Joss Whedon on the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign that raised a record 2+ million in 12 hours.

So what was your reaction when you heard this was happening with Veronica Mars and it was so successful?

Joss Whedon: It was unfettered joy. A) I thought it was an awesome and ballsy move. B) I love V. Mars and want more of it. And C) It feels like a real game-changer. Like, not since Louis C.K. [selling his comedy special directly online].

dhcontentsummit:

“This year’s event, which took place in early March at Midtown Manhattan’s McGraw-Hill Building, reinforced the view that dramatic changes in the media landscape can be weathered. Many new developments, in fact, like the jaw-dropping success of Netflix’s unprecedented David Fincher/Kevin Spacey “House of Cards” original Web marathon and the increasing capabilities of mobile devices, are downright thrilling.”

This.

The screen was supposed to be limitless, a portal to another dimension…yet novels have merely traded one container for another.

And more importantly, THIS.

Huge amounts of attention are therefore being given to more or less superficial parts of the debate: pricing, formats, business models, the latest gadget. What are being sidelined are the most important aspects of literature’s digital future. Namely, how can we use digital devices to change the way we tell stories?

xoxco:

In the complex decisions between responsive HTML5 websites and native mobile applications, publishers shouldn’t take sides.

The insight of content management systems (going back decades ago to document processing systems and technologies like SGML) was to separate content from presentation.

…

“The next wave of the ebook revolution is coming and it’s going to be led by kids.”

theeditorialintern:

By Jeremy Greenfield (January 31, 2013).

“While just under a quarter of U.S. adults are reading ebooks, some 54% of kids are reading them — that’s more than double.”

“The next wave of the ebook revolution is coming and it’s going to be led by kids.”

Stories will spread cross-platform whether we want them to or not. Content creators need to be paying attention.

dmtrendsonline:

Watching television while also using a smartphone or tablet is one of the most popular leisure activities of the mobile era. The mobile industry is working hard to create mobile apps and sites that relate to what’s on TV, in order to capitalize on this behavior.  

This approach is often referred to as the “second screen,” the idea being that the tablet or smartphone becomes a TV companion device, allowing for added levels of interactivity— whether on social networks or dedicated second screen apps and sites that complement on-air content. 

In a recent report from BI Intelligence, we examine how second screen apps, social networks, and mobile sites will ultimately succeed in drawing significant audiences, analyze how they will begin to see some advertising dollars, and detail the opportunity represented by audience analytics and second screen commerce.

Here’s why the second screen industry will ultimately succeed:

• Usage is growing rapidly:85% of smartphone users reported second screen-linked behavior at least once a month, over 60% reported doing it on a weekly basis, and 39% did so daily. Over 80% of 18- to 24-year-olds told Pew they used their phone while watching TV, and 60% of Americans with annual incomes above $50,000 use their phones while watching TV.
• And mass acceptance isn’t even necessary: All that matters is that a significant minority of viewers develop this habit (especially if they are highly engaged viewers). In the U.S. alone, TV ad spending was $18.4 billion in the third quarter of last year, a $74 billion annual run rate. If mobile can carve out even a small share of that pile of dollars via second screen channels, it would boost the mobile industry tremendously.
• Second screen isn’t really a new activity: It’s a natural update to the old ways of engaging with TV, like the old office water cooler conversations about last night’s football game or popular TV drama. Moreover, second screen-type behaviors were already popular on desktops and laptops, before mobile came along and made it a lot easier to participate. 
• Second screen apps and sites are bridges: They bring together the powerful but increasingly fragmented world of television media, and the fast-growing but still undeveloped digital realm. For TV-centric advertisers and content producers, second screen provides a channel through which to test out digital strategies while still remaining tied to familiar territory. 

(via dhcontentsummit)