Book Description
Written by Stu Maschwitz, co-founder of the Orphanage (the legendary guerrilla visual effects studio responsible for amazing and award-winning effects in such movies as Sin City, The Day After Tomorrow, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), this book is a must-have for all those budding filmmakers and students who want to produce action movies with visual effects but don't have Hollywood budgets. The Orphanage was created by three twenty-something visual effects veterans who wanted to make their own feature films and discovered they could do this by utilizing home computers, off the shelf software, and approaching things artistically. This guide details exactly how to do this: from planning and selecting the necessary cameras, software, and equipment, to creating specific special effects (including gunfire, Kung Fu fighting, car chases, dismemberment, and more) to editing and mixing sound and music. Its mantra is that the best, low-budget action moviemakers must visualize the end product first in order to reverse-engineer the least expensive way to get there. Readers will learn how to integrate visual effects into every aspect of filmmaking--before filming, during filming and with "in camera" shots, and with computers in postproduction. Throughout the book, the author makes specific references to and uses popular action movies (both low and big-budget) as detailed examples--including El Mariachi, La Femme Nikita, Die Hard, and Terminator 2.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Reading for Indie Filmmakers.......2007-10-03
The DV Rebel Guide, by Stu Maschwitz, formerly a member of Industrial Light And Magic, explains in easily understandable, yet highly technical language, exactly how to create astounding visual effects using the kinds of cameras, computers, and software available to ordinary people. A Spielbergian budget is NOT required. In addition to his information, he offers many links to other websites of technical expertise and training,
You may be making a little family drama, rather than a shoot-'em-up, but the techniques in this book will increase your palette of possibilities. In other words, every indie movie maker can benefit from this book. It's essential reading, period. No one else has published anything like it.
Maschwitz assumes throughout that you are not an idiot or a dummy. Scores of color photos show exactly how every technique is done. He also runs an on-line forum; he and other digital rebels (some of whom are exceedingly experienced and clearly top pros) will help you through the rough patches.
Get this book, go out and make movies better than anything you thought you could do.
This is got the TRICKS!!!.......2007-09-23
Awesome book. My friends and I make ugly videos as a hobby and we've tried many things... but this book has some balls to the wall tricks. The guy is not a scaredy cat about shooting videos with minimal resources and lets you know how to make the most with what you've got. Also has great instructions on how to build your own stuff and pull crazy stunts. Grease up your baby, this is gonna have you running to your video camera with ideas as soon as you open it up!
love it.......2007-08-27
I've done video production professionally for several years and picked up some of these tricks from simple trial and error. What I love is how well Stu connects the techniques in this referrence and compares them to equivalent effects on film. And its not just informative, its enjoyable to read.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in making their videos stand out or looking to up their production value without spending a lot of money.
Love this book.......2007-08-19
I have read a lot of film making books and this is easily the most useful and informative. Anyone trying to make a film on their own needs to have this book!
Best Book for Independent Digital Video Production Ever!!!.......2007-08-12
This is it!!! If you want to produce an Independeant Film this is THE book to read. Don't be fooled. You still need to know what you're doing go to school. Read the manuals, watch the best movies, by the best directors, then read this book and make your movies!!!!!
Book Description
Well-known for its balanced approach to media industries and professions, Dynamics of Mass Communication offers a lively, thorough, and objective introduction for mass communication majors and nonmajors alike. This new edition embraces the digital age with a free Student DVD that adds video and interactivity to the student's textbook experience and brings students up-to-date on the latest developments in mass communication,--from the emerging role of cell phones and iPods in the mass media mix to the growing impact of blogs on the practice of journalism.
Book Description
Video Shooter is a guide to both the mechanics of the video camera and the craft of shooting. Written by a veteran in the industry and utilizing an engaging, conversational style (including illustrative anecdotes from the author's many years of experience), the book takes the reader beyond "button pushing" to teach the complete range of skills required to capture compelling images. Topics include equipment selection, camera setup and operation, shooting techniques, and working with lighting and audio. Although the techniques illustrated in Video Shooter are appropriate for users of a wide range of camera models, the book focuses on the most popular 3-CCD DV and HDV cameras. A chapter on issues and techniques relating to DVD output makes the book especially suitable for industrial, educational, and government video producers. The book also features a companion DVD with tutorials, footage demonstrating storytelling techniques, and technical matter such as a comparison of various filters.
Written by a veteran in the industry, Video Shooter is a guide to both the mechanics of the video camera and the craft of shooting.
Customer Reviews:
Listen to the wisdom of great experience.......2007-08-13
Video production is a complex and expensive process. Barry's book takes the mystery out of the craft and SAVES YOU MONEY by telling you just what you need...and what you don't. I loved his wonderful, meaningful stories and personal shooting experiences mixed within his narrative of the craft and its myriad toys, gadgets and gear, all laid out clearly for the reader's benefit. Those willing to take the plunge into this artform will find this book an indispensable companion. A gifted shooter giving us all the clues we need to tell real and compelling stories of our own, available at a glance...awesome. It's like having a DP angel on your shoulder. You will find other reference books out there, but none are so beautifully laid out, comprehensive or complete as this one. Buy it. Read it. You'll be glad you did.
A Must Have Item.......2007-08-12
For a video shooter this is a "must have book". Impaired vision is corrected with appropriate eye glasses, impaired video-knowledge with Video Shooter...
Fast shipping, affordable price. Thank you.
Lots of Real-World Insights.......2007-06-26
Although I'll never reach the level of shooter that Barry is, this is a great book for learning about the issues a real-world shooter faces. Lots of examples and stories, photos, and musings on equipment. This is probably the best of the many books I have on learning to shoot.
