The document discusses consumer preferences for media and technology. It notes that mobile phones have become an everyday appliance and that there is an increasing demand for online "disposable videos". Consumers prefer ease of use and find it difficult to watch full television shows or movies on small screens. As technology advances, consumers will likely want all information accessible through a single portable device.

1. C O N S U M E R P R E F E R E N C E S by Richard Hall, Luke Jones, David Morgan, Chris Tolley & Az Rahman

2. What People Want? Media and Technology: What People Want?, http://www.tomorrowproject.net/pub/1__GLIMPSES/Media_and_technology/-388.html (20, February 2008) ENTERTAINMENT PERSONALISATION CONTROL From 2006 National Survey

3. Mobile Phones Auge, M. (1995), None Places, London: Vergo Kopomaa, T. (2000), The City in Your Pocket: Birth of the Mobile Information Society, Helsinki: Gaudemus Finland 1999 Statistics Finland – 78% Finnish had mobiles in ‘99 In relation to consumer preferences, more has been added to the mobile phone technology offering them increasing power over their product ‘ The mobile phone is used to optimise time and performance. Socialising is quick offering a tool for a social and practical control of the environment.’

4. Mobile Phones National Statistics, www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdulaset.asp?ylnk=7262&More=Y (21, February 2008) BBC Commissioning, www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/marketresearch/audeiencegroup2.shtml (20, February 2008) National Statistics UK 2003 75% adults own mobile phones 90% 15-34 own mobile phones (BBC Commissioning) Future Possibilities Mobile Phones are an everyday appliance Downloading Cinema movies to mobile?

5. Lilly Allen & Friends Textual Analysis: Lilly Allen and Friends, BBC THREE (19, February 2008) add social network profiles which band they listen to youtube or myspace videos topical discussions making friends with celebrities Future Possibilities Run a show at home? Regional broadcast __________________________________

6. Understanding the Consumer Firstly I have viewed a website called - www.physorg.com/news8862.html. I have read an online article about how consumer preferences can drive technology. I have found an interesting quote about how it is the consumer’s preference that depends upon what ideas and technologies are used. “ There may be many great techno ideas out there. But if the consumer is not looking for great ideas and only wants something easy to use, these concepts may never see the light of day. The trick is understanding the consumer” (PHYSORG n. d.). And so it seems that if the consumer just wants ease of use the more creative and bolder ideas may not interest them.

7. Increasing Demand I have viewed a website called www.ipsos.com. Ipsos are an independent company who undertake survey based market research. Ipsos study audiences and their responses to various media. I have looked at the marketing research consultancy articles on the website. The title of the first article I have looked at is ‘Digital Video Hype, But What Are People Really Downloading?’ I have read an interesting section about how there is an increasing demand for online videos. “ There is an increasing demand for what we call disposable video: those clips whether it’s a thirty-second or a five-minute video snippet available online, like a music video, movie trailer, or on-site content found at YouTube and MySpace – that rely on the digital channel as an experimentation and sampling vehicle” (Ipsos n. d.)

8. Increasing Demand From reading this it seems that ‘disposable videos’ are online videos that you can stream on sites such as Youtube, Myspace and even more specific streaming videos such as boxing videos found at www.saddoboxing.com. I have found a more detailed description here: “ Disposable video is essentially an umbrella category for all video content that can be quickly and easily sampled online – whether downloaded or streamed – providing instant, on-demand access for consumers trolling online ” (Ipsos n. d.). And so it seems that there is an increasing demand for any type of online ‘disposable video’ that can be streamed or downloaded quickly for internet browsers to watch. From searching through the internet and from my own experience I know that these websites contain disposable videos: Youtube.com, myspace.com, megavideo.com, saddoboxing.com, expertvillage.com and funnyjunk.com.

9. I have read an interesting section about how watching movies and television series on digital media players is becoming a more mainstream activity. Digital innovators have adopted the disposable video genre and it is now starting to become a more mainstream thing to watch disposable videos digital devices. “ Digital innovators have embraced the disposable video genre, which is on the hinge of transitioning into more of a mainstream activity” (Ipsos n. d.). Although it seems that this activity does not yet appeal to the mass consumers. It seems that this is because people are so used to watching television and films on their television sets. Televisions have been around for much longer than digital media devices and so people are not used to watching their favourite programmes or films on digital devices and handsets such as an ipod or on your pc, which they may think is not as good experience as watching it on their televisions. “ It isn’t very easy for somebody to download a movie and view it on their TV. That’s really the major roadblock for these two mammoth video categories online. For example, watching last night’s episode of “The Office” on your PC or iPod isn’t a fantastic user experience. People are used to watching this content from the comfy couch in the living room2 (Ipsos n. d.). And so I think that people would prefer watching films and television series on their TV’s because it is a more comfortable user experience that everyone is so used to. “Same thing with the latest ‘Pirates of the Caribbean:’ watching that on a small device or your PC is not something that appeals to the mass consumer” (Ipsos n. d.). Consumer Conformability

