Paying For YouTube?

Paying For YouTube?

For ten years, social media site YouTube has given us countless of precious memories and entertainment. How would you like to pay for YouTube?

Don’t worry; it’s just optional. It is for most of us. This ad-free subscription is expected to debut in the next few months. You can store videos with your mobile device offline. The cost of the new ad-free YouTube will cost around $10 a month. Producers can create videos exclusively for the premium site. This premium site could include a lesser cost for a specific category, like music, or family based videos. Video producers will split subscription profits with YouTube, well, YouTube will get 45% and the producer will get 55%, based on the time viewers watch their channels and videos. This could prove an unfair advantage to channels with low or moderate viewership. But wait; there’s more: YouTube producers who put videos on the premium channel will be required to be premium customers themselves.

 

YouTube wants to compete with Hulu and Netflix in the paid subscription game. Their parent company Google already has Music Key. But they’d better keep this paid subscription service just that, optional. I’ve been a YouTube fan for years. I don’t know about you, but watching commercials is worth what I pay for YouTube now: nothing! But if people want to pay for the service, let them pay. For those who want to keep it free, let it be free. If YouTube continues with this plan, I think they should reduce the price for this. If Hulu and Netflix are only charging around $8.00 a month, shouldn’t YouTube make their service more competitive to that? ?And what about channel and video producers? How many of them will get tempted to join this premium network for an extra piece of the pie, thus making fans pay to even see their videos? And how many subscribers will they risk losing because of this?

Turkey Censors Social Media

Turkey Censors Social Media

Turkey censors social media…again. This time, that nation blocks You Tube and Twitter because the social media sites refuse to take down a photo of a lawyer being held hostage by militants in Istanbul, Turkey’s capital, largest city and most popular tourist destination.

After many people complained about failure to log on to You Tube and Twitter, a Turkish Internet service provider official confirmed the ban. A total of 166 websites were ordered shut down. All these websites published the controversial photos. It’s not just social media that’s suffering from the ban. Local newspapers and media are taking a hit. Facebook’s ban in Turkey has been lifted. But that’s only because they agreed to comply with this issue. This whole crisis started when a rouge far-left political party took prosecutor Mehmet Kiraz hostage. Kiraz was the prosecutor in an emotionally charged murder trial. Kiraz was kidnapped, attacked, and hours later, died of injuries afflicted in these attacks. Pictures of this ordeal went up all over the nation, electronically and otherwise. Kiraz’s widow and kids began the call to take the pictures down. The case went to an Istanbul court, which ordered the pictures to come down. Turkish medium Daily Hurriyet, who got censored because of the ban, said, “We just want to do journalism. We do not want to face bans…trying to prevent our colleagues from doing their work.”

I must admit, this is a tough call. I sympathize with Attorney Kiraz’s family. It’s traumatizing enough to lose a husband and father in this sudden, tragic and violent fashion. It’s another thing to have this ordeal displayed all over the country. The effect can be devastating. But to ban social media websites because of this is overkill. ?I agree, there needs to be respect for this man’s family and those pictures shouldn’t be posted. But I think of the reaction here. It almost seems like Turkish government leaders and service providers are using this tragedy as an excuse to push censorship. It’s not like they haven’t pushed censorship before. They could have just used disciplinary action against the media companies who posted these pics. Couldn’t the government and media come up with a better solution?

Prom Proposals

Prom Proposals

How did you get your prom date, or did you even have one? These ?high school students are using social media to come up with creative, outlandish, and very expensive ways to get that dream date.

This is where prom proposals, or ‘promposals’ come in. These are extravagant prom proposals, usually done on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and You Tube. This year, the average American family will spend around $1,000 on prom. ?But a big chunk of that won’t go to just limos, dresses, tuxedos, and after parties. Over a third of it will be spent on simply asking the date to prom. Some are basic, like a big teddy bear holding a sign saying “Will you go to prom with me”. Some go over the top. One young man rode a horse on school property asking a girl to the dance. Another guy asked a girl to prom by twerking on You Tube. In Palmdale, California, a student named Davyeon was arrested in his school lunchroom. Davyeon didn’t commit any crime. His girlfriend Stephanie got an officer to stage his play arrest. She came out with a sign asking him to prom. Some teens are even using celebrities to do the proposal for them. Sarah Kardonsky had the New York Jets ask Mike to prom. Even Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston offered his promposal services.

I admire these kids’ creativity. It seems like they try to outdo each other in creative and entertaining ways to celebrate this teen ritual. Most people from my era ?never would have imagined going through such links. Many of these are fun to watch. The only disturbing part is people who make under $25,000 a year spending more on prom than those making $50,000 a year. But the way these kids are going all out for their prom tells me our future in entertainment and creative arts is going to be all right. Do you think they can put the same effort in math and science?

You Tube and Live Streaming

You Tube and Live Streaming

Back in 2014, Google‘s streaming empire You Tube tried to get Twitch TV, a website dedicated to live gaming. It didn’t happen. You know You Tube didn’t give up their live gaming dream that easy.

