THE MOST SURPRISING AD I'VE SEEN IN A VERY LONG TIME: Scythes, Blimps and Vacuum Tubes: What's old is new again; so what's new?

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 They say what goes around comes around.  (Or is it the other way?)  You get the idea.

About a month ago I was flipping through a physical copy of Popular Science, May, 2012, and stumbled on a full page ad from Samsung, the S. Korean company that makes flat screen TVs.  The scene is a collage of contemporary life-style photos with hero shot of a piece of simple but high-end audio gear:  The Samsung DA-E750 Audio Dock.   A small headline reads “create wonder.”

But what surprised me, was the all caps, first line of copy:  “WITH SAMSUNG VACUUM TUBE TECHNOLOGY, GREAT SOUND COMES NATURALLY. “

Vacuum tubes?!  This is 2012!  The transistor was invented 50 years ago!?

The copy continues: “Bring audio to life with the Samsung Audio Dock system featuring vacuum tube technology. Enjoy music the way it was meant to be heard as the natural warmth of the analog tubes deliver a truer, richer, more immersive sound.  Experience the future of home audio at Samsung.com/HomeTheater.”  I’m not kidding but maybe I’m getting spoofed. 

Of course there are those who still prefer vinyl to CDs.  And other old ideas are coming back – like blimps according to a Wall Street Journal article headlined “Army Preps Spy Blimp.” 

 In that same WSJ issue, a feature on scythes that some are choosing to use instead of motorized weed wackers – 10,000, $200 scythe kits sold just last year and sales are in the upswing.

So what other changes may surprise us 5 years from now?  (A re-reboot of Spiderman, maybe?)  My feeling is that the Facebook pendulum may be swinging back to real friends in real time. After all, the most, basic fundamental, social medium is...sitting down face to face with someone for coffee or throwing a party. 

So Onward, Forward to the Past.

Memo to Team Obama: Barack is President. Content is King.

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In 2008 and after the election, the campaign of President Barack Obama was widely hailed for its mastery of social media and its sophistication in the digital space.

This year, once again, Team Obama is falling back on the excellent digital and social media capabilities it demonstrated back in 2008…and it’s not working.

The primary reason Obama won in 2008 was not the campaign’s mastery of  digital media and technology.  It was the message.  Hopeful, optimistic, bipartisan.  Four years later it’s hopeless, pessimistic and extremely partisan. 

There is no way out for Team Obama now.  Soon the mainstream media will start to recognize the foolish and outrageous dishonesty of the Obama administration, just so they can’t be accused of being the last to know. 

Nobody wants to be CNN now. 

So unless Axelrod and Plouffe are really magicians (you can only use misdirection so much), the Obama campaign message will increasingly seem removed from reality and relevance.  

Sooner or later mainstream media will have to recognize the writing on the wall. 

Or they—and their content—will continue to be increasingly ignored. 

By the end of Campaign 2012, President Barack Obama will be fully revealed for what he is. 

King trumps President.