Category Archive: Media

No Cabbage Patch: Notes on the Rogers iPhone Debacle

Posted by Michael Klassen on July 14, 2008

One month before the launch of iPhone 3G, Steve Jobs addressed a crowd at the Apple Developers Connection. 30 days later one of the most embarrassing corporate SNAFUs in Canadian history occurred. It is yet to be seen whose head will roll for it.

It is highly unlikely that the company's namesake, founder Ted Rogers, will get the boot. It will more likely be someone listed on the company's Board of Directors page.

How serious the damage has been to Rogers bottom line is yet to be added up. The company's annual projections no doubt factored in strong sales for Apple's iPhone, which Rogers has locked up in an exclusive deal for the Canadian territory.

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Tagged: apple computer, cell phone data usage, favourite, iphone, rogers wireless

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Vancouver Sun's Frances Bula resigns

Posted by Michael Klassen on July 2, 2008

This comes out of the blue. France Bula, the veteran Vancouver Sun writer that covered the city beat more thoroughly than any of her colleagues, announced on her City States blog that she has resigned from the paper.

"Fabula" distinguished herself in recent months with her round-the-clock postings on civic affairs, namely the NPA and Vision Vancouver mayoral nomination battles, on that blog. It was a first for the tired old Vancouver Sun, whose transition into the digital age has been particularly clunky thanks to publisher CanWest.

Apart from the updates on internal rancor within the two political parties (it became a must read for local civic affairs junkies), Bula's blog was particularly insightful on the subject of Vancouver development. Whether covering the recent talk by Andrés Duany, the lengthy debates in council chambers on EcoDensity, or talking about new buildings dotting Vancouver's skyline and the people who built them, Bula's passion for our city and its inner workings was always evident.

Frances does not reveal her reasons for the departure, but her final blog post indicates some frustration with the editorial direction of the Vancouver Sun. Over the last several years CanWest Global has been paying buyouts to many of its longstanding employees, giving them the choice of early retirement.

Tagged: vancouver media, vancouver politics, vancouver sun

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Singing with Obama

Posted by Michael Klassen on February 4, 2008

I've worked on a few election campaigns in my time, and rarely did we break out in song. I know, I know, this is video below is just a notch apart from a Benetton ad, but it's an impressive way to deliver a candidate's message nonetheless.

Tagged: barack obama, us politics

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Memo to TV writers on strike

Posted by Michael Klassen on November 28, 2007

This video must send a chill through the striking TV writers and their well-coiffed hosts. How can you watch this and not conclude that, yes, quality programming CAN be produced by primates? Watch, and decide...

Tagged: daily show, tv writers strike

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The Onion: Poll reveals the top issue for voters

Posted by Michael Klassen on October 22, 2007

I just discovered that The Onion has a TV news network. This is a hard-hitting report from this quality outfit.

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CTVglobemedia + Windows Media sucks

Posted by Michael Klassen on September 12, 2007

How come the computing platform with the fastest consumer growth stats over the past 2 years still can't watch videos on Canada's largest national media provider website? CTV and the Globe and Mail rely on Windows Media for their video delivery. Come on, guys, this is sooo 2002.

Time to start sharing media in FLV format like 99.999% of other internet video providers.

And don't ask why I'm trying to watch the Britney Spears MVA post-mortem.

Tagged: britney spears train wreck, ctvglobemedia, internet video

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Dear CRTC, it's time to put this regulation on ice

Posted by Michael Klassen on July 11, 2007

Hey Canada, do you want HBO? Sorry, but Corus Entertainment, a company that just recorded its highest profit ever this week, doesn't want you to have it.

Read the Globe and Mail's story, Corus wants lockout kept on U.S. channels for more info.

If I have a choice, I try to avoid watching US programs on Canadian networks. Most often however, I get to watch the Canadian feed on the US channel which, from what I understand, the CRTC disallows but still doesn't enforce.

Is it possible we might trade-in our Canadian citizenship if we get over saturated by US TV advertising? Or does our national pride grow with repeated viewings of Telus or Crappy Tire ads?

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A follow-up to this item, read comments on Globe and Mail about this topic, and you'll see a LOT of agreement that it's time to can blocking out superior programming from outside Canada.

Tagged: i want my hbo

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Vancouver's traffic reporters: big polluters?

Posted by Michael Klassen on March 30, 2007

I don't know what city had the first in-flight traffic reporter (probably L.A.), but Vancouver today has at least three that I'm aware of. They all have cute names, Chopper 9, Global 1, and the News 1130 Wind-up Toy.

The media continually report these days on the subject of 'being green' (read: good for the environment). The irony is that those traffic-spotting whirlybirds use a lot of fossil fuel, and spew a lot of fumes into the GVRD's airshed every day of the week.

So I ask, are Vancouver's radio and TV stations some of our city's biggest polluters?

Tagged: air pollution, environment, traffic reports

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