Louisiana Internet Software & Technology Association Blog

High-tech Firm's Dallas and San Diego Operations Relocate To Baton Rouge

Erich Rapp — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:07:31 -0600

Today, Gov. Bobby Jindal joined the executive team of TraceSecurity Inc. to announce the relocation of two of the company's key operating divisions, software development and national sales, from Dallas and San Diego to Baton Rouge. The relocation creates 15 new, direct Louisiana jobs with average annual salaries exceeding $50,000, plus benefits, for a total of approximately 50 jobs in Baton Rouge. Additionally, the company plans to add more than 30 jobs over the next two years. TraceSecurity's workforce in Baton Rouge is more than doubling within two years as a result of the relocations and planned expansion.

"Today's announcement is yet another example of the success we've had attracting business investment and jobs to Louisiana from other states," said Gov. Jindal. "Indeed, this announcement is another victory in our mission to attract more jobs into Baton Rouge and Louisiana and reverse the decades-long trend of jobs leaving our state.

"Since early 2008, leading companies have announced moves of their headquarters or other significant operations to Louisiana from a wide variety of states, including California, Georgia, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, Oregon and now Texas, as well. TraceSecurity's relocation will result in additional high-tech job opportunities, help Baton Rouge's digital industry continue to grow, further strengthen our economy and, most importantly, help keep our sons and daughters right here in Louisiana."

"We have noticed a much greater willingness of people moving to Baton Rouge in the last couple years than we did before," said TraceSecurity President & CEO Peter Stewart. "Part of it is that our local economy is doing much better than the national economy, but another part is that our state image has improved dramatically in the last couple years. The Electronic Arts win in 2008 was particularly helpful in improving the credibility of Baton Rouge as a high-tech jobs market."

Recent changes to the state's digital media tax credit program, supported by Gov. Jindal and adopted by the Legislature, expanded program eligibility to include a broader array of software development firms. For the first time, TraceSecurity Inc. expects to make use of the program. Previously the company used the state's Quality Jobs Program.

"The assistance offered through these programs by Louisiana Economic Development clearly played a role in our decision to relocate our Texas and California operations back to Louisiana," added Stewart.

"Economic predictions for 2010 indicated that Louisiana will continue to gain jobs," said Mayor-President Melvin L. "Kip" Holden. "The announcement today is proof that these predications are on target. We are happy that TraceSecurity Inc. is expanding its Baton Rouge operation. Baton Rouge can compete with any city in the nation. Companies like TraceSecurity Inc. continue to put a spotlight on our great state and this great city."

Key considerations that led to TraceSecurity's relocation included the ability to recruit and retain quality staff, support received from Louisiana State University and Southern University on workforce development issues, economic development incentives and Baton Rouge's competitive operating costs and cost of living.

"The continued expansion and success of TraceSecurity, along with the highly sought after knowledge-based jobs it creates, has a tremendously positive impact on the entire Capital Region," said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of Baton Rouge Area Chamber. "Their commitment to growing here in the Baton Rouge area also sends a promising message, both locally and nationally, that this region will continue to successfully support high-growth, innovative entrepreneurial companies."

Founded in 2004 at the Louisiana Technology Park in Baton Rouge, TraceSecurity Inc. is a leading provider of security compliance and risk management software solutions. TraceSecurity's comprehensive patent-pending methodology helps clients address all critical components of a successful security compliance program, including people, process and technology. With more than 1,000 customers located throughout the U.S., TraceSecurity supports the security and risk management efforts of organizations in financial services, healthcare, insurance, government and other regulated sectors.

Three New Companies Added to Greater New Orleans Digital Landscape

Erich Rapp — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:31:25 -0600

Continuing upon the momentum that inspired Entrepreneur magazine to praise New Orleans as a "blueprint for economic recovery" in 2009, Greater New Orleans, Inc. is pleased to announce three business expansions to the region. Through work with GNO, Inc. and local partners, Los Angeles-based Graphite, Manhattan-based Orphmedia, and Baton Rouge-based RallyPoint have all established offices in New Orleans.

While GNO, Inc. continues to focus on fundamental sectors like trade and energy, these three firms collectively reflect the organization's additional effort to diversify the region's economy into creative and digital media. "The New Orleans Region is uniquely positioned to attract creative professionals," says GNO, Inc. President and CEO Michael Hecht. "With our combination of rich culture, inexpensive business conditions, and best-in-class incentives, Greater New Orleans is evolving into a creative professional hub that will soon be competing with -- and beating -- places like Austin, Seattle, and Montreal. The result will not only be more, better jobs, but also an infusion of fresh talent and energy for the region."

