The release of the iPad has stimulated a lot of debate across various topics, not least on its possible implications for the publishing industry. With the device offering the potential for the books appearing on it to be interactive, its appeal to children’s publishers and their target audience is obvious. Some excited commentators are even claiming that education will never be the same again.

It seems to me though that a lot of these commentators have been so swept up by the iPad storm that they seem to think that Apple have invented a brand new concept – the interactive book. This of course isn’t true and interactive kids books have existed in various forms for years, many of which I had as a kid (an uncomfortably long time ago).

At their most basic level in terms of product complexity is the ‘Pop-up’ book which offers simple interaction with 3D shapes that appear as the pages of the book are turned (not sure why I explained that).

A step up from these is the ‘Choose your own adventure’ book where reader choice determines the outcome of the story plot. Many of them are a little bit less predictable than this.

Adding another level of complexity is the ‘Cassette book’. As the name suggests, this is a book with accompanying cassette that kids played while reading. The tape would prompt the reader to turn the page at the appropriate point in the story, usually with a sound cue relating to the storyline or the characters in it. For the (awesome) Indiana Jones version it was a ‘whip crack’ and for the (equally awesome) A-Team versions it varied depending on the story (yes, I had both of these).

Following on from these forerunners have been CD and audiobooks, which are now available across many different digital formats.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPad and other tablet devices clearly have the potential to do great things for the publishing world and many of the books already available on these devices are great, I just think that we need to maintain a degree of perspective on the level of Apple’s genius.

If I’ve missed any examples of other forms of interactive book then feel free to post below.

Online behavioural targeting is a controversial subject and has been the topic of many debates both within and without the advertising industry in recent years. Most consumers still feel that its drawbacks outweigh its perceived benefits and as a result are uncomfortable with sharing their personal information and/or browsing data with advertisers in return for the receipt of more relevant, customised advertising messages.

This view is supported by recent UK research which revealed that approximately half of UK internet users would opt-out of online behavioural targeting if given the chance. This research tends to be supported by other markets and only last week, the federal government in the U.S. mooted the possibility of a ‘do not track’ system which would allow U.S. users to completely opt out of online behavioural targeting. Clearly the debate still rages and will go on for some time yet…

It’s easy to forget though that behaviourally targeted advertising isn’t just confined to the online space.

I subscribe to Sainsbury’s’ Nectar Points scheme for example and was surprised to get to the checkout at the weekend to be met with printed coupons directly relating to some of my previous purchases, some made weeks ago. The scheme is obviously opt-in, but I hadn’t realised that the data it accrues from previous purchases would be used in this way so to receive specific coupons like this was a bit creepy. This is probably exactly how many users feel when they’re served online ads based on their previous browsing history, ie: ‘how do advertisers know I’m interested in these specific products as I haven’t told them I am’?

It’s been clear for some time that the digital industry needs to work harder to educate users about online behavioural targeting (what it is, what it does and how to opt-in or opt-out), but the wider advertising industry would do well to remember that digital is not the only channel where education is needed.

I wrote a blog piece back in February highlighting a trend I’d noticed. It seemed to me that Facebook terminology and imagery was beginning to be used more and more by consumers and brands as the platform becomes an integral part of more lives. I thought it was worth posting an update that since then, I’ve noticed a fair few more examples from both a consumer and brand perspective.

You can now buy Facebook stamps for example, that allow you to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ anything in the real world. Looking at the user comments at the online store where you can buy them, they seem to have proved immensely popular. I haven’t seen an example of their use though, so if you have then please post below.

Another example in high demand from consumers is this tongue in cheek t-shirt.

From a brand perspective, this brilliant Wonderbra ad has been around a while and is a nice play on Facebook friend requests. Other brands have referenced the social network a little less successfully – like this Vileda ad from Ecuador. That took me a while to figure out, but I’m sure I don’t need to spell it out, you’re probably cleverer than me.

It also seems that more brands are mentioning their Facebook pages as part of their offline executions. We did it for Skinny Cow last year and After Eight have done it here.

