WEBVTT - SXSW Interactive 2011 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:18.200 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.680 Welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poett, and 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:23.599 I'm an editor at how stuff works dot com and 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.440 sitting across from me as always a senior writer, Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.640 All my exes live in Texas. That's why I hang 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:36.000 my hat in Tennessee. Nice. It took me a while 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:39.000 to pull that one up ollow my memory. So today 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.320 we're going west, yes, and a little south Yes. South 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:48.559 By Southwest. Yeah, it's um, it's funny. Uh, you know, 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:52.360 it's a big thing now. Yeah, it's a huge thing now. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:59.880 So south By Southwest is this amazing, bizarre, insane crow 0:01:00.000 --> 0:01:04.400 ow did awesome conference that takes place in Austin, Texas, 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.520 the main one, anyway, you'll see little little satellite south 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:11.040 By Southwest events happen in other places, but the big 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.720 one happens in Austin. And it actually started out back 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:20.360 in seven as the south By Southwest Music Conference. Yes, 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.160 actually my band played south By Southwest in two thousand 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.080 and four. Is the last time that I was actually 0:01:27.120 --> 0:01:30.800 there and um, yeah, actually at one point there were 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.839 a series of events. Uh there was north By Northwest 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.040 and north By Northeast, which the latter I think is 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:42.240 still going. Um and uh yeah at the time, I 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.120 can tell you, and it's not the main focus, but 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.680 you know, it's it's it was all kinds of bands 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:52.840 representing all kinds of music. Basically. It lots of little establishments, clubs, 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:55.640 bars and things like that. And um, the idea that 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.360 you were an indie musician at south By Southwest in 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:01.680 the early two thousand's, I mean, of course it's that 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.400 was almost twenty years in. Is the music conference that 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.360 was a pretty big thing. We were really excited to 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.400 have the opportunity to play. Yeah, I mean, independent bands 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.600 would use this as an opportunity to get to get 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.560 out there, to get seen by new fans, to possibly 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.160 get picked up by a record label, even because he 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:20.960 had record label executives going to these conferences to see 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.200 which bands were hot, which ones got got really good 0:02:24.200 --> 0:02:28.440 fan reaction, which ones might be a good investment from 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.320 a record label standpoint, Even if small record labels as 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.600 well as big ones would go to south By Southwest 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:37.040 and check out the acts there, and uh, you know 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:38.760 that was the whole real purpose of it. I mean, 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:43.000 Austin has always been known as a live music town. Yeah, 0:02:43.520 --> 0:02:46.480 because you've got the University of Texas there. Yes, um 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:50.560 ghost sooners. Just kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Please don't 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.440 come after me, long horns. I love you, I love you. 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:56.640 I think I think the phrase you were looking for 0:02:56.760 --> 0:03:01.040 was hookum horns, go a and m anyway there, just 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:04.040 asking for trouble, you know, And if you want to 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:06.760 get at me, just say go yellow jackets. So so, 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:09.840 Austin is a is definitely a college town. There are 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.000 lots and lots of students there at the University of 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.320 Texas and it's a great place to uh you know, 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:16.359 they like to go out for entertainment and do all 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.400 kinds of hanging out. So it was a good place 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:21.480 to go see live music. I'm sure quite a few 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.040 of them are in bands. Uh. Texas is known for 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.919 its music programs. I think Austin, Texas shares a lot 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.079 with Athens, Georgia, which is where I went to college. 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.520 And Athens, Georgia also has a very lively live music scene. 0:03:33.560 --> 0:03:36.280 And it was a joke at least among me and 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.200 my friends that if you attended the University of Georgia, 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.040 you are either in a band, you were good friends 0:03:42.040 --> 0:03:43.920 with someone who was in a band, or you roomed 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:46.840 with someone who is in a band. Yeah, so you 0:03:46.840 --> 0:03:49.160 were you were. You were at most a degree of 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.720 separation away from a band. And when I say band, 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:54.800 I mean a group of people who would get together 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:57.720 at generally the same time and generally play music instruments 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.600 and generally the same way. You have to be really 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:04.760 loose with your definition. But uh yeah, so yeah, you 0:04:04.800 --> 0:04:07.480 had all these great venues. You had the culture in 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.440 in Texas that Austin has this great kind of unofficial 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:14.600 motto I guess it's technically official now called keep it Weird. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.400 Where they got this kind of wacky weird sense that 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.760 you've got the improv everywhere. Guys coming out of the 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:23.160 University of Texas, I mean they're brilliant. Um well, I 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.039 mean college towns are are often known for the you know, 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:29.960 sort of counterculture thing where all kinds you have people 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.240 with all kinds of different interests and people who are 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:37.039 uh learning more about themselves and so they try try 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.920 on different hats, so to speak. But Yeah, it's a 0:04:40.000 --> 0:04:41.800 it's a great place to go see a show, great 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.920 place to get something to eat. Yeah, the food there 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.200 so but but we were saying, you know, it's not 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:52.040 just it's not just music. But started to become attracted 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.839 to this conference and and because there were some companies 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.560 in Austin that uh, that we're in the technology space 0:04:59.800 --> 0:05:01.920 and and you you've got a lot of cross over here. 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:04.280 I mean, not everyone. You you know, we can't just 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:08.320 easily define people into a simple category like this is 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.279 a musician, this is an engineer, this is you know, 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:15.479 a film producer, because a lot of these people have 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.040 interests that go across those boundaries. Yeah, we had, uh, 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:21.720 you know, in the in the nineties and the two thousands, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:26.680 there were lots of kids who were getting into technology. Um, 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:30.200 you know. Plus, you know, you have the big companies relocating, 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:31.839 as we were talking about Dell and and some of 0:05:31.839 --> 0:05:35.400 the places who opened shop. There are a lot of 0:05:35.480 --> 0:05:38.160 a lot of software companies. A lot of game companies 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:40.880 were out of Austin up so tragically many of those 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:45.080 have closed since then. But during the big computer game boom, 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.120 there were a lot of offices that opened out in 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.520 Austin that led the people who who managed south By 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.280 Southwest to expand the conference to to be more than 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.960 just music, to be a film and technology as well. Yeah, 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.640 was the first year where they officially created the the 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.640 south By Southwest Film and Multi Media Conference. Uh. Now, 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:07.480 at that time it still was that that was you know, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:10.080 the earliest years of it. By a few years later 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:14.520 and they actually had three tracks of programming, which was 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.000 south By Southwest Music, south By Southwest Film, and the 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:22.560 new south By Southwest Interactive and interactive is pretty much 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:27.120 all things technology computer mobile, although at that time in 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.920 mobile was still a few several years off, you know, 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:35.000 people were just using cell phones, not not smartphones. Yeah. 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:38.240 And and let me tell you that that uh, you know, 0:06:38.360 --> 0:06:40.599 south By Southwest over the past few years has become 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:45.000 a really big thing for the technology sector. But um, 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:50.440 even a few years after, uh, after its expansion into 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.680 the interactive front, UM, I could tell you that when 0:06:53.680 --> 0:06:56.000 my band played there, Now, I wasn't admittedly I was, 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:59.320 I wasn't a tech journalist at that point. Um, but 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.160 the inter active side, while I was sort of interested 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.680 and wanted to go it was it seemed more closed 0:07:05.680 --> 0:07:09.200 off to me. It wasn't really uh nearly as big 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.240 a thing in two thousand four when I went as 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.280 it is now in two thousand and eleven. UM, And 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:19.120 I'm not quite sure exactly what happened with that. I mean, 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.400 there are there are some things that we can point to, 0:07:21.640 --> 0:07:23.040 uh and I'm sure we'll get to this in just 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:28.200 a minute. But UM, I'm not certain exactly why south 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.840 By Southwest took off, other than the fact that it's 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.520 a really cool place to be. You know, you have 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:37.240 I don't know, I has to use the word competition. 