Graphite is a full-service brand strategy and design agency with a prestigious client list, including Nike, Red Bull, and Incase. Co-Founder and Creative Principal Andy Rosenthal sees great business potential in New Orleans, and is excited to contribute to the region's entrepreneurial growth. "Many people, especially entrepreneurs and cultural creatives, are coming to New Orleans because it offers an ideal blend of creativity, inspiration, opportunity, and quality of life -- unlike anywhere else in the country right now," he says. "As a native Californian with a company based in Los Angeles and clientele on both the east and west coast, New Orleans is an optimal location for our growing agency."

Orphmedia specializes in providing custom web design and online marketing strategies for restaurants. Based in Manhattan with operations in Los Angeles, the firm works with businesses both large and small, and touts top chefs such as Bobby Flay, Kent Rathbun, Michael Mina, and Wolfgang Puck among some of its best-known clients. Peter Orphanos, the firm's founder, has an ambitious vision for his business in New Orleans. "With more restaurants and chefs than ever before, New Orleans, in our opinion, has become the premier culinary capital of the South," he says. But the city's storied restaurant scene was not the sole reason for the firm's expansion. Orphanos has taken note of New Orleans' efforts to build anew, and, like so many other creative professionals who have descended upon the region, wanted to become involved in the city's rebirth. "New Orleans has demonstrated its determination to grow and create a new bright future for itself," says Orphanos, "and Orphmedia wants to be a part of that."

RallyPoint is a crisis communications and workforce continuity provider. Drawing upon lessons learned in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the company works with clients to ensure secure, uninterrupted communication at all levels of an organization in times of crisis and disaster. Claude Bethea, Founder and CEO of RallyPoint, sees the New Orleans region as an ideal fit for his business. "The need for better methods of communication and organization of information between public and private entities before, during, and after a disaster is quite evident, and what better place to build our company than from a city with such a great need," he says. The firm is also the first member of GNO, Thinc, a new offering of GNO, Inc. to provide competitively-priced Class A office space for firms exploring a move to the region. According to Bethea, GNO, Thinc has been instrumental in facilitating the company's expansion: "GNO, Thinc has been a blessing for us as we move forward in protecting and serving the 'Greatest' city in Louisiana."

The arrival of the three firms highlights a rapidly emerging creative and digital media presence in New Orleans. As co-founder and chairman of Trumpet, a New Orleans branding agency that also launches startups through its ventures unit, Robbie Vitrano has helped drive the new entrepreneurial culture of the region. "Wynton Marsalis famously said that New Orleans is 'where elegance met an undefined wildness to encourage the flowering of creative intelligence.' Our creative culture -- that gave birth to a signature cuisine, architecture, music, and an unmistakable celebration of humanity -- perhaps in the context of the last four years, perhaps for the first time, is being fully optimized as an economic multiplier," he says. Vitrano, who also co-chairs GNO, Inc.'s Creative Media sector, believes that the significance of continued development in New Orleans' creative and digital media industries stretches beyond the region: "The capital and emotional investment by these creative industry firms is validating New Orleans as an innovation laboratory in a national and global economy seeking reinvention."

By Darren Alberti of Greater New Orleans Inc

Louisiana Internet Software & Technology Association Membership Meeting - Shreveport

Erich Rapp — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 11:41:43 -0600

Please join the Louisiana Internet Software and Technology Association for a general information meeting Thursday, Jan. 14, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the Robinson Film Center in Shreveport.

The meeting is free and open to anyone interested in promoting a more business-friendly environment for the technology industry in Louisiana. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Please RSVP to denise.duszynski@listainc.org.

http://www.listainc.org/event/8-LISTA-Membership-Meeting.html

Newsmaker: LISTA Appears on WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge

Erich Rapp — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:53:58 -0600

Click on the link below to see LISTA Founder Erich Rapp talk about the Digital Media Tax Incentive on WAFB-TV's morning show.

http://tinyurl.com/yacb9kr

Technology in Louisiana: Open for Business

Erich Rapp — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 17:44:48 -0600

An Op-Ed Submission by Erich Rapp, charter member of the Louisiana Internet Software and Technology Association (LISTA)

From Shreveport and Baton Rouge to Lake Charles and New Orleans, hundreds of technology-based businesses and thousands of savvy professionals and new college graduates are immersed in the state’s growing Internet software and new media industries.

