Macworld 2009: Leo Laporte-Note Non-Live Blog (Now Up!)

Leo Laporte of TWiT fame’s Macworld 2009 Keynote. Be sure to check out our photo gallery as well. All the highlights after the break!

• Leo is on stage, using Keynote 09 and the iPhone Keynote remote app!
• Slide 1: End of the world as we know it, but he didn’t mean Macworld!
• Best thing about Macworld is meeting like-minded people, has to keep going but may be different
• Media is changing anyway, so maybe this is a good time.
• Not end of Macworld but end of mainstream mass media.
• Already his iPhone is asleep, hope that’s not a sign – may be to bleeding edge even for him
• Showing young Leo on slide show, using pseudonym Dan Hayes.
• Wants to explain he knows old way of doing things.
• He’s seen the light, and wants to explain how great things will be.
• He gives this speech to old media guys, but he has to lie to them say they can find a way to make it work..
• Started with Dvorak, Ziff Davis called, and when Microsoft made MSNBC, they wanted to compete with a show called The Site.
• Too depressing, doesn’t want to show us, but has clip of Dvorak demo’ing 286 PC. Pathetic.
• ZDTV and TechTv gave chance for non-mainstream – different
• Throw out old model, assume audience is intelligent, enthusiastic.
• Was Chinese history major in college, likes history, wants to give us some
• Mass media was coined in 1920 but has always been some. People like to share back to cave paintings back in stone ages.
• Theater was first mass media, 250,000 people could be seated in Rome, great accustics.
• Travelling minstrels could reach people.
• Moveable type/printing press helped but economics were tough, hugely expensive
• Guttenberg is example of kind of shift we’re seeing now
• TV didn’t replace radio, but Leo thinks we now have a greater shift
• In the beginning, they only printed bibles, just faster, but a generation it took to start doing interesting things – The Price, novels, Luthor’s reformation, scientific revolution.
• Newspapers went broader still, country. Movies go international. True mass media as we know it.
• TV reaches huge audiences – 2.5 billion watched World Cup
• Internet blows this all up. Global Audience
• Mass media = monopoly, only richest could afford to publish/distribute
• Because it was expensive, you needed a mass-audience
• If you wanted to broadcast, had to beg someone who owned tower.
• Early days, anyone could paint on cave wall, play a guitar
• 1920s, only a few could decide who got voice — but now the monopoly is shattering
• High cost meant diversity of voices was mall (last 100 years, not normal)
• Brains are tribal, understand small groups and communities, talking to each other. We prefer conversation
• Monopoly disolving, anyone can publish now.
• On YouTube, anyone does!
• 1 Billion now have distrobution, voice, chance to put content out
• Not like 3 anchors of traditional TV who controlled agenda.
• When Cronkite gave up on Vietnam war, was powerful enough to effect country
• Cost of content also dropping. Before, to be rock star, had to borrow from studio but never got profit back. TV, radio, same.
• Big media can’t control content or creators now, but could control editorial
• Doesn’t think they’ll do a good job, but have to give them something
• Ultimately, will have to become one of us
• Diversity changes, narrow band dissolves, we can all create
• Now we can talk back. Media hates that!
• Leo did well because he was from Talk Radio where people always talked back.
• Generally most try to control too much, hang up, control. Play you as instrument. People who call in are fodder
• But it was closest thing.
• Audience is turning into communiity, monolog is turning into conversation
• Back to early days when audience talked back — most important thing
• Mac lovers really get this: digital content/Mac empowers creating and distributing
• A thousand flowers bloom
• Let’s talk about Money — someone has to pay you
• One engaged community member is suddenly worth a lot of less-engaged, passive listeners and advertisers are beginning to notice.
• TWiT can succeed because relatively cheap to make, and advertisers prefer intelligent audience they’re engaging.
• People listening to mass media are very loosely engaged, skip ads, TiVo.
• Advertisers want people to pay attention. Can’t go to audience as pitchman, have to come as member of audience.
• Markets are conversations, not pitching, not tricking to create need where none exists
• Advertisers need to come as equal and offer what you might like, ask you to try it
• Advertisiers are having hard time with this, haven’t caught up, only sharp people
• LONG TAIL! Go Dieter!
• Right hand side is best sellers who make a LOT of money. The rest make less. The Thin part can be as much as the best sellers. Amazon knows this, can capitalize on it. Same with Google Ads.
• Is shifting, however. Problem for content creater. Tiny slice is Leo!
• Aggregators make money, put it togther: Podango, Meevio, put a lot of shows together to get long tail. Didn’t work.
• Isn’t what community wants, is disperate communities now. Lots of us now with thin slices.
• Growing, aggregating by community.
• TWiT downloads 2-3 million shows per month. Group is growing but not by diversity, but by community of common interest.
• TechTV didn’t understand this, wanted to broaden to get Long Tail, people who don’t like technology
• Leo: are you crazy? Like ESPN doing show for people who hate sports.
• Should use laser focus!
• Old media guys can’t get head around it, think there’s no money in it.
• TechTV said “Brand is the refuge of the Ignorant”, mantra of TechTV.
• Didn’t want smart viewers, who choose on quality not tricks.
• Old school might be right, new way is wrong. Now assume you are intelligent, interested.
• NBC boss once came in with 3-piece suit and cowboy boots with Henchmen. Leo and Ziff Davis had 90-page treatment for site.
• Boss said he really liked it, then cancelled as soon as they could. (Same studio as TechTV).