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:42.960 You think about Macworld and uh, you know E three 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.400 UM and the C E S conferences and in places 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.600 like that and UM C T I A and places 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.560 where you would also go look for technology. UM. But 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:56.960 they're not the same. They don't have the same vibe 0:07:57.000 --> 0:07:59.720 that south By Southwest has. Yes, south By Southwest and 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.080 world the conference is all about sharing information, right, and 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:06.960 sharing knowledge and and kind of looking ahead at what 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:10.120 where technology is going and how to take advantage of that. 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.120 We do have to remember that chiefly south By Southwest 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.840 is a conference. There are kind of two worlds that 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.760 go on at a south By Southwest. Yes, there are, right, 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.200 You've got your world of conference. Whi's got all the 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:23.920 panels and the discussions, and you've got these really smart 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:27.440 people all getting together and really talking about what makes 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:30.640 people tick, what makes technology tick, where the two intersect 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:32.600 and the best way to take advantage of it. Yeah, 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:35.080 it's it's it's at two pm down there and at 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:37.240 the hall and go check it out. And that's when 0:08:37.280 --> 0:08:38.920 and where it's going to happen. And it'll be a 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:43.160 panel discussion with some Sometimes these panel discussions have really 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.840 I mean big movers and shakers in the technology world. 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:50.360 We're talking about folks like Zuckerberg has been speakers at 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:55.960 south By Southwest Rights founder of founder of Facebook. All right, 0:08:56.480 --> 0:09:00.440 were you like the alleged founder of I saw this 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:05.120 documentary anyway, I believe him to be the founder, but 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:08.160 others disagree. Founder of Facebook, the tesla is the inventor 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:11.000 of radio, founder of Facebook, and the uh so, yeah, 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.840 there you've got. You've got that world. But then you 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.880 have the other world that happens at south By Southwest, 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:20.240 which is their vampires and werewolves. It depends on what 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:23.440 part of Austin you're in. Their vats. Austin's got a 0:09:23.440 --> 0:09:26.360 lot of bats. There are bats. I recommend going to 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.839 see the Bridge with the Bats. Yes, that's that's kind 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:30.720 of fun. My wife, my wife and I went and 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:32.760 saw it, and my wife said that was the one 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:36.000 and only time she ever has to do that. But 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.360 it's cool. It is cool. She was not a big fan. 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:42.400 But yeah. The the other world is the party world, 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:45.720 the world in which people are getting together to schmooze 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.280 and kind of network and hobnob and they're hanging out 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.400 at various parties. UM south By Southwest has actually gotten 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.600 some criticism about this because the party scene has really 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:59.199 exploded over the last few years, particularly once Interactive really 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:01.840 started getting big. Becau you suddenly all these these guys, 0:10:01.880 --> 0:10:04.960 these young guys and women, these young people, i should say, 0:10:05.120 --> 0:10:08.040 these young people who have a big influx of money, 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:11.360 often from venture capital, and they're trying to get noticed, 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:15.080 and they're throwing extravagant parties and they're hosting food trucks 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:17.320 where you can get free food from them, and which 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.560 is always a great way of of getting a bunch 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:21.600 of people to really be happy about your products, at 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:25.600 least for the you know, a five minute segment of time. UM. 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:29.520 And there's some criticism being directed that it's taking focus 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:34.400 away from the whole thinking about technology and people element 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:38.719 of the conference. The parties are overshadowing it um But 0:10:38.920 --> 0:10:40.720 at the same time, the parties are a way for 0:10:40.800 --> 0:10:44.920 you to actually meet with other people who are launching products. 