“The View From the Phlipside” is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY, Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly add or subtract words at a moment’s notice. WRFA-LP is not responsible for any such silliness or the opinions expressed. You can listen to a live stream of WRFA or find a podcast of this program at wrfalp.com. Copyright 2013-18 by Jay Phillippi. All Rights Reserved. You like what you see and hear? Drop me a line and we can talk.
Programs from the week of January 13, 2019
This Week’s Podcast
My name is Jay Phillippi and I’ve spent my life in and around the media. TV, radio, the movies and more. I love them, and I hate them and I always have an opinion. Call this the View from the Phlipside.
Coming Back!
I’ve spent a lot of time over the last decade talking about companies and industries that have failed to deal with the challenges of the digital age. They refuse to re-think how they do things, and what their place in the new media environment might be. I’m not sure there was any company that handled the transition worse than the folks at Kodak.
Now before I get an earful from the folks in Rochester, New York about how well the company is doing, let’s look at both present and past of the company. Once upon a time, Eastman Kodak was one of the five most valuable brands in the world. In its heyday it controlled 90% of all film sales, and 85% of all camera sales. George Eastman, the company’s founder, had the novel idea of putting photography into the hands of the masses. It’s logo, the yellow square with the big “K” on it was as recognizable as the Coca-Cola script or the Golden Arches. Kodak even invented the first digital camera.
But in 2012 the company went bankrupt, and in the last five years stock prices have dropped from just over $30/share to just over $3/share. They sold off most of the photographic film related businesses, and their patents. A much smaller company moved its focus to digital imaging services for businesses. It was a huge loss of status for the company.
So I was interested to see that Kodak is trying to reverse the course of history, at least in a small way. 130 years after Eastman launched his company, they are banking on nostalgia to bring back their consumer brand.
To do that they are reaching into a wide range of partnerships and markets. The creation of a marketplace to bring together photographers and businesses who need them is an obvious place to start. Kodakit handles all the payment and middle man necessities for photographers in 30 countries. Playing to the nostalgia angle, the imaging company has a deal with the fashion outlet Forever 21. They offer a range of hoodies, t-shirts and other items with logos from the 1990s. They are also tapping into the return of analog media. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Kodak and its partners unveiled a new line of instant cameras that offer both the ability to print quickly and share with your smartphone via Bluetooth. Three models in the Kodak Smile line will launch this year, priced between $100 and $150.
It’s unlikely that Kodak will regain its top five status, but this old photographer would be happy to see the company back in everyone’s hands again.
Cars and Video
A story this week that combines two of my favorite topics, media and cars. I grew up in a car family and enjoy driving to this day. And media, I love me some media. This is the golden age for media of all kinds. Not just because there are so many ways to create media but also because there are so many ways to access it. Yes, there are problems with people getting too caught up in what they are watching on computers, tablets and smartphones, but that’s a matter of decision making and self control. The ability to watch your choice of media almost anywhere at any time is an amazing and awesome thing we have already taking for granted.
Having said all that, I’d like to say all media, all the time and in all places is not a good idea. There is an increasing push to bring my two favorite topics together. It’s bad enough when the media inspires people to do stupid things in cars like the current “Bird Box challenge” idiocy. In case you’ve been thinking about imitating the Netflix movie, and driving your car while blindfolded, let your old buddy Phlipside give you a hint. It’s a stupid idea, you don’t want to do it.
Here’s another stupid idea. Lots more media, especially streaming media, in cars. It’s an idea that seems to be growing in popularity in some areas. The folks at Tesla, Elon Musk’s erratically successful electric sports car company, announced that a future version of the operating system will permit streaming video for the first time. The stated purpose is for drivers to use the function while the car is charging. But it’s the genie out of the bottle, the camel’s nose under the tent flap, use whatever metaphor you like, once you get a little, the full onslaught won’t be long coming. Meanwhile, a Chinese car start-up called Byton debuted a prototype with a 49 inch wide screen in it. That’s the full width of the windshield. And it’s one of FIVE screens in the car named the M-Byte. The company says the goal is a complete internet-connected experience while driving.
I just can’t get excited. The number of distracted driver accidents is already too high. The report on last March’s fatal self-driving Uber car showed that the test driver, who was there to make sure nothing bad happened, was streaming Hulu for 40 minutes before the accident.
There are plenty of extras I’d love to have on my next car. Streaming video doesn’t make the list.
To Tax or Not To Tax
Elsewhere this week, I talked about the inability to put the genie back into the bottle, the slippery slope that once a word is spoken it can never be unspoken. Here’s another story about that same concept.
A quick poll. How many of you believe that once a governing body discovers a new tax, they will set that tax concept aside, never to be used again? Assuming I could look through your radio or computer, (which I can’t, I promise) I am confident I would see no hands up in the air. It doesn’t matter where you place yourself on the political spectrum; we are all pretty cynical when it comes to governments and taxes. Once they discover a tax concept, it will get used, somehow, someway, somewhen.
For the moment, a tax idea in the great state of California has been placed on hold. The California Public Utilities Commission (the CPUC) had planned to implement a new tax on texts last week. The final vote was on the calendar for January 10. The idea was to add a monthly fee onto the wireless bills of the citizens of the state to raise money to improve connectivity in under-served areas.
I am sure you won’t be surprised that the idea was met with divided opinions. The telecommunications industry was a loud voice in challenging the idea. Their top complaint was that the regulation would only cover cellular providers, but not services like WhatsApp or iMessage. That placed an unfair competitive burden on the industry.
So what made the regulators drop the tax plan? In December of last year the Federal Communications Commission, (the FCC) ruled that text messages were not a telecommunications service but rather and information service. As such, they did not properly fall under the regulatory oversight of the CPUC. With that federal ruling in place, the state commission couldn’t see their way forward. To enact the regulation after that federal decision would have sent it to the courts, which likely would have struck it down.
That’s all well and good. But it takes us back to the original concept. They may not pass the tax this time and in this manner. But it seems inevitable that the topic will come up again. It’s an extension of the wrangle over taxing purchases made online. As we spend more time using these kinds of services, regulators and taxing authorities will eye them as a source of revenue in the future.
Because once that camel gets its nose under the tent flap…well you know the rest.
Call that the View From the Phlipside
Copyright Jay Phillippi, 2018
Theme music for “The View From the Phlipside” and “TVFTP – Podcast” is “Hustle”
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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