Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on i Heart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away about what’s going on in the digital world. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry DiMonte morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed: 

• Amazon keeps disrupting businesses. Last week we discussed the test launch of Shipping With Amazon designed to compete with UPS and FedEx. Then, later in the week, Amazon announced that it is partnering with Bank of America to expand its lending program for small businesses. This will allow Amazon to reduce risk by providing credit to more merchants. The invitation-only business will grant loans from $1000 – $750,000 for businesses that may have trouble getting a traditional business loan. Bank of Amazon, anyone? 
• Netflix charges a monthly fee and, of course, there are no TV commercials. It validates the model that people are willing to pay for content. Still, the Netflix effect is real. According to research from nScreenMedia, Netflix has taken anywhere from $3 billion to $6 billion per year off the table in TV advertising revenue, as a result of the viewing on its platform. In the past, such viewing would have gone to ad-supported TV networks. So, while TV advertising is not at risk from Netflix, the amount of TV viewed because of Netflix will impact the bottom-line. Fascinating. 
• Is your life not complete because it lacks emoticons for bagels, mango and lobster? Fear not! Fresh new emojis are on the way! The Unicode Consortium (that handles this sort of emoticon thing) will roll out 157 new ideograms this summer. You should have these non-verbal and non-word-based ways to communicate by June/July. 
• App of the Week: Facebook Local.