Mark Suster Interviews Eric Ries -- MUST WATCH Video

Must watch video -- Venture Capitalist, Mark Suster, interviews Eric Ries, author of "The Lean Startup." Yes, it is 70 minutes long -- but you will get much out of it. Every entrepreneur should watch this one. Enjoy.

'Tis the Season -- Give the Gift of the Giving Tree Movement

A woman pepper sprays 10 fellow shoppers as she reaches for an Xbox on Black Friday. Really? Has it really come to this?

Hey, I shop -- and certainly am not against consumerism in general. And, no, this isn't another post about the true meaning of the holidays. But, as we line up at midnight on Thanksgiving evening to be the first to rampage into the stores, what are we telling our kids? What are we telling ourselves?

We all want nice comfortable lives for our families -- I certainly do. But, we all (including myself) need to stop, take a breath, take stock, and reflect on the cues we feed our kids -- and the impacts of those cues. Rampant consumerism; rampant focus on "achievement" -- one scheduled activity after another (and the exhaustion that ensues); rampant focus on success -- without failure (and without the possibility of failure) -- are not the answers (at least in my book).

And, that's precisely what the new organization Giving Tree Movement is all about -- check it out here by clicking on this link.

Giving Tree Movement (GTM) does not claim to have all the answers. In fact, that's not the point. Rather, GTM aims to be safe forum for parents -- for all of us -- to discuss what it means to help us lead our kids to live truly authentic and purposeful lives amidst all the rampant pressures and expectations that they face. GTM was a direct response to many of the problems addressed in the widely-seen sobering documentary "The Race to Nowhere," which served as a wake-up call to many.

GTM's message is catching on fast down here in the San Diego area.

(NOTE -- in the interest of full disclosure, GTM's founder and Chief Inspiration Officer is my wife, Luisa. But, although she is a force in and of herself, that ain't why I am writing this. The message rings true ... and I try to take little steps each day to tailor my cues to our kids perhaps a bit differently than before because of GTM's message ....)

Amen to Michael Arrington -- On This Thanksgiving, Appreciate the Value of "Luck"

TechCrunch founder and overall tech svengali, Michael Arrington, just gave a speech at the Founders' Institute (an organization of which I am pleased to be a part) -- here is a link to the TechCrunch report of it. He talks about how "luck" plays a significant part in any success -- and in any failure. Just because you "succeed" does not mean you're great; nor does failure mean that, in his words, "you suck." We are all rather simply on a razor's edge where things can frequently go one way or another.

BUT, there is one part that increases your positive "Black Swan" moments - -and that is the need to keep putting yourself in a position to succeed (i.e., have good "luck") in the first place. That means that a "never say die" attitude can, among other things, help increase your odds.

For this reason, I don't call it "luck" exactly -- I consider it to be more a question of being "fortunate." There is free will -- and effort -- associated with it.

In the end, however, Arrington's overall theme rings true. So, consider it this Thanksgiving season. And, count your blessings and good fortunes. In other words, appreciate how "lucky" we are.

I certainly do ....

Thanksgiving -- The TryptoMYTH

This post -- nothing to do with digital media.

This post -- everything to do with Thanksgiving -- and turkey.

MYTH -- eating turkey makes you sleepy -- the tryptophan effect.

FACT -- apparently not true. As this article points out, eating turkey on Thanksgiving itself is not the cause of exhaustion. Rather, in its words, those f/x are due to "any combination of booze, bad conversation and a carbohydrate-heavy meal."

OUR THANKSGIVING PLANS -- my family and I are off later tonight to the land of the frozen tundra -- lovely Minneapolis, Minnesota -- home of the flailing Vikings -- and the Mall of America. That is part of our annual pilgrimage up north -- once again, we will be there. And, possibly with bells on!

Enjoy your families and friends this holiday week.

PC World Calls New Squeeze 8 "Nothing Short of Excellent"

As readers know, my company, Sorenson Media, just recently launched Squeeze 8 -- the new significant update of our award-winning desktop video encoding/workflow application.