Excellent intermediate info -- glad I read it as a beginner.......2007-06-23
I'm a neophyte to videography, and although this book went a tad over my head at times, and was certainly more than I needed as an amateur who wants to make quality videos for personal use, I greatly appreciated the comprehensive introduction to this complex art form. Because of this book, I've jumped into my new hobby with more respect and appreciation for what's involved in a quality production. I did pick up some great tips that even a beginner can use, and probably more useful, I understand the point of hiring a professional. Now that I'm a MUCH more savvy consumer of video services I will know how to judge the quality of their work.
A book about hardware.......2007-06-16
The subtitle of this book is Storytelling with DV, HD, and HDV Cameras. What I saw, when I read that, was the word Storytelling. I thought it would be a book about how to tell a story with images and sound to get across a "message". I should have read further along the sentence. This book is not about storytelling. It's about DV, HD, and HDV Cameras and their supporting equipment. The book is aimed at amateur videographers who have aspirations of turning professional and think that professional equipment will make that happen. And who have a 5 or 6 figure bank account. There are equipment recommendations on all sorts of things that make a professional shoot. All of the equipment ranges from slightly expensive to horrifically expensive. Of course this tight focus on the latest equipment means that the book will soon be out of date. If you need some equipment, have a healthy bank account, and want to buy now, this book is a good choice. If you want to learn how to tell a story with video, keep looking.
Book Description
Thanks to the digital revolution, film artists now have a spectacular array of powerful, new, inexpensive tools for creative expression through digital film. The once powerful studios can no longer stifle an artist's creativity. With the power of the Internet, film artists are finding once unimaginable ways to distribute their creations worldwide.
DV Filmmaking: From Start to Finish covers all aspects of the new digital video frontier, for amateurs and professionals alike--from the nuts and bolts of timecode and aspect ratio; to framing, lighting, and sound recording; as well as editing, special effects creation, and distribution.
The book is written for filmmakers at varying experience levels--taking an integrated approach to media production, and emphasizing the ways different aspects of the process work together to create a vital work of digital art:
- Hands-on detailed examination of the artistic aspects of film and video production
- Extensive examples use comprehensive step-by-step exercises for advanced editing techniques
- Scenes from successful films illustrate techniques used by professionals
- Includes a collection of professionally shot video clips, so the user can read and follow along with sets of structured exercises
- Develops a highly refined repertoire of advanced skills in editing, effects creation, title design, and more
- Inspires advanced readers to work with the included clips on their own and experiment with new ideas
- Written for both Mac and PC users and covers advanced uses of both Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects
Written in an engaging, accessible style, DV Filmmaking provides a solid foundation of tremendous value to a beginner, while addressing the fine points of filmmaking with a level of sophistication, detail, and insight that even the most worldly director or educator can appreciate. The author draws upon his years of experience teaching at the college and graduate level, his extensive professional background as a media producer, and his unmistakable love of cinema to create a text that's not only easy to learn from, but also fun to read.
Customer Reviews:
conceptos interesantes.......2007-09-02
este es un libro que explica de manera didáctica ,todos los procesos que tiene una producción audiovisual.
Muy bien ilustrado, con ejemplos que ayudan al nuevo realizador audiovisual a enfrentar sus primeras producciones de una forma segura, buscando que éste no cometa errores que luego pueden demeritar su trabajo.
La única crítica que tengo para hacer de esta obra, es que los ejemplos de montaje los realizan en programa específicos , como Final Cut, algo que de alguna manera deja sin posibilidades a aquellos que manejamos plataformas de edición diferentes.
A basic primer on differences between digital and print mediums.......2006-09-08
DV Filmmaking From Start To Finish by Ian David Aronson's will reach both amateur and professional digital video users with a basic primer on differences between digital and print mediums. Familiarity with Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects, the two programs used here, will aid in understanding DV applications in either PC or Mac formats, while the author's background as a teacher of digital media lends a logical progression to his tips and practical applied examples.
A strong reference for digital film making process.......2006-08-13
DV Filmmaking for Ian David Aronson gives you in 18 chapter a coverage for the production, post-production and distribution process of the digital film making.
The book starts with basic digital Cinematography principles. It covers he process stages such as composing shoots, lighting, shooting, working with cameras, audio, still images and titles.
This book doesn't give you a specific software tutorial, but if you are working learning with video production and video editing program, you should get a background about the whole film making process. However, this book gives you a strong background in this industry. I find this book useful for animators, multimedia designers and creative directors.
The two appendixes in the end of the book gives you a tips about getting your work in various media and selling your products.
Great Resource, Great Job!.......2006-07-04
DV Filmmaking- Start To Finish has been a great resource for my own first feature film Hot Rod Girls Save The World.
I had checked DV Filmmaking out from the Seattle Public Library last week, now I must buy one for my personal library. I find myself refering to it again and again.
Great Job!
D.A. Sebasstian
Go-Kustom Rekords & Films
A great book that gave me the answer !.......2006-06-22
A great book!
"DV Filmmaking" is an excellent book for anyone who wants to go beyond the basics of digital video.
I recently completed a video-based project for my M.A. thesis, and used this book as my guide. Each time I encountered problems, this book gave me the answer. For example, after I shot, I noticed some severe lighting trouble in a few very important interviews and I started to panic because I didn't have enough time to shoot them again. I had more than three hours of interview footage that looked pale, shady, and just plain depressing. Frustrated, I opened this book. The solution was there, in the section on color correction!!! I could fix my footage so that it was not only usable but looked really good.
I also relied on the section on compression and encoding to make
professional quality video for the Internet (something I would not have been able to do otherwise).
This book covers all aspects of the video production process, from planning, to production, and distribution. I'd like to
recommend it to anyone who is new to the world of digital video, as well as people who want to take their work beyond the level of
point-and-shoot to make something really creative.
