A VC - Latest Comments in Best Thing I Saw Today

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Fraser — Tue, 26 May 2009 10:27:42 -0000

Chartreuse, you were the best professor I had. Thanks for all of the lessons.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

chartreuse — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:20:17 -0000

Cool!

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Tue, 26 May 2009 08:16:10 -0000

I reblogged part of this comment on fredwilson.vc

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Mon, 25 May 2009 15:03:06 -0000

Ooh I love "the largest screen in the house" line

So true

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

dish network — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:20:27 -0000

Great video clip. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

diego_ev — Sun, 24 May 2009 14:12:47 -0000

This just reflects what the future will be.
I've had the chance of seeing 10 year olds download TV shows to their iPods, and I always ask 'Why?' The answer is always the same: they rather watch the shows on their iPod or the computer than on the TV itself.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

chartreuse — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:00:29 -0000

I remember this clip.

off the cuff...TV isn't TV anymore. It's just the largest screen in the house. The networks need to redefine themselves and start thinking "outside the box". (pun intended). Do that and kids would fall over themselves to run one.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

IRON100 — Sat, 23 May 2009 19:55:18 -0000

Thanks. I missed the time reference :)

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:26:14 -0000

Agreed. But that video is two years old

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:26:10 -0000

Well I certainly ask my kids what they think but I don't always listen to them

They thought twitter was 'stupid' but now they love it

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Bach — Sat, 23 May 2009 01:32:15 -0000

This is a very interesting and informative clip.
I have two kids (age 6 and 7) and they prefer to use the computer.
based on our experience with our kids and If the TV does not evolve and merge with computer, it will lose its effect in the future.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

IRON100 — Fri, 22 May 2009 20:38:57 -0000

Perhaps what I find shocking about this is that those kids are talking about "computers going up up up" while most of the young people I see around me are more fascinated by I-Pods and mobile devices. I think were are on the verge of the end of computers as we know them. I hope these kids do not get as complacent as my generation did or they will be lapped by the ones a half-generation behind them. By the way, that half generation lives on another continent, Asia.

I am quite serious, this discussion was a bit shocking to me (though they did mention downloads in passing). We shall see. Things are mutating faster than DNA in the current environment. Hope we can all keep up.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Henry Yates — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:51:32 -0000

Great clip, thank you.

I am interested in how the web will change the process for producing/commissioning content. As the web medium for TV content grows the process for commissioning content should shorten - a lot of the middle men will be disintermediated. Power should shift towards the (good) content creators. I would love to hear how people see this playing out.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

boikej — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:37:13 -0000

Funny, I remember a longer version of that clip was played before someone's presentation (not Peter Hirshberg) at the AlwaysOn Hollywood Conference in 2007.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:38:52 -0000

Agreed

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:24:09 -0000

Absolutely right. Boxee and twitter are leading the way on these trends

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:24:06 -0000

Totally agree about broadband

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

fredwilson — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:23:37 -0000

Wow. Its not just 14 year old girls, is it?

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Seth Lieberman — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:41:37 -0000

Fred- here is a bit more current data for you. just a few weeks ago we teamed up with YPulse
to run a survey on our teen quiz site Quibbloabout teens and their thoughts on TV. More than 2000 teens and tweens responded.

Our findings showed TV isn't quite so doomed:
*The majority of respondents (64%) said they prefer to watch shows on the television versus using a DVR (26%) or streaming online (11%). However, the teen audience is definitely not dedicated to the tube:

*While watching TV, most respondents said they are usually multi-tasking and tend to simultaneously send text messages (66%) and go online (78%). The bad news for TV:

* If they had to give up either TV or the Internet for a week, respondents overwhelmingly said they would choose to forgo TV (76*).

Complete results: teen+tween survey and the the quiz

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

davidblerner — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:30:22 -0000

That last girl was clearly headed towards being a tech investor!

Here's an idea- why doesn't USV or some group of us put together an experimental venture program run by kids and see how they do?

Names anyone? I vote to call it Young People Ventures.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

GlennKelman — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:00:23 -0000

Those kids are adorable. The networks are in deep , but the people who tell stories -- who actually make shows -- still need to make money. The destruction of the medium (NBC, CBS)) shouldn't destroy the message (30 Rock, Lost) too.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Geoff Morrissett — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:55:17 -0000

There have been several technology innovations in and around telecommunications, including the internet. I also believe that change is a constant. However, I have been wondering what the true economic value of recent advances has been.

In general, it seems as though real US GDP has grown at a fairly steady rate in spite of these recent technology developments. Why? Are the software, hardware, and networking advances of the last 25 years not making a material difference at a macro-economic level vs. thankfully filling-in what was at the time an emerging void elsewhere in our economy?

Although it is far from perfect, I attempted to depict below a continuum of basic benefits of technology as potentially perceived by customers (e.g., businesses, consumers). I hope that the formatting is preserved when my comment is posted. It seems to me that we have been moving to the right in this diagram lately. In doing so, has technology moved from delivering financial value (i.e., some impact to the customer's operating cash flow) to entertainment value (i.e., some impact to the customer's satisfaction)?

[Businesses] [Consumers]
<<----- Productivity Efficiency Convenience Utility ----->>
{Cash Flow} {Satisfaction}

I know that markets can be defined and addressed throughout the continuum. However, if we think we can apply technology to a given thing, does that necessarily mean that we should? With the internet an all inclusive medium of audio, text, and visual, are the entrepreneurs and VCs considering opportunities further left in the continuum for lasting rather than fleeting benefits? The internet is great for disseminating and consuming information, but not all information is of high quality or responsibly handled.

Hopefully, I didn't hijack Fred's topic and steer it into a different direction. I'm curious as to what others think. We're a digitally interconnected people now, but are we really connected on a meaningful level to do something worthwhile? Maybe that's the next application evolution of the internet on a broad scale.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Shannon M Davis — Thu, 21 May 2009 10:01:53 -0000

I think too often we look to the highly educated and experienced to predict the future.... we would be better off speaking with those who have yet to create filters.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

karen_e — Thu, 21 May 2009 08:19:09 -0000

I feel like a teenager about the Internet all the time. I LOOOOVVVE the Internet! My husband asks me on a regular basis, "So, who do you love more, me or the Internet?"

"You of course, but just by a smidge!"

And since leaving home 20-odd years ago, about 80% of the places I've made home have not even had a television. Not a lot of love there.

Re: Best Thing I Saw Today

Carl Rahn Griffith — Thu, 21 May 2009 03:04:51 -0000

tv is the new newspaper.