What the rest of the United States is beginning to discover is that they too can benefit from the experience and innovation of these professionals for 35 percent less than their counterparts in other regions of the country. That’s 35 percent added to the bottom line, 35 percent to their market capitalization.

In 2009, at the urging of the Louisiana Internet Software and Technology Association and other advocates for the growth of the state’s technology-based industries, the Louisiana Legislature established tax credits equal to 35 percent of all labor costs paid to Louisiana residents and 25 percent of all production costs spent in the state for digital media initiatives and other software development projects.

These aggressive tax credits placed Louisiana among the top states acting to attract technology-based businesses. As important, these credits are in place now and can benefit companies already working here in both established and emerging industries.

In Shreveport and New Orleans, companies developing computer programs and digital graphics for biotechnology research projects can now do it for 35 percent less in Louisiana. 3D animation studios and video game developers can reduce their overall costs by half by hiring some of the 14,000 professionals working in digital interactive media industries between Baton Rouge, Lafayette and New Orleans. Manufacturing plants along the I-10/I-12 corridor can create plant optimization software and save tens of thousands of dollars. Engineering, communication and aviation companies working in Alexandria, Monroe and Ruston can develop new technologies and programs, while investing in homegrown talent.

For the thousands of Louisiana-based workers and the thousands of college graduates that want to live and work in the state they love, the Digital Media Tax Incentive Program creates their best opportunity to date to establish roots in Louisiana, with an average annual salary of more than $50,000. Importantly, they can put their skills to work and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams.

The Louisiana Department of Economic Development will begin 2010 by reviewing the success of the Digital Interactive Media Tax Credit Program. To date, companies and individuals have submitted dozens of applications. Most importantly, Louisiana’s technology innovators are being put to work in all types of industries that are just now learning about the resources available to them.

We are just powering up.

Louisiana’s Digital Interactive Media Tax Credit program is working. Louisiana-based technology companies are seeing more business because of it.

Business is coming to Louisiana and more of our people are being put to work in highly skilled, technology-based jobs. Now is the time to push ahead and continue this important program.

LSU gets $1 million for digital innovation

Erich Rapp — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 09:15:38 -0600

LSU's Center for Digital Innovation is set to receive $1 million in federal funds, which will be used to add jobs and expand Electronic Arts' local operations. U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu announced the appropriation, which was part of an omnibus bill signed by President Barack Obama last week.

A Landrieu aide says the appropriation was added at the request of LSU, which wanted the money to expand its curriculum and provide new training. The money will lead to some more jobs, but a deal between LSU and EA, "is not yet cooked,” the staffer says. EA, which opened a video game testing facility at LSU last year, has said it is looking at moving some jobs to Baton Rouge in order to take advantage of the low costs. Last week, it was reported that EA is looking at moving a development center from California to several Southern states, including Louisiana. The center could employ up to 300 people.

Excerpt taken from the Baton Rouge Business Report

Angels: 2010 Will See Exits & Opportunities

Erich Rapp — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 22:06:52 -0600

2010 will bring more promising investment opportunities for angel investors and will feature more exits than any year in the past decade. That’s the conclusion of a panel discussion at the Always On Venture Summitin Menlo Park, Calif. featuring several prominent angels and veteran investors. The panel suggested that there will likely be 50 or more initial public offerings in 2010, making it a banner year for start-ups and their financial backers.

The panel also suggested that public technology companies will start acquiring smaller companies again in the interest of staying competitive. With Google’s recent acquisition of AdMob Inc., a mobile ad network, for $750 million in stock, other media companies are realizing that they will have to acquire innovation to keep up.

Other panelists said promising new industry segments are emerging. With the proliferation of social media and government spending on healthcare software and cleantech, angel investors will have ample opportunities in emerging business areas.

Investors will be looking for start-ups that can go a long way on a small budget. For cleantech that means a focus on material sciences, software and thermoelectrics. Other panelists said new communications platforms like Twitter have sparked a revolution of real-time content sharing that will spawn hundreds of new companies and provide lucrative returns.

The conclusion was that 2010 will be a time of opportunity for angels.