Book Description
In the early 1960s, computers haunted the American popular imagination. Bleak tools of the cold war, they embodied the rigid organization and mechanical conformity that made the military-industrial complex possible. But by the 1990s—and the dawn of the Internet—computers started to represent a very different kind of world: a collaborative and digital utopia modeled on the communal ideals of the hippies who so vehemently rebelled against the cold war establishment in the first place.
From Counterculture to Cyberculture is the first book to explore this extraordinary and ironic transformation. Fred Turner here traces the previously untold story of a highly influential group of San Francisco Bay–area entrepreneurs: Stewart Brand and the Whole Earth network. Between 1968 and 1998, via such familiar venues as the National Book Award–winning Whole Earth Catalog, the computer conferencing system known as WELL, and, ultimately, the launch of the wildly successful Wired magazine, Brand and his colleagues brokered a long-running collaboration between San Francisco flower power and the emerging technological hub of Silicon Valley. Thanks to their vision, counterculturalists and technologists alike joined together to reimagine computers as tools for personal liberation, the building of virtual and decidedly alternative communities, and the exploration of bold new social frontiers.
Shedding new light on how our networked culture came to be, this fascinating book reminds us that the distance between the Grateful Dead and Google, between Ken Kesey and the computer itself, is not as great as we might think.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding.......2007-09-03
In lucid, incisive and engaging prose, Fred Turner tells the fascinating story of how innovative modes of working and thinking (born from the World War II military industrial complex) cross-pollinated with hippie counterculture (through the imagination and particular cultural anxieties of Stewart Brand) to produce the current ubiquitous mode of conceiving a world-wide networked reality.
The book isn't a hatchet job of Stewart Brand; but neither is it a celebration of him and his mythology.
It is a sharply-observed, consistently critical look at the ways in which Stewart Brand and his (almost overwhelmingly white, male and privileged) cohort built a particularly powerful ideology, narrative and network around themselves, with very real physical, political, environmental, industrial and ideological consequences.
Damn interesting, and a pleasurable read--Turner's sense of humor and irony are employed subtly but to very enjoyable effect.
An Important book about a major influence of the 60's through the 90's.......2007-05-22
As someone who was deeply and profoundly influenced by the WEC, WER, and the WELL, I found this to both reinvigorate the excitement of the different eras it discusses and, also, to tie them together and provide fresh insights. After I finished it I looked around my office and realized how much of my thinking was influenced by Steward Brand and his experiments. Easily 30% of the books in my library were originally recommended in either the Catalog or the Review. I was also an early WELL subscriber and a `Maniacal' Whole Earth Review subscriber so almost everything mentioned here I could relate to.
It may devolve into `professor-speak' at times but it is well worth it. If you want to know about one of the critical components of both the `counter culture' of the 60's and the internet revolution of the 90's this is a must read.
Interesting but too academic.......2007-05-21
Interesting people and times are covered in this book. The hippie counterculture, Whole Earth Catalog, computer bulletin boards morphing into The Internet, Wired magazine, etc. A good deal of information you probably didn't know, so it may give you a slightly different perspective of this time. Why did these early computer geeks think computers would change society and give power to all the people?
The down side is that it sometimes reads as if it was written by a college professor; but it was! To much theoretical framework for my taste. Still, if you are interested in this time, read the book. You can easily skip the tedious stuff.
An excellent record of an amazing life.......2006-11-26
Stewart Brand is a high-IQ Zelig, who has been a catalyst of so many important developments throughout the last 4 decades of the 20th century. This volume is more scholarly, and more revealing of the social forces at work, than Markoff's What the Dormouse Said. It focuses with great intensity on Brand, due to Turner's unique access to Brand's diaries in the Stanford Library. SB is shown to have been central to far more moments of incipient Renaissance than anyone since Lou Salome, friend of Nietzsche, Rilke and Freud: He joined Ken Kesey as an original Prankster, was the videographer for Engelbart's 'mother of all demos,' then linked up all kinds of communes (including Ant Farm) while founding and editing the Whole Earth Catalog. Besides all the events already mentioned, Turner dives deeply into the WELL, which was the primordial "virtual community", co-founded by Brand. With his vision of power as drawn from network affiliations, Brand then built a consulting company called the Global Business Network, which used scenario planning as a form of "corporate performance art", by fusing countercultural norms with the needs of corporate board rooms. Turner does a fairly good job posing critical questions about how the privileged white male perspective defined the unfolding story. He flags the problem of this privilege, but isn't able to concretely identify how it could have been solved. Read this book to learn how SB helped create the world we live in, and deployed his unique social entrepreneurial skills to stay in the center of the game.
What one person can turn on within these vast systems within which we vibrate .......2006-10-26
Like one of his teachers and friends Buckminster Fuller, Stesart Brand is an archetypal example of the American individualist- inventor the man who Thoreau said ' hears the sound of his own drummer'. Paradoxically the super- individualist Brand is also perhaps the single person most responsible for making ordinary Americans connect with, show concern with the various systems cyber-systems, eco-systems, communications - systems we are moving within.
In this informed, detailed, and extremely well- written survey of the career of Brand, Fred Turner also provides a insightful and exciting look at America 's cultural, and especially 'alternative culture ' development from the sixties through the nineties. Brand meets up on his travels with 'Edge's' John Brockman, with Ken Kesey with whom he is a Merry Prankster, with Bucky Fuller who tries to help his projects,with Kevin Kelly of the 'Wired' world, with many of those seeking new ways of making the Technology connect with communal frameworks that will enable ( at least this is one of Brand's goals) the individual to truly be an individual .
