Apple has just put out a feature in the iTunes Store, called Rewind, that shows off the best and best-selling music, movies, TV shows, and apps from 2009. This year's edition is crammed full of information and I encourage you to browse through (iTunes link). The results are pretty interesting, although there are no real shockers. iTunes didn't provide download figures; it simply ranked the top-sellers. Here is a quick rundown of what stands out.
Not surprisingly, in the music category, iTunes staff picked Michael Jackson as artist of the year, with Kings of Leon taking home album of the year for their 2009 release, "Only By the Night." The top-selling single of the year was the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow." They also checked in at No. 4 with "I Gotta Feeling," giving them two songs in the top 5.
iTunes' best-selling games of 2009.
The apps category is particularly interesting. The top 5 best-selling games of 2009 are dominated by Electronic Arts. Four out of the five top games are made by EA, including The Sims 3 in the No. 1 spot, followed by Need for Speed Undercover, Madden 10, and Tiger Woods in the Nos. 3, 4, and 5 spots. Gameloft's The Oregon Trail breaks up the EA love fest by sneaking in at No. 2.
As far as other apps go, Navigon's Mobile Navigator grabs the top spot in best-sellers, followed by MLB.com At Bat, Textfree Unlimited, TomTom, Golfshot: Golf GPS, and SlingPlayer Mobile. Unfortunately iTunes doesn't give a combined list, so we don't know what app is really at the top of the pile.
Although the iTunes list is probably not representative of the most popular movies of 2009, due to its limited catalog available for viewing, we'll take a look at it nonetheless. It should be no surprise that punching in at No. 1 for most sales and rentals is "Twilight." Rounding out the top three, we have the stoner comedy/action movie "Pineapple Express" and Bond flick "Quantum of Solace."
iTunes also lists "Up," "Star Trek," "The Hangover," and "Adventureland" as some of the best movies of 2009.
Finally, we have the TV shows category. Yes, iTunes did make some TV episode sales in 2009, despite the existence of alternatives like DVRs, Hulu, and Netflix. The top-selling seasons were "Mad Men" (season 3), "Lost" (season 5), and "24" (season 7). "Family Guy" claims the best-selling episode with "Stew-Roids," followed by "Gossip Girl" with "In the Realm of the Basses," and "Lost" with "Because You Left."
2009 was a good year for content on iTunes. What were some of your favorites in music, movies, TV, and iPhone apps from last year (on iTunes or otherwise)? Let us know in the comments.
The concept of the "wisdom of crowds" is a fundamental building block of a lot of the Web 2.0 services that we see today. While not all of them are built on this core concept, major sites like Digg, Wikipedia, and Mahalo rely heavily on crowds being wise. There have been several instances of this system breaking down in the past, one notable occurrence being the infamous Digg HD-DVD revolt. On occasions like this, a mob mentality tends to take over a very vocal and active segment of a community, greatly skewing the product of their collective "wisdom." We are seeing the latest meltdown of crowd wisdom over at IMDB, the popular movie information database as we speak.
(Credit:
Warner Bros.)
Since the release of The Dark Knight, the film has made an incredible surge to the No. 1 position on IMDB's Top 250 list, a spot that has only been held by The Godfather for the last decade or so. While most serious movie watchers would argue that claiming that The Dark Knight is the best movie of all time is ridiculous, we might be able to chalk the massive surge up to the unparalleled amount of hype that surrounded this movie, particularly in Internet communities.
Since The Dark Knight's initial rise, an even more interesting trend has revealed itself. /Film is reporting that, in an attempt to keep the movie on top, fans of The Dark Knight have been voting down The Godfather. The movie has gotten hammered so badly by Batman fans that it has fallen to the No. 3 spot. So, not only has The Godfather dropped out of the No. 1 spot for the first time in a decade, but now it has dropped from the second spot as well. This sort of drastic shift hardly seems the work of a wise crowd.
The Dark Knight has taken the top spot on IMDB, while The Godfather, the previous top film for the last 10 years, dropped to third.