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:48.880 There may be potential partnerships you can strike up at 0:10:48.880 --> 0:10:51.240 these meetings, or you can meet people who are actual 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:55.720 users and get real time feedback from people saying, you know, 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:57.920 I tried using your app and I think it's a 0:10:57.960 --> 0:11:01.280 great idea, but it's you know, I really wanted to 0:11:01.320 --> 0:11:04.080 do this with it and it doesn't let me. And 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:06.280 the kind of the person who've developed the app might say, 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.360 oh my gosh, you're right, that's brilliant. I don't know 0:11:09.400 --> 0:11:11.120 why we didn't build that in. We will. I am 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:12.599 going to make a note and we are going to 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:15.000 build that into the next version, and who knows, that 0:11:15.120 --> 0:11:18.480 might be the thing that makes that particular app take 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.319 off in the market. So it's a really valuable part 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.640 of the conference experience, but again it's kind of started 0:11:25.640 --> 0:11:28.439 to overshadow the actual conference. There are people who will 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:32.160 tell you, because I've talked to them, that you don't 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.520 need to get a badge to go to this conference. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:37.960 This conference is not just it's open to the public, 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.280 but you have to pay to go, and it's expensive. 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:45.320 A badge to this conference. We're talking over a thousand dollars, 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:48.320 depending upon the level of access you want and and 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.680 how many of the tracks of programming you want access to. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:53.240 Because it's just interactive, it's going to be a different 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:59.360 amount than if you want pass to the entire conference. So, uh, 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.319 the thing about the parties is you don't necessarily have 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.280 to have a badge to go to those. So there 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:05.640 are a lot of people who go to south By 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.560 Southwest who are not actually attending the conference. They're just 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:11.559 going to all the other satellite events around the city. 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.640 I was one of those, in the interest of full 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:20.320 disclosure for for south By Southwest eleven. Well, Caroline McCarthy 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:23.800 at sen basically, by the way, the day we're recording this, 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.720 which is May six, two thou eleven, is her last 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.880 day at Senet. Really, Caroline's leaving Senet today. That's terrible. 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:35.400 She's a great reporter. She's moving on to Google. Okay, okay, 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.319 so we'll see more, yes we will. But she wrote 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.880 a piece and I want to talk about the main 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:44.160 thread of that in a moment, but um, she was 0:12:44.440 --> 0:12:48.240 she actually traced it back. It was Twitter, yep in 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:53.280 two thousand seven, which is when Capital E everything, Capital 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:56.800 C change. Yeah. One of the things we see of 0:12:56.800 --> 0:13:02.680 south By Southwest especially recently is that companies that especially 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.640 social companies, companies that depend upon some sort of social 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:10.520 media or social push or social element in their their service, 0:13:11.559 --> 0:13:14.679 they use south By Southwest as kind of a launching point. 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.680 It's not an official launch, but it's a good way 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:19.720 to get some of the movers and shakers and technology 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.640 interested in your product. If you can get them using 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:25.760 it and and talking about it, then their word of 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:30.439 mouth is worth millions in advertising dollars. Well. Yeah, and 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:33.480 if you think about it, it's exactly where the Music 0:13:33.559 --> 0:13:37.000 Conference was when it started. It's it's a place where 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:43.640 people go to discover stuff, be discover stuff, and be discovered. Um. 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:47.839 And apparently it was Twitter in two thousand seven that 0:13:47.960 --> 0:13:51.439 decided to basically use south By Southwest and it's as 0:13:51.480 --> 0:13:54.880 it's coming out party. Hey we're here, check this out. 0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:59.640 You can catch up with everybody with your smartphone. Again. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:03.400 Art phones around two thousand seven were starting to become 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.520 a consumer thing and suddenly it's the same year of 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:11.800 the iPhone, and that's when things started getting crazy. And 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:17.280 the main focus of uh, Caroline's article was you know, 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.560 people who are of the old timers, if you will, 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.720 who are used to Hey, I got a booth at 0:14:23.720 --> 0:14:26.960 the conference. We gave out some t shirts and key 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:30.280 chains and talked to some people, uh, you know the 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.920 people and looking back on it, that's the way it was. 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:36.280 But now people are dressing up in costumes and walking 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:40.200 down the street. There are are mobile people in vans 0:14:40.200 --> 0:14:42.640 and cars who drive around until they find a group 0:14:42.640 --> 0:14:46.120 of people then you know, basically make a sales pitch 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:47.480 to them out in the middle of the street. And 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:51.840 just all kinds of weird guerrilla marketing tactics that are 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:55.040 there for companies that are launching or or trying to 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:58.040 gain market share. There's even established companies that will use us. 