The Strip by Brian McFadden

After the Consumer Electronics Show binge in Las Vegas last week, the guilt and remorse settle in — kind of like the day after Thanksgiving.  Was it too big?  Too flashy?  Why did we collectively gorge on stuff that we don’t really need?  Shouldn’t we reflect more upon the slave labor that makes these toys for us, rather than on the superficial novelty they provide?  (The cartoon above, and Flip The Media’s excellent Your Phone Was Probably Made in a Sweatshop expose this harsh reality).

Then there was the oft-shared Fevered Dream of a Guilt-Ridden Gadget Reporter:

There is a hole in my heart dug deep by advertising and envy and a desire to see a thing that is new and different and beautiful. A place within me that is empty, and that I want to fill up. The hole makes me think electronics can help. And of course, they can.

They make the world easier and more enjoyable. They boost productivity and provide entertainment and information and sometimes even status. At least for a while. At least until they are obsolete. At least until they are garbage.

And I couldn’t avert my eyes from the Wall Street Journal’s above-the-fold front-page headline trumpeting the much-anticipated Chinese uprising, but then throwing in the twist: not due to politics, but because of the newly-released iPhone 4s.

Fine.  It’s all true.  And all many of the tech blog post-mortems have concluded that this year’s show as more evolutionary than revolutionary.  However, as I consider what I saw — from fridges, to cars, to TV’s — it’s pretty clear what’s driving this consumer electronics gold rush (this year’s CES after all, had the most attendees and the most exhibits): mobile and social.

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MCDM Director Hanson Hosein unpacks his kit and shows you what you need to cover CES.  Check it out:

I’ve been reading the horror stories about surviving the mammoth Consumer Electronics Show with some trepidation. There’s Survival Gear for Battling 100,000 Nerds in a Desert. Then I spied our own intrepid Todd Bishop of GeekWire in his lovely fly fishing vest.

Me?  Well, I’m in an unusual situation.  I’m there to promote the MCDM through Storyteller Uprising (which has a new chapter) as well as cover the event (for KUOW, GeekWire, KING 5, Flip The Media).  But I’m also looking forward to being “covered” as a subject matter expert.  I have interviews already scheduled with Wired, Reuters, PRWeek and the Seattle Times with my take on the show, seen through the optic of Storyteller Uprising and the MCDM.  So I’ve got to look Chic while being practically prepared for any eventuality as would any good Geek.

“Chic”: dark blazer, polished boots, dress shirts, make-up, brushes, spot removal wipes. I’ve even got a business card that actually doesn’t have a telephone number.  But it does have four URL’s, a QR code for journalists to download my e-book, my e-mail address, and of course, my Twitter handle.  Which means of course, that we’ve already moved into the “Geek” section of this post (considerably longer than the “Chic” one!):

I don’t have to worry too much about the gear, which is a relief.  I’m traveling with my colleague (and former student) Filiz Efe who’ll be capturing the show (and me) through a Canon 5D with a fancy Zacuto add-on viewfinder, and a multiplicity of microphones.  The MCDM’s new Program Manager, Ashley-Rose O’Mara will be our enforcer as she manages my interviews and schedule, while she makes friends for our degree program by handing out brochures and copies of my book.  We’re also supported through our terrific partnership with public relations firm Weber Shandwick Seattle.

But I’m forever the backpack journalist and I’ll be the only one in the team who’ll have access to certain events.  So I’ll be filming with my Galaxy Note “phablet” in 1080p video mode (read Todd Bishop’s feature on my mammoth conversation starter of a phone), which will probably be announced for the American market this week.  I’ll also have an Olympus XZ-1 point-and-shoot (with external mike setup), a Macbook Air, a backup mobile broadband hotspot (T-Mobile, how congested could that network be at CES?), and a plethora of cables. Another first for me?  We won’t be editing in Final Cut, but rather with Adobe Premiere.  It’s all a sign of the times.

Follow me on Twitter (@hrhmedia) for my latest #CES reports.  I’ll also be filing on Storyteller Uprising, and here, regularly.

“Video games will be the fastest-growing and most exciting form of mass media over the coming decade” declares the headline to The Economist’s recent video games special report “All the world’s a game.”

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a consulting firm, the global video-game market was worth around $56 billion last year. That is more than twice the size of the recorded-music industry, nearly a quarter more than the magazine business and about three-fifths the size of the film industry, counting DVD sales as well as box-office receipts (see chart below). PwC predicts that video games will be the fastest-growing form of media over the next few years, with sales rising to $82 billion by 2015.

I don’t love video games. I’m not good at them. But I’m so enthralled by Raiders of the Lost Ark-like cinematic experience of games such as Uncharted: Drake’s Deception that I’ll play them on “Easy” just to get to the next reveal. It’s also why I’m more wedded to the PS3 console, because of story-centric exclusives such as Uncharted, and the just-announced I Am Legend-inspired horror-apocalypse game, The Last of Us (trailer below).