(Credit: IMDB.com)We are seeing a similar effect here to what happened with the Digg HD-DVD debacle. This mob mentality, brought on by a significant event (in this case, the release of The Dark Knight), causes a total breakdown in a system that is otherwise fairly accurate, useful, and trustworthy. The original theory of the wisdom of crowds discusses this sort of failure. A quotation from Wikipedia on the topic reads, "...in these types of situations their cognition or cooperation failed because the members of the crowd were too conscious of the opinions of others and began to emulate each other and conform rather than think differently."
Cases like what is happening on IMDB's Top 250 right now are not the fault of the users of the site. They are just acting how humans have always acted. Mob mentality is in our nature. We are always being influenced heavily by these outside sources. Sites like IMDB and Digg need to be set up to deal with and process the effects of an eventual mob action.
I am still a firm believer in the wisdom of crowds. I think that it is a tremendously powerful concept that can be applied to a variety of areas. However, if it is not implemented correctly, you will occasionally get breakdowns like we see here. In the cases of Digg and IMDB, these breakdowns happen infrequently enough that it is not a major concern and does not usually disrupt the use of the site. That said, we have seen, with some consistency, that the system can be broken or manipulated by the actions of a passionate group of individuals, acting as a mob. If these incidents are not largely prevented in the future and become commonplace, we risk a lot of people losing faith in this otherwise very useful system.
While the Writers Guild of America is on strike, Hollywood is giving us plenty of opportunities to catch up on content that we haven't seen. Fancast features full episodes of TV shows, TV listings, and news on TV, movies, and celebrities. Comcast's Fancast may look like the latest entrant into the web video scene, but the truth is that it packs a much bigger punch.
Much of the content for full episodes on Fancast is provided by Hulu, with additional content from CBS, MTV, and BET thrown in for good measure. The viewing experience is what you have come to expect from similar web video sites. However, Fancast goes above and beyond what sites like Hulu offer. They will give you TV and movie recommendations based on preferences that you have indicated and content that you have rated. If the TV show/movie is available on Fancast, they have a link to view it, but if they do not have it, they will provide localized TV listings or links to other sources where you can find it. Fancast allows for a good deal of personal customization and discovery and that is their killer feature.
In addition to these options, Fancast offers a really nice IMDB style service which provides a wealth of details on movies, TV shows, cast/crew, and actors. Along with that, Fancast will eventually provide users with the option of telling their Comcast DVR to record a show, much like TiVo does on their site and with Yahoo.
I have to say that Fancast has really nailed this site. Just about everything feels right, from the look to the usability. There is a ton of functionality and content here and it will only improve with time. It is clear that Comcast is very committed to making this project work. They took their time and did it right. This is such a huge site that does so many things that I cannot begin to discuss all of the features here, you will just have to check it out for yourself. I haven't even touched on Six Degrees, the feature that will allow you to explore connections between people, movies, and TV shows.
via NewTeeVee
According to the Financial Times, Apple and Fox have reached an agreement to serve up Fox's movies for rental on iTunes. If true, this would mark the first rental deal that Apple has been able to reach with a movie studio. In the past, they have distributed Disney movies online, but only for purchase at a higher price. Rumor has it that Apple has settled on the $2.99 price point for rentals, as opposed to the $9.99 or $14.99 price to own.
The Financial Times further speculates that Apple will make this announcement at Macworld on January 14th. They also report that Apple is also in talks with Sony, Paramount, and Warner Brothers to make their movies available for rental as well.
Apple entering the online movie rental business is big news. I can almost feel Netflix, Amazon Unbox, and Blockbuster shaking from here. Even though their model would be per-movie as opposed to subscription based, you can bet it will still be a success. Apple has effectively crushed the competition in the online music market (which includes several competitors with subscription based models) and they are no doubt looking towards a similar takeover of online movies.
Of course, Apple's giant install base of iPods and iPhones will help their cause here. We may even see a boost in Apple TV sales if their selection of online movie rentals grows. We have yet to see a set top box from Netflix or Blockbuster, but Amazon Unbox struck a deal with TiVo a little while ago to offer up their movie downloads on TiVo DVR's.
Only time will tell how this one is going to turn out, but there are a lot of big players at work here, all with big ideas, so this will be interesting. Is the online video distribution holy grail finally upon us, or does Apple not have what it takes to revolutionize yet another industry?
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