With the launch of Facebook’s Open Graph and the forthcoming September roll out of Facebook Credits set to further strengthen Facebook’s permeation across the digital world, it seems inevitable that these releases will also drive their further presence in the offline world.

If you see any other examples, please post below…

I’ve had an iPhone for over a year now and have become worryingly used to it’s touchscreen interface. I say worryingly as I tried to use my girlfriend’s phone last week which has a mixed interface (part touchscreen and part errr, ‘analogue button’) and I really struggled. I kept touching the screen to select different icons, ignoring the mini joystick nav bar thing on the front of the handset. It seems my iPhone has surreptitiously brainwashed me into assuming that all phones are now fully touchscreen and so using an older handset has turned into a real struggle.

Using Sky+ has had a similar effect on my TV viewing. I now pre-record most of the programmes I watch so I’m used to skipping through all of the ads (and yes, I realise the irony of this). When I now watch a TV programme that I haven’t pre-recorded, I get really annoyed when I can’t fast forward through the ‘live’ ad breaks.

If I use a new technology enough it seems, my brain considers any new functionality that it has applies to all other devices as some kind of ‘default’.

On a larger scale, this general trend has implications for the future.

If you haven’t seen any of the clips on YouTube of very young kids playing with iPads then have a look, they’re pretty amazing. Kids are unbelievably comfortable with the touchscreen interface and as a result, there are already loads of apps out there geared to child education and plenty of great kids books like these.

This next generation of digital users are going to drive market demand for touch screen interfaces in the future across a range of digital touchpoints as a result of using them from a very early age. ‘Stupid’, non-touch screens could well be deemed obsolete to them as touchscreen will be this new generation’s ‘default’. It’s also likely that they’ll find many new ways to use these interfaces as they become inherent to their way of life.

Remember setting the video recorder or setting up the computer for your technophobe parents? Prepare to be taught a few digital lessons by future generations…

As we all know, the publishing industry is currently experiencing major upheaval as  it struggles to cope with the fallout of the battle between digital and print. Publishers are being forced to trial new revenue models as they battle to survive and the media world is enthusiastically debating how this will all pan out and which is the right horse to back.

There are commonly two main schools of thought.

The first is that print media as we know it will die as it’s swallowed up by digital formats. The new consumer will be so indoctrinated into digital media during their formative years that they will not demand printed media in the future.

The second is that it’s possible for digital and print to co-exist as separate formats on a long term basis. After all, many consumers love the touch, feel and smell of the printed page, something that an iPad or Kindle can’t provide.

It wasn’t until this week that I noticed there could be another possible outcome – digital and print media could come together to provide a unique, integrated format. A great example of which is the PhoneBook.

This format takes the traditional story book and makes it interactive through the use of an iPhone. The book becomes peripheral to the main story with the phone sliding into it to create a richer, interactive experience for the reader.

This example is obviously targeted at kids and parents, but this broad concept can also be applied to other audiences. Out of the Box targets users who have difficulty learning how to use a new handset. This would be of particular use to older audiences used to learning about new products from an analogue instruction manual and who don’t have the younger user’s mindset of  ‘play with it and see what happens’.

Could formats like PhoneBook also support a new revenue stream for the publishing industry with users first purchasing a book peripheral and then downloading an app? This seems unlikely and at present, it seems this particular example is only available in the Japanese market, but according to their website, demand does seem to be quite high.

Having downloaded the app for the ‘Ride! Ride’ book, it is quite appealing, but I’m not sure it’ll take off as a format. I fall into the camp that print media is living on borrowed time given the digital indoctrination of this and future generations.

There does seem to be at least some legs in the integration of these two worlds at least in the short-term though and having looked into this general premise,  it seems there’s even a name for it, PaperComp, or ‘paper computing’ where the worlds of digital and print literally collide.

In case you hadn’t noticed, the World Cup started last Friday and predictably, there’s been no shortage of big brands jumping on the bandwagon to empathise with fans’ excitement – with varying degrees of success.

