The Hazards of Blogging about Technology

Before finishing my post about Variety’s new-ish blog, Technotainment (c. Feb 2009, “covers digital media, technology and gadgets from the Hollywood angle”), I read its most recent post. Needless to say, I have scratched that entry which would have touted the blog’s relevance and poignancy at a time when print media is lagging while simultaneously revealing my naïve, preemptive judgment.

The author fails at a couple duties of technoblogging in Hollywood:

1) A technology blog from a major news source like Variety should not tell me things I read about 5 days ago using free, well-known, technological tools. In this case, Twitter.

2) Hollywood = Movies. Movies = Production + Distribution + Exhibition. Distribution is changing dramatically – one doesn’t need to be a technoblogger to know this. However, if one is keeping up with trends in technology as they relate to Hollywood, this news should not come as a shock.

The author claims that the lack of advertising for the availability to rent Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, The Girlfriend Experience, on Amazon.com is a mistake on the part of the distributors, Magnolia Films [sic]. Matt Dentler had already made it clear in a comment that this is something Magnolia Pictures has done in the past and that the advertisements mention the VOD availability. But what he didn’t mention was that the star, Sasha Grey, had tweeted about it on April 30th – the day it became available. So I did it. I posted my first (ever) comment on a blog belonging to someone I have never met. I stated that in addition to distribution platforms, publicity and advertising platforms are changing too (duh).

Personally, the strangest part of the experience was that my shyness revealed itself in my shaky fingertips. My anxiety was not diminished by the fact that the comment was made in cyberspace and not at a Q & A or cocktail party.