Well, the reviews are coming in. And, amongst the first is PC World -- with a nearly 2 million monthly unique readers. And, PC World calls Squeeze 8 a hit in its product review (click on this link for the full review).

Some of the choice cuts from the review --

-- "Using Squeeze is a breeze."

-- "The transcoding results are nothing short of excellent."

-- "... output from either version (Squeeze or Squeeze Lite) is as good as it gets."

-- "If you're a pro who does lots of encoding, then Squeeze 8 is definitely worth the download."

Good stuff ....

Scratch That -- Amazon's Kindle Fire Ships Today -- 1 Day Early!

My previous post from earlier today is already old news -- Amazon is shipping the Kindle Fire TODAY -- 1 day early!

Amazon's Kindle Fire Ignites Tomorrow

The headline says it all -- tomorrow is the big day -- Amazon's launch (availability) of its new Kindle Fire. This will be big ... very big. And, smart ... very smart by Amazon for all the reasons about which you likely already have read. Estimates are that initial demand will approach 5 million units.

While Amazon Kindle Fire sales will not surpass the iPad in 2012, they will fast climb to #2 in terms of market share. Then, who knows? Lots of Amazon customers already out there. And, lots more who want an inexpensive tablet on which they can view Prime premium video and, oh yeah, shop, shop, shop ....

H.264, WebM & X.264 Codec Licensing -- An Overview

As dry as the issue of codec licensing may sound, it is also one of great interest -- primarily because everyone does need to know about the minefield that is licensing, and no one really feels comfortable that they do. Codec licensing is serious business - -and it is seriously confusing. That point was laid bare this past week at the Streaming Media West conference in LA, when an HTML5 panel devolved into a prosaic discussion of H.264 and WebM licensing (including royalties -- when triggered, and how much). For this reason -- because there is great interest and confusion in -- the issue of codec licensing, and because I know quite a bit about the subject (I was an IP lawyer early in my career after all), I am republishing my post from September 2010 in which I discuss H.264 v. WebM licensing (and the overall battle royale between those competing video codecs). The post generated great interest at the time, so here it is -- slightly updated.

Ahh, the promise of web and mobile video – HD video delivered anytime, anywhere, on any device. It sounds so easy. But, it isn’t. The overall workflow is complex – and the process from content creation to content syndication is both a technical and business minefield.

One central and critical piece in that workflow -- video encoding and transcoding – is one such minefield, fully appreciated by only a few. This is, in part, due to the fact that it sounds incredibly techie and complex. And, in many respects, it is. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t understand it. Encoding and transcoding is the process of compressing your video files so that they can be delivered anywhere you want (on the Internet, onto mobile devices). It is a morass, plain and simple -- and it is fraught with complexity, confusion and, yes, peril. This complexity and confusion is only accelerating in this day and age where we see an unending string of new platforms and products – not to mention new codecs, such as Google's sponsored open source WebM codec initiative.

Case in point, the new battle royale brewing between said WebM (and its VP8 video codec) – the burly upstart in this case – and MPEG LA’s MPEG-4 (and its H.264 video codec), the reigning heavyweight champion. H.264 is widely regarded as being the current “gold standard” high quality video codec– it is used by Apple, among others, to deliver pristine HDquality videos (Apple, in fact, is a member of the MPEG LA patent consortium). Google, as we all know, wants to unseat the champ by offering its newly sponsored high quality codec free to the world (I know it sounds incredibly generous, but Google has its own reasons, believe me).

Here’s the crucial rub – MPEG LA’s H.264 isn’t free – it is a royalty-bearing codec that requires a license.

