Filters

Media filters are everywhere

• A filter separates what you want from what you don’t want.

• Filters in the media allow you to get at what you want with less clutter and distraction.

• Filters in the media keep out things you don’t want to consume.– Contrary political viewpoints– Unverified speculation & conjecture– Pornography– Offensive material

• “What's increasingly interesting about modern media is its filters: if you actually look at websites, technology from TiVo to iPods to blogs, it's all about filter. What we mean when we say we like a blog or we like a website is that we like somebody's filter. And we have several filters for different things. Of course our friends are filters. Word of mouth is the ultimate filter. So what I try to do is act as a personal filter.”

-Author Ben Schott

Why do people use filters?

• Don’t like grounds in coffee.

• Less tar, same great cigarette flavor.

• Keeps engine operating smoothly.

Why to people use filters in media?

• Convenient, saves time• Trusted source; reputable• Consistent• Offers exclusive content

– This American Life– American Idol

• Provides specific viewpoint / voice– Tavis Smiley– Bill O’Reilly

Filters of days past

• Those three networks served as filters.

• No internet, but more newspapers were in circulation then.

• Radio stations had a finite reach.

• Fewer people were in control.

• Bottom line: less content to filter.

What filters are available now?

?

More content, more filters.

• There is WAY more content available for consumption now than 50 years ago.

• It could make a person go nuts, vow to move to the hills and live “off of the grid.”

More content, more filters

• Hundreds of cable & satellite TV channels

• XM & Sirius satellite radio channels

• Thousands of internet radio stations

More content, more filters.

• Content is easier to create & distribute– YouTube– Podcasting– Blogs– Other content sharing services

• Phenomenon of “Paradox of Abundance.”• Social bookmarking sites and blogs serve as

new forms of filters [Digg, del.icio.us, Bloglines]

Control issues.

• More filters allow consumers more choice.

• Also allows them to “wall themselves off.”

• Lessens the “delightful random exposure” factor

What are your filters?

• How did you begin using them?

• Have you started using new filters in the past couple of years?

• Stopped using others? Reasons?

Public Broadcasting is a filter.

• Consumers view it as a trusted source.

• Clear set of unique core values

• How can it be made a more essential filter?

Part two: CES 2007.

• The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the world's largest annual tradeshow for consumer technology and America's largest annual tradeshow of any kind.

• It is happening right now in Las Vegas.• Since 1967• Attendees from 130 countries

108” TV from Sharp

Portable satellite TV from DirecTV

~$150 Laptop [a.k.a. OLPC]

One of the many digital frames

InFusion portable internet radio

AutoNet car WiFi system

Phone with potpourri holder

end