at a time. And I like to write, both the blogging thing and a long and sometimes tortuous journey into stuff that's more "creative" (sometimes there's more quotes around that word than at other times...). I'm also a TV nerd and love nothing better than having laptop on lap and something on the tube. Luckily I'm married to a wonderful woman who drags me out of the house. We go hiking, we take walks, we'll ride our bikes around town every now and again. I'm trying to get into shape, so will take little jogs with my dog. I'm also a big fan of music and shows and am trying to bring that element back into my life after a year+ nearly consumed with work. I locked in seeing REM at the Hollywood Bowl next month and just got tix to see The Kids in the Hall live, which I expect to be nothing less than epic. Also heading to New York in June where I have lots of family and friends, so I always store up my energy for nightlife stuff for those trips.
  • • 2 months ago
    •   When not talking about Twitter, what do you do in life?
    •   Infocalypse
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  • Eric Berlin  Mathew - This was spot on my take across-the-board as well. If you want to take the stance that some specific sites don't deserve the traffic / ad revenue they receive, that's a very different argument, but I don't think that was what Louis was trying to say. By the way, I *think* michael walens' comment is pretty hilarious... right?
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Bitchmeme: Do blogs deserve advertising?
    •   Mathew's comments
  •   mathewi  Unintentionally hilarious perhaps.
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  • Eric Berlin  The question of a place to pick up on breaking news is an interesting one, Corvida. I don't think of an RSS reader as a particularly great place to do that, as there's so much volume to dig through. Sure you can set up filters and such but that's not going to set up a very efficient way to pick up a breaking story that could in effect be about almost anything. I think of news aggregators as a pretty efficient way to pick up on breaking news, as well as places like Twitter, where people you're following are likely to be chatting about hot topics of the day.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Use Twitter In Conjunction With Your RSS Reader
    •   SheGeeks
  •   Corvida  RSS does have it's perks and downsized, but you've definitely outline a very interesting point about RSS volume.
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  • Eric Berlin  Very interesting Jason, as we can see there are many that are trying to find the right blog balance, the right interwebs-immersion balance, the right work-web-life balance. It really is about that blurring line between hobby and second job, passion and unhealthy obessesion, isn't it? Long ago, I gave up the need/compulsion to cover the "big stories" going on each day. If I have something meaningful to add I'll do it, but like you I've been striving to write stories that turn *me* on, which hopefully will have the same benefit for readers. If those stories happen to hit techmeme then great, but it's not the primary focus. The ironic thing for those bloggers who have ambitions to become more popular is that it's the against-the-grain stories that when done consistently and well will gather a larger ongoing audience. Anyway, I love your stuff Jason and look forward to whatever may come next.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Refocusing The Blog
    •   Webomatica
  •   webomatica  Thanks Eric. It's that passion of writing stuff that I really enjoy that I need to recapture. I noticed you jumped right back in there recently with quality stuff after a brief slow down; that's inspiring.
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  • Eric Berlin  The problem with many of these lists -- particularly the "traditional media" ones covering new media -- is that they tend to go for the "cutting edge"/provocative instead of a truly comprehensive list. The result is what happens a lot of the time when old media covers new.... it just doesn't feel right. This list certainly falls under that category, I'd say.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Who Voted For These Top Blogs?
    •   sarahintampa
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  • Eric Berlin  Steven, thanks so much! I'm noticing there's something of a twitter-friendfeed-osphere if I can say? Still a very young and vibrant and exciting community, lots of fun to look at and partake in and analyze.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   From the Pipeline - 4.6.08
    •   WinExtra Comments
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  • Eric Berlin  I didn't have a problem with the original communication. It was a little bit lawyerly and cold of course, but isn't that the point? I suppose they *might* have caught more flies with the proverbial honey by offering to move them over to alternate URL (perhaps?), but the point was to basically scare squatters (in craigslist's view -- and I think they have a pretty good case) off their land, right? And I get the feeling -- particularly in learning about the misleading text ads -- that Tim and co. wouldn't have been so friendly toward any suggestions from craigslist.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Craiglist vs. craigslist blogger, round three
    •   Mathew's comments
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  • Eric Berlin  Agreed all round. Isn't there or shouldn't there be some place for *both* "high end" showcases like DEMO (which claims to give companies huge spotlight, state-of-the-art ways to present etc.) and more "grassroots" forums like TechCrunch50? Note I use quotes on both because I've not been to either event. But it seems to me that different kinds of venues that have different participants, different cultures, different modes of discussion, and so on can only be a good thing.
  • • 3 months ago
    •   Hey you kids — knock it off back there
    •   Mathew's comments
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  • Eric Berlin  Amazing to see fear and ignorance of new media find its way into a usually high quality pub like Newsweek. But as you note, content is content, right? It can come in good, bad, and ugly increments whether it's published by "users," "experts," or some point in between.
  • • 4 months ago
    •   Newsweek does UGC drive-by
    •   Mathew's comments
  •   mathewi  True, Eric. Maybe it was a slow news week :-)
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