Brand's most famous contribution 'The Whole Earth Catalogue' which was certainly one of the major cultural influences upon the Environmental Movement, and incidentally the Hippy Culture of the Sixties , told us the way we could get anything we needed to make our way into the rapidly changing future. Brand's work as editor and thinker also contributed to the World Wide Web to come, and the name and concept 'personal computer' is also one of his contributions.
This is an important work to read not only to learn about decisive moments in the life of a remarkable individual, but to better understand the world- in- the -making we are a part of.
Book Description
Have you ever watched a big-budget Hollywood movie and wondered "How did they do that?" or, perhaps, "How can I do that?" While digital technology greatly simplifies the filmmaking process, there are many tried-and-true production tricks that only those lucky enough to work in the world of high-budget professional film production get to know. The truth is that setting up a car chase, making a realistic-looking alien, staging a fistfight, creating atmospheric lighting, and using special effects are often not as difficult to master as you might think.
Digital Video Production Cookbook will show you how to create sophisticated-looking visual effects, dramatic shots, and powerful sequences using low-cost methods adapted from high-end professional techniques. Author and award-winning filmmaker Chris Kenworthy explains how you can use a digital video camera and basic editing software, to create high-end production values with household equipment and a little imagination.
The book includes easy-to-follow recipes for:
- Creating bluescreen effects
- Simulating rain, snow, and other natural phenomena
- Working with backlighting, simulated candlelight, and special lighting effects
- Shooting day for night
- Staging safe stunts, chase scenes, and fistfights
- Makeup techniques for aging, bruises, and serious injuries
- Shooting at night
- Working with camera movement
- Adding special effects such as laser bolts, holograms, and explosions
and much more.
Packed with full-color, step-by-step instructions, inspirational examples, and authoritative information and advice, this book is the ultimate, no-nonsense cookbook for every aspiring digital filmmaker.
Customer Reviews:
Very easy to read book with good info.......2007-09-13
I read through the book which was very informative, form ohh so thats how and TV never really was the same after. I have also tested out good part of it and got good resuslts. I would recommend it highly
Take a pass on this one.......2007-09-03
There are a view techniques described in this book that might come in handy someday, but the descriptions are not particularly thorough. The bottom line: this will make a good coffee table book but don't expect to learn too much.
Creative ideas for any video project.......2007-08-01
I was looking for a video book that shows methods of filming ideas. Just searching I ended up with very complex cinephotographer books that contained tons of detail but too complex for casual person like myself. Just happended to stumbled across this book and was really surprised at the clear writing style and easy to understand images. For making a simple film project with no budget I thought this was the perfect book.
If you are looking to improve your video skills or making a large student project, I would highly recommend this book. For the film student or professional these tips might be already covered in school. Many of the project require nothing special, just a standard video camera and basic editing software. This is a nice change from other books that almost require Adobe After Effects to produce a good special effect.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will keep this in my video bag to spark any ideas I might need during filming.
EXCELLENT BOOK.......2006-03-25
very practical way of showing how to do multimedia effects at minimal or no cost. Good illustrations & straight to the point. very clear bullet points under the photos, No boring bulcky paragraphs.
I recomment this book, it's Excellent.
Some good some bad........2006-03-02
The lighting stuff is really nice. The special effects section is great, but some of the stuff at the end of the book is pretty cheesy at best. All in all, I found the book very useful.
Book Description
View the
Table of Contents. Read the
Introduction.
"Jenkins is one of us: a geek, a fan, a popcult packrat. He's also an incisive and unflinching critic. His affection for the subject and sharp eye for 'what it all means' are an unbeatable combination. This is fascinating, engrossing and enlightening reading."
—Cory Doctorow, author of Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town and co-editor of Boing Boing
Henry Jenkins's pioneering work in the early 1990s promoted the idea that fans are among the most active, creative, critically engaged, and socially connected consumers of popular culture and that they represent the vanguard of a new relationship with mass media. Though marginal and largely invisible to the general public at the time, today, media producers and advertisers, not to mention researchers and fans, take for granted the idea that the success of a media franchise depends on fan investments and participation.
Bringing together the highlights of a decade and a half of groundbreaking research into the cultural life of media consumers,
Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers takes readers from Jenkins's progressive early work defending fan culture against those who would marginalize or stigmatize it, through to his more recent work, combating moral panic and defending Goths and gamers in the wake of the Columbine shootings. Starting with an interview on the current state of fan studies, this volume maps the core theoretical and methodological issues in Fan Studies. It goes on to chart the growth of participatory culture on the web, take up blogging as perhaps the most powerful illustration of how consumer participation impacts mainstream media, and debate the public policy implications surrounding participation and intellectual property.
Average customer rating:
- An intriguing read on iPod and its impact
- Insightful and Absorbing Read on iPods, Apple, Innovation and Marketing
- Cool Device: search wheel, no on switch, the LCD, video, iPhones, fireware, g4, and iTune
- Levy Nails It!
- Far From Perfect (But Still Pretty Good)
|
The Perfect Thing: How the iPod Shuffles Commerce, Culture, and Coolness
Steven Levy
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
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ASIN: 0743285220 |
Book Description
On October 23, 2001, Apple Computer, a company known for its chic, cutting-edge technology -- if not necessarily for its dominant market share -- launched a product with an enticing promise: You can carry an entire music collection in your pocket. It was called the iPod. What happened next exceeded the company's wildest dreams. Over 50 million people have inserted the device's distinctive white buds into their ears, and the iPod has become a global obsession. The Perfect Thing is the definitive account, from design and marketing to startling impact, of Apple's iPod, the signature device of our young century.
