Advertising in Electronic Newspaper


image: i-wisdom

You already know about Belgian De Tijd's trial of electronic newspaper and about similar experiments in NY Times, but what about advertising? Belgian i-merge says their agency is "the first company who has been experimenting with advertising on this new device."

"The image above shows you an advertising for internetbank Rabobank.be (one of our clients). The tagline says: "2002 - Rabobank.be launched the bank without paper", referring to the device, which is hosting the first newspaper without paper."

In case you were wondering, that's what De Tijd looks like in its electronic incarnation:


image: i-merge

-- via comments on Futurelab (which also illustrates how useful it is to leave comments on others' blogs and the strange ways in which information travels).

Concept: Unbundled Advertising In the Age of Fragmented Media

Terry Heaton at the Digital Journalist argues that the world of fragmented media doesn't spell death to advertising but calls for a different model. Instead of launching massive campaigns that exceedingly look like Napoleon's march to Russia, he urges marketers to create what he calls "advertising pieces."

"Now we've entered the world of unbundled media, where people download individual songs instead of buying CDs, watch programs when and where they want (without the commercials), and read news stories or snippets of stories via the World Wide Web instead of going out to the driveway every morning. The mass audience is disappearing and with it, and the economy it supports.

If unbundled media is where we're headed, then unbundled advertising must necessarily follow. This is a scary concept, however, for there is no command and control mechanism or manipulable infrastructure in the unbundled world. The upside, though, is that it costs very little to participate. All that's necessary is the release what I call "ad pieces" into the seeming chaos of the internet, where other businesses will take those pieces and reassemble them when summoned by customers who are trading their scarcity for information they actually want."
-- read more

(thanks, Dan)

Google Releases Free 3-D Modelling Software



Google just released SketchUp, a free 3-D modelling software with which you can build and texture houses -- or billboards, for example, and then place them in Google Earth. Sounds like the competition to Second Life is coming from an unexpected direction.
-- via Business 2.0 blog

Study: Subliminal Advertising May Actually Work

"University of Nijmegen researchers in the Netherlands have revisited subliminal advertising and discovered that, if conditions are right, it can successfully promote a brand, New Scientist says."
-- Political Gateway

Columbia Pictures Promotes Movie With Blackberry Game


image: Promo Magazine

Columbia Pictures launched a game for Blackberry devices to promote the studio's upcoming movie RV. In the game RV Pile-Up, players race across platform roads, divided into small tiles. See screenshots here, get the Blackberry files here.

Commentary: Philips's Ad-Skipping Blocker Good Idea


image: A Clockwork Orange, 1971

At Clickz Experts, Dave Evans writes that the ad-zapping stopper patented by Philips is actually a good thing: "TV programmers ought to be able to force viewers to watch commercials. And as the patent makes clear, consumers ought to be able to pay for the option to watch without commercial interruption." His argument is that TV should adopt the web model - you can either pay for ad-free content or watch the content for free but with ads.

Ain't gonna work for many reasons, one of them being the fact that TV and web have different interaction models. Blocking ad-skipping and channel switching on TV would be like freezing someone's browser, disabling the back button and showering the window with pop-ups. Besides, making people watch your ads is like nagging that cute girl to go out with you; she might give in but what's the point? Give them a reason to want it and you will live happily ever after.

Optimization Tips for Rooftop Ads

Chris Smith offers tips for optimizing the performance of your rooftop ads that show up on Google maps. "Make sure your roof supplies large enough canvass area for your ad to be visible from satellites. If your building’s roof is insufficiently large, you could spread your image out onto the sidewalks and parking lot for additional space."

Speaking of rooftop ads, Clickable Culture talks about Second Life ads built to be seen when players explore the world's map.

Microsoft to Acquire Massive

"Microsoft is said to be planning to buy in-game advertising heavyweight Massive in a deal worth $200 million to $400 million, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

According to the Journal (paid subscription required), Microsoft expects to acquire the 80-person New York City outfit in a bid to bring the technology behind much of the ads found in video games today in-house."
-- CNet

Update: Got a copy of WSJ, here are the highlights, verbatim:

-- "Microsoft plans to announce next week an agreement to buy the New York company, said people familiar with the situation. People familiar with the matter estimated the deal to be valued at $200 to $400 million."

