This year, I will…

 …do
everything I can to make the adoption of “new media” as easy for everyone as
possible. We “early adopters” can’t forget that most folks are still digesting
the internet as a whole, much less all it has to offer. There is so much more
going on than Google, iTunes, and text messaging.

 …remember
there is a difference between sending a message and conversing. Spend more time
talking face to face or on the phone with people. Text, e-mail, etc. are great
for quick thoughts but can never replace the emotion of a great conversation.

 …work to
improve the quality and the content in my writing. I write more now than I have
in years and I want my blog posts to be more than articles. I want them to inform,
inspire, and entertain all at the same time. (Okay, this one is going to take a
lot of work.)

 …work to
improve the quality of the audio online. I was listening to my son’s iPod the other
day and realized that we’ve taught people to settle for audio quality that is,
to put it politely, not so great. When we adopted the CD we sacrificed some depth
to our audio, just as we did when we started using audio tape. Now that we are
using the internet as our main source of music we have sacrificed even more or
that sound quality. I heard a record the other day and I was blown away by the
sound I had been missing. If you have some vinyl around you should do the same.
(If you have no idea what a record is, please seek one out…maybe your attic?) I
had become use to the sound of an mp3, probably downloaded a terrible bit rate.
I will do whatever I can to hear more of what the musicians and performers
worked so hard to put into their recordings.

 …work to
improve the quality of video online. The same challenge faces us with what we
see online. With the advent of HDTV the bar has been raised even higher. What I
see on my Smartphone should look just as good as what I see on cable.

 …convince
advertisers that the “new media” audience is of incredibly high quality and is
worth more than a traditional media user. There are already scores of studies  highlighting the incredibly high recall rates for online
advertising (even higher with a mix of media), we need to get the advertisers to respect that and think beyond “cost per
thousand.”

…enjoy more
time outside the ether so that I can bring more reality into it. Pull myself
out of the screen, away from the keyboard, and off the cell phone. I need to go
outside and take a walk whenever I can. In fact, there’s a new layer of snow
and a crisp morning waiting for me right now…

Happy New Year!

This post can also be found on the Association of Downloadable Media site.