But, you say, MPEG LA announced not too long ago that it will no longer charge royalties for the use of H.264. Yes, it’s true –MPEG LA did previously bow to mounting pressure from, and press surrounding, WebM and announced something that kind of sounds that way. But, I caution you to read the not-too-fine print. H.264 is royalty-free only in one limited case – for Internet video that is delivered free to end users. Read again: for (1) Internet delivery that is (2) delivered free to end users. In the words of MPEG LA’s own press release, “Products and services other than [those] continue to be royalty-bearing.”

But, you may ask (understandably confused by it all), what does that mean to me and why does this matter? Here’s why – any business that publishes and distributes its videos onto the Internet or across mobile networks (and that likely includes yours) is encoding those videos either themselves or, more likely, via a third party encoding service or online video platform (OVP). And – big gulp here -- encoders and decoders are specifically called out in MPEG LA’s press releases as continuing to be fully royalty-bearing. That means that MPEG LA absolutely takes the position that H.264 cannot be used for encoding without a license – and that means royalty payments in certain high volume cases. And, those royalties aren’t cheap – meaning that potential legal exposure for both past and present unlicensed usage can be significant … very significant ... in high volume cases if that license is not obtained.

Now, you and your service providers may take the position that no license is needed from MPEG LA for encoding, because you utilize FFmpeg, the best known open source video encoding solution in the marketplace. Many, if not most, professional encoding services an OVPs, in fact, do use FFmpeg. And, FFmpeg, in turn, features X.264, an open source video codec implementation of MPEG LA’s H.264 royalty-bearing video codec. X.264 is not H.264, so no MPEG LA license is required. Sounds rational, right?

Perhaps, but predictably MPEG LA, its consortium of patent holders and other licensing bodies vehemently – and I mean vehemently -- take the position that open source implementations of their codecs absolutely infringe (remember, this risk is not exclusive to MPEG-LA and its codecs). In their view, there is no free pass! Let’s face it – patent holders and their licensing bodies are in the business of getting paid – they are not in the business of philanthropy. MPEG LA, in fact, continues to make “noises” that even Google’s royalty free WebM gift to the world (which resulted from its acquisition of On2 and its VP8 video codec) infringes the rights of its patent holders. In effect, MPEG LA is telling WebM users “Buyers Beware!” (Surprising, huh, that MPEGLA consortium member Apple and Google disagree on this one?)

Don’t believe those risks are real? Take a look at FFmpeg’s own official website. Right there – in plain sight – FFmpeg not only acknowledges those risks, it expressly cautions its users that any commercial usage (which is what we are talking about here) is at their own peril. Specifically, here is FFmpeg’s official word on the subject in the form of a relevant Q&A that is taken verbatim from its website:

Q: Is it perfectly alright to incorporate the whole FFmpeg core into my own commercial product? 


A: You might have a problem here. There have been cases where companies have use FFmpeg in their products. These companies found out that once you start trying to make money from patented technologies, the owners of the patents will come after their licensing fees. Notably, MPEG LA is vigilant and diligent about collecting for MPEG-related technologies.

So, there it is. Right there. Thousands of companies use and rely upon FFmpeg right now to encode their videos (either directly or indirectly via an encoding service or OVP) for commercial purposes without a net; without the codec licenses and royalties that patent holders and licensing bodies contend are needed and must be paid. This is not meant to cause panic – it is simply meant to open eyes to one highly misunderstood and overlooked reality in this highly complex world of web and mobile video.

So, what’s a business to do if its videos are encoded with FFmpeg? Stop distributing those videos across the web or across mobile networks? Absolutely not – video is simply too impactful and, for most businesses, should be a central piece of its customer engagement and monetization strategy.

But, if your business does do video, do it smartly. Cover all your bases. Don’t take short-cuts. Ask questions. Ask your team or encoding service provider if they use officially sanctioned and licensed codecs. If they don’t, then the next question is whether, nonetheless, they have entered into licensing agreements with MPEG LA. If the answers to those two questions are "nyet", then you may want to switch. You are not immune from the risks that they take in the minds of patent holders (MPEG LA confirms this). (To add confusion to this already confusing subject, you also will likely need to pay royalties for the use of X.264 not only to MPEG LA, but also to those companies from whom you are using supported X.264 implementations -- as an example, we have done that at Sorenson Media with our new Sorenson Squeeze 8 product that launched last week.)