Google, recently voted the world’s most valuable brand for the fourth consecutive year, has also climbed aboard. Before the tournament kicked off they made sure that all of the World Cup stadia were added to Google Street View.

Now the tournament is under way, they’ve subtly changed the way search results are presented when users search using the keyword ‘world cup’. At the bottom of the search page, instead of seeing the normal ‘Goooooooooogle’ page index, users see ‘Gooooooooooal!’ instead. Yesterday’s results and today’s fixtures are also directly displayed under the search box – very useful to your average football fan.

Interestingly, Microsoft’s Bing have tried a similar thing, but their effort seems a bit half-hearted in comparison.

Google’s changes may be subtle, but they’re an effective way of strengthening their brand in the eyes of users by portraying Google’s empathetic excitement towards the tournament with fans around the globe.

As we all know, Google has been cleverly changing their logo on their homepage for years to celebrate the dates of key events and this practice has proved very popular with users, strengthening their brand. These occasional changes will probably continue, but with the general online trend of users visiting search homepages less and less, as search becomes more and more integrated into web browsers and the wider web, their impact will reduce.  Expect to see more little touches to specific search result pages from Google in the future as a result.

The recently released Prince of Persia film is the latest addition to a growing list of films based on computer games – an interesting reversal of the usual ‘film then computer game’ marketing and production process. This reversal isn’t a particularly new development, as the 1993 UK release of Super Mario Bros illustrates, but it’s one that’s becoming more and more common with 8 films making the leap from computer game to film in the last 2 years. Admittedly, not all of the films were Hollywood Blockbusters, but you get my point.

This growing trend might illustrate the fact that film studios are beginning to run out of interesting stories and ideas to mine and are therefore being forced to cast their nets wider to other possible sources. Perhaps the penny is beginning to drop that audiences might not be that bothered about seeing yet another ‘reimagining’ of tired classics like Robin Hood (don’t hit me Russell).

Given the rapid convergence of media channels it’s almost inevitable that at some point an internet based phenomenon will make the leap to the silver screen and a big step was taken towards that happening this week. It was announced that the popular Twitter feed ‘Shit My Dad Says’ has been commissioned by CBS to be made into a TV series starring Captain Kirk (William Shatner).

As far as I know, this is the first commission of its kind, but it could be a watershed moment. It’s likely that other entertainment companies will be jealously eyeing CBS’ move and that they’ll now be increasing the focus of their search for content ideas onto the internet.

LOL cats the movie anyone?

Grace Slick’s famous quote about the 60’s could be more narrowly applied to many gigs and festivals of this or any year.

I’ve been to quite a few (ever since my first one which was Kula Shaker at the Leicester De Montfort Hall, oh dear) and other than the really recent ones, I actually struggle to remember most of them. This is probably down to a combination of the time that’s elapsed since I went and my alcohol consumption when I was there, but given the amount of time and budget I’ve invested, this is a bit of a shame.

The only token reminder I do have of most of these events is in the form of a sad little collection of tickets in an old shoebox, but while they confirm my attendance, they don’t actually remind me of the experience itself.

I’m sure most music fans would empathise with me and in their heart of hearts wish they could remember a lot more about the live events they’ve been to.

What was the atmosphere like? What was the set list? Did the band play any new songs for the first time? Was it actually any good? God knows.

A story on the radio (digital radio since you ask) the other day caught my attention as it mentioned a company who are trying to satisfy this demand for a more engaging music souvenir, one that not only will help you remember a set list, but what it sounded like.

Musicnetworx have come up with the ‘Simfy live’ product , a USB stick containing a recording of the live show recorded at the event itself and available for punters to buy as they leave it. If this sounds a little lo-fi, the recording is also made available online as a download.

Such a product not only satisfies consumer demand for a ‘richer’ gig souvenir, but also serves as an extra revenue stream for the touring artist – in theory everybody wins.

Quite a few bands are getting involved, with Kiss signing up for their most recent tour and Iggy Pop, Elton John and a few others also signing up.

