Recently I took a roadtrip with my sister to my hometown of Springfield, MO. Being a huge music hoarder (and former DJ in college) i plugged in my iPod loaded with over 14k+ songs. About 30-minutes into the trip, my sister asked “Have you heard the new Drake album?” I replied, telling her I had- but didn’t have it transfered it to my iPod. With a few taps and a quick search- my sister launched the Spotify Mobile App on her iPhone and we were streaming the whole album in seconds. We went on to listen to many other albums and songs together on the roadtrip, all without downloading a single song. Spotify is just one example of the beginning of the end to the idea of “music ownership”.

2011 was the Digital Music Cloud Revolution

2011 marked the year that digital music made it’s giant leap to the cloud. Services like Spotify, iTunes Match, Google Music, Amazon Cloud, and MOG provide 2 types of digital options for users:

1- digital “locker” music storage
2- unlimited music streaming

And the reality is this is more than just “the next big thing”. The revolution is happening now. Over 2.5 million+ people are paying for premium streaming music on Spotify today (and that’s just 1 of the services…)

YouTube is the new MTV

More people are turning off MTV and turn to YouTube for their music. Nielsen conducted a study that found that more people watch music on YouTube than download it. Turns out, audio streaming is actually more popular than legal digital downloads.

…but our kids won’t get it

We need to understand that Digital Natives will not understand the same concept of what it’s like to own a physical copy of music. They won’t understand what we mean when tell them how hard it is (was) to try to pick and tear open the clear wrapping on a new CD. Moreso, they won’t care either because they won’t see the value in a physical disc or even a .MP3 file.

It begs the question: why do we need to own copies of our music? Only us old-timers carry the nostalgic baggage of needing wanting to own a physical copy of our music. But the question is why? Is there any real need to have a physical copy? Both the cloud and streaming services offer temporary “offline download storage and sync” so you can still listen to your favorite music or playlists even when you don’t have 3G or WiFi. Digital Darwinism has changed music for both consumers and the industry- it’s a disruption and evolution.

Chances are you’re already carrying your phone or are at a computer with you when you want to listen to music. So why do we need to carry CDs or even an iPod with you?

The definition of “owning” our music- has changed.

–

Just thought I should share if you didn’t know… “group messaging” is a default setting on the iPhone for iOS 5. You should know this before you send out a group text message- because everyone gets the reply <-- :) something think about before you send out a mass text message

note: you can disable group messaging (<--scroll down on that link)

I’m down in Florida this week (nice vacation here for the holidays, eh?) and I begged dragged my mom + sister to a really cool place called Big Cat Habitat in Sarasota, FL. First, I should point out- it’s not a circus. It’s a sanctuary that rescues lions, tigers, ligers, bears, and other exotic wildlife (that need a permanent home). And even better- it’s a nonprofit run by Kay Rosaires and her son (Clayton) and her daughter <– so cool it’s the entire family! I’ll be honest- I showed up just wanting to be impressed by seeing a lion up close- but this place is much more than that (it’s an educational experience).

While we were there- we were lucky enough to walk over when a few of the lions were “talking to each other”. This is crazy to hear IRL! Watch and listen.

From left to right (below) that’s a tiger, liger, and a lion!

I was amazed at how gorgeous the tigers were up close…

Smartphone screens are getting bigger. It begs the question- is the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus too big? For perspective- i put the new Samsung Galaxy Nexus next to the EVO and iPhone 4S and a Moleskine journal). The Galaxy has a huge 4.65-inch screen!

KCTV5 News posted video of the interview i did RE: older gens + “the Twitter” here: http://kctv.m0bl.net/r/rsh3x

Meet the new Amazon: Kindle Fire. At $200, it’s significantly more affordable than most tablets. Here’s my video blog review on the Amazon Kindle Fire (if you can’t see the video below, click here).