By Clayton White of South Coast Angel Fund.

The Growth of Angel Investment

Erich Rapp — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:15:10 -0600

Angel groups have grown significantly in the last decade, as more and more organizations have been established and more individual angels have joined the groups. Angel groups now exist in nearly every American state and Canadian province. In May of 2008, the Angel Capital Association listed 165 members. Recently the Angel Capital Education Foundation listed 281 Angel groups in 49 US states and Canada. The only state not represented was Louisiana. That number is now 282 with the addition of South Coast Angel Fund, which now represents Louisiana on that list.

The term “angel” originated in the early 1900s and referred to investors who made risky investments to support Broadway theatrical productions. Today, the term “angel” refers to high-net worth individuals, or “accredited investors,” who typically invest in and support start-up companies in their early stages of growth.

Angel groups offer accredited angel investors the opportunity to invest in and help build successful companies – while also having a good time. Every group is different in terms of investment strategy and culture, but Angel groups offer interested investors a variety of benefits such as:

1. An expectation of a significant return on their investment.

2. A disciplined approach to investing imposed by a both the due diligence process and the diversity of expertise provided by a group of members with various backgrounds.

3. Lower risks by diversification of investments.

4. Social benefits in meeting and working with other successful individuals. Participation in the screening, due diligence or monitoring teams is an enjoyable, educational and rewarding experience.

5. A strong sense of satisfaction from aiding and mentoring entrepreneurs.

6. Investments Louisiana businesses may qualify for Louisiana Tax Credits such as the Digital Interactive Media Credits and other Louisiana incentive programs.

By Clayton White.

Digital Media for the Live Performance Venue

Erich Rapp — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:28:09 -0600

In the next few years, we may find digital video, animation and 3D animation appearing in live performances with the frequency of Power Point presentations at business meetings.

I attended the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular in New York City yesterday evening with my family. The production company was deploying digital video, animation and 3D animation as a backdrop to a live performance. They were using the back wall or back curtain of the stage for display of digital video, animation and 3D animation that merged with the action on the stage, i.e., the digital media backdrop was an extension of the action on the stage.

It was very eye catching and visually pleasing. This type of addition to a live performance does not need to be continuous to enhance the performance. Even a limited amount of this type of presentation as part of a show or performance whether the performance is a musical concert, dance performance or a play adds considerably to the overall experience.

The creation of all of this type of work would be eligible for Louisiana Digital Media tax credits.

Over time, likely measured in years, I suspect that you will see digital video, animation and 3D animation included in almost all live performances probably to the same extent eventually as a Power Point presentation seems almost essential to a business presentation today. I see a great future for animation artists and computer software developers that can create web platform and software packages that allow community and regional theater and live performers (even bands and musical performance artists) and perhaps even ordinary members of the public to deploy simple versions of such digital animation at local events.

Digital video, animation and 3D animation is coming to a concert venue or theater near you in the years ahead. For those trying to take advantage of Louisiana's Digital Media Act to participate in this process, the economic "sweet spot" may be developing software products, web platforms and web applications that simplify the creation of digital animation and thereby make it less expensive to generate a finished product for presentation to the public.

Erich P Rapp.

Baton Rouge Technology Company obdEdge Described in New York Times Article

Erich Rapp — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:59:55 -0600

The Baton Rouge technology company, obd Edge, LLC, provides a technology solution that prevents drivers from using their mobile phones while driving. The New York Times took note in an article on Saturday November 21, 2009 entitled, High-Tech Devices Help Drivers Put Down Phone and this reference was then cited in the Baton Rouge Business Report Daily Report dated Monday November 23, 2009 in any entry entitled, Tech Park company, Community make New York Times.

Baton Rouge will see many more Louisiana based companies develop many more high tech devices, software products, web platforms, web applications, and mobile applications in the next few years as the Louisiana Digital Media Act takes hold.

Congratulations to obdEdge, LLC on the release of their new projects and on the media coverage in the Baton Rouge Business Report and the New York Times.

For more information about obdEdge's product, see www.cellcontrol.com.

Erich P Rapp.

Business Trends for Video Content Delivery

Erich Rapp — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:17:11 -0600

An excellent analysis of the likely inaccurate valuation of cable networks in recent times is found in the Wall Street Journal dated November 7-8, 2009 entitled, Media Eyes Are Still Blinded by Cable by Martin Peers.

