My first day back at SXSW Interactive is in the books. My day started with the UX of Mobile panel. It was okay. There were some good insights into new developments at Google and some observations regarding different user behavior when using Maps on mobile devices. Beyond that, there was little practical advice. I was hoping to get some good ideas and examples of existing and potential design patterns. Instead, we received little beyond the consensus that there is a bright future for mobile devices.
After that, I attended a panel with a couple of Google UX’s called Long Distance UX. Like many, I walked out early because there was little of value provided beyond the obvious. I’ve been doing remote UX work for a couple of years now and discovered no new insights. At times, the panel didn’t explain itself well or made statements that appeared to border on the ridiculous. With both the first panels, I thought the topics where covered with too broad a brush and some more practical examples might have been more useful.
My day ended at the Battle for Your TV panel where sparks flew. This was a blood bath that pitted Mark Cuban (HDNet / Dallas Mavs) versus Avner Ronen (Boxee). Here’s a hint, Cuban barely blinked, much less bleed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swnktstic/
I think Cuban stunned Ronen right out by attacking Boxee on the lack of a revenue model. In turn, Ronen attempted to attack Cuban on Broadcast.com. These efforts failed miserably. Questions about Broadcast.com were met with responses like,
(Broadcast.com) made more money in a quarter than any revenue ever made by Boxee.
(Broadcast.com) was going to go cash flow positive the quarter Yahoo decided to buy the company.
Ronen had no answers. This first rampage by Cuban was slowed only by the fire alarm that forced the evacuation of the convention center. When conversation reconvened, Cuban picked up where he left off. During a Q & A section, there was a long line of angry, rambling attendees ready to take on Cuban. He quickly dismissed all challenges, sometimes with funny responses. Mark Cuban is just plain whip smart.
Like others, I came into the room leaning towards Boxee. I wanted to believe. I came out totally convinced by Mark Cuban. He spoke intelligently about revenue models and why distribution systems other than the Internet made more financial sense. He also made it abundantly clear that he was platform agnostic in that he simply looked for good return on his investment. If distribution via web video providers would provide adequate guarantees, he would be happy to work deals. Cuban demonstrated great knowledge of the domain while Ronen, sadly, looked lost. It saddens me to say this, but I think Ronen may have hurt Boxee more than he helped here. I have a hard time seeing the long term viability of the company after listening to their chief executive. I also came out with a whole new level of respect for Mark Cuban.
Overall, my first day was positive. The Mark Cuban panel was as exciting as any i’ve seen at any conference. I also had a great time chatting with very interesting, intelligent people about topics on which I am passionate. I can’t wait until tomorrow.
