links for 2009-07-27

"Good question, right? I mean, there's always a 'next' big thing in the world of the Internet. It's a little hard to think about it though, seems like Twitter just became 'main stream'". Cites Qik, Latitude, Wave and 12seconds as potential runners.

"For many this [decline in the media industry's finances] is a source of great trepidation not simply because of loss of job security but also due to the wider social and political implications of having a weakened media sector. However, recently I have come across two news stories which makes it much harder for me I find it hard to sympathise with those in the news industry."

"Apple is working with the four largest record labels to stimulate digital sales of albums by bundling an interactive booklet, sleeve notes and other features with music downloads, in an effort to change buying trends on its online iTunes store". Just a thought, maybe you could return to the heyday of the album by actually limiting your artists to only releasing albums that were about 35 or 40 minutes long and not crammed full of filler, b-sides, fluff, additional out-takes, UK only 'bonus tracks' that weren't good enough for the US market, remixes...no, that's crazy talk...what consumers really want is an interactive PDF.

Anton Vowl with a whole slew of ineffectual PCC decisions. My favourite line - "I love the way the PCC describes things as resolved. Perhaps if you went round their house and did a shit on their front lawn you could 'resolve' the matter by putting an atom-sized apology next to it? I think they'd be fine with that".

"The reality of life at the official hotline is uncovered today by Mail on Sunday reporters. They joined a wave of new recruits urgently drafted in to man the phones and discovered how ill-equipped operators are to deal with the crisis". A good read, but I worry it will turn out that the whole nation succumbs to swine flu because 68% of staff trying to deal with it were actually undercover journalists...

"Having filmed Activate in its entirety, we were left with a load of amazing video footage of the various presentations and panel debates from the day for publishing online. We'd toyed with the idea of firewalling the content with the aim of packaging it up in order to monetize it, but we soon came to the conclusion that that wouldn't be good enough."

"The Q&A-style interview with Banksy on the back page of the Guide two Saturdays ago was something of a mini-coup for the Guardian's listings magazine...Unfortunately, the interview turned out to be a spoof, rather than a scoop". Always best to fess up.

Malcolm Coles looks at search term volume, and suggests that interest in Michael Jackson's children from the US may account for the Mail's uplift in the ABCe figures.