Recent years have seen increasing profit for cable television systems and the associated content that they generate. Whether the content is the Discovery Channel, Travel Channel or HBO, the fees that customers pay to watch this content has increased steadily. By contrast, the advertising fees paid to traditional television networks have not kept pace. This trend has led to higher and higher market values in recent years for cable content. Recent transactions such as The Scripps Networks Interactive purchase of the Travel Channel for a rich multiple on earnings suggests that the market believes that the income growth for cable television content will continue well into the future.

Is this market conclusion reasonable? As the television manufacturers begin building television systems that make accessing streamed video content over the internet easier and easier with the deployment of widget engines, the public is likely to find more and more of their television content on the web and on demand. This could be a challenging environment for the less known cable content as it competes with new content from the web that has never been available on the traditional cable systems.

It seems very likely that the audience will fracture even further than it has as television viewers expanded their attention from the major networks to a host of lesser known cable channels. With video content available more easily over the web, the market will likely see a "Long Tail" effect leaving even smaller audiences for the traditional networks and for the cable channel content that has been available in recent years.

These changes are coming very quickly and yet the market value of cable television content does not seem to reflect this evolution.

As always, I want to leave you with a pitch for using the Louisiana digital interactive tax credit program. If businesses are developing web platforms to stream video over the internet, Louisiana is a great location to develop the platforms and the video content using Louisiana's video production and digital interactive media tax credit programs. An enormous opportunity exists in the next few years for the emergence of such web platforms and their video production partners. If you need to know more about these programs, I would be happy to speak with you.

Erich P Rapp.

Electronic Arts Acquires Playfish

Erich Rapp — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:54:00 -0600

The State of Louisiana's economic development department has been trying to persuade Electronic Arts to relocate to or open a new game design studio in Louisiana. EA has already located a game testing center at Louisiana State University, and the state would like to expand EA's presence. Louisiana's digital media tax incentives program was originally focused on attracting game development companies to Louisiana like EA.

Unfortunately, the slow down of the national economy has worked against Louisiana's efforts as EA has seen its own business difficulties during the past year.

Nevertheless if the State of Louisiana wants to remain attuned to EA's vision of the future of video game development, the State should note that EA has just announced its intention to purchase Playfish, a social game company. See the San Francisco Chronicle article on November 10, 2009 entitled, EA buying Playfish in $300 million deal.

If you are not familiar with social games that have grown out of platforms like Facebook, I found a pretty good definition of social games and also a good list of social game developers on The Social Times Blog in an entry entitled, "What are social games?".

The various economic development arms of Louisiana and its cities should consider efforts to attract social game developers to Louisiana. If they are successful, they might find that EA is not far behind.

Erich P Rapp.

Amazon Has a Successful E-Learning Experience in E-Publishing

Erich Rapp — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:30:13 -0600

I love my Kindle and Amazon.com, but several weeks ago Amazon had a knucklehead moment which I am happy to report they have now corrected.

Several weeks ago, Amazon deleted a version of the George Orwell book, 1984, from all Kindles that had purchased it. The version was not an authorized and properly licensed edition of the copyright protected book. Many Kindle owners felt this deletion was an invasion of their property rights.

The obvious solution to the problem would have been for Amazon to make an arrangement with the copyright holder and or legitimate publisher to compensate the right holders for the unauthorized sales on a one time basis. Presumably most authors and publishers would like to have a good relationship with Amazon, and I am guessing would make some arrangement with Amazon to authorize these sales in exchange for appropriate compensation.

Unfortunately, Amazon instead decided to make its mistake its customer's problem instead of Amazon's problem. Now, however, Amazon has figured it out and have given the book back to the customers. Yesterday, Amazon e-mailed customers whose books were deleted and offered the customers a free copy of the book they lost or the option of a $30 gift certificate or check. It looks like Amazon has used this incident as a learning opportunity, and I commend them for it.

The offer included an apology from Jeff Bezos as follows. See also blog entry from September 4, 2009 on CNN entitled, " Amazon Returns Deleted Kindle Books."

Hello,

On July 23, 2009, Jeff Bezos, our Founder and CEO, made the following apology to our customers:

“This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com”

As you were one of the customers impacted by the removal of [title] from your Kindle device in July of this year, we would like to offer you the option to have us re-deliver this book to your Kindle along with any annotations you made. You will not be charged for the book. If you do not wish to have us re-deliver the book to your Kindle, you can instead choose to receive an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate or check for $30.