--"Microsoft is testing its ad-brokering system, called AdCenter, in the U.S. and several markets around the world. The software giant plans to tie its brokering service with Massive's network, said people familiar with the company's plan. Microsoft's long-term goal is to have one online service that advertisers can go to buy ads across a broad range of Microsoft products. For now the Massive network will be part of a palette of advertising offerings Microsoft salesmen will offer clients, the person said."

--"Advertisers spent about $56 million on advertisements in videogames last year, up from $34 million the prior year."

--"So far, Massive mainly delivers ads into games for personal computers, which are commonly connected to the Internet. But a bigger opportunity lies in delivering ads to systems such as Xbox 360, Sony Corp's forthcoming Playstation 3 and other consoles that account for most of the industry's sales. [...] Massive, in fact, has quietly begun delivering ads into games for the Xbox including Ubisoft's action title, "Rainbow Six Lockdown".

Robert A Guth, Nick Wingfield, "Microsoft's 'Massive' Move Into Game Ads", Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2006, p.B1

WSJ: Microsoft to Get Into In-Game Ads Business

"Microsoft is said to be planning to buy in-game advertising heavyweight Massive in a deal worth $200 million to $400 million, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

According to the Journal (paid subscription required), Microsoft expects to acquire the 80-person New York City outfit in a bid to bring the technology behind much of the ads found in video games today in-house."
-- CNet

Update: Got a copy of WSJ, here are the highlights, verbatim:

-- "Microsoft plans to announce next week an agreement to buy the New York company, said people familiar with the situation. People familiar with the matter estimated the deal to be valued at $200 to $400 million."

--"Microsoft is testing its ad-brokering system, called AdCenter, in the U.S. and several markets around the world. The software giant plans to tie its brokering service with Massive's network, said people familiar with the company's plan. Microsoft's long-term goal is to have one online service that advertisers can go to buy ads across a broad range of Microsoft products. For now the Massive network will be part of a palette of advertising offerings Microsoft salesmen will offer clients, the person said."

--"Advertisers spent about $56 million on advertisements in videogames last year, up from $34 million the prior year."

--"So far, Massive mainly delivers ads into games for personal computers, which are commonly connected to the Internet. But a bigger opportunity lies in delivering ads to systems such as Xbox 360, Sony Corp's forthcoming Playstation 3 and other consoles that account for most of the industry's sales. [...] Massive, in fact, has quietly begun delivering ads into games for the Xbox including Ubisoft's action title, "Rainbow Six Lockdown".

Robert A Guth, Nick Wingfield, "Microsoft's 'Massive' Move Into Game Ads", Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2006, p.B1

UPDATE [April 27, 06]: NY Times, "Microsoft Is Said to Be Near Deal to Buy Ad Technology", Matt Richtel.

"Microsoft is close to reaching a deal to buy Massive Incorporated, which makes technology that inserts advertisements into video games, a member of Massive's board said yesterday.

The board member, Douglas P. Miscoll, a partner with the venture capital firm Newlight Associates, said the price was $200 million to $400 million, but he declined to be more specific.

He said the deal was not yet signed and that it could yet fall through. The deal "has not yet closed," Mr. Miscoll said, "but we think we're on track." He said his firm had invested around $4 million in Massive. [...]

The notion that Sony might reject ads placed by Massive "is a possibility, but it may not in fact be the way things turn out," Mr. Miscoll said. He added that Sony or others, even if they compete with Microsoft, may not be able to resist accepting Massive's advertising because 'the economics of the Massive network to the video game publishers are very compelling.'"

Verbatim Digital Vinyl CD-R


These have been around for a while, but I kept losing the bookmark so I'll just post it here. From the description: "Digital Vinyl CD-Rs are modeled after 45 rpm singles, with grooved black circles surrounding album labels in the center."

Miller Beer To Come In Self-Cooling Cans



Miller plans to bottle its beer in Tempra's self-cooling I.C.Can cans that "lower beverage temperature by a minimum of 30° F (16.7° C) in just three minutes."
-- via New Tech Spy

IBM Looks Into Future of Television

IBM published a whitepaper that looks at the mid-term future of television (circa 2012). "Our analysis indicates that market evolution hinges on two key market drivers: openness of access channels and levels of consumer involvement with media. For the next 5-7 years, there will be change on both fronts but not uniformly."

eBay's Skype To Sell Music

Of course, you already knew that the reason why eBay bought Skype is not to improve the auctions with click-to-call but to get on the iTunes' turf.