At the very least, if you decide that switching costs are too great, then you may want to ask your service provider for indemnification of those risks. But, depending on the size of your service provider, that may be cold comfort.

Sorenson Media Wins 3 Streaming Media Readers' Choice Awards

Live here from the Streaming Media West conference -- just announced, Sorenson Media wins a record 3 coveted Readers' Choice Awards, more than any other company. Here are the big wins:

-- BEST ONLINE VIDEO TECHNOLOGY COMPANY

-- BEST CLOUD ENCODING/TRANSCODING SERVICE

-- BEST ENCODING SOFTWARE (UNDER $1000)

This is a big win for us -- as these are the awards that matter most in our industry, not just because of the Streaming Media name -- but also the fact that over 6,500 people voted (most of whom are actual users of industry products, including ours). And, the specific awards themselves say much about us as a company -- (1) innovation (best online video technology company), (2) where our business is going (best cloud transcoding service), and (3) where our business began and our established legacy (best encoding software -- Squeeze).

Lots of smiles in all of our offices -- San Diego, Salt Lake City, LA, Portland, Las Vegas, London, Seoul and Tokyo.

Subscription Services' Achilles Heel -- CONTENT! It's Still King Baby!

I love the promise of online music and video subscription services -- "all-you-can-eat" for a monthly recurring rate. Access to millions of music tracks -- thousands of motion picture and TV shows. I myself subscribe to Rhapsody, Pandora and Netflix (and have for years).

But, as great as these services are (and they are, for the most part), they also constantly remind me that content is -- and always will be -- king. And, if the content (album, movie) you want ain't there, then you are dissatisfied with the whole service. I feel that much of the time with Netflix (I mean, how many Scooby Doo cartoons can you watch?).

And, I am now reminded by it with Rhapsody. Case in point -- as a long-time Coldplay fan (yes, I freely and proudly admit it!), I couldn't wait for its new 3-year-in-the-making album, Mylo Xyloto, to come out two weeks ago. Normally, I would simply wait for "new music Tuesday" to hit Rhapsody and stream it over-and-over on-demand. But, this time I noticed that iTunes had it the day before -- so I bought it. Even so, I wanted to check it out on Rhapsody beginning on Tuesday and -- voila -- it was'nt there (as in "NOT"). How could this be, I thought? The biggest music release of the year, and not on Rhapsody? That is a blaring and embarrassing gap.

But, here we are two weeks later -- and still no Mylo Xyloto! What gives?

So, even I -- a long-time passionate Rhapsody fan -- am frustrated with the service. Very irritated really -- not just for this specific glaring hole in its content, but also for what it represents.

Now, I know that this gap is likely a direct result of business shenanigans by the music label and/or the band itself. But, that doesn't matter to the customer. At the end of the day, it is the subscription services' responsibility to plug those holes.

In this case, Rhapsody didn't. And, here I am writing about it. Bottom line -- if I am frustrated, thousands (and in this case, likely tens of thousands) of customers are frustrated. And, that ain't good for the service.

In this case, score iTunes "1" -- Rhapsody "0."

(Separately, was Coldplay's new album worth the wait? Check out my track-by-track review by clicking on this link.)

Hosting Company PEER 1 Launches Cloud Service -- Partners with Sorenson Media

Can anyone doubt that the world of enterprise services -- including video workflows/transcoding -- are moving to the Cloud and away from legacy providers?

Global hosting provider PEER 1 is the latest data point in this regard, as it goes "all in" as of today -- launching its own cloud-based IaaS/PaaS service called "Zunicore." And, I am pleased to report that PEER 1 chose to partner with Sorenson Media to provide value-added video workflow and transcoding solutions in this increasingly multi-screen world. Click here to read PEER 1's just-issued press release -- which prominently features us (and our star Director of Business Development, Doug Cebik). And, here is Gigaom's "take" on the announcement.