Now, they’re launching a live streaming platform focused on live gaming and electronic sports. And it sounds like they’re banking a lot on this venture. Sources expect live gaming to be a huge part of You Tube’s improved service. They predict a time when live streamers and live sports will be running to broadcast their events. So far, they’ve only been crawling, or not moving at all. In 2010, You Tube started broadcasting Indian Premier League soccer games live for free. It didn’t make much noise. By 2014, there were no mention of live events on You Tube on their homepage. But there are You Tube channels that broadcast live; some do so pretty often. Even the State of the Union address of January 2015 was broadcast live on You Tube. So this tells us it can be done. But now You Tube wants to take streaming to the next level. Instead of a partner, Twitch TV is now a competitor. Sources say You Tube is rounding up 50 engineers and streaming experts to make this dream happen. They’re expected to launch their new streaming program at a gaming expo in June 2015. No one from You Tube is talking.

If You Tube is going to give streaming another chance, they should include their most popular channels and stars. And there are plenty of game experts on You Tube that would jump at this chance. Yesterday, I talked about a chance of You Tube broadcasting a live NFL game this coming October. That would sure help their streaming cause, but what if that dream doesn’t come true? Why not reach out to your own You Tube subscribers for help? Wouldn’t it make competition with Twitch TV really interesting?

NFL And The Internet

NFL And The Internet

Last year, NFL?coaches?started using tablets to produce and call plays. That was a huge advancement between American technology it’s most popular game. Now there’s another one.

Now, the NFL is poised to make history again. They’re going to broadcast a live game exclusively for the Internet. This game will be in the 2015 season, week seven, between the Buffalo Bills and Jacksonville Jaguars. Because this game will be live from London, England, it will come on at 9:30 am Eastern, 8:30 Central and 6:30 am Pacific. The NFL is touting this game to You Tube and other social media/Internet brands. For decades, the NFL and television have been synonymous. But during the 2010s, there’s been a movement to form a partnership with a major Internet conglomerate. Back in 2011, they tried to make a deal with Google to take Sunday Ticket Package. But the NFL went back to Direct TV. But this Bills vs Jaguars game won’t be on Direct TV. According to one sports-media consultant, the NFL selling one game from London could eventually lead to a long term relationship between the NFL and Internet. The NFL hopes this one game would be the catalyst to selling a package of games to a major Internet company.

I give the NFL credit about the timing. To air this game online at 9:30 Sunday morning right before the regularly scheduled games (which starts at 1pm Eastern) is genius. As an NFL fan myself, I’d love to watch four games a day (9:30 am, 1 pm, 4:25 pm, 8 pm). But it sounds like it’s going to take more than one game to establish some revolutionary move to move games on the Web. And what about TV companies and advertisers? If the NFL starts moving games to the Internet, I doubt they’re going to let $27 billion dollars a year go without a fight. So how would they react? And how many NFL fans are hardcore enough to watch this game so early? And which online company would take a chance on this?

Leonard Nimoy Passes Away

Leonard Nimoy Passes Away

Iconic actor Leonard Nimoy passed away earlier today at the age of 83, after a courageous battle with the lung disorder chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Nimoy will forever be known for his role as Spock on the historic TV and movie franchise Star Trek. Spock was a half-man half-alien character with pointy ears, V finger salute, and a logical tone. Though the original TV show Star Trek only lasted three years (1966-69), Spock will go down as one of the most beloved TV characters of all time, thanks to cartoons, movies, spin-offs, and Star Trek festivals that go on to this day. But Nimoy was so much more multi-talented and versatile than Spock. Let’s honor Mr. Nimoy’s legacy by looking at five ways he blessed us through his talent.

1. He Appeared in Many Guest Roles: He was born in Boston and attended Boston College before moving to Hollywood in the early 1950s. In the years that followed, he won guest roles on Bonanza, Gunsmoke, The Outer Limits, and The Twilight Zone.

2. He Was Proud To Be in a Groundbreaking Show: Nimoy took pride in the fact that Star Trek broke so much ground in the 1960s. It was one of the first shows to regularly feature African-Americans as equals. Star Trek gave us the first interracial kiss in TV history.

3. He Narrated TV Documentaries: He narrated In Search Of (1976-82), a weekly showcase of mysteries and history. He also narrated History Channel’s Ancient Mysteries (1995-2003).

4. He Was An Accomplished Director: Nimoy directed two of the six Star Trek movies. Those were Star Trek III: In Search of Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). He went on to direct Three Men And A Baby (1987), one of the highest grossing films of that year.

5. He Was A Best Selling Author: In the 1970s, he published an autobiography called I Am Not Spock. In the ’90s, he published a second one called I Am Spock.

Leonard Nimoy is survived by two children, six grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

From us at Computer Geeks, “Live long and prosper.”

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