Please email Kindle customer support at kindle-response@amazon.com to indicate your preference. If you prefer to receive a check, please also provide your mailing address.

We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
The Kindle Team

Erich P Rapp.

More on Sony's New E-Reader

Erich Rapp — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:36:08 -0600

I realize that I may be overly focused in this blog on e-publishing, but I think this technology is ground breaking in a number of ways. An e-book reader encompass a number of important trends in technology hardware and software.

The equipment, an e-reader, is highly specialized in contrast to a notebook computer which may perform many different functions. As various aspects of hardware such as memory chips, storage, display technology, etc... decline in cost and shrink in size, the economics of highly specialized hardware improves. Any e-book reader is an expression of that fact. The continuing evolution of highly specialized hardware and software is very important. It reduces the complexity of using the technology and broadens the potential user base.

An e-book reader generally also uses mobile phone technology instead of Wi-Fi or broadband internet access to the web. Mobile phone technology access to the web is an extraordinarily important aspect of web connection. As a result, the user of e-book reader technology can access and purchase e-books from nearly any location. This approach to product delivery is extraordinarily important to any one trying to a make an electronic consumer sale of published materials.

The main players in this arena are Amazon and Sony. Amazon's Kindle 2, the market leading e-book reader, is competing with Sony's new e-book reader which has just been announced as an open format e-book reader using the e-Pub format. The new Sony reader is called the "Daily Edition." The USA Today had a great article in its Tuesday August 26, 2009 internet edition as part of the technology section. This article described what Sony is trying to do with its new e-reader. The article is entitled, Sony's Reader Daily Edition takes on Amazon's Kindle. In a very exciting aspect of Sony's announcement, the new Daily Edition will be able to download content in the e-Pub format from many libraries around the country for free. The Sony e-book reader is using AT&T's 3G network while Amazon is using Sprint's mobile phone network.

The e-book reader regardless of who creates it is a college student backpack size reducer and a business person brief case size reducer. Such e-book readers are having an evolutionary impact on the future of print media. Now that the technology is mobile and is contained in a compact and easy to us device, the growth of e-publishing is going to be explosive and game changing.

Erich P. Rapp.

Sony Adopting Open Standard e-Pub Format for New e-Book Reader

Erich Rapp — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:20:05 -0600

According to the New York Times article on August 12, 2009 entitled, Sony Plans to Adopt Common Format for E-Books, Sony plans to adopt the open standard e-book format called "e-pub" used by large publishing houses including Random House and HarperCollins. The move should create considerable competition for the Amazon Kindle over time. Amazon is the market leader right now for e-publishing, but operates a closed standard system. You can only read e-books from Amazon on the Kindle.

With the arrival of new e-book readers and a common format, the number of books available in electronic format should increase considerably. The quality of the books will likely be much better as well. I recently read an e-book in the Kindle format that must have been published without anyone proofreading it. The copy was filled with typographical errors. These are, however, the problems that early adopters of anything face. The e-book product is well worth the bumps in the road as far as I am concerned.

I am a huge fan of the Amazon Kindle. My wife and I both have Kindles, carry them everywhere and use them frequently. Despite the cost, I have started following several newspapers, magazines and blogs on my Kindle because of the ease of carrying, using and turning the Kindle "on and off" as opposed to the cumbersome process of booting up a notebook computer. I, of course, also read books received on the Kindle. Instead of hauling around a knapsack full of books, magazines and newspapers as I once did, I can now just carry the Kindle instead.

The e-book reader is also more private. While I am reading it, I am not advertising what I am reading. Sorry porn lovers, I am not talking about anything genuinely embarrassing like pornography. The Kindle is really not a good platform for photos. LOL. The Kindle is really only useful for text and the very lowest grade photographs from a newspaper. Instead, I can read the New York Times without having my often more conservative colleagues and acquaintances around me scoffing or rolling their eyes.