"EMI Music Publishing, the song rights company, yesterday announced a deal with Skype, the internet telephony business, to sell music on Skype’s new retail website. Under the deal, Skype will be licensed to use song copyrights from EMI’s catalogue to sell music as downloads and ring tones."
-- Times

Earlier:
Why eBay Really Bought Skype

NY Times Tests E-Paper; Advertisers Interested


image source: NY Times


It turns out that NY Times is among the newspapers that are exploring the new electronic paper technology; Belgian Te Dijd started their test earlier this month. "The devices used by De Tijd, called the iLiad E-reader, are made by iRex Technologies, a spinoff of Royal Philips Electronics. Sony will introduce its version of an e-reader with the microcapsule technology later this year. The devices, which will be able to download books, newspapers and podcasts, are expected to cost about $400. While the devices may display only in grays, they are interesting enough to attract some advertising agencies to participate in the tests."
-- NY Times

Coupons Delivered Via TV

DRM Labs has developed Voupon iTV, an interactive system that lets TV watchers use and redeem coupons by using TV remote control. "When a consumer is watching an interactive commercial that offers a percent or dollar off discount Voupon for a specific product at a specific retailer, the consumer can accept the Voupon by using their remote. The Voupon gets attached to the consumer's registered credit card or inputs their credit card information at the time."
-- Promo Magazine

YouTube Looks for Ad Model

CNet writes that YouTube is trying to find a way to monetize all those sticky eyeballs they've got but isn't telling anyone what they've come up with so far. "A closely guarded secret at video-upload site YouTube is the company's plan to sell advertisements. The strategy is even cloaked in a code name."

In related news, NYTimes runs a similar article about MySpace. Mike Davidson says that two thirds of all MySpace's clicks are junk.

Color-Changing Concrete



"Chronos Chromos Concrete is a system that is able to dynamically display patterns, numbers and text in concrete surfaces."
-- via information aesthetics

Video Content to Put Strain on Infrastucture

Everybody seems to want to put something TV-like online, from Disney to magazines. Financial Times, however, warns that these live online video feeds will put strain on the Internet infrastructure and that the quality of the streaming video will be too low for the demanding audience. "Streaming video, which relies on delivering "bits" of data to viewers in real time, has exposed weaknesses in the fundamental design of the internet, which is based on being able to send data through a series of "hops" across the network between two distant computers."

Wonder how many will dare to put their stuff on BitTorrent. You lose control (as if anyone has control) but gain in quality and save on bandwidth bills.

Concept: Wi-Fi Billboards



This umbrella from Gizmodo has a handle that changes color based on weather forast the umbrella receives through a Wi-Fi network. I think that's where billboards may be heading. Billboards can be updated with new info depending on the context - weather, day time, traffic. Equipped with with motion sensors or face recognition thingies, they could feed real-time stats back to the propaganda headquarters. They could even pass info to each other. I wonder if this kind of tech already exist (Japan, maybe?). If you know of any, leave a comment or shoot an email.

Philips Patents Device That Blocks Ad Zapping

It looks like Philips was just awarded a patent for a device that would prevent "a viewer from switching from a channel when an advertisement is being displayed on the channel. A viewer may either watch the advertisements or pay a fee in order to be able to change channels or fast forward when the advertisements are being displayed." Check out the part that outlines background of the invention:

"This is undesirable for program broadcasters because the advertisements that are broadcast with the programs pay for the programs. The program broadcasters therefore have an interest in seeing that the advertisements are viewed and not ignored. There is therefore a need in the art for a video display system that is capable of preventing a viewer of a direct (non-recorded) broadcast from switching from a first channel to a second channel when an advertisement is displayed on the first channel. There is also a need in the art for a video display system that is capable of preventing a viewer of a recorded program from fast forwarding the recorded program in order to skip past advertisements that were recorded with the program."

Pure gold. They also have to patent microwave and bathroom blocking.

-- via New Scientist

In-Game Ad Market To Reach $732M by 2010

Yankee Group Sizes the In-Game Advertising Market Opportunity; Exponential Market Growth to Reach More than $700 Million by 2010

(press release)


BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2006--Yankee Group today revealed that the in-game advertising market is poised for explosive growth, garnering more than five times the current market value to reach $732 million by 2010. In a highly fragmented media environment, Yankee Group finds that video games present a promising window of opportunity as a growing advertising medium.