Besides being one of the most successful consumer products in decades, the iPod has changed our behavior and even our society. It has transformed Apple from a computer company into a consumer electronics giant. It has remolded the music business, altering not only the means of distribution but even the ways in which people enjoy and think about music. Its ubiquity and its universally acknowledged coolness have made it a symbol for the digital age itself, with commentators remarking on "the iPod generation." Now the iPod is beginning to transform the broadcast industry, too, as podcasting becomes a way to access radio and television programming. Meanwhile millions of Podheads obsess about their gizmo, reveling in the personal soundtrack it offers them, basking in the social cachet it lends them, even wondering whether the device itself has its own musical preferences.
Steven Levy, the chief technology correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a longtime Apple watcher, is the ideal writer to tell the iPod's tale. He has had access to all the key players in the iPod story, including Steve Jobs, Apple's charismatic cofounder and CEO, whom Levy has known for over twenty years. Detailing for the first time the complete story of the creation of the iPod, Levy explains why Apple succeeded brilliantly with its version of the MP3 player when other companies didn't get it right, and how Jobs was able to convince the bosses at the big record labels to license their music for Apple's groundbreaking iTunes Store. (We even learn why the iPod is white.) Besides his inside view of Apple, Levy draws on his experiences covering Napster and attending Supreme Court arguments on copyright (as well as his own travels on the iPod's click wheel) to address all of the fascinating issues -- technical, legal, social, and musical -- that the iPod raises.
Borrowing one of the definitive qualities of the iPod itself, The Perfect Thing shuffles the book format. Each chapter of this book was written to stand on its own, a deeply researched, wittily observed take on a different aspect of the iPod. The sequence of the chapters in the book has been shuffled in different copies, with only the opening and concluding sections excepted. "Shuffle" is a hallmark of the digital age -- and The Perfect Thing, via sharp, insightful reporting, is the perfect guide to the deceptively diminutive gadget embodying our era.
Customer Reviews:
An intriguing read on iPod and its impact .......2007-06-27
Why do people ask for an iPod when they want an MP3 player? Other players hold as many or more songs, and play them just as well. Owning an iPod is more about music than about keeping up with the latest trends. That is why the iPod still holds the top spot in MP3 player sales. Author Steven Levy explores how the iPod came to be and how it earned its status as a cultural icon. Even the book's iPod-looking cover could evoke emotion from an iPod fan. We recommend this book to iPod lovers who will relish its story. Businesspeople, trend spotters and marketers also will gain insight into the way Apple made millions from selling music, machines and coolness.
Insightful and Absorbing Read on iPods, Apple, Innovation and Marketing.......2007-05-31
The iPod has that certain something that leads its users to adore it like nothing before. People want nothing but an iPod. No substitutes even when the non-iPod has more memory, comes in your favorite color and costs over $100 less than an iPod. So how did the iPod earn this special treatment and the ability to compel people to say, "Cool" when they hold one?
A book cover in the disguise of an iPod, albeit on paper, still manages to ooze coolness though it isn't the real thing. Scroll your finger over the cover's button and scroll wheel and you can feel the smooth button extend slightly above the scroll wheel. Apple has established itself as a company that goes all out when creating a product, but there's much more to the iPod story than people realize. The Perfect Thing explores many aspects of the story.
While reading The Perfect Thing, I couldn't help but order an iPod Nano straight from Apple's Web site complete with my name engraved on its beautiful red skin -- as a replacement for my stolen iPod video. I also bought a cover to protect the iPod as I don't like it when my gadgets get marks on them. But then I reached the part where Steve Jobs took offense to seeing Levy's iPod covered up. Because of that, the beautiful red color and the way the aluminum felt -- I took off the cover for good.
The chapters, like iPod's shuffle feature, are independent and don't go in a specific order except the first chapter. I don't know if that's true, as I haven't seen another hard copy of the book.
"Perfect," goes behind the scenes of iPod's launch in October 2001, not the greatest timing after 9/11. "Download" covers the revolution of downloading and digitizing music including codec, MP3s, WinAmp, Napster and the record companies suing. "What makes an item cool?" sets the tone for the chapter titled, "Cool." Can there be a formula for coolness? This chapter teaches great marketing lessons from Apple's design, packaging and advertising of the iPod.
"Origin" returns to the iPod's roots on its development and the things that came before iPod that affected the iPod's creation. There's a reason we use the word podcast instead of audiocasts when referring to audio feeds. "Podcast" visits the formation of citizen broadcasting from CB radio to podcasting.
People judge each other by the clothing they wear, they do the same by the playlists they carry in their iPods as "Identity" delves into the fashion statement of playlists. No one expected Apple to make a comeback, not even when Steve Jobs returned in 2000, and "Apple" touches upon the comeback and how Apple surpassed the market's expectations. The iPod attracts thieves and the earbuds send a message to the public "to leave me alone" as the "Personal" chapter looks back at the Sony Walkman, the white earbuds, hearing loss and how users personalize their iPods.
The shuffle feature scrambles music hence the name for the cheapest and smallest iPod Shuffle. The feature is simple, yet the chapter on "Shuffle" offers fascinating insight into the possibility of a conspiracy behind the shuffle formula. Some people swear that some songs, artists and whatnot get more attention than others do. But everyone at Apple, including the engineers, says shuffle works randomly. Intriguing stuff anyway.
Marketers, iPod lovers, Apple lovers, Mac lovers, business people, technology people, gadget people. The book will appeal to all of them. After all, Levy writes, "The iPod is a pebble with tsunami-sized cultural ripples."
Cool Device: search wheel, no on switch, the LCD, video, iPhones, fireware, g4, and iTune.......2007-03-08
1. iPod will encourage the creation of virtual bookselves: music, movies, and books.