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:02.280 Like Chevy did this at eleven. They had a really 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:07.520 clever a pair of really clever tactics. One was to 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:12.040 promote the Vault. They gave free rides around Austin, so 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.360 you could hop into an official Chevy Vault and be 0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:17.440 taken to a different part of Austin. Now, the important 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:18.960 part of that is being able to recognize a Chevy 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.600 Vault and not jumping into some random person's car that 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:24.400 is then your car, jacking that and and and getting 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.720 back Yeah, and then however are but they also had 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:31.440 also had they also had mobile charging stations for you 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:34.640 to charge your electronics. I saw that from a few companies. 0:15:34.640 --> 0:15:37.760 A few companies had these. Uh. Either you would go 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.200 to a specific place and you could plug your device 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.280 in and have it charged while you are hanging out 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:44.760 and chatting with people. Or they would have people walking 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:48.720 around with essentially battery packs on backpacks and you could 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:53.440 plug into them and and recharge your device while they 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:56.200 gave you, you know, a pitch about whatever the product was. Um. 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.880 So that was a very clever way of doing it. Yeah, 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:01.640 and uh, it's a lot of companies have been taking 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:04.840 advantage of that. Meanwhile, the conference is still going. Don't 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:07.200 don't ignore that. I mean, there were some interesting panels, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.400 especially in this past year, like, um, here's one beyond 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.240 the check in location and the social web. So one 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.280 of the big things to come out of both South 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:22.560 by Southwest and apps in general is this whole idea 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:25.400 of location check in which you could argue was really 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:29.240 kind of champion by four Square, which four Square had 0:16:29.280 --> 0:16:31.400 a big launch it south By Southwest in the in 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:33.680 the past, and that's kind of where it first got 0:16:33.720 --> 0:16:35.840 that big word of mouth. I mean, the service had 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:38.680 been active already, but it really started to hit the 0:16:38.680 --> 0:16:42.320 ground running at south By Southwest a few years ago. Uh. 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:46.560 But the panel here was talking about how do you 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:51.120 add value to checking into a location? Because just checking 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.760 into a location is you know, you're a lerning your 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:56.080 friends where you are, which can be cool, but if 0:16:56.160 --> 0:16:59.160 if you want to have your apps stand apart from others, 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.120 you have to find ways to partner with companies so 0:17:02.160 --> 0:17:07.040 that you create reward systems for checking in. So it's 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:11.400 it's giving people a chance to think beyond just how 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:14.359 do I achieve this technologically, to how do I achieve 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:18.240 this in a way that's a sustainable business model, you know. 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.960 And it's really that element of south By Southwest is 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.479 invaluable to people who are launching a product, not just 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:26.400 to get the word of mouth, but really to get 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.200 the perspective of people who have tread this path already, 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.919 who kind of know, you know, the pitfalls that are ahead, 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.880 to build their knowledge and say, oh, you know what, 0:17:37.359 --> 0:17:40.120 we can learn a lesson from this person's experience. We 0:17:40.200 --> 0:17:42.960 can we can do the things that that helped this 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.439 person succeed and avoid the things that set this person 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:50.600 back and uh and implement that into our service, and 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:52.840 then we have a better chance for success. It's still 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:56.120 not a guarantee, of course, because I mean the public's fickle, right. 0:17:56.600 --> 0:18:00.879 There are how many how many different versions of of 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.080 Twitter we're there? I mean besides Twitter that you know, 0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:09.120 you had other uh short messaging service type um uh 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:11.920 projects out there, and really Twitter is the only one 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.720 that has has had any true success, and even Twitter 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:19.360 has had a problem making money off of that. So, 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.040 like I said, it's not a guarantee for success, but 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:24.560 it does help you out. But I mean there's everything 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:29.000 like learning about user interface design and what kind of 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.680 interfaces appealed to users and which ones don't appeal to users. 