As television advertising loses its effectiveness, advertisers must reach a largely segmented audience with discerning tastes. According to the Yankee Group DecisionNote(SM), Video Games Are the Next Frontier for Advertisers, advertisers are finding greater value and return on investments from in-game advertising. In 2005, advertisers spent approximately $56 million placing ads in video games, up from $34 million in 2004. The market shows no signs of slowing. By year-end 2006, the number of games with in-game ads will more than double. Yankee Group anticipates approximately 200 games will contain in-game advertising, representing nearly all the major video game platforms.

As the market becomes more lucrative, it will have a significant impact on the business operations of video game publishers such as Activision, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. Although console-based in-game ad serving is dominated by independent in-game ad-serving networks today, Yankee Group predicts that Microsoft, Sony and Electronic Arts will bring in-game ad serving in-house and come to dominate this segment of the market.

"Although the in-game advertising market is still relatively untapped, its promising business model will lead to swift market development," said Yankee Group senior analyst Michael Goodman. "Effectively competing in the interactive gaming market for the video game and advertising communities requires careful attention to the intricacies of the industry."'


People (as listed in press release):

Michael Goodman, senior analyst
617-880-0317
mgoodman at yankeegroup.com

Christina Oh,
617-880-0238
coh at yankeegroup.com

In-Game Ad Market To Reach $432M by 2010

"Digital Ads Expected to Hit $23B by 2010"
Enid Burns, February 21, 2006, Clickz.com

"A new report from analyst firm Parks Associates forecasts across-the-board growth in digital media segments. New categories like in-game advertising and mobile will show the highest gains, according to the study, likely because they're starting from a lower base.

Emerging categories like rich media, in-game, and mobile advertising will show the most growth, according to the report. Internet rich-media ads are expected to experience a 31 percent compounded annual growth rate by 2010. The format will bring in an estimated $5.7 billion. In-game advertising will grow by at least 50 percent annually to $432 million. Advertising on a mobile platform is due to reach $2 billion."

Branded Coffins



"Fantasy coffins, meticulously detailed and modeled after objects of significance to the deceased, are an important aspect of the burial ritual, practiced by the Ga and other coastal Ghana communities."
-- Arts on the Point via Read Between the Ps

Earlier:

Promo Bag for Panadol Extra



Just wanted to add this wonderful bag to an earlier post on rethinking plastic bags.
-- via advertising's a bitch

Electronic Interactive Whiteboards Connected to Printer



Very cool. These whiteboard "panaboards" from Panasonic double as a projector screen, are equipped with an electronic pen to control Windows applications, and are hooked up to a printer so that all notes can be emailed or printed out automatically.
-- via Gadget Review

Idea: Live Advertising

Mark Cuban says TV commercials should go live again (like they were in the 1950s) because they would be more timely, better tied to the context in which the ad appears, and possible glitches would keep the audience glued to the screen. In Mark's words, "Would you ever fast forward through a commercial knowing that the next one could be a classic? Now those are commercials that would keep peoples attention. You would never know exactly what would happen. 30 seconds of fun." (via Adrants)

Back home, they used to have this late-night show were all sorts of people would come to the studio and advertise their wares and services on live TV, trying to out-crazy each other.

In related news, London theater has prepared a series of live ads that will be perfomed before the evening show of Steptoe And Son In Murder At Oil Drum Lane. It's not the first of the kind, though. (via Ad Land)

Display Embedded Into Bathroom Floor



This screen embedded into the stall floor is added to my growing collection of bathroom advertising tools, such as heat-activated urinal billboards or entire video games.
-- via AdRants

Earlier:
Bathroom Advertising Round-Up

Google Earth Becoming Advertising Tool

Adverblog has a post about how content providers and advertisers are discovering Google Earth as a platform to deliver their stories. And this AdAge article talks about how National Geographic is working with Google to add a new information layer to the application: Tim Armstrong, Google's VP-advertising, said: "Google Earth is something that has no specific plan right now for monetization and may never have that. But it's something that the ad community should be interested in because it's a wonderful opportunity."

