So many things to talk about this week! I have four new articles, PLUS, webinars are back!  But, before we get to my stuff, three readers sent links to articles that I think you should read.

James DeRuvo, from doddleNEWS, sent me a link to this RedShark News story: "Is it high-time to look beyond feature films as a career aim?"  Here's the link. Written by Phil Rhodes, he argues that there are better options for media pros. This got me thinking about what I'm teaching my students - and why I'm teaching it. In fact, I created a blog specifically reflecting my thoughts on this.

Then, Andy Marken, from Marken Communications, sent me a link to a Fortune article: "No. Podcasting is Not a Small Business." Here's the link. As this article points out, the U.S. podcasting industry generated $314 million in ad revenue in 2017. But, globally, podcasts are much bigger. The podcast industry in China is 23x larger, estimated to be worth an eye-popping $7.3+ billion. Podcasts lead directly into our production skills and are something your clients can use.

Finally, Rethink Technology Research released a white paper: "The Rise in SVoD viewing to swamp traditional TV by 2023. Here's the link to the Executive Summary. "SVoD uptake is accelerating and in terms of hours viewing per day it will shortly draw level with broadcast TV globally by 2023.... Rethink TV sees 478 million SVoD subscribers today growing to 743 million by 2023, with China having the most SVoD subscribers by 2023, but North America still driving the largest dollar volume."

Suddenly, a quiescent February has morphed into a dynamic March. Yay!

To keep the momentum going, my webinars are back!  This week, we are presenting " Ask Larry Anything!"  These free-form sessions are designed to answer your most-pressing questions on Adobe or Apple media software. One session - this Thursday morning at 9 AM Los Angeles time.  As always, registration is FREE!  (It would help if you email your questions ahead of time,  so I can research and prep the answers.) Sign up here!

I have four new articles for your this week. First, the USB-IF committee, the folks in charge of the USB spec, decided to REALLY confuse consumers this last week by renaming the last three generations of USB devices. If you are confused today by USB 3.1 Gen 1 and USB 3.1 Gen 2, it's about to get much worse.

Then, Michael Powles shared an excellent write-up of his problems working with SDXC cards and Final Cut Pro X. He shares both the problem and two work-arounds. If you find yourself shooting with these cards, you need to read this.

Next, I've always been of two minds about film school. I think film school makes an excellent minor - but, much more important than learning how to shoot and edit a film is learning how to tell a story - and that requires knowing something other than how to make films. Even though the technology is incredibly exciting, people don't go to the theater to watch the latest 4K images. Film schools are excellent at teaching skills and building a network, but they are not sufficient. You still need something to say. These thoughts were partly sparked by the RedShark News article, but they are also something I've been wanting to articulate to the department heads at the school where I teach. My second blog this week focuses on this: " Visual Communication is Bigger Than Film."

Finally, Kyno, media management software I like a lot, released a significant update last week. I have a summary of the new features as my fourth story.

You'll find links to all these in the Articles section, below.

The Digital Production Buzz had a fascinating show on new storage technology. (Yes, I know, storage seems so, um, BORING... but, easily half the emails I get all revolve around whether a particular Mac can edit 4K. The answer is ALWAYS "Yes." But, the real question is whether the storage system is fast enough to support it; and that is MUCH harder to answer. This week, we look at a variety of new storage technology that may appear at NAB in a few weeks that could revolutionize how you save, store and retrieve media in the very near future. Fascinating stuff. Here's the link to the show.

Remember to sign up for this week's webinar, then email me your questions. I look forward to chatting with you next Monday. As always, I'm interested in your comments. Chat with you next Monday. In the meantime, edit well.