I Want My MTV

Yes, it was my generation that made that demand of the media; my music that said we should have money for nothing.

I'm not ashamed of it.

And now, I want my newspaper, my radio and my television where I want it, when I want it, on the platform I want it on.

Guess what -- I'm willing to pay for it, too.

So, here's the deal. Newspapers -- get with the iPhone apps to present your copy like the New York Times AND in simple PDFs for Kindle DX. Hey, password protect it to subscribers -- no problem for my local content.

Why? Because hello local/state/regional media -- I've spent more time reading a newspaper on my iPhone in the past month than I've probably spent reading it since I stopped spinning reels of microfilm in search of references to the arrest of British agents trying to recruit Americans into the RAF in the 1940s for my dissertation.

Let me be clear -- I am not a NYT reader. Never had been. Never planned to be. But because it is the best quality writing and story base available in a usable, easy to manage format (and it's free) I read it all the time.

Please, don't let the free part get in the way. I've said I'll pay for value added content. (Why pay for the basics when the Associated Press and Reuters are giving that away for free?).

Look, like whole lot of folks, I pay a substantial amount of premium fees to have TiVO on my satellite service. I watch what I want, when I want.

Guess what J-School kids? We'll do the same think when you figure that out.

Same for you, radio industry. Could you guys get together and realize that without RiVO, podcasting will be the end of your terrestrial business model (not unlike the soon to be end of the satellite business model)? Here's a clue, we don't need RiVO to get all the music we want for free. Those so incline get it, rip it and share it every day. By using RIAA to stand in the way of capture and store radio, you're just encouraging us to find other alternatives.

Finally, Madison Avenue -- pick up the ringing clue smartphone. Those on-line ads that you don't seem to "value" because you can't quite come up with a metric that's as solid as Nielson or Arbitron, well, you might rethink those values. You can have all the share in the world if no one is tuning in.

We -- the generation that got its MTV -- are waiting.

Not very patiently.