PEER 1 hopes to differentiate its service from others in two primary ways -- by offering (1) "resource pools" rather than virtual machines; and (2) auto-scaling. And, the company chose Sorenson Media not only because of the power of our brand, but also because we are the first and still-only enterprise-grade cloud-based transcoding company (servicing multi-billion dollar customers like Shutterfly and Technicolor).

We are pleased to count PEER 1 as our new enterprise partner.

Florence & The Machine -- What Coldplay Lacks in Passion, She More Than Makes Up For It

Florence & The Machine's new album -- "Ceremonials" -- immediately grabs you. And never lets go. "Shake It Out" gives chills. Stunning piece of work. I just texted my musical Svengali and partner-in-crime -- An Nguyen -- who is my brother's partner and oncologist extraordinaire and told him that Florence is the new Kate Bush. He texted back, "Totally. The love child of Kate Bush and Tori Amos." Precisely! Both of Florence's musical parents drove their music with passion and mystery -- THAT is Florence.

And, that takes me to Coldplay and its new album "Mylo Xyloto." What Florence's new album has in passion, Coldplay's new tunes lack it ... utterly. Sadly uninspired. Sadly going through the motions. Here is the link to my track-by-track review which ultimately gives it 2 starts out of 5 -- the band's low-point. And, that comes from me -- a long-time Coldplay fan.

While it took me a long time to warm up to Florence on her last album, I am now fully there. Meanwhile, Coldplay is falling fast on my charts ....

Watch This -- "On the Brink" of A Connected World -- 21 Minute Documentary

Watch it -- it is worth the 21 minute investment of time. Gets you thinking about how much has happened in just the past 15 years -- and how much more will happen in the next. And -- 1 out of 6 marriages now originate from online dating? Wow! That stat blew me away ...

Apple Speculation Rampant On the Certainty of a Coming iTV

While most were skeptical until just recently, the tide has now completely turned -- and now it seems that virtually everyone believes that an all-in-one "real" flat-screen TV will become a reality in the near-term. I have always believed this -- and started writing about this nearly two years ago (here is one relevant post from May 2010). And, Steve Jobs himself essentially confirmed this to his biographer before he recently passed away -- here is my relevant post about this.

Here is a compelling "take" on what is needed to make iTV a successful reality -- this story is from leading blog "gdgt" (click on the link here). You can see my "counter"-take to the author's perspective in the comments section below -- I am the "petercs" commentator. And, not to be outdone, my esteemed COO here at Sorenson Media -- Eric Quanstrom -- gives his own "take" as "EQ" in the comments section.

Here is Gigaom's own separate "take" on what iTV needs to be in order to be successful -- click here to read this worthy story as well.

What's funny is this -- now, not only virtually everyone seems to be calling this new Apple product launch a near-certainty, but also virtually everyone seems to be referring to it as "iTV." As I stated way back then, I agree.

Avid - Our Long-Time Partner -- Launches Its New Products Today Featuring New Squeeze 8

Today, our long-time partner Avid announced its new major product launch -- all new versions of Media Composer, Symphony, and NewsCutter -- click here to read Avid's official press release. And, importantly, all of these Avid products will now feature new Squeeze 8 (in an optimal coordination of timing with our Tuesday launch) -- Squeeze 8 is prominently featured in the press release.

This event marks a significant expansion of our distribution partnership with Avid -- across more product lines than ever before. Avid's overall opportunity in the NLE space is greater than ever with the growing ubiquity of, and need for, high quality video -- and with the departure of Apple Final Cut from the professional video space (in favor, instead, of consumer use cases).

"Green Wheels" -- The World's First Eco-Only Car Dealership

Here's a cool new concept and company that everyone should be talking about. It's called "Green Wheels" and it's the first eco-friendly only car dealership in the world. Check it out by clicking on this link. And start talking it up.