10. According to this article, more people will watch films, television and disposable video content on digital devices/handsets as they get more used to the trend. “ This can and will change over time as more consumers get used to the idea of using their iPods and other digital media players for this content” (Ipsos n. d.). I have viewed an interesting video on this website. It is an interview with a man called Brian Cruishank who, according to the website is “ The head of Ipsos Insight's Technology & Communications Practice” (Ipsos n. d.). It is an interview about the portability of information. He makes a very interesting point about how more and more people are going to want to access information in any location and through any type of device. This applies to businesses as well as just individuals. “ Technology organisations need to be focused on the portability of information, they need to be understanding and addressing the fact that consumers and business people would like to have their information wherever they are, through any device, and that includes mobile phones and PDA’s” (Ipsos n. d.). I think that in the future people are going to want access a lot of information on just one device wherever they are. For example, check emails, whether reports, stock market reports, music, video football scores etc on just one device in any location. This leads me to believe that a possible scenario for the future is that all the types of devices that people can access information on; may converge into one convenient device that they can use in any location. Moving Towards the Trends

11. I have bought a magazine called ‘PCTOOLS’. I have bought issue 45. This magazine contains a vast amount of multimedia tools that people can use on their computer. It contains shareware, freeware and products that you have to buy. It seems that ease of use is a key factor with most of the software in the magazine. I think that as a preference people want software that is easy use and that only takes a small amount of steps to use the features. From an article on article relating to Ulead DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus: “ Even if you’re new to editing video, DVD MovieFactory’s ease of use means that you can quickly get started and produce decent looking results in exchange for relatively little effort” (Barker 2008). From an article on WinMorph: “ It’s really not hard to use . Simply import images into the program and draw shapes over corresponding sections” (Barker 2008). From an article on VinylStudio: “VinylStudio offers the ease of use and ease of navigation that we all wish every piece of software had” (Barker 2008). It seems that people do not want to have to go through complications and complicated various steps to do something. I think that ease of use is a very big preference for the consumer, and more specifically in this case the consumer of software. I think that a possible scenario for the future is making the steps to doing things even simpler. For example, the amount of clicks that it takes to gain access to an on demand video or the amount of steps it takes to download songs. I think that lots of different devices and media will integrate with one another to make convenience, which will make gaining access to information easily. I think that ease of use and convenience are big key factors in consumer preferences. I have found an example of a piece of software that searches for songs and music on the internet. The software is called Clickster in the PCTOOL magazine. Here is a quote from the article on the software: “Just type in the name of the artist and song into the search bars at the top of the Clickster window, and sit back whilst it trawls the web” (Barker 2008). It also states about how searching on the net can be time consuming and irritating. “ Searching for an elusive piece of music on the internet can be time consuming and irritating” (Barker 2008). I think that this backs up my point about how people want ease of use and how they want to access information quickly and efficiently. People want things to be simple and easy and want to be able to access information easily whilst not being restricted by anything. Ease of Use for Consumers

12. Barker, I. (2008) ‘Tools.’ PCTOOLS (45) 7-23-56-59 Ipsos (n. d.) IpsosMinute [online] available from <http://www.ipsosinsight.com/ipsosminute> [23 February 2008] PHYSORG (n. d.) Consumer preference often drives tech [online] available from <http://www.physorg.com/news8862.html> [23 February 2008] Media and Technology: What People Want?, http://www.tomorrowproject.net/pub/1__GLIMPSES/Media_and_technology/-388.html (20, February 2008) Auge, M. (1995), None Places, London: Vergo Kopomaa, T. (2000), The City in Your Pocket: Birth of the Mobile Information Society, Helsinki: Gaudemus National Statistics, www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdulaset.asp?ylnk=7262&More=Y (21, February 2008) BBC Commissioning, www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning/marketresearch/audeiencegroup2.shtml (20, February 2008) Textual Analysis: Lilly Allen and Friends, BBC THREE (19, February 2008) References

13.                        by Richard Hall, Luke Jones, David Morgan, Chris Tolley & Az Rahman