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Thursday, December 4, 2003
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 Thursday, December 4, 2003
started 12/4/2003; 8:36:40 AM - last post 12/4/2003; 2:55:51 PM
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Doc Searls - Thursday, December 4, 2003 
12/4/2003; 12:36:40 PM (reads: 6255, responses: 4)
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A winning preposition 
| | Europeans now spend more time online than they do reading magazines, according to the latest research commissioned by European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA). |
| | The study, which was carried out by research agency Millward Brown, shows that the internet represents 10% of European's media consumption, overtaking magazines at 8%, and just behind newspapers at 13%. |
| | Television continues to capture the largest share of people's media time at 41%, with radio in second place at 28%. However, 43% of people who use the internet say that are spending less time watching TV. |
| | The research also revealed a higher level of usage, with one in three European internet users surfing the net every day, and less simultaneous media usage when surfing the net than consuming any other media. |
| | Nothing new to anybody here, but I do need to take exception to the notion that the Net is only a "medium." It's a place. An environment. I work, literally, on the Net. I work to a lesser degree on the phone, too. But frankly, most of my long phone calls today have happened on the Net, using iChatAV, which Mitch (one of my callers — David Sifry was another) calls "Picture-in-Picture Phone." (New acronym: piphony.) |
| | Seems to me, the Net is the environment on which all the other media will ultimately depend, if not outright reside. |
| | Meaning the preposition "on" (as in, "on the Net"... by now you have the idea) may be far more meaningful than today's casual usage alone suggests. |
Political incorrection
| | I'm not sure that shock radio began with Howard Stern. But I heard him a long time ago in New York when he was still a novelty, with his job in constant jeopardy, and I suppose his profoundly depressing success is the inspiration for every mutant with a microphone who imagines himself embracing P. Diddy at the MTV Awards. Could anyone over 16 fail to notice that shock is poor Howard's only asset? The second he's used it up, he's almost as funny as crib death. Like the sixth-grade towel-snapper, like all talk-show hosts with moribund routines, he shields himself from embarrassed silence with flunkies who laugh like imbeciles at everything he says. |
| | All I can say is, not true. Listening to Howard and his crew quiz (yes, willing) bimbos with low-IQ questions like "Who is the mayor of New York?" and betting on the answers, is funny — at least to me. And a few million other people. |
| | Some of his guests, such as Jim Florentine crack me up. Others, such as Kevin Bacon and his brother, can be interesting and informative in a surprisingly un-Hollywood way. Back when the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings were going on, Howard had some of the best, and by far the funniest, commentary on the proceedings (in case you're wondering, he believed Anita Hill). |
| | What people miss about Howard is that he's extremely good at challenging sensitivities and being funny at the same time. When I listen to the guy I often realize how often good manners get in the way of good information, especially around race and sexuality. He asks questions of guests that nobody else would ask and listeners wish somebody would ask. And he seems to have a sense of edges nobody else can perceive. Like the time he talked a caller out of jumping off a bridge. The call was real: it was clearly no hoax. Somehow Howard talked the guy down and made the call funny at the same time. |
| | Much of the time (like now for instance, when he's taking a call in the midst of commenting with his crew about Paris Hilton's new TV show) there's not much to keep me tuned in. (And times like now, when I'm writing, I can't listen to the radio. Or anything, frankly.) But when I'm making coffee or on the road, I'll stay tuned to Howard if he makes me laugh, which is often enough to make him my #2 tuning choice after NPR. |
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Steve Kirks - Re: Howard Stern
12/4/2003; 2:17:39 PM (reads: 429, responses: 1)
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His questioning of "bimbos" can be seen in one of two ways: degrading of the individual bimbo and a commentary on the whole of society. I choose the latter. I don't like Howard Stern's methods, but he's an equal opportunity offender. Black, white or red all over, if you're an idiot and you want breast implants, he'll point out to the world just how low we've all gone.
Steve
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Doc Searls - Re: Howard Stern
12/4/2003; 5:04:29 PM (reads: 510, responses: 0)
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The worst thing about Howard is his imitators. There's a degree of irony and self-mockery in Howard's obsessing about breasts and penis sizes. He's created an audio smut form that entertains at several levels at once, including self-parody. Other jerks on morning radio lamely ape obsession with the same subjects mostly for the sake of being jerks, as if acting "real" in stupid ways is really funny.
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Beth Mazur - Me too!
12/4/2003; 5:43:41 PM (reads: 432, responses: 0)
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I don't know about you, but Howard (and Don and Mike) are my *guilty* (not guiltless) pleasures. I might have stuck to listening to music except that I moved to radio wasteland (Washington DC) several years ago, and couldn't find the soft alternative that I'd enjoyed in Boston and even Pittsburgh (WYEP...thank goodness they are on the Internet!).
As an old fart with many nuns in the family (including my godmother), I sometimes wonder if I'll grow out of my Stern fixation. But while I find it helpful to turn the channel (or at least the volume down) when the farts and so on start, I keep coming back for what I enjoy...the banter between the crew (much of which is just real relationship stories we can all relate to) and the sometimes laugh-out-loud moments.
Beth Mazur -- http://idblog.org
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Steve MacLaughlin - Missing Howard Stern
12/4/2003; 6:55:51 PM (reads: 560, responses: 0)
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Doc...I couldn't agree more. I used to be able to get Howard Stern when we were living in Indianapolis, and I would seek him out like a narcotic when I was traveling on business. It kept me laughing and humor can cure just about any ill.
I've not heard Howard Stern live for about two years now and really miss the show tremendously. I love Tony Kornheiser in the morning, but Stern is still Stern. The closest Howard Stern station to Charlotte is in Charleston, SC. Ugh!!! ;-(
One day I came across an MP3 file of his some from 9/11/01 and 9/11/02 and was reminded of Howard Stern's great paradox: On the one hand he says things that are over the line, and on the other hand he says things that make you think just why it's over the line.
So Doc...I beg of you...don't talk about Howard Stern...it makes me miss the show even more. Here's hoping he goes to satellite radio when his next contract is up.
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