Mel Cheren
Apiento had posted a documentary on Mel Cheren, who founded West End Records. Mel Cheren was much more than the head of a disco label; he helped found the Paradise Garage and along with the likes of Salsoul Records was responsible for the direction that dance music has taken over the past 40 years or so. If you haven’t heard the original records, you’ve probably heard records that sampled them or used similar production techniques.
The cultural impact of the Paradise Garage was such, that it drove the sales of West End Records artists like the Peech Boys. Mel Cheren eventually resurrected
Consumer behaviour
Always on, always connected – Accenture – 2012 consumer electronics usage survey
Mediascope Europe: Digital First for Europe’s Mums | IAB UK – 48% of digital mums in Europe say how a brand communicates online is important in influencing their opinion of it
Design
John E. Karlin, Designer of the 20th Century Telephone, Dies at 94 – what becomes apparent from this obituary is the amount of thought that went into device design, which is usually sorely lacking in much technology hardware today
The BraunCollection gives a permanent home to the works of the German electrical goods manufacturer and its designs over the past five decades or so.
Economics
German Economy Contracted at End of 2012 – NYTimes.com
Prosecuting the Messenger: Chief Greek Statistician Threatened with Jail – SPIEGEL ONLINE – you couldn’t make this up
Asian consumers divided on confidence – export orientated economies like Korea and Japan are afraid of contagion from Europe
The BRICs and beyond – PWC – interesting forecasts (PDF)
IMF sees 140m jobs shortage in ageing China as ‘Lewis Point’ hits – Telegraph – the Lewis Point is when labour is no longer a surplus but in demand and bargaining power moves away from businesses to the work force
Finance
UPDATE 3-S&P expects U.S. lawsuit over pre-crisis credit ratings | Reuters – interesting move, what effect will it have on the bias of the ratings agencies?
FMCG
Succeeding In Low-Growth Markets by The Futures Company – WPP – it it what allowed P&G to get ahead during the great depression
Mountain Dew Kickstart: An Alternative Breakfast Beverage – Euromonitor International – not too sure how I feel about this, but given the big food charges leveled against sugary breakfast cereals this could be a lightning rod for protestors
Hong Kong
Hong Kong TV Drama Plays Out Uneasy Ties With China
Ideas
Excapite: Rethinking the terms of engagement in the age of the network
Innovation
Reflective display funnels light – EETimes displays to show things more like the way that we sea the real world
Global trends in consumer electronics to 2015 – Euromonitor
Japan
TV drama captures public angst at ‘Made in Japan’ decline ‹ Japan Today
The Japan Story – NYTimes.com – interesting take on the Japanese economy that gives at least some home truths and food for thought
Media
Unruly launches social video ‘shareability’ prediction tool – Brand Republic News
Facebook PMD Email Tells Advertisers: No Pay, No Play – Business Insider – so many interesting aspects to this beyond the revenue in terms of gaming partners priorities. In many respects similar to the Microsoft certified programme amongst IT people
Yahoo CEO says Microsoft search deal underperforms | Reuters – acknowledges it as just changing market share; which works for Microsoft I guess. Mayer realises she needs to shore up impressions and put better monetising ad inventory in place
AMC To Air Old Walking Dead Episodes In Black And White | WebProNews – interesting move, how about curvature in their to simulate CRT technology?
Twitter Raises Promoted Trend Price. Again. – Twitter raises the price of a Promoted Trend to $200,000 per day
Music Pirates are Cheapskates, Some of Them
Nearly Half of European Online Audience Visit Sports Sites – comScore, Inc
Time to kill the “unique”? | Media Week Blogs – but what’s the alternative?
HMV sells shares in G-A-Y group back to founder Jeremy Joseph | NME.COM – don’t worry Kylie will still be able to play live in London
Web Traffic Was Down 15 Percent During Super Bowl – AllThingsD – not terribly surprising broadcast does shared collective experience better, be it news stories or sporting events
Online
In One Fell Swoop, Facebook Deep-Sixes the Web – AllThingsD – shows how fragile things can be
Retailing
Tim Cook’s comments on Apple Stores, illustrated | asymco
HMV to sell famous Oxford Street store | The Guardian – saddened, but HMV hasn’t been the same since selections have been driven centrally, there was no serendipity, no understanding of local cultural nuances
BPI’s antidotes for HMV woes: 4G, tablets, connected cars, smart TVs and more
Security
Phone-hacking inquiry: Sun’s Fabulous and northern features editors arrested | guardian.co.uk
Crooks Net Millions in Coordinated ATM Heists — Krebs on Security – interesting mix of hacking and smurfing being used
Here Are the FBI’s Official Tips to Avoid Being Sexually Extorted Online – smart tips on information security in general
US diplomat: If EU allows ‘right to be forgotten’ … it might spark TRADE WAR • The Register
Software
XML’s 15th Birthday – interesting reflections from Tim Bray
The Ripple Effect of Windows 8 – interesting reflections on Windows 8. However I would also point out that Microsoft operating systems
Nokia considers “all options” for tablet OS – Rethink Wireless – don’t read too much into this, it sounds more like messaging developed by comms people to answer the question but as a holding position. I guess that the plans aren’t sufficiently developed. Nokia has enough going on at the moment to solve. Of course things may change as you wouldn’t draft in PR until late on the product launch process
Technology
Microsoft sells out of Surface Pro, just like the Zune HD did in 2009 (Daniel Eran Dilger/AppleInsider) – selling out is a PR quotient now rather than a real measure
200 Million Want A Microsoft Tablet – Business Insider – the methodology used by Forrester seemed a bit flaky but interesting take-outs
MediaTek sets 2013 DTV design agenda – interested in multi-screen experiences features
Telecoms
Virgin Media bought for £15bn by Liberty Global | guardian.co.uk
Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017 – Cisco Systems
Wireless
EDA ‘David’ files law suits against Moto, Nokia, others – will Tela get paid?
Teardown: Inside the Blackberry Z10 – interesting high spec device components
Apple, Samsung mobile profit share: 103% of all industry profits | BGR – like the PC industry most other people are losing money, so the percentages run over 100 per cent