The Kindle and the Sony e-Book Reader are only two of a wave of such devices coming onto the market. As time passes, I also anticipate that more interactive books will be published. The readers will eventually be able to communicate with the author and the publisher directly from the e-Book reader. I also suspect that some books will also begin supplementing themselves with additional information provided after the book's original publication. This additional content might include information about other things such as movies, subsequent books in a series, or other derivative products. Effectively having a contact list of everyone that buys a publisher's book is a pretty valuable tool for the publisher. While paying an author or editor to "blog" more content to those e-book readers is an added and new cost for the publisher, but such a blog entry or "extra" content could blur the line between entertainment or extra reader valued content and advertising. As advertising, the low cost of such targeted communications would be small compared with the cost of traditional media advertising.

The e-publishing arena is yet another piece of the digital interactive world. Now, what do we have to do to get the publishers building future platforms for distribution of this content in Louisiana. Call us at LISTA if you need help working in Louisiana.

Erich P Rapp.

Siggraph 2009 is in New Orleans

Erich Rapp — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:34:14 -0600

The 36th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques is ongoing in New Orleans from August 3 to 7, 2009. The Siggraph Conference is being held at the New Orleans Convention Center and details about the program can be found on the web at the conference web site. For more information on Louisiana's digital interactive media tax credit program, please go visit the exhibits presented by the Louisiana Department of Economic Development, Greater New Orleans, Inc. and the Baton Rouge Digital Industries Consortium.

Erich P Rapp.

Does Information Really Want To Be Free?

Erich Rapp — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:43:47 -0600

Just read an interesting item in the July 20, 2009 Fortune Magazine on page 60 entitled, "No Free Lunch" (not available online at the Fortune Magazine web site when this entry was written). It concerned the now famous Stewart Brand quote about the freedom of information.

In 1984 at the first "Hackers Conference," Stewart Brand, famous also for the Whole Earth Catalog, stated, "information wants to be free" which is widely quoted as a call for free distribution of all information. Brand's actual statement was, however, far more ambiguous. He actually said in fuller context, "On the one hand, information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all of the time. So you just have these two fighting against each other."

In response, Steve Wozniak, the not so good dancer on Dancing with the Stars and co-founder of Apple Computer, replied to Brand that "Information should be free, but your time should not."

It seems like Wozniak captured more of the notional reality than Stewart Brand. While laws that protect intellectual property continue to create value in certain types of information and creative content, the reality is that this capture is less complete and shorter in duration than ever because of various technological tools.

As the value of information and creative content has itself declined, the value of interacting with the actual creator of the content seems to have gone up. For example, musicians are getting less and less value from their recorded music and more and more value from their live performances. The same trend also seems to impact on book authors and speaking engagements.

This dovetails nicely with Wozniak's comment that information should be free, but not ones time. While we may see a pull back in the years ahead from "free information" as we know it on the web today, the long term trend is pretty clear. Information and creative content are going to remain in a protected form that can be directly monetized for a shorter and shorter period of time.

The business and social cycle that turns most manufactured goods and most services into a commodity over time and which also tends to move most creative content over time into the public domain of free things is growing shorter and shorter. In contrast, the value of human input and attention measured as the time a person invests in a productive activity continues to exist at some level in the economic system and is likely to endure. In some sense, this reality is almost medieval and speaks to a time when the value of a guildsman or craftsman was at its highest. Of course, we have a completely different kind of guildsman today. All of the vocations that were performed by guildsman in medieval times are now performed by mechanical devices and a new type of guildsman is emerging with a different set of skills such as the design and development of software and web platforms.

As businessmen, we will over the long run have to adapt to this "retro-" reality.

Erich P. Rapp.

Venture Capital and Louisiana's Digital Interactive Media Incentives Program

Erich Rapp — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:40:07 -0600

The Wall Street Journal on Monday July 6, 2009 had a Page C-1 story entitled, Venture-Backed Start-Ups Seek Stimulus. The gist of the story was that venture funds like Novak Biddle Venture Partners, RockPort Capital Partners and Flywheel Ventures were directing the start-ups they are investing in to explore the federal stimulus package as a means of finding additional capital.

This story suggests to me that venture capital funds and angel investors would find Louisiana's new digital interactive media tax credit incentive program very attractive. Marketable tax credits are not much different in economic terms than stimulus program grants. A start-up developing a web platform, mobile application or software package can get marketable tax credits equal to 35% of the funds they spend in Louisiana on labor residing in the state and 25% of all other expenditures.