This is what iMovie looks like in the iPhone. I shot this video blog only using the front-cam + iMovie to edit <– so you can see what a single iPhone can do, it’s not amazing- but it does the trick –> http://youtu.be/ztetXlbRW2Y?hd=1

The video blog is a preview of a new restaurant opening here in Kansas City at the Country Club Plaza called Seasons 52. It’s not local- but still an interesting concept: everything on the menu is under 475 calories. The atmosphere is a perfect “date place” (but not exactly on-the-cheap) runs $25-$69 per person for lunch/dinner. They have 100+ wines, 20 by the glass. Seasons 52 opens in Kansas City on November 7th.

Here’s the video blog i shot with the front-camera on the new iPhone 4S:

These photos were also taken with the new iPhone 4S:

I had a blast going to the Kansas City Chiefs Monday Night Football game- I snapped this pic right before the game started and did a quick color edit in Photoshop to get it just right. It’s amazing what point-n-shoots can do now. You just have to spend time doing your homework- so you know all the settings and how to use it.

I was so excited when I got the call from one of my clients (Timberland), asking me to hop on a plane to Canada …for the first time in my life. I’d never been there before! More-so, I was fortunate enough to get to cover the Toronto International Film Fest. Oh yeah- it was my first film festival ever too!!! It was an incredible time- check out the video blogs I shot for them:

{fitting and yet respectful} Meredith at ABC contacted me for an interview about the passing of Steve Jobs. We decided to use Facetime on my iPhone for the entire interview. I snapped a photo with my iPad to capture what it looked like on my end

After I unboxed my new iPhone- the first thing I tested was Siri on the iPhone 4S (the feature EVERYONE has been talking about). Watch what happens when I asked Siri a few questions… (if you can’t see the video below click here).

18 months ago the iPad was first released and everyone since then has been waiting for the official iPad app to be released. Well- it’s finally here! I have to admit, using your fingers with gestures to browse Facebook is just plain fun. I recorded a walkthrough video of the Facebook iPad app to show you just how it works. You can download the Facebook iPad app in the App Store or here (there is also a new version if the iPhone app out as well).

KCTV5 asked me to come on to their afternoon show today with Carol Long to talk about the new iPhone announced today. You can watch the interview on KCTV5 here.

My thoughts? So no iPhone 5. But it’s now on Sprint! And the iPhone 4S + iOS5 + iCloud is awesome. Photogs and @instagram lovers, the new camera on the #iPhone 4S is incredible. It’s faster (1.1 sec), 8-megapixels, f/2.4 aperture, sharper. It’s amazing the expectations Apple has set for themselves when they release a phone. No iPhone 5, but this is the best cell phone ever made. So why no #iPhone 5? I think the hardware isn’t there yet. And they need to figure out mobile payment. When they do, then we’ll get iPhone 5. I think Apple will keep a close eye on the wins / failures of Google Wallet, then steal best of breed and put it in the #iPhone 5. BTW, I’m shocked @Sprint PR/CC has nothing on Sprint.com or http://newsroom.sprint.com RE: iPhone. On Twitter they’re sending people to Apple.com. Shocking they’re missing such an opportunity here.

Here’s the official Apple commercial for the new iPhone 4S:

Sara and I hiked to the top of a mountain while we were in CO Springs this past weekend (i was speaking at a conference). Check out the view from top of the Helen Hunt trail. We even shot this video blog:

I’ve been a HUGE fan of this new iPhone app called HDR Pro, that takes some amazing pictures. Check out the one i took at the top with my phone:

And I’m also obsessed with another iPhone photo app called 360. Look at the stitched/panoramic photos i shot with my iPhone:

It took 11 years, but the building that looks like a giant silver snail shell in downtown Kansas City is about to open! The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts cost $413 million dollars, sits on 18 acres, and has 2 halls inside (one for theatre, the other for concerts). Kristin gave me and my friend Pat a private tour- and we put together this video blog of the Kauffman Center. Check it out! I also took this and this panoramic photos with my iPhone while I was there.

btw, Pat (who works with me at @digitalev) was behind the camera and did all the edits <– which i think he did awesome!