The Reach - Podcasting and other Portable Media Strategies

Wow, it’s been a while again.  For those of you that read this blog from time to time, I apologize.  It’s been a bit of a whirlwhind.

I’ve started a new project, which has put me on an around-the-world trip, starting in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.  We are touring factories of MP4 players, whether flash-based or HDD-based.  Flash capacity for most manufacturers in Shenzhen has increased dramatically, but not yet to the capacity of the iPod Nanos.  For example, the highest capacity I have found that someone will sell me is 4GB, with an SD card slot for an additional 4GB.

HDD based manufacturers are able to support easily 20GB, and some 40-60GB.  We have one supplier now that can support up to a 120GB HDD Media Player.  That will hold a lot of music, movies, training, education, etc.  That’s bigger than the HDD on my notebook I’m writing this post on!!

6 factories in 4 days.  Considering Shenzhen has about 10 million people in the city, that’s a lot of traffic to navigate, my friends.  And, we’ve collected “city” coffee mugs from some of the many Starbucks in Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Next stop, Dubai.   Then on to London.  Then home (Dallas).  17 days; 25,000 miles (give or take a few); 4 major cultural groups, 4 languages; Starbucks, McDonalds, Chili’s, Pizza Hut, KFC - they’re everywhere and the same.

Well, after spending 10 days working 14-15 hour days in other countries, Thailand was somewhat of a relief. We still worked hard, but the combination of it being a more western city of Chiang Mai (very tourist oriented) and traditional business meetings made it seem a bit more like home. Include with it 90-100 F temperatures, and it felt like Dallas in the summer time - except for that it hit 100% humidity at times as well, without much rain.

Chiang Mai is in the northern reaches of Thailand, surrounded by beautiful mountains. It’s hot in the valley, cool in the mountains. Many westerners visit this city of 400,000 and those that have visited can usually figure out a way to retire here. While I’ve never lived outside the U.S., it seems that this could be one of the easiest places with which to adjust. Meaning that if you want traditional Thai food and the Thai experience, you’re on. If you want McDonald’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, et, you’re in business too. It is as inexpensive to live or as expensive. Bed and Breakfast - queensize bed, AC, garden, etc, try out Riverside House on Chiang Mai Lamphun Road for $15 nightly. Or you can find a 4 or 5 star hotel within walking distance. Your choice.
Enough English is spoken that low brow westerners like me can feel right at home. There are many educators and business people in the city that are western, so while they’re still a minority, there are enough to where you wouldn’t feel far from home.

We had great business meetings and were very encouraged by the response - there were many people who wanted to help us get a greater foothold for podcasting in SE Asia. Since there are many countries near Northern Thailand, it makes distributing audio and video content very easy in that geography.

Again, there is a podcast on The Media Swamp that I did while sitting on the patio at one of the four Starbucks on a busy corner in Chiang Mai.