If it has an i in front of it, it must be cool!

I am fairly level-headed in most cases and try not to let ads and brand names sway me. However, I freely admit to being sucked in by Apple’s ingenious marketing schemes. I look forward to each new ad out featuring the Mac and PC characters. I will go to Apple’s website and watch them, snickering quietly as my husband stares at me. In my opinion, Apple has successfully combined breathtakingly beautiful products with clever branding. Their iPod has set off an industry of gadgets. Anything cool nowadays begins with an i.

With all the bargains to be had this year, the Christmas tree towered above a bevy of gadgets. My favorite present by far was my Apple iPod touch. As I explained to my husband when asked why I wanted one, the reasons were very plain. An iPod touch is a very useful tool in every day life. It can keep track of your appointments, surf the net, store your formerly-wallet photos, and, most importantly, it looks oh-so cool. I easily defend my choice when asked why not a cheaper MP3 player. A simple they’re not Apple will suffice.

There seems to be no end to the entertainment an iPod touch can provide. I have uploaded my favorite music and latest photos, my favorite games, and I finally started an appointment book I hopefully won’t lose. There are numerous free applications to put on your iPod touch including Pac-Man and Facebook. If inclined, I could even turn it into a lightsaber! No bright light, but definitely the cool sound effects.

As with the other Apple products I own, this was no disappointment. I love to scroll through everything I have on this beautiful little machine. I carry it with me everywhere. I am now and possibly forever, an Apple fan.

Disc Design Tips: When to add a Spot Color

Here in the GLMT prepress department, one of the most common questions we are asked is when to design in spot colors versus process color. So, I thought I would take a moment to explain the difference and how to apply them in your CD and DVD designs.

When you print something on your desktop inkjet printer at home, you are printing in process colors (CMYK). The printer is taking 4 different ink colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black), and spraying little dots of each in various patterns that when viewed by the human eye appears to be all the colors of the rainbow. Our screen and offset presses run on the same principle. An image can be split up into these 4 different colors and each is laid onto the disc one at a time, resulting in the appearance of a nearly infinite amount of colors. Process colors work fantastic for photographic images. They are able to capture all the subtle differences in tones, shadows, and highlights.

Unlike your inkjet printer at home, we have the option of using spot colors in our printing process. I like to compare using spot colors to picking out wall paint colors at a hardware store. There are swatch libraries of hundreds of colors that look exactly the same in the sample book as when printed on the final product. Instead of using little dots of 4 different colors to simulate a color, the ink is pre-mixed to the desired color before being put into the press. Here at GLMT, we use the Pantone Solid Coated Library, which is an industry standard throughout the world.

There are a few different guidelines for when to incorporate spot colors into a design. First, is there something very specific that you want to match? Many corporations depend on specific colors for their identity. Spot colors print consistently across the board. If a customer asks for a "deep blue" it's hard to know what their definition of deep blue is, but if they say "Pantone 286", I know exactly what they mean and can deliver what they expect.

Another time to use spot colors is if the design includes large areas of a single solid color. While 4 color process can produce a huge range of colors, it is very difficult to get these colors to print consistently, especially in the screen printing process. Microscopic variables such as wear on a screen, pressure on a squeegee, surface fluctuations on a disc, and even humidity levels can change how the little dots of color interact with one another. When printing with a spot color, only one screen and one ink is used for each color, reducing any potential variations.

Hopefully this short lesson has cleared up some of the confusion out there about the differences between these printing methods. Please remember that we are always here to answer any questions you may have so we can get you the best looking disc possible.

Can LinkedIn Help Your Company Sell?

Are you diving into the networking craze that so many companies are now doing? Can social media websites such as LinkedIn help you sell your products? I say why not give it a try…LinkedIn is free, easy to use, low maintenance - and if nothing else you’re able to connect with colleagues, partners and friends that maybe you haven’t heard from in awhile. It’s free marketing, and during these tough economic times, surely can’t hurt.

Being in a sales/marketing role here at GLMT, there is no doubt that LinkedIn has been a great resource for current and potential customer contacts. My goal is for people to think of Great Lakes Media Technology and myself when someone needs the products and services we offer - and LinkedIn can only help to increase that brand awareness. Not to mention that observing a contact’s profile helps you learn a little background about the person that you otherwise probably wouldn’t have known. Even tangible networking events usually don’t involve discussions of people who think highly of you (recommendations section of LinkedIn).

As far as me personally generating sales revenue as a result of being in touch through LinkedIn – to be honest I have yet to see any real results. You’re probably laughing by the way I was just talking up how useful the website has been, but believe me I have faith. Even if it does not directly result in a sale, I do believe it has helped me to better connect with existing customers. I’d love to hear your thoughts…

Netflix and Blu-ray
The Perfect Combination?

The road to Blu-ray was a complicated one for me. I wanted to get the most out of my purchase, especially since I was jumping on this technology-bandwagon so soon. My search began when I was looking for a Christmas present for my husband. I decided I wanted to look into streaming Netflix as a gift for him.

You can stream Netflix without purchasing a Blu-ray player or a streaming box. You can connect a computer to your TV. However, the TV we have is quite old and I would have had to purchase extra equipment in order to connect everything. A variety of ways to stream Netflix to your TV is offered online. The box offered by Netflix to stream video looked okay, and was reasonable in price. But, just below this listing I found some Blu-ray players that also stream Netflix. I appreciate multi-functionality in my electronics so I began my search for the perfect combo machine. I finally settled on the Samsung BD-P2500 for a variety of reasons, including price and availability.

Once the BD-P2500 arrived, it was amazingly simple to set up. As soon as the Samsung was plugged into my network, Netflix appeared upon the menu. The player walked me through activating my account. I used to my Netflix account through the computer and added eligible titles to my instant viewing queue to get movies to show up on my player.

There are quite a variety of titles available for both movies and TV shows. I am pretty happy with the selection but I do have some complaints. I chose a few TV shows to watch this weekend. The two series I chose had several episodes unavailable for viewing instantly. This is especially annoying since you do not become aware of it until you start watching. For instance, the first TV show I picked was missing the pilot episode, number three, and number four. I gave up on that show at that point since I prefer to watch everything in order.

I have to say, overall, that I do like the ability to stream Netflix. It gives me a wide variety of shows to watch and I don’t have to “waste” one of my 3 hard copy choices from Netflix to watch them. I also don’t feel guilty if I don’t like the movie and turn it off. This was a great purchase but do be aware you need a Netflix membership and a wired network connection in order to do this.

GLMT attending North American Music Manufacturer's (NAMM) Show

GLMT will be sending representatives to the 2009 NAMMM Show in Anaheim, January 16th-18th. Many of GLMT's customers and friends are music publishers and manufacturers which makes it an opportune time and location to meet with them.

The NAMM show has been an event that GLMT perennially attends due to its large scale service to the music publishing and manufacturing industry. GLMT has helped with many of the marketing materials distributed at the show and have also manufactured many of the disc-based products sold at the show.

PC World: Blu-ray 4th Quarter shows Blu-ray Success

PC World claims that Blu-ray had a successful 4th quarter of 2008 and is poised for even greater success in 2009. The PC World article states:

"Disc sales have tripled in the past year, according to The Digital Entertainment Group, an organization made up of movie studios and electronics manufacturers who track the industry. Blu-ray sold 28.6 million discs in the fourth quarter of 2008, and there are 10.7 million Blu-ray players currently in the United States.

The biggest seller was The Dark Knight, the number two highest grossing motion picture of all time. The Dark Knight is the first Blu-ray disc to sell over one million copies."

We will keep you posted on the successes of this format and the attention the media gives it.