Vestcom Puts Video Screens On Store Shelves

Chicago Tribune runs a profile of Vestcom, a company that makes promo in-store materials and is now developing mini displays that would sit on the shelves next to the price tags and show small video commercials. "Vestcom's video monitor, about 4 inches wide, will show 10-, 20- or 30-second commercials as well as an item's price. It's the next logical step after ceiling-mounted video displays and end-of-the-aisle kiosks promoting weekly or daily specials that have become commonplace in grocery and drugstore chains. Retailing experts say the concept is likely to work."
-- via AdJab

Earlier:

ShelfAds Show Context Videos, Collect Stats
E Ink: Digital Price Tags
More Price Tags on Electronic Paper
POP Displays on Electronic Paper

TiVo Experiments With New Advertising Models

Engadget points to a Business Week article about TiVo trying new ad models different from the banner that pops up in the fast-forward mode. For Sony Bravia next month, TiVo will offer ads with multiple endings, interactive fiction style, some targeted at men and others at women (the idea belongs to McKinney & Silver). "Sony is even hoping that by offering 12 possible endings for its ad, viewers will be curious enough to watch them all."

Earlier:

Coupons Delivered Through Custom RSS



Zixxo lets you subscribe to custom RSS feeds that deliver coupons for products in the categories that interest you (click on image to zoom in).

Disposable Audio Books




Playaway makes electronic books embedded into portable audio players that come with a set of headphones and cost $34 and up. Soon, the hardware will be cheap enough to lower the price to the level of paper versions and to make these devices suitable for airport vending machines. Or could advertising supported versions be on their way? How low can the hardware prices drop? PSKF found this MP3 player with swappable memory cards going for $9.

Earlier:
Bible Preloaded on USB Drive plus a bunch of links to related posts.

3-D Refreshing Advert Blast Installation



"The 3D Refreshing Advert Blast was part of my degree show at the Glasgow School of Art (June 2005) where it had the title, "Taste Life." The piece is made up of five 8ft x 4ft prints, covering the walls of a booth 8ft x 16ft x 4ft, the ceiling is a sheet of glass. Above the glass, positioned around the booth are four 500W halogen lamps. This results in the booth becoming quite hot and uncomfortable during the course of the day. The entrance is a black cloth which also hides the speakers that blare out an unrelenting montage of advertising slogans and sounds."
-- darren

Earlier:
Anaglyph Print Ads
Rant: "Medium 3D" Sucked
Painted Pseudo-3D Ads
T-Shirts with 3D Prints

Movie Screening to Be Enhanced With Scents



A Japanese cinema will show "The New World" enhanced with "smellovision". "Seven smells will be emitted by machines placed under seats at the back of the theatre, depending on what kind of scene is playing during the film at the time. Love scenes will be accompanied by a floral scent, while a peppermint and rosemary smell will waft through the cinema during emotional sequences."
-- Contact Music

keywords: smelly, scent

Study: Ad Spending On User-Generated Media To Reach $50M in 2006

"Advertising spending on user-generated online media - blogs, podcasts and RSS - did not begin until 2002, but this combined spending has grown to $20.4 million by the end or 2005, a 198.4% increase over the 2004 level. Spending on blog, podcast and RSS advertising is projected to climb another 144.9% in 2006 to $49.8 million."
-- Center for Media Research

Cingular Identifies Music



Dying to know the name of that cool tune on the radio? Dial #43 on your Cingular phone, hold the phone up to the speaker, and the company will text you the name of the piece you have trouble identifying. All for $0.99. Wonder if it works with commercials.
-- Cingular MusicID

Update [April 13, 2006]: Anonymous Graphic Designer says: "You've been able to do this in the UK for about 2 years now. The service is called Shazam and you get it by dialing 2580 on your mobile, or the keys that go straight down the middle on your mobile. It's a brilliant service and it works well."

Collection of Trademarked Sounds

The kids section of the US Patent and Trademark office has a wonderful collection of trademarked sounds, from the Southwest Airlines' "Ding" to Pillsbury's "childlike human giggle", all ripe for being converted into ringtones.

Podcasts Fall on Deaf Ear

Not only no one listens to podcasts on iPods, it seems that almost no one listens to them at all. Forrester says, "Our survey showed that only 1% of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts."

Web Game About Shifting Advertising Paradigms



It took me forever to come up with this post's title. "Young Guns vs Old Ones" is a small webgame where you play a role of five hot "new media" agencies trying to get through the block and kill the old guard by throwing media at them. Bizarre, I know. The coolest thing is that you can put your own ad on that poster you see on the screengrab.