2. When Apple leaders began working on the iPod they saw the project as an enhancement of the Macintosh computer. Apples G4 cube significant reduced the bulky space requirements for desktop computers.
3. iPod changed Apple from a computer company to a consumer electronics company in four years and represented 60 percent of the income from the music related business.
4. Type "iPod" in google and you'll get a half a billion hits
5. By the end of 2005, Apple had sold 42 million iPods from $99 to $599 and had capture 75% market share; iTunes sold more than a billion songs at 99 cents, representing 85 percent of all legal downloads. Apple's stock had increased 700 percent.
6. When people encounter a machine that is easy and fun to use, they like it. The cool factor. IPod is cool.
7. iPod's success is the result of an uncanny alignment of technology, design, culture, and media thrust in the center of the digital age. Ipod makes a dull day come alive.
8. iPod initial capacity astounded consumer providing a 1,000 songs in the pocket.
9. Steve Jobs initial reaction to iPod was, "I haven't picked up any MP3 player that has made me go, `Wow, okay, I want to carry this everywhere I go. OK'. Everyone is going to want to have one of these."
10. Apple dispatched a pair of couier too hand delivered the iPod to a few select technical writers. On launch day the Apple couriers reached Newsweek.
11. Jobs relied on Firewire transfer speeds to make iPod feasible. There were seven and half million Mac users with firewire. Jobs said, "iPod will be a landmark product." Five to six minutes to rip a CD into iTunes and a few seconds to load to load an albums worth of songs into the iPod.
12. Playlist represent the character of the listener. We seem to be immersed in an age of musical voyeurism and musical exhibitionism.
13. Status comes from cool music libraries. "Such libraries distinguish one as a thinking person, a discerning individualist, a lover of fun, a blender of high and low culture, and a bird dog in unearthing undiscovered gems."
14. Learning through accumulation: "The ability to easily compile one's favorite songs in one place may make it easier to accumulate a collection of dazzling obscurities but also increase the capability of those libraries that are less than stellar."
15. At iPod's download headquarters, you can find more than a hundred celebrity playlists.
16. Reformulation: iPod circular scroll wheel search interface allowed searching of large lists, fast. It made the complicated digital music collection, easy.
17. iTunes software from Macintosh was built into iPod. IPod would sync effortlessly with a music library. "It was a recipe for something, well, perfect."
18. Cool is a term that is strong linked to iPod. Levy tells Bill Gates Tablet PC, Microsoft pen-based laptop, in spite of the technical virtuosity of many brilliant people was not cool. Gates replied, "It sounds to me like you're saying volume equals cool." Levy replied, "Profits are not necessarily tied to coolness". Gates challenged Levy to come up with an example of something cool that didn't sell well. Gates said, "In a sense, to be cool, you've got to have high market share. High market share is something that comes after hard work and making the hard decisions." Levy previously had showed Gates the iPod and Gates at the time thought the iPod would sale, but Gates tells Levy, "I knew the music player devices would sell well. And I knew as soon as they got this high volume, you would declare it cool. As night follows day."
19. iPod gives you a feeling your in the tribe.
Levy Nails It!.......2007-01-25
I didn't hold out much hope for Levy's latest effort, "The Perfect Thing". I had found his last Apple-based effort, "Insanely Great", to be decidedly less than, and strongly suspected this would be nothing more than a shallow Apple PR effort. How very wrong I was - forgive me Steven.
In what I think is his most effective, tightly written book to date, Levy combines a strongly personal narrative with great bits about the history of music media. Along the way he offers up a pretty darned comprehensive view of the various facets of the wide and complex subject of digital music - while at the same time painting a vivid, yet objective portrait of the iPod. I actually had to restrain myself from popping over to the nearest Best Buy and shelling out money I don't have to spend on one.
His gimmicky-sounding "shuffle" of the chapters (there are several editions of the book with the chapters in differing order, in a nod to the iPod's shuffle feature) did not become a distraction or a turn-off like I'd feared - although, I can't say it added much. I was struck, however, by how smoothly the book flowed despite the shuffle - which simply emphasized to me how well written the various essay-style chapters were.
I'll freely admit that I'm a big (BIG) Levy fan - but please don't let that fact turn you off. I simply can't find a weak spot in the whole package - and I'm typically pretty hard to please. This is really a remarkable book, that I strongly recommend.
Far From Perfect (But Still Pretty Good).......2007-01-17
People looked at me in a strange way when I told them I was reading a 300-page book about the iPod. "No, seriously. It's a whole book about the iPod!" Steven Levy, author of The Perfect Thing is senior editor and chief technology correspondent for Newsweek magazine and the author of five previous books. Levy is a technophile and over the course of his career has seen many products, many technologies, come and go. But I doubt any new product has aroused his interest like the iPod. Levy is absolutely in love with the iPod and with Steve Jobs, the man responsible for overseeing its creation. This book often reads like a hagiography of the man and his little technological marvel.
Interestingly, the book is "shuffled" so that different copies of the book will have the chapters in different order. While this is a neat idea, and a unique one that fits well with one of the iPod's most popular features, it means that there is no flow from chapter-to-chapter and also that there is some repetition. I can only imagine the logistical nightmare this represented for those who had to edit and proof the book!
In some ways it seems silly to write a biography of the iPod since it is, after all, only five years old (having released on October 23, 2001). It seems akin to writing a biography of an actress like Dakota Fanning. Sure she's a fantastic little actress, is highly sought after in Hollywood, and has already made her mark in Tinseltown (and we loved her in Charlotte's Web), but the fact remains that she is only twelve and her career is only beginning. Surely it would be too easy to write her biography. And surely it is too early to write seriously about the iPod. Then again, the iPod is not going anywhere soon and seems to be gaining both acceptance and prominence so perhaps a book is in order.
Despite displaying more than a little bias (how is this for hyperbole?: "The iPod nano was so beautiful that it seemed to have dropped down from some vastly advanced alien civilization. It had the breathtaking compactness of a lustrous Oriental artifact. It wasn't really much bigger than a large mint left on your pillow at a fine hotel.") this is an interesting and even an important book. The iPod is a significant device that has been accepted and embraced by countless millions of people. It may well come to define a whole generation. And if not that, it will surely speak volumes about a generation. It also represents a technology that Christians would do well to consider. After all, when we listen to our iPods we tend to tune out the world around us. In some ways I think the iPod is representative of the self-centered, individualistic culture we live in. By parking the little white buds in our ears, we can enter a little world all our own. We can turn off and tune in. We can listen to what we want to hear while ignoring everything around us. We can easily allow this good invention to become destructive to our relationships and even to our faith.
I was disappointed that the author spent the vast majority of the book looking at the past and the present with very little time dedicated to looking to the future and attempting to understand what the iPod's long term effects will be. Maybe a philosopher or historian or sociologist would be more qualified to attempt to predict how the iPod will be remembered ten or a hundred years from now. Is it a piece of technology that will be lost to history or will it be remembered as groundbreaking and as a product that changed the world? In the absence of such analysis, the most interesting chapters are those dealing with the history and development of the iPod. Ones dealing with identity, coolness and the personal nature of the iPod are also well worth reading.
One awfully tedious chapter deals with the "shuffle" feature and whether or not it is truly random (the answer being yes and no - no because computers cannot be truly random because they need to have some kind of a starting point, but yes because the songs are chosen as randomly as is possible). Levy decides, and this is true, I'm sure, that the human mind just doesn't cope well with randomness. Thus when our iPods seem to favor a particular song or artist, it is really just our minds playing tricks on us (which, of course, rings hollow when we hear a song for the third or fourth time in a day!).
Despite a few less-than-stellar chapters which seemed to be little more than filler, this was a valuable read as I sought to understand the iPod generation. The Perfect Thing is far from a perfect book (you probably saw that line coming!). Still, it is interesting enough for the most part and raises some interesting questions and concerns. At the very least it helped me understand the incredible, growing phenomenon that is the iPod.
Book Description
UNDERSTANDING DIGITAL CINEMA: A PROFESSIONAL HANDBOOK is a comprehensive resource on all aspects of finishing, distributing and displaying film digitally. For technical professionals as well as non-technical decision-makers, the book is a detailed exploration of every component of the process, from mastering to theater management.
* An overview of digital cinema system requirements
* Post production work flow
* Color in digital cinema
* The digital cinema mastering process
* Fundamentals of compression
* Security
* Basics of audio
* Digital distribution
* Digital projection technology
* Theater systems
* The international perspective: Views from Europe, Asia and Latin America
* A realistic assessment of the future of digital cinema
With contributions by:
Richard Crudo, President, American Society of Cinematographers
Leon Silverman, Executive Vice President, Laser Pacific Media Corporation
Charles Poynton, Color Scientist
Chris Carey, Senior Vice President, Studio New Technology, The Walt Disney Studios
Bob Lambert, Corporate Senior Vice President New Technology & New Media,
The Walt Disney Company
Bill Kinder, Pixar Animation Studios
Glenn Kennel, DLP Cinema
Peter Symes, Manager, Advanced Technology, Thomson Broadcast & Media Solutions
Robert Schumann, President, Cinea, Inc., A Subsidiary of Dolby Labs
David Gray, Vice President, Production Services, Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Darcy Antonellis, Executive Vice President, Distribution and Technology Operations
Warner Bros. Technical Operations Inc. and Senior Vice President, Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Matt Cowan, Principal and Founder, Entertainment Technology Consultants
Loren Nielsen, Principal and Founder, Entertainment Technology Consultants
Michael Karagosian, Partner, Karagosian MacCalla Partners (KMP)
Peter Wilson, Vice President, Display Technologies, Snell and Wilcox Ltd.
Patrick Von Sychowski, Senior Analyst, Screen Digest
Wendy Aylsworth, Vice President of Technology, Warner Bros. Technical Operations Inc.
* Learn how to manage the change and control costs, from a "who's who" list of the leaders in this ground-breaking field
*Walk away from reading this book with an essential understanding of digital cinema today
* Understand the benefits of the transition to digital cinema
Amazon.com
As the founder of MIT's Media Lab and a popular columnist for Wired, Nicholas Negroponte has amassed a following of dedicated readers. Negroponte's fans will want to get a copy of Being Digital, which is an edited version of the 18 articles he wrote for Wired about "being digital."
Negroponte's text is mostly a history of media technology rather than a set of predictions for future technologies. In the beginning, he describes the evolution of CD-ROMs, multimedia, hypermedia, HDTV (high-definition television), and more. The section on interfaces is informative, offering an up-to-date history on visual interfaces, graphics, virtual reality (VR), holograms, teleconferencing hardware, the mouse and touch-sensitive interfaces, and speech recognition.
In the last chapter and the epilogue, Negroponte offers visionary insight on what "being digital" means for our future. Negroponte praises computers for their educational value but recognizes certain dangers of technological advances, such as increased software and data piracy and huge shifts in our job market that will require workers to transfer their skills to the digital medium. Overall, Being Digital provides an informative history of the rise of technology and some interesting predictions for its future.
Book Description
In lively, mordantly witty prose, Negroponte decodes the mysteries--and debunks the hype--surrounding bandwidth, multimedia, virtual reality, and the Internet, and explains why such touted innovations as the fax and the CD-ROM are likely to go the way of the BetaMax. "Succinct and readable. . . . If you suffer from digital anxiety . . . here is a book that lays it all out for you."--Newsday.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Customer Reviews:
outdated but still relevant.......2006-11-25
I decided to read this book after hearing about Negroponte's initiative for the $100 laptop, and wanted to see where he was coming from. Perhaps the most interesting point that is still relevant is the distinction between bits and atoms, and when bits make more sense. Eleven years after this was published, we still crave the tangible qualities of paper. Screen resolution still can't compete, and even the Sony reader is limited to text, which excludes things like comics without extreme editing. Using digital media makes sense for film and television, and Netflix has proved to be much better than Blockbuster could ever be, in terms of convenience and browsability. What Negroponte didn't predict is Jarvis' "exploding TV", where the content, typically delivered by Hollywood, is now in the hands of users who can all have their 15 or more MB of fame, via YouTube or other video sharing sites.
Good bread, but nothing in between.......2006-04-26
I read this book, partly based on the implied challenge of one of my professors. After finishing it, I can only say I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it.
For starters, you can't blame Negroponte for the dated material in the book. After all, it was published in 1995. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was reading some of the predictions made by Negroponte back then, and how they turned out. The "atoms vs. bits" argument was arguably revolutionary at the time and I think it is a relevant method of discussing the digital revolution with students who were born either during or shortly before the book being published. Dinosaurs such as I can remember the days before the internet and when we had to use typewriters to work on papers. I remember how completely freaked out I was the first time I heard my computer "speak" in 1994, after installing a sound card and CD ROM drive - so the concept of interactive computing and hence moving bits vs. moving atoms is a bit of an eye-opener to an old timer. To those who come of age post-Internet, its a good way of grounding you in the history and function of digital life. The best arguments in the book show up in the introduction and in the conclusion - I think that's where Negroponte is at his best. He pontificates (as well as predicts!) very well in these sections - much better than in the rest of the book.
Between the intro and conclusion... well... there seems to be a lot of rambling. Kind of reminds me of a guy at work who won't stop talking once he starts. And then its scattershot from one topic to another, blah de blah de blah, with no real substance. The best part between the opening and closing is when Negroponte goes off about the stupidity of fax technology. Quite frankly I agree - why type something on a computer, print it out, put it in another machine, send it electronically to wherever, so that someone at the other end can print out another copy? Complete waste of paper, to say the least. Makes me wonder if the lumber/timber industry isn't involved somehow... but other than that, there just isn't much there.
That said, this isn't really a bad book. At times I found myself nodding in agreement, other times nodding off to sleep, and other times laughing out loud either at the foolishness of some predictions or the uncanny accuracy of others. Overall however, I wasn't too terribly impressed.
Being Digital in Digital Planet .......2005-09-24
IMAGINE that in a bright morning you read a digital newspaper which was specially "printed" for you. Supported by a telepresence tool, your digital form can be present at some places at the same time -- without getting effort at all from your house. Mostly of your job will take over by smart-digital-interface tools. You are living in digital life.
I read this book for the first time in 1996, when I was in Tokyo, Japan. Negroponte, to some extend, can be said as the Father of Digital Revolution. He reveals the mistery of multimedia, virtual reality, band-width and Internet.
Nearly 10 years later, now, I still enjoy to read this book. This is a fascinating book. Indeed, this is a must read book for those who want to know how digital tools can change our life in our new planet: digital planet.
Please find what method exactly offered by Negroponte to be "digital people"?
Negroponte agrees..........2005-09-06
"And so? I know: Extrapolating bandwidth, processor speed, network dimensions, or the shrinking size of electromechanical devices has become truly tiresome. Moore's Law, first expounded by Gordon Moore in 1965, is indeed a stroke of brilliance, but one more mention of it should make you puke. Terabit access, petahertz processors, planetary networks, and disk drives on the heads of pins will be ... they'll just be. Face it - the Digital Revolution is over." -- Nicholas Negroponte, 12/98
Maybe this will silence some of the recent critics who've been tearing into this book. Yes, this stuff was actually INTERESTING at one point, but we've heard too much about it at this point. I own the book, and enjoy re-reading it occasionally (*very* occasionally) when I have nothing better to do, just to get some perspective on how things looked in 1995. Seems like a century ago, does it not? Things change so fast in the digital age that books like this are doomed to obscurity 6 months after they're published. But in my opinion perspective on the past can be priceless, because knowing where we've been helps us figure out where to go next.
Being Byte-able.......2005-04-13
I read this book in 1996 because I saw it on my manager's desk - we both have EE/MBAs and decades of computing experience - and we discussed some of the issues raised.
This all happened in 1996, of course.
I found it a very good book. I'm sure that it made forecasting errors, but also certain that compared to many of the other books which delved into similar terrtory, it was superior (as a book for the general reader.)
I also must point out that for software developers with decades of experience in 1996 - this includes Bill Gates - the web took most of us by surprise. However, once nrought to my attention by a younger CSer, I could easily realize the power of it.
About a year ago I began reading books on computing and other subjects from an earlier era - the 70s to mid 90s - like "The Soul of a New Machine" and "Future Shock" and "Hackers" among many others. Many of these were excellent books, partly because they got the technology and because they also got the sense of what it was like to be on the cutting edge of technology, however, most are now historical artifacts.
Negroponte got the sense of what was happening in certain subsets of digital technology and essentially sounded the warning to those unaware.
As always, context is critical.
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- The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance
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- The Sims 2: Open for Business (Prima Official Game Guide)
- The TCP/IP Guide: A Comprehensive, Illustrated Internet Protocols Reference
- The Toyota Way
- The Truth About Money 3rd Edition
- Untitled
- Using R for Introductory Statistics
- Visual Studio 2005 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))
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