Archive for the ‘Devices’ Category
Print media: more of a generational thing May 3rd, 2008
Every so often a story about how print media are dead surfaces and depending on your take on factors like declining newspaper circulations and who you work for, you either agree or you don’t. One thought about the future of print media is that it will become a niche luxury item (thus giving hope to big media and advertisers that they can still tap the wealthier readership).
What isn’t in dispute is that circulations are in decline. The problem with print media is that it is just so wasteful and very much out of touch with the current pace of technology. As the New York Times put it in 2006:
Newspaper circulation has been in a long, slow decline for decades. But the pace of loss seems accelerated now, as the industry tries to adjust to the steady migration of readers and advertisers to the Internet.
I can’t imagine things have improved much for print media since then. There has certainly been a fair amount of discussion about how to survive this shift to digital media and a number of industry pundits have boldly declared that one or another technology will become the dominant platform for the content presently printed and which all those people out there clearly still want. After all, there will always be a place for quality journalism and writing. I agree although I think it is important that mainstream media realise that they are content creators almost on a par with bloggers, podcasters and other not-so-mainstream content creators. I am starting to wonder if the distinction between the content I could get from, say, The Times or Mail & Guardian and the content I can get from the likes of Ivo Vegter, Robert Scoble and Read/Write Web is fading fast to the point where I place as much (and often more) value in what I read on a blog than what I read in a mainstream publication.
Another issue is that actual print media is so wasteful and cumbersome. All that paper being printed and distributed across long distances over periods of time that could render the news obsolete before the publication arrives. Why not save the cost of all that production and the trees that were sacrificed for the idle pleasure of rustling pages and explore digital alternatives which can be so much better for the rainforest?
(Image credit: 02.Newspaper.DupontCircle.WDC.30mar06 by ElvertBarnes published under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license)
Although the hot platform at the moment is your mobile phone (lots of mobile phone users translate into more advertising bucks if only mainstream media could figure out how to monetise all those little eyeballs), I see the future of media (mainstream, not so mainstream and downright on the bleeding edge) being on a variety of devices feed by RSS and its successors. Ok, this isn’t exactly breaking news but it does help if the big media people take a look at this issue from the perspective of an end user. Have they actually tried to read feeds on a mobile phone that doesn’t cost R7 000 and have a large screen? It isn’t a pleasant experience.
Instead media should be available on whichever connected device you prefer. My personal preference is a tablet device of some kind (the one I dream about and which no-one has manufactured yet) or some iteration of what the iPhone could be. I want a large enough screen to comfortably read the feeds I have subscribed to and remain mobile where I want to be and also continue my reading on my large LCD monitor when I return to home base. Still not exactly news to most people but the point is that the focus should rather be on making the content available in a relative platform agnostic manner using a standard technology that can distribute that content (again, RSS works well here).
This isn’t to say that big media has to give up its subscriptions and squeeze more out of their advertisers. I noticed that the local publications whose feeds I subscribe to publish truncated feeds which force me to visit their websites to read the full article. This drives me nuts. I use a feed reader to read my feeds, not to link to web pages. I would pay a subscription fee to have receive the full articles in my feeds and I would even tolerate a relative innocuous ad if it means I don’t have to open yet another tab in Firefox or NetNewsWire to read the article. This option would mean the ability to add a password protected feed (presumably) and given the demand for this those feed readers that don’t support this functionality soon will if they are worth their salt, so to speak. I subscribe to Fortune magazine and it would be fantastic to be able to subscribe to a digital edition and receive full articles in my feed reader. Of course the second part to this fantasy experience would be a device that makes my content portable enough that I can meaningfully consume that content just as easily when I am at a coffee shop as I can at my desk with my MacBook (it would also be great if my preferred feed reader - NetNewsWire at the moment - would allow customisable media download options for offline reading).
That content could be formatted in a variety of ways and a nice example of this is a new feed reader which has recently been released and which is called “Times“. This newsreader aims to change the way we read our news in a digital format:
Instead of treating news like email (as most RSS readers do), Times presents you with headlines and photos from a variety of sources all in one place, letting you more easily discover the news you want to read. Like your own personal newspaper, you can put feeds into separate areas, create pages for different subjects, and more.