If you liked it, check out Creative Bushido, an advertising strategy game by Yomiko Advertising.

Rethinking Fishwrap

I planned a more detailed post -- maybe something like "Rethinking Print Advertising" that proved so popular -- but finding innovative paper wrapping proved more difficult, so I will be updating this over time. For now, here are some ideas on having your merchandise make a more interesting first impression. If you have some tips, please send them in.

You can make your wrapping paper more controversial by placing kissing angels on the outside...

source: Adrants

... or images of naked people inside.



You can have your paper targeted at a specific audience (in this case, geeks)...

source: ThinkGeek

... or have your customers' pictures on it.

source: Picture Paper

I love this meatwrap ad for Fissler Pans...

source: Advertka

... and this wrapped ad for MINI.

source: Advertka

Measuring Ad Audience Via Cell Phones

Wall Street Journal: "Integrated Media Measurement is using specially adapted cellphones to measure what consumers listen to and see. The company has developed software that helps the phones take samples of nearby sounds, which are identified by comparing them against a database. The technology can track exposure to CDs, DVDs, videogames, sporting events, audio and video on portable gadgets and movies in theaters."

Nielsen Releases Data On DVR Ad Viewing

I am not really sure what to make of this article in Media Post, so here's a direct quote:

"An analysis of the so-called "commercial ratings" obtained by MediaDailyNews reveals that virtually no one stops to view a commercial when watching a program in time-shifted mode. For top network programs, the data reveals that "commercial ratings" are practically the same when shows are viewed "live" as when they are viewed via DVRs ("live plus seven day"), meaning that people are making good use of the fast-forward functions during the ads. While the [Nielsen's] data is not actually ratings for specific commericals, it provides the average audience for each minute--including minutes with ads in them--and is being used as a proxy for commerical ratings."

Now, the article, Ad Jab and Lost Remote all say this means nobody (well, less than 1 percent) is watching commercials in the DVR mode, but I am having a hard time following the logic. Could it be that no one is watching not only the commercials but also the shows that they have sitting on their hard drives? I guess the study itself has a more detailed breakdown, but the Media Post's piece raises more questions than it answers. Or maybe I haven't woken up yet; I'm leaving the comments open in case you have an explanation.

ReacTV to Launch Interactive TV Channel



ReacTV is scheduled to launch on July 16th, 2006 and will become an all-game show network that allows viewers to play along with the programs without the expensive set-top boxes. ReacTV will be simulcasting live shows and live ad pods on both TV and the Internet and allowing viewers to "react" to both media, "in the former through cell phones or a special ReacTV remote, and in the latter through a normal point-and-click interface." Love the idea of a remote with a screen - it turns the dreaded ad zapper into ad pusher. See this earlier post about advertising on remote control. Future is bright again.
-- media post

Nano-Advertising with Insects



National Geographic: "An entry in a German science-photo competition, this image shows a fly sporting a set of "designer" lenses crafted and set in place with a cutting-edge laser technique. The glasses fit snuggly on the fly's 0.08-inch-wide (2-millimeter-wide) head."

I am imagining white-robed ad scientists unleashing swarms of flies sporting branded goodies as the ultimate form of "pervasive marketing."

Earlier:
Advertising on Leaves
Advertising on Bugs
Advertising on Eggs

Sony's E-Book Reader to Hit Borders Stores



"Sony Electronics and Borders announced an agreement to make the Sony Reader - an innovative reading device for e-books and text documents - available through about 200 Borders stores nationwide. Roughly the size of a paperback novel, but thinner than most (about .5 inches thin), the device can store hundreds of books and other documents using a combination of internal flash memory and optional Memory Stick® or Secure Digital (SD) flash memory cards." The device also plays MP3 files.
-- press release via i4u

Please, please make them under $200.

Earlier:
Advertising in Books Comes to the US
Advertising in Books

So Much for the Giant iPod



Did you like the "giant iPod seen from the Moon" story as much as I did? Oh well.

Flashback: Distributing Console Games Via Phone



Just stumbled across this old ad while digging up stuff for my thesis. Gameline was a service that distributed video games to consoles hooked up to phone lines and was compatible with all major consoles at the time. And no, "major" back then didn't mean Playstation or Nintendo. We are talking about Intellivision, ColecoVision and Atari VCS. Must be very early 1980s. Click on the image to enlarge.

-- the original file