If, for example, a start-up used labor residing in Louisiana to develop a new web platform and in the process spent $1,000,000 in Louisiana. The State of Louisiana would issue tax credits for $350,000 and the start-up could sell the tax credits for $0.85 to $0.90 on the dollar realizing perhaps a little more than $300,000 in extra funds. Thus, a venture capital fund investment of $1,000,000 spent on labor residing in Louisiana becomes an investment of $1,300,000. That seems like stimulus that a venture capital fund or an angel investor would like to see.

Erich P Rapp.

Using Louisiana's Digital Media Act to Deliver News Profitably

Erich Rapp — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:29:56 -0600

As Louisiana becomes a hub in the next few years for the development of software, mobile applications and web platforms, I am wondering what value can Louisiana digital interactive media developers bring to the industry. One area that desperately needs to be addressed is the news media and journalism.

It is no secret to anyone that is conscious that the industry that delivers news to the public is struggling to find a profitable business model in the digital media age. Where is this industry heading and can developers in Louisiana add value to the evolution.

Perhaps, the Politico.com web site and the story behind it present a glimpse of the business techniques that will govern the future of journalism and news delivery.

The first and foremost Politico.com business concept that stands out to me is volume of content and extreme detail about a relatively narrow (at least for a newspaper) subject. It's hard to imagine any traditional media source providing as much detailed and essentially real time data about politics in Washington DC. While the Federal Register provides a great deal of detail about federal action, its not anything close to "real time" and it is completely devoid of the human component. Politico is the federal register of politics using a Twitter model without the 140 character limit and a huge mix of gossipy human stuff. No one but a reporter at Politico could possibly want to know this much about politics in Washington DC.

And yet, I am told that Politico is profitable and widely read. That is more than the New York Times can say at least as to the profitable part. All of this suggests that no matter how much detail one provides about politics in Washington DC, there is at least some audience for it. It also suggests that if you can place an enormous amount of entertaining (at least to someone) political information in a digital setting at a low enough cost , the business can pay for itself with advertising. The delivery of news has a "long tail" component.

The August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair magazine contains an article entitled, Politico's Washington Coup which describes the Politico story in some detail. If you want a sense of the future of journalism, this article is a good read.

This may hold some promise for local newspapers. The key to the future for local newspapers may be more information. Adding more stories in a digital format does not cost as much as adding more pages for more stories in a printed newspaper. The specialty for the local paper is local news. Local news is as to your local newspaper as Washington politics is as to Politico. It seems like the local newspapers need to go more local with everything, e.g., more local business news, more local society and social event news, and more local entertainment news. Change the emphasis from the AP news feed to everything local with the names of as many local people printed in the newspaper as possible.

Digital interactive media developers in Louisiana need to partner with traditional media organizations to build a better news delivery device using Louisiana's digital media tax credits incentive program.

Erich P Rapp.

Creating An Orderly Market for Louisiana Tax Credits Transfers

Erich Rapp — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:12:52 -0600

I am very concerned about the market for transferable Louisiana Tax Credits after reading about the problems that members of the New Orleans Saints have had. See Ex-Saint Kevin Houser says tax credit fiasco not his fault.

Louisiana needs a "Tax Credit Exchange." I will propose to the membership of LISTA that they advocate the creation of a non profit corporation (need to check with my tax attorney friends on this concept) to operate a Tax Credit Exchange that would make a market for certified tax credits and various grades of contracts to deliver tax credits at a future date.

The paper work and related contracts would be uniform and the status of the contracts would be verified with the appropriate arm of Louisiana government. If the contract involves little more than a "hope and a prayer" that the person entering into the contract will apply for credits and undertake a creditable business venture in the future, those credits will be deeply discounted and the purchaser will understand that he is purchasing a very speculative contract.

Alternatively if the purchaser decides to buy an existing tax credit that is certified by the state, the value of that credit will be much less significantly discounted. The customers in the market will be better educated about what they are buying, and the process of selling the credits into the market will be orderly and uniform.

I will be reaching out to people with expertise useful in the creation of such a market in the weeks ahead. If you have such expertise and want to help create an orderly market for tax credits in Louisiana, I am looking for your help.

If you think I am making a mistake with this recommendation, I would also like your input. I think we need a more orderly market that discourages the type of problems the New Orleans Saints players have had (but for the grace of god go I), but I want to know what y'all think. I want to start a discussion of the problem. Please write comments on this blog entry and send me email correspondence with your thoughts on this subject.

I am very open to discussion about this subject. Please comment.

Erich P Rapp.