Playing the long game has gotta be tough. First of all, there’s a bunch of people who like a short game. Instant gratification, everyone gets your vision, etc etc. Easy wins, lots of high fives.
Second, long games equal speculation, and a lot of question marks. People love a question mark when it comes to the long game. Mainly because there are no guarantees, it takes mammoth patience, and question marks are kind of fun to type. ??? (see)
Anyway, we’re not saying people who play long games are always right. Justin Timberlake once bought MySpace, probably with a long game vision. Not to rub salt into an already salty wound, but we all know how that turned out. So, a long game is not always a success.
All we’re saying is that sometimes people get tunnel vision when there’s a bigger picture at play.
On that, The Spieg’s seeing his bigger picture through a newly designed pair of Snap Spectacles, released today. They’re waterproof, and show the camera company’s vision of people ditching the mobile phone camera and snapping what they see instead.
Welcome to 2028, everyone.
Snap’s new Specs are Here.
V2 of the Snapchat Spectacle is here - they’re water resistant, capable of photo and video, slimmer, and come in a bunch of jazzy colours.
Features aside, this is what it says: Snapchat sees itself as a camera company before anything else. It has vision for how that looks going forward. That vision is people doing away with mobile phone cameras and capturing what they see with wearable tech. It also says people hate wearing stuff on their face that doesn’t resemble a normal, everyday item (sorry Google Glass for the shade). The price tag is $150, if you’re interested. Jump to Recode for the full run down.
The Selfie Games: Snappable.
Snapchat just released a bunch of new AR games built into its selfie lenses called Snappables. Aside from being possibly the best spectator sport since selfie sticks became a thing, it’s designed to be another feature that keeps people engaging and interacting on the app, even when they don’t have a new brunch spot to share. You can play by yourself or link it with friends, showing the app’s focus on interaction and co-creating experiences. Want to know more? Techcrunch has your back.
Twitter, Snap’s ultimate hype man.
...or woman, depending on who’s doing the Tweeting. Tabs started being tested last week, separating out Stories and Chats on the friends side, and Subscriptions and Shows on the discover side. There’s been a whole raft of people who have got the update and have taken to Twitter to show they are very much here for it. If you haven’t got the update yet, most of these Tweets will get you pumped for it. If you have, you may just enjoy the gifs, and people still throwing shade because that’s where keyboard warriors live their best lives.
Viacom and Snapchat Expand Global Deal, Produce More Vertical Shows
‘Hey I’m Viacom, welcome to my deal’ - probably not a direct quote from anyone at the media conglomerate, which produces long-time favorite MTV show Cribs (among others), but that’s pretty much the gist of this one. Snapchat and Viacom have expanded their global partnership, meaning Snap-adapted MTV shows Cribs and Girl Code are getting second seasons on the app, while Proposal is getting its first produced.
This shows a continued focus on original content being produced for the channel, which is an interesting look at storytelling and its different implications in a vertical, ephemeral environment. And regardless of whether you’re into seeing misc celebrity Cribs or not, watching these original shows is a good way to see how stories produced specifically for the channel can be done best.