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:36.640 And sometimes there's a psychological element in there, like why 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:41.240 do people prefer prefer one method of input over another? 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:46.160 What's holding people back from doing more voice recognition apps? 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:48.879 Or is there anything holding people back? Is it? Is 0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:51.640 it a technology thing? Is it a user thing? These 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:53.680 are the sort of discussions that go on at south 0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:57.640 By Southwest that are very important from a development standpoint. Yeah, 0:18:57.640 --> 0:19:01.119 they're they're very high level. Yeah, because it's very conceptual. Right, 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:02.919 it might not be the sort of thing that the 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.760 general public wants to sit in and watch unless you're 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.240 just interested in the subject. But it's not like you're 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.840 going to go to one of these panels then walk 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:14.800 out saying, you know, um, uh well, I'm glad I 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:17.040 went there. I can I can use this information in 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:18.879 the future. You may not have any real use for it. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.040 You might have more insight, which to me is almost 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.160 as valuable. But not No, that's not the case for everybody. 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:26.880 Other people might say I could have gone and had 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:31.320 a taco well there, and you know it's also Austin 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.320 is also used as a stomping ground for new technology 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:39.000 before it really becomes big. I mean, Twitter's one example. Uh. 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:40.800 You know what I found in doing research for the 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.199 podcast that in two thousand and ten, um, there were 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.520 QR codes. PC World actually had an article about the 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.080 the QR codes that were popping up everywhere in the city. Um, 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:55.240 and this was I mean, it's they're not even really common. 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:59.040 We just did a podcast on QR codes and how 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:02.680 uh and Pan. They've been old hat for quite some time. 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:05.199 But uh, here in the United States, they're still not 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:08.800 widely widely used. A lot of people don't know what 0:20:08.880 --> 0:20:11.000 they are. They just see him as those funny looking 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:14.120 black and white boxes. They're popping up more frequently than 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.240 than a couple of years ago. I mean, I've seen 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:20.679 them on advertisements the train system here in Atlanta. But 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:22.920 but they're still not you know, at that that point 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:24.560 that was, you know, a year and a half ago, 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:29.040 they still weren't widely used. Um, but you know, the 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:31.560 flavor of the conference really is changing, and it's being 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:35.000 noticed by far greater I mean you mentioned Chevy. I 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.639 think the other big name this year was Apple and 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:42.400 the sudden appearance of the Apple store out of nowhere, 0:20:42.600 --> 0:20:46.639 right yeah, in Austin. I think Austin has and folks 0:20:46.640 --> 0:20:48.640 in Austin you can correct me if I'm wrong. Once 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.280 you're done yelling at me for yelling ghost Senners and 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:53.600 go a and m um, you can yell me for 0:20:53.640 --> 0:20:55.040 being wrong if I'm If I'm wrong about this, but 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:58.399 I believe there are two Apple stores in the general 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:01.480 Austin area and I there of which are convenient to 0:21:01.560 --> 0:21:06.160 downtown and the first day of the south by Southwest 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:10.520 Conference Interactive Conference of happened to fall on the same 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:15.479 day as the iPad to launch. So here's Apple saying, hey, 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:19.240 look are key demographic the people who are most likely 0:21:19.320 --> 0:21:21.680 to adopt our technology as soon as it comes out 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:27.240 are converging on Austin. Uh this day, And we could 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:30.080 get some good PR and make a lot of sales 0:21:30.200 --> 0:21:34.120 if we just created a temporary store in the downtown 0:21:34.160 --> 0:21:37.400 Austin area to cater to this crowd. And so they did, 0:21:38.160 --> 0:21:41.160 and uh and the line for this place was really impressive. 0:21:41.200 --> 0:21:43.560 I was actually there. I was watching, uh this Weekend 0:21:43.560 --> 0:21:47.560 Tech cover the line. So Brian Brushwood, Jason Howell, a 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:49.920 couple of other people were out there kind of interviewing 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:52.439 folks in line. My wife got in line. She actually 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:56.359 bought one of the iPad two's from the temporary Apple 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:59.800 store in Austin. And uh, yeah, it was. It was. 0:21:59.840 --> 0:22:02.760 It was like a party atmosphere. And that was exactly 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:04.440 the right move for Apple as far as a PR 0:22:04.560 --> 0:22:08.760 move is concerned, because it it was catering to their 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:13.800