I’ll temper my excitement about The Last of Us (due in late 2012, early 2013) until I hear whether it’s in 3D or not. Yup, you heard me. I didn’t think much of the blockbuster Avatar — as a movie, or as a 3D experience. I’ve resisted the urge to get a 3D TV because the glasses strike me as anti-social, unhealthy for young children, and hardly worth the investment especially with companies like Toshiba developing 3D technology that doesn’t require eyeware.  But when it comes to interactive cinematic entertainment such as Uncharted (and now Batman Arkham City, which I’ve just started), I’ve discovered that 3D makes the story experience that much immersive. It’s akin to introducing home theater 5.1 surround sound into the home after a lifetime of mono television. It helps that Sony just released an accessibly-priced 24″ 3D monitor that works for both PS3 and Xbox (already reduced to $399 — glasses, game and HDMI cable included – $299 this week at Best Buy for American residents).
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Enough time has passed since the publication of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs that I think it’s safe to give away the last line of the book. Besides, Isaacson himself reveals it in his extensive 60 Minutes interview. (Here’s a tip to those who don’t have time to read the book: just watch the 60 Minutes profile; it remarkably captures the essence of Isaacson’s reporting.)

In the final passage, Jobs is reflecting on mortality and concedes that he’d like to believe in an afterlife.

“But on the other hand, perhaps it’s like an on-off switch,” he said. “Click! And you’re gone.” He fell silent for a very long time.

Then he paused again and smiled slightly. “Maybe that’s why I never liked to put on-off switches on Apple devices.”

Much can be observed about the late Steve Jobs from this statement: his obsession with simplicity as he oversaw the design of Apple’s remarkable devices, his lifelong connection to digital technology (from pioneering personal computing to creating a market for the “fourth screen” of tablet computing), and how he integrated his soul with the devices that he created. He wanted to make a “dent in the universe” and at least in our gadget-infused, content rich world, he did.

Jobs’ products made a huge dent in my world as a visual storyteller: when I acquired a Powerbook in 2003 with its integrated content creation tools (Final Cut Pro, DVD burning, soundtrack production) I suddenly believed that I could become a filmmaker. Perhaps, I had entered Steve Jobs’ so-called “reality distortion field,” because against all odds, his technology did transform my creativity into a viable content that made its way to the masses.
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At the Great Wall (Badaling Section)

Thousands of people flooded around me. I stared in exasperation at the sign. Yet, I knew that it had to be emblematic of something about my week-long trip to Beijing — my first to China. True to my personality, I had tried to go against the tide by trying to enter the Forbidden City from the less popular north gate. But as of July 2^nd, the sign informed me, visitors to the very much once “forbidden” home of the Emperor of China, had to enter from the south, and leave by the north.

I had been happily using my Garmin GPS watch to track my weekend pedestrian expedition in Beijing.

But the thought of trudging back to the south end, only to end up back where I was presently, and then have to do it all over again to get to the subway seemed like many steps too far.

So what did I do? I skipped visiting the Forbidden City – a treasured UNESCO site – altogether. Rather I content myself with a deep hangout at Beihar Park, and then Tiananmen Square. And I spent all day using stodgy Internet connections through Beijing to download a rental of the Academy Award-winning “The Last Emperor” from iTunes for my return flight to Seattle. Bertolucci’s famed exclusive access to the Forbidden City for his film would have to suffice.

My walk through Beijing

After all, I had accomplished what I had set out to do: to get a glimpse of China for the first time, especially from a digital media perspective. My vehicle in was as a participant in transmitCHINA, where I hobnobbed with entrepreneurial digerati from both the Middle Kingdom and the New World.

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I feel strangely satisfied as I conclude my fourth academic year as MCDM Director.

This unusual feeling (it is for me!) began to develop late last month. At a Department of Communication faculty meeting, my colleagues enthusiastically supported our request to kick off a national search for a new MCDM assistant professor, who would bring further rigor to our one-of-a-kind program. It was a vote of confidence during a tough time for the University of Washington, as severe budget cuts and hiring freezes descend upon the entire institution.

We haven’t been immune; we’ve been asked to streamline our own staff and faculty over the last year as we continue to prioritize how to provide excellence to our community while keeping a close eye on finances.

But the university also sees us as inspired, slightly hyperactive regional and global ambassadors for the higher education business model-in-transition. They’re full supporters of our schemes, experiments and expeditions, from faculty hires to Four Peaks to our show on UWTV.

Still, my current state of “happiness” is much more aligned to the intrinsic state of the MCDM.

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Today was a joyous day. We graduated our largest cohort of MCDM’ers at a beautiful open-air ceremony. Here’s what I told all those who attended:

“To give you a sense of the strong personalities that populate our Master of Communication in Digital Media, one of our graduating students updated (Brook Ellingwood) his Facebook status with this today.

Today, after years of struggle and hard work, I will at last achieve my lifelong dream: To wear clothes based on what priests wore in the 12th century. Read more…