Today's Media is Global, Social, Ubiquitous and Cheap

H/T to Cousin Trev.

If It's SF, Online and Free...

Then you can find it here at the FREE SF READER. This blogger, who I quote below gives us the background to his project :

BACKGROUND : I started doing this to play with a blog, and it grew out of doing Super Reader after finding a increasing number of interesting stuffed related to Super Reader, and, of course, SF online. So, I thought, why not do the rest, as well. So, I set out on a quest to try and remember everything genre related I had read, which turns out to be a bit harder than I thought, and rate them as a guide for me, and for picking stuff for other people that ask. I will remember stuff occasionally, and add it. I figured this would likely take a couple of years.

Everything new I read that is Free gets listed here, as well. When I discover a Free version of something on Not Free SF Reader, I will move it to here, as there is no shortage of posts on Not Free SF Reader.

This is a good project, I just wish it had been part of Wikipedia. Some of the links the blogger uses is to material you have to pay for, but is probably available for free somewhere... ahem.

The point is -- this is a good start. Now all we need is your free novel up there...

EDIT TO ADD: TO CLEAR UP ANY MISCONCEPTIONS - I DID NOT CREATE THE FREE SF READER, BUT I CAN SEE HOW SOMEONE MAY THINK THAT DO MY POOR EDITING OF THIS POST. I WILL OF COURSE CORRECT THAT OVERSIGHT.

I Will Be A New Pulp Baron...

From Matt Ridley's column in WIRED UK:

Consumer deflation is the whole point of the industrial revolution and its aftermath. Whereas it took 18 man-hours to turn a pound of cotton into cloth in the 1760s, it took only 90 minutes to do the same a century later. A person therefore needed to work a twelfth as long to clothe himself. Most of the great industrial robber barons got rich by making things cheaper. Andrew Carnegie cut the price of a steel rail by 75 per cent in 30 years between 1870 and 1900; John D Rockefeller slashed the price of oil by 80 per cent over the same period. Henry Ford’s first Model T sold for $825. Four years later he’d cut the price to $575.

It’s still happening today. Wal-Mart, Aldi and Ryanair won their market shares by ruthlessly charging us viciously lower prices. And here lies a cause for optimism in the midst of this recession. Even though jobs are being lost, houses repossessed and firms bankrupted, the underlying deflation caused by innovation is still going on – indeed, on the web, it’s accelerating. All over the internet, people are dreaming up ways of making things available to you more cheaply, more conveniently, more copiously and more quickly. That is what will cause prosperity to return one day.

(emphasis mine)

Fox's Atomic Implosion

If you've been reading THE BEAT or VARIETY you've heard that Fox Studios has shut down its genre film and comic division FOX ATOMIC leaving SCREEN GEMS to be the only lower- budget genre division at a studio (SONY).

And this is a good thing. Here's why:

"Fox would rather make ‘Wolverine' than a Fox Atomic film," the executive says. "They don't need a $50 million earner. It's not worth their time."

A similar sentiment was echoed when Relativity snatched up Rogue back in the fall for what was considered a bargain price. At the time, an insider to the deal said that Universal's parent company General Electric would rather sell low, pocket the cash and move Rogue's overhead off its books. After all, while the division reliably turned a profit, it barely made a dent in GE's bottom line."

$50M is not worth their time. Wow.

Studios are too big as it is. They say they have to trim the overhead. Okay - so have indie suppliers create profitable genre product out-of-house and have the studios concentrate on what they're good at - distribution to theaters and television.

On the other end of the spectrum, people are always (rightfully) asking: "Well, this internet thing is good but can you run a business? Is there enough profit there?"

The answer is yes. Because for the most part you're doing a lot of the distribution and marketing functions yourself. Your overhead is low, your distribution points are many, your revenue is varied (ads, merchandise, seminars, speaking engagements, consultancy, multimedia licensing). So while you can't run a "studio" via the web (yet) - you can run a small operation that pays for everything in your own backyard.

Gee, making a living making media. Who'd a thunk it?

Add This to the New Media Logpile

Netflix shows profits as more budget-conscious Americans are embracing low-cost movie rentals over higher-priced theater tickets, a trend that helped Netflix to again deliver better-than-expected earnings.

The company says its download service, which it offers free to higher-tier subscribers, is gaining traction. Earlier this month, it announced deals to stream back episodes of Comedy Central's popular "South Park" animated series, and Nickelodeon shows such as "SpongeBob SquarePants."

But the company also noted the growing competition from cheap DVD rental kiosks.

"We're seeing a major shifting in the landscape between the content providers, different distribution models and the competitive environment," Janney Montgomery Scott analyst Tony Wible said.

Analysts asked about plans for a new pricing tier of streaming-only service, without the discs. Netflix said Thursday it's not a top priority at the moment.

Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said the transition away from DVDs will take years, but added that Netflix is smart to start weaning its customers off the plastic discs.

D2N (Direct-to-Netflix) on the horizon?