• They believe viewers are cattle, afraid of intelligence. TechTV was to avoid word “educational”
• Leo didn’t want to talk to stupid people, doesn’t care if audience of 5
• TWiT was without apology, Geeky as can be.
• Steve Gibson — nerdiest fellow he ever met
• Quinty Venty Latte – 5 shot latte before every show.
• So enthusiastic, loves getting down to details. Writes everything in Assembler.
• Leo likes that, kind of guy he wants to put on the air.
• Doesn’t want broad, dumb network.
• For many people who run tech, it’s foreign language, don’t want something on air they themselves don’t understand.
• Now he turns down advertisers — they want engaged audience.
• Doesn’t want ads that tick people because audience is too smart.
• Radio now changing — still doesn’t understand but knows he’s selling out ads.
• TechTV never got it. Not bitter, but SO many stories.
• TechTV did create this, Kevin Rose/Rev3, Patrick Norton. Unfortunately, runners were still old media, wanted tall part of tail.
• TechTV wanted Apple, Microsoft of Screen Savers. NO! Not vendor spots. Okay, how about Cleavage?! Maybe if you have cleavage, more people will watch.
• TV people listen with sound off, not about content, only looks. Million dollars on Tech Live studio (what put them out of business).
• Kenny Rogers talking about iPod was when it jumped the shark for Leo.
• All of a sudden it became cheap, bandwidth, Skype, 30% audience outside US, 60 counties.
• Bad for advertisers, don’t understand multi-national. But are slowly getting it.
• TWiT and similar audiences are now growing and “best sellers” are shrinking.
• Now FAT SHOE
• Getting fatter and fatter, but have to know how to work it and what it means.
• Starts with bloggers, always leeast expensive form. Now music, which is template for mass music.
• Jonathan Coulton is example. Sells out venue. Discovered new way of doing it.
• Builds community, doesn’t sell ads, makes money of concerts.
• Promotors now ask for mailing list, website, community, band has to show they can fill seats.
• Pointy part of tail shrinks, less platinum artists, more Jonathan Colton.
• Makes a living, and soon will have platinum artists without record labels.
• Big blogs like HuffPo doing very well aggregating.
• Need large community but not too large — need that niche.
• Conferences are changes. Now un-conference are most exciting. Everyone can contribute.
• Can be commenter (not Troll, though they unite commenters in defense/anti-body)
• Podcasting is kind of in trouble, reached largest number of listeners, not growing, most don’t make money.
• Leo says don’t care about money, podcast what you care about, build audince, let chips fall where they may.
• May not make living but time is coming where you can.
• Being on Twitter is creating content — compelled to participate. Facebook the same, don’t just read pages.
• Chat room is a way Leo tries to increase participation, wants to give people as many ways of communicating as possible.
• Knows it’s working because when show ends, chat room keeps going.
• Evangelists have roll as well.
• Need to build that fat shoe.
• Content creators need to understand that they’re also consumers.
• Consumers whant content where, when, and how they want it.
• TiVo changed TV, podcasts changed when you listent. Play when you want, pause when you want.
• What’s missing is immediacy of community.
• Real time web is important.
• Beetles on Ed Sullivan. Everyone could talk about it next day. Lost via asynchronus on-demand consumption.
• But we want it all. That’s what makes real-time web exciting.
• That’s why Leo streams video, wants you to be real time.
• Bottom line, consumers want content.
• People spending more than ever before. Plenty of connsumption.
• Great news for content creators.
• Economy will make it harder to make money right now, but “good thing” is that it’s hastening the end of old media.
• No print versions any more. If you want it — you’ll print it out.
• Forcing capital-intesive media to find new ways.
• Huge talent pools. CNN sorta gets this.
• What will happen for CNN is two things left: aggregate “our” content and editorialize
• Doesn’t give CNN monopoly any more.
• You could do knitting or hard drive network — more narrow is better.
• Deeper the niche the better.
• Problem is, when CNN was created, it was cheap compared to mass media, but now expensive compared to new media. Costs much more.
• Audience sizes for new media are now comparable, but better audience.
• THE TREND IS NOT THE TOOL
• People think its all about twitter, facebook, etc. but the tools will change.
• Friendster failed. Podcasting or blogging may not do well, but those are just tools.
• The way is towards active, highly engaged participants.
• Isn’t that what we want?
• When socienty is disrupted, people withdraw. When industrialized, people turned to alcohol. Now mass media caused people to retreat to sitcoms — same as Gin in London. Can’t handle it. Too much.
• But we’re now emerging and learning to deal with wash of info, love participating.
• Era of Mass Media was Mass Delusion. Crazy, money and economics of content. 100 years.
• Like JR in shower, just a dream. Now we’re waking up.
• Burdon now is to participate. Will be tough times, but not a bad thing. Hasten death of old media, rise of new media.
• What’s your role?
• Finding community of common interest is extrenely satisfying.
• Why watch Gilligan when you can create.
• Apple gave us great tools. Feels bad for Windows people but they went to CES…
• Windows people have to beat their head against wall to make 1 movie
• Mac users lucky, can easily express themselves.
• Won’t make a million dollars selling out to Yahoo!
• Find personal thing, what expresses you? World is waiting.
• Exciting time!
• So much more fun on Live-Cast and chat room.
• Leo invites us to do this.
• We’re now all a part of it.
• On behalf of old media, Leo gives up. Hopes we enjoy new media.
• END.