The concept is simple -- and the simplest of concepts are frequently the most powerful. In the words of entrepreneur Jason Davis -- a longtime auto exec who just "launched" the first Green Wheels dealership in San Diego -- "Green Wheels is a specialty car-dealership focusing on energy-efficient, pre-driven vehicles." Davis's mission statement from his website gives more color to what drives him and Green Wheels:

"Driving an environmentally friendly vehicle is not a fad and you do not need to be an environmentalist to sit behind the wheel. Owning a “pollution solution,” provides peace-of-mind benefits and, of course, much lower payments to the gas-pumps. Green Wheels will find the best, energy-efficient vehicles available in the market at a competitive price, and will make certain that they are inspected to super-high standards. One car at a time, we can truly make a difference."

You gotta love that passion! Green Wheels aims to make a real difference -- and it already is by making a statement. You don't need to buy a car to be moved by Davis's mission (although many people already are as the pace of sales in this one-month old dealership already is accelerating). The mission itself gets you thinking -- and, that's what it's all about. In the inimitable words of Steve Jobs, "Think Different." What YOU do DOES matter. So, think about what you do before you do it -- and think about the impact of your actions.

You can feel even more of that passion when you check out his website. Notice the attention to detail as you navigate the tabs on the home page. Check out the "footprint" tab -- describing how each of us impacts climate change (about which I have previously written). And, check out the "eco-links" tab where Davis lists some of his favorite kindred spirit causes and businesses, none of which are car-focused! How cool is that? Davis gives his own personal stamp to these, because he is building his business his way.

My personal favorite on the "eco-links" tab is Giving Tree Movement (www.givingtreemovement.org) -- that grass roots movement is definitely worthy of reflection (and not simply because my wife is the Founder & Chief Inspiration Officer). That cause speaks to me. But, the speaker herself is pretty amazing -- as is her passion and voice. Watch this video to see what I'm talking about.

Green Wheels -- spread the word ....

Sorenson Media -- Finalist in Record 5 Streaming Media "Readers' Choice" Categories

Okay, okay, okay -- I know that Sorenson Media propaganda has been taking over my blog posts in the past few weeks. And, I know, I know, I know -- I have always vowed to focus most of my energies on digital media and technology stories of general interest. And, I am committed to that pledge (as you can see if you look back at my posts over time).

At the same time, what can I say? We continue to receive kudo after kudo in the past few weeks. And, I don't mean this boastfully -- yes, we are proud. But, we are also truly honored and humbled by the recognition. It means a lot to us -- especially when the recognition comes from actual users of our products.

Case in point -- we just learned earlier today that we are a Finalist in a record 5 categories for the coveted U.S. Streaming Media "Readers' Choice" awards that will be announced next week in LA. (click on this link to see the relevant official announcement from Streaming Media.) No other company -- of any size or shape -- is a finalist in more categories. And, we are a finalist in every single category in which we were originally nominated -- based on over 6,000 votes. Here are those categories:

-- Best Online Video Technology Company

-- Best Cloud Computing/Transcoding Service

-- Best Encoding Software (Under $1,000)

-- Best Encoding Software (Over $1,000)

-- Best Online Video Platform

Note, there are only 3 finalists in each category, so this recognition is meaningful already. We are all smiles over here today -- especially after our Squeeze 8 product launch (and exhaustion) yesterday.

Thanks for the votes of confidence. A few weeks back we won the European Streaming Media "Readers' Choice" award (for the second year running) for "Best Transcoding Solution." And, this past Friday, we won TechAmerica San Diego's "Best Internet Company" award. But you knew that already after reading my earlier blog post on that subject.

After next week, I assure you there won't be any more Sorenson Media propaganda for a while .... unless we win some more awards, in which case I have no choice to pat the backs of the team around here because it is well-deserved. This team is good .... really good. And, they care a lot -- and for all the right reasons.