Although I think Acrylic Apps is missing the point a little with Times, it is still a fantastic example of how news and feed fed content in general can be presented to users. It doesn’t all have to look like this:
Feed fed content could include news feeds, blog feeds, ebooks, podcasts, music … whatever. The range of devices could be just as diverse and could include existing devices such as the iPod Touch/iPhone, mobile phones, Internet tablets, laptops, large LCD screens and future derivatives of those devices. In fact, I think a worthwhile exercise for a major publication is to investigate distributing a decent RSS enabled panel device to its subscribers (perhaps subsidised by a 2 year subscription like the mobile phone networks) and updating those devices over the Internet with the latest issue or latest articles rather than delivering print editions.
Print media may not be dead just yet but it isn’t getting any younger. Digital platforms far surpass print media in terms of immediacy and freshness of content and the growing trend towards digital consumption means that it is becoming more and more expensive to produce print editions of these publications. Why would I buy a newspaper except to paper my floors in case my puppies need to pee? I certainly don’t need to read a newspaper to find out what is going on in the world. I can do that online and in many instances, I can get better information on the Web. What about you? When was the last time you read a newspaper to find out what is going on in your world?
Technorati Tags:
feed reader, feeds, netnewswire, rss, print media, newspapers, digital media
Posted in Devices, Feeds, Media | Comments (1)
iPod Touch in my future? March 23rd, 2008
I have lustful thoughts about acquiring an iPod Touch when it comes time to upgrade my aging 5th generation iPod. When I first thought about an iPod Touch a while ago my concern was the limited drive space (the current high end model is a 32GB model) where what I really wanted was/is more space. I conducted a little experiment this morning and looked at how much space I would need if I only took the media I actually consume with me on my iPod and a 32GB iPod Touch could probably be enough for me although that wouldn’t include email and other application data.
I know what some of you have iPod Touch’s. What are your thoughts about an iPod touch as an iPod/Internet tablet option? Nokia has its N810 and I have heard mixed reviews about it. My issue is that I would want my music player/podcast device to be my iPod because all my content is in iTunes and I am a rookie Mac fanatic so I don’t see myself shifting to a Nokia device as my media device.
I came across this video by Tom Raftery where he talks about why the iPod Touch is a superior Internet tablet. The size does appeal to me, as does the functionality and interface. I would like to see an iPod Touch with a bigger drive though (64GB or so at a minimum) so I am inclined to wait and see if Steve Jobs unveils a bigger model in the coming months …
Any words from the wise? Is this a silly idea? Should I just go with the iPod Classic with its 160GB drive and leave this touchscreen foolishness behind me?
Posted in Devices, Entertainment, People | Comments (2)
Nudjit … new gadget blog on the block February 4th, 2008
I just received an email from Nic Haralambous which he sent out to 300 of his closest friends and contacts about a new SA gadget blog he, Justin Hartman and Gregor Rohrig have launched:
The site aims to inform, entertain, and alert South Africans about the gadgets that are available to us. Our gadget reviews don’t just highlight the technical aspects but will also judge how well they work, where one can get them, and if our local technology infrastructure can actually support these electronic toys.
The site offers detailed written reviews, quirky video posts, aggregated gadget news from all across Africa, user ratings, and hot links from popular gadget sites from around the world.
My first thought was “bastards!”. I have been toying with the idea of a gadget blog myself given that there hasn’t been a local gadget/computer online mag worth talking about (no, those are not worth talking about). I clicked on the link and was confronted with this fine piece of design:
Then came my next thought … “bastards!!”
This site has to be one of the best looking gadget sites we have here in SA, if not on the Web generally. Instead of looking yet a blog with a variation of a variation of a common WordPress theme, these guys have put together an online gadget magazine that I can see myself visiting often, if I wasn’t such an RSS junkie lately (which brings me to my one big gripe about the site).
The site pretty much covers the essentials and I can see that the guys have added content going back to last year to flesh it out a bit (always a good thing). I subscribed immediately even while uttering obscenities under my breath because they did this so well while I just thought about doing …
My one big gripe is that the feed is truncated and I am forced to visit the site to read the posts. I understand the desire to drive traffic to the site itself for advertising purposes. This is common when sites rely on advertising but it is not very user friendly. I use NetNewsWire to handle the bulk of my Web consumption. I subscