Category: New Media

The Aase Switch

Thanks to Jeff Jarvis for pointing out Michael Rosenblum’s blog, and particularly some great posts he’s done about why magazines and newspapers do web video better than TV stations do.

The irony, at least from my own perspective, is the comparison between news organizations that have traditionally worked in print and those that have traditionally worked in video – that is, local TV news stations. The magazines and newspapers have far less problem adapting to video; at least in the VJ model – that is where the reporter carries their own small camera and laptop, and produces their own stories. The magazines and newspapers ‘get it’ right away because this is they way they have always worked. Newspaper journalists have never worked with a crew. They have never had to wait in a reporting situation for ‘the pencil to arrive’.

In most local newsrooms in this country, we field an average of 8 camera crews in any given day. That means 8 cameras to cover a city like Tampa or Houston or Nashville. Can you imagine what would happen if a newspaper were suddenly reduced to covering Tampa with 8 pencils?

Read the whole article here; it’s well worth it. The fundamental point is right on; in a smaller-audience world of web video, you can’t afford multi-person crews taking a long time to produce content. Rosenblum advocates miniDV production with laptops for editing.

Newspapers and magazines and others that aren’t accustomed to high-end broadcast production can be more nimble; they can send a reporter with a mini DV camera instead of just a pencil and notebook, enhancing their print reporting and at the same time opening a new world of web video opportunity. It requires a more radical rethinking for TV stations to “gear down” their production.

Ironically, I’ve seen TV stations moving in the opposite direction. I’ve seen them bring digital cameras on some of their highly popular stories, so they can create still-frame slide shows for their web sites.

So TV stations (which use hugely expensive video cameras in their main business) use inexpensive digital still cameras to create more page views that can enable them to serve more ads and generate more revenue, and newspapers (which use expensive gigapixel still cameras with foot-long lenses in their main business), use inexpensive video cameras to enhance their sites.

This is something of a take-off on the Anderson Switch, which holds that everything paid will become free and vice-versa. In the Aase Switch, TV goes print and print goes video.

Of course, I’m not optimistic this label will catch on, for two reasons. First, my last name isn’t easy to pronounce, like Chris Anderson’s. (For the record, it’s AY-see.) But more importantly, it’s so obvious that it can’t possibly be original.

Here are some other good Rosenblum posts on similar themes:

TechnoratiTechnorati: , ,

Mayo Clinic InTouch Launches

This is a project I’ve been working on for some time, starting from the early discussions of what should be included in the service, to the public roll-out, which will be announced in a news release from Garmin, Ltd. this morning.

Today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune has an extensive feature (click here to read in its entirety), which begins…

Nagging headache? Neck pain? Now you can check your symptoms along with stock prices on your cell phone.
The Mayo Clinic is rolling out a health information service today that soon will be available via most major cell-phone carriers. For $2.99 a month, subscribers who sign up for Mayo Clinic InTouch can get first-aid tips, watch health videos or find the closest emergency room on their cell-phone screens.

Digital Cyclone is the Minnesota-based Garmin subsidiary that developed and is distributing the application through the major wireless carriers. Here’s the Digital Cyclone page with more information on how to order.

And here’s the post on this blog I’ve been using to show journalists what the application is all about, in the pre-launch phase. It was previously password-protected, which is a very convenient way within WordPress to have a public blog that has portions that are private. It’s a way to pitch exclusive or semi-exclusive stories and have rich-media assets, without developing an expensive press kit. And it’s neat to be able to use new media to tell the story of a new media application.
TechnoratiTechnorati: , , , , , , ,

New Wireless Health Application

This information is provided on an Embargoed basis for background consideration, and is not to be published until Thursday, Feb. 22. For more information or to schedule interviews, email Lee Aase at Mayo Clinic (aase.lee@mayo.edu) or call 507-266-2442.

Below is a video demo of an application called Mayo Clinic InTouch that is being launched this month, available on several of the largest US wireless carriers that serve more than 184 million users.

The application is developed and offered by Digital Cyclone, with content licensed from Mayo Clinic, MayoClinic.com and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. In addition to representatives from Mayo Clinic and Digital Cyclone, Sprint/Nextel has a spokesperson willing to be interviewed about adding the application to its services.

The video below is a three-minute demo of some of the application’s key benefits, which are available for $2.99 a month. And at the bottom of this post I share a true story from my family that illustrates how others will find it helpful for theirs.

The application has several sections:

  • First Aid: What to do right away, and what NOT to do, to treat common illnesses and injuries.
  • Emergency Room Finder: When you’re away from home and have a sudden need for medical care (other than life-threatening emergencies, for which you should always call 911), Mayo Clinic InTouch helps you locate nearby JCAHO-accredited ERs and Urgent Care facilities…either by entering the city or zip code or, in advanced phones, by automatically locating you and giving you the distance to nearby facilities.
  • Symptom Checker: Guidance on when over-the-counter and home remedies are advised (and what those are), and when you need to seek professional medical help.
  • Health Alerts: News you need to know.
  • Health News Videos: Starting with Sprint, the application offers over 100 brief educational segments in 20 categories, from Alternative Medicine to Women’s Health. More carriers will add video over time, as will more timely analysis of breaking news and what it practically means for consumers.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YkDSjclEws]

Here are some additional screen shots from the application:

And here is a story from this weekend, of how I used the application to advise my daughter and son-in-law, likely saving them hundreds of dollars. I share it with their permission.

My daughter Rachel called early (6 a.m.) Sunday morning and awakened my wife Lisa with a concern about her husband Kyle and his twin brother, Michael, who both had come down with severe stomach cramps and vomiting. They had gone out to eat together Saturday night, while Rachel was at work. Kyle and his brother had been up most of the night.

Rachel and Kyle are newly married (within the last six weeks) and don’t yet have health insurance; they needed to know whether they should see a doctor right away, or whether it would be safe to wait. They also needed to know what to do to help relieve the discomfort, and what NOT to do.

Rachel had called the local ER and was told, “You probably should bring them in.” That was the “safe” advice to give. So I pulled out my cell phone and launched Mayo Clinic InTouch, starting with the Symptom Checker. It said that in cases of nausea and vomiting they should…

Contact your doctor if:

  • You’re unable to drink anything for 24 hours
  • The nausea or vomiting lasts more than two to three days
  • You become dehydrated — you feel weak or dizzy, you have excessive thirst, a dry mouth, and little or no urination
  • You vomit blood or black material

Based on the fact both Kyle and Michael got sick at the same time and had dined out together the previous evening, we thought it seemed likely the cause might be food-related. So we looked under the First Aid section and found “Food-borne illness.” We learned that symptoms typically include diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain and sometimes vomiting, and generally occur within hours after eating contaminated food. The young men had three of the four symptoms, and First Aid offered the following advice:

If you develop food poisoning:

  • Rest and drink plenty of liquids.
  • Don’t use anti-diarrheal medications because they may slow elimination of bacteria from your system.

Food-borne illness often improves on its own within 48 hours. Call your doctor if you feel ill for longer than two or three days or if blood appears in your stools.

Dial 911 or call for emergency medical assistance if:

  • You have severe symptoms, such as watery diarrhea that turns very bloody within 24 hours.
  • You belong to a high-risk group.
  • You suspect botulism poisoning.

Now we were feeling pretty confident they didn’t need to make a trip to the emergency room, but just to be safe I got up, went to the computer and did a search for “botulism symptoms” and found an article on MayoClinic.com that quickly made it clear this wasn’t botulism. So, they decided to just wait it out.

As a postscript, we got a call from Rachel later in the afternoon, with the news that the worst appeared to be over. The Mayo Clinic InTouch program had saved them a trip to the emergency room that may have cost $200 or more, and also gave them the peace of mind that it was safe to wait.

The wireless carriers say this is a unique health application. It will help subscribers take appropriate care of themselves and their families. Many will find it worth the cost solely for the peace of mind,and even with insurance co-pays, it will pay for itself if it saves users an occasional urgent care or ER visit.

Update: Here is a link to other Mayo Clinic health information products, including books and newsletters.

Also, here are links to where the application can be purchased for Verizon (need to search for Mayo Clinic) and Cingular phones. Digital Cyclone will have a site available soon for all carriers served.

First posted Feb. 7. Updated with family story on Sunday, Feb. 11. Updated with links to Cingular and Verizon sites February 20. Release planned Feb. 22. Service is scheduled to launch on Sprint on Feb. 23. Password protection for post removed 8:30 p.m. CST February 21.

I See Debt People

Dave Ramsey has done a good job of blending broadcast radio and new media for his mission of inspiring Americans to get out of debt.

He’s got a great web site, and offers an hour of his daily three-hour program as a free podcast on iTunes. The one-hour version is funded by commercials. The full three-hour podcast is available without commercials for members of his subscription web site, mytotalmoneymakeover.com, for $8.95 a month.

I subscribe to lots of podcasts. This is the only one I pay to receive.

TechnoratiTechnorati: , ,