Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Video Ad, In a Paper Magazine

Posted by timothy on from the who'dathunkit dept.

lee1 writes "The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine — Entertainment Weekly — in September. The video will be displayed on slim-line screens around the size of a mobile phone display and will have rechargeable batteries. The associated chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video, and uses technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards, playing the movie when the page is turned. The first clips will preview CBS shows and advertise Pepsi, but they will only be distributed in Los Angeles and New York. Imagine the fun hacking possibilities."

18 of 295 comments (clear)

  1. fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Em+Emalb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How long will it be before someone turns the page in the news paper and Jimbo from Jimbo's Used Cars and Ammo starts screaming about his amazing auto deals (free ammo with every car!) in a VERY LOUD OBNOXIOUS TONE?

    Not long, that's my guess.

    --
    Sent from your iPad.
  2. So this by BigJClark · · Score: 5, Insightful


    So this is the best usage for this technology they can find? How about changing 300lb university textbooks into paper thin alternatives? Updating libraries to use this new technology, increasing the life of the books... etc etc

    Ad's? How.... capitilist..

    --

    Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
    1. Re:So this by squoke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Let the advertisers foot the bill for the technology. Eventually it will become cheaper and more efficient due to their use. Then academia can reap the rewards.

    2. Re:So this by BigJClark · · Score: 3, Insightful


      Whens the last time you can think advertisters have footed the bill? Has the cost of your movie tickets dropped since they've introduced a half-hour of commericals into the movie theaters? Has the cost of your video games dropped since the inception of inline video game ad's?

      Hardly. Relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology so that academia can reap its benefits is knowledge probably gained from an academic institute that is relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology.

      --

      Hi, I Boris. Hear fix bear, yes?
    3. Re:So this by east+coast · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So this is the best usage for this technology they can find?

      They're the ones paying the bills. I know, how capitalistic of me. But that's the system in play.

      How about changing 300lb university textbooks into paper thin alternatives? Updating libraries to use this new technology, increasing the life of the books... etc etc

      Fantastic ideas. How soon can we expect for you to get the betas out? The great thing about capitalism is that if think this is a good idea for the technology you can make a play at being one of the first ones to market with the product. Why are you waiting for someone else to take up the cause? If you're waiting for the government to take the lead, which I'm guessing you are by slighting capitalism, you are going to have a long wait.

      Capitalism has a really cruddy underside because someone has to lose for someone else to win but it's also this same reason that people step up to challenges such as this. Having an incentive to produce has worked out pretty well. You can still champion the idea if you want to do it for "ethical" reasons and give your profits away. No one is stopping you.

      --
      Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
    4. Re:So this by tlhIngan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Whens the last time you can think advertisters have footed the bill? Has the cost of your movie tickets dropped since they've introduced a half-hour of commericals into the movie theaters? Has the cost of your video games dropped since the inception of inline video game ad's?

      Hardly. Relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology so that academia can reap its benefits is knowledge probably gained from an academic institute that is relying on advertisers to lower the cost of new technology.

      Except print media relies on ads to pay the bills, The cost you pay tends to pay a very tiny portion of the actual cost production - most of that cost is distribution (printing, shipping to distributors, distributor markup, shipping to retailers, retailer markup, etc), which is how they can easily make subscriptions 50+% off the cover price.

      In this case, the ads pay for the technology behind this. If it's successful, more advertisers would want it in more magazines, which implies that developments would make the technology cheaper. And when the technology gets cheap enough, it'll be everywhere.

      Advertisers are paying for this, plus the normal ad fees. If it succeeds, it forms a demand for this technology, making it cheaper so everyone else can add video to their pages for little extra cost.

    5. Re:So this by CecilPL · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yup. 5 years ago, movie tickets used to cost $14 at my local theatre. Now they cost $10.99 - a 30% drop after accounting for inflation.

      Most new video games cost $59.99 - the same as new SNES games cost in 1994. That's another 30% drop after accounting for inflation, not to mention the hugely increased costs of development since then.

      It stands to reason that if content producers can recoup some of their costs via alternative revenue models, competition will force the prices down.

  3. Re:fun hacking? Er..no. Imagine the annoyance... by Again · · Score: 3, Insightful

    How long will it be before someone turns the page in the news paper and Jimbo from Jimbo's Used Cars and Ammo starts screaming about his amazing auto deals (free ammo with every car!) in a VERY LOUD OBNOXIOUS TONE?

    No need for Flashblock, just read with a hammer next to you.

  4. It is believed that... by jonnythan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Best line I've read all day.

    "It's believed the new technology will cost much more than normal print ads."

    That's the kind of biting, insightful comment I love from big media.

  5. Re:Cost? by east+coast · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You kidding? People are going to buy this nonsense rag just for the novelty alone. They'll make a killing on sales and be able to charge more for other ads at the same time.

    --
    Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
  6. and they wonder why... by Tim4444 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If newspapers devoted this much energy to the actual content and quality of journalism, maybe they wouldn't be hurting so much for revenue.

  7. Re:Cost? by qortra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Exactly! I was going to say this if nobody else did.

    I bet this is going to be a collectors item. Everybody in LA and New York will have to buy one. So, not only will EW get a huge sales boost, but there will be millions of people who are pushing, clawing, and begging just to watch the ads for their novelty. How many other ways can you get people to seek out your advertisement rather than have it forced upon them? I bet USA and Pepsi are paying through the nose for this.

    Of course, the novelty aspect only works once. My guess is that we won't see this regularly until the technology becomes significantly cheaper (if even then).

  8. Waste of resources by mmustapic · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, the device is supposedly rechargeable and new content can be uploaded, but why would you make the effort to upload ads? How is this better than reading the same info on the internet, on a bigger screen and better interactivity? Whit will surely end in a landfill. How fucking wasteful.

  9. Re:So what toxic materials are in it by non0score · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You're totally right. I just hope every one of those "panels" gets slapped with a $30+ garbage tax. I'd rather see this kind of "land-fill material (literally) that lasts no more than one week off the shelf" not take off at all.

    And let's face it, the vast majority of the readership aren't geeks, so they won't be hacking these things.

    And to hell with my karma. It's for garbage like these that I can afford to burn it.

  10. Or maybe they would... by PylonHead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The crisis in the newspaper industry:

    a) They're all giving away their content for free on the internet, print subscriptions are falling through the floor.

    b) No single paper can charge internet subscriptions, because people will just turn to other papers.

    c) Web ad revenue brings in less money than print ad revenue used to.

    d) Craig's List has completely destroyed the lucrative classified ads revenue source.

    So basically, they haven't found a way to make enough money to do the journalism that we expect from them. The whole industry is sinking, from the best of them to the worst.

    --
    # (/.);;
    - : float -> float -> float =
  11. Re:Yes. With Sound. by easyTree · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is such a great idea - far better than, I don't know, moving the whole newspaper online or onto an ebook reader.

    Oh wait, the opposite of that.

    --
    Requiem for the American Dream
  12. Re:So what toxic materials are in it by taucross · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Collectors item ultimately means landfills. It just takes longer to get there.

    --
    "In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."
  13. novel idea by Tom · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The more ads I see, the more I get pissed at advertisement in general.

    I have a truly novel idea. Maybe I should patent it. How about we charge for the actual content, save a lot of money on all the staff and equipment that doesn't have to negotiate, draft, implement, print, etc. all the advertisement anymore, and end up with a smaller, more content-dense product? I'll call it "business purpose re-engineering".

    You see, when your business has slowly eroded from informing your customers to selling your customers, and your customers have started to notice and are leaving you in droves, it might be time to change back, instead of speeding up.

    --
    Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org