The price point is a little high (£20 odd quid) which might be a bit prohibitive and mean it’s more appropriate for the older, more affluent fan base (hence the artists above I guess), but if it proves successful this price will no doubt reduce over time.

Personally, I’d give it a go (not for Kiss though as I’ve seen them live and they’re RUBBISH) if I thought I’d been to a great gig and it was something I wanted to look back on or re-experience. Music fans are also a bit collectible crazy which only adds to the product’s appeal for them.

A slight issue might be that your opinion of a gig might change when you play it back a few weeks later and hear it sober for the first time. Without the benefit of the more usual, fuzzy, rose-tinted gig glasses you might suddenly realise that the show was a load of crap and massively over-hyped – something I’ve always suspected about the 60’s to be honest, sorry Grace.

Someone in the office (naming no names) showed me a ‘chilling’ story on The Sun’s website this week. Amazingly it seemed, a random punter had taken a photo of a ghostly figure in the mirror of their hotel room. My God, maybe ghosts really do exist…

I had a closer look at the picture though and couldn’t help thinking that the ‘ghost’ looked a bit familiar.

In fact, it looked a hell of a lot like a ghost that features in an iPhone app I downloaded recently called ‘Ghost Capture’. It allows users to choose from a range of ghostly supernatural figures and then insert them into any photo they’ve taken on their iPhone, allowing them to scare the crap out of unsuspecting photo subjects – perfect for winding up your Mum.

If you look at the screenshots in the review of the app in the app store, you can quite clearly see the ‘ghost’ that appears in The Sun’s picture (top right, third row down) and here’s another picture featuring her made using the app.

Either The Sun has been genuinely duped by a mischievous punter, or they were having a bit of a slow news day and fancied giving Ramada Jarvis hotels a bit of a plug on the back of a tenuous story. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and plump for the former.

Unbelievably though, when I had a quick look on their site I found another very similar story from February of this year. Look closely at the ‘ghost’ from that story and then at the line of ghosts on the fourth row down of ghost capture. Spot any similarities?! They even had the front to ask the bloke who claims to have taken the picture to hold up a crappy phone (not an iPhone) to try and cover their tracks.

Clearly this isn’t journalism at its finest, I just can’t believe they had the cheek to pull the same thing twice at the expense of their users. At least a few of the comments at the bottom of February’s ’story’ show that not everyone was fooled.

News International (who own The Sun and The Times newspapers) is planning to introduce a paywall to its timesonline.co.uk website in June on the back of Rupert Murdoch’s assertion that users will be willing to pay for quality content. If he’s planning to roll this paywall strategy out to thesun.co.uk as many are predicting, he may need to take a hard look at the quality of its content first.

The speed of user response in the digital space to ‘real world’ events can be incredible and I was amazed last week by a great example.

While watching the Champions League semi-final between Barcelona and Inter Milan last Wednesday I got a text from a mate of a great UGC image which merged an incident from the game with a famous scene from The Shining. What shocked me was that I got the text before the game had even finished.

I worked out a timeline of events as below:

7.45pm – Match kicks off

8.01pm – Barca’s Sergio Busquets takes a cowardly dive and gets Thiago Motta sent off (see 21 seconds for the ’sneaky peek’ he gives to check the ref is going to send Motta off)

9.34pm – UGC image of ’sneeky peek’ posted on a football forum

9.36pm – Image texted to me by a mate

9.43pm – Game finishes

I’ve seen plenty of examples of football related banter following games in the past (like this following an Argentina World Cup game and this following John Terry’s penalty slip in the 2008 Champions League final), but they’ve always been the day after a match, I’ve never seen one done so quickly. Admittedly, it took an hour and a half from the incident taking place to the image being posted, but that’s still not bad going.

This example just re-enforces the assumption that more and more users are either watching matches online or watching matches on TV while surfing online simultaneously. It also shows that with access to the right tools, users can produce some seriously funny content very quickly – something that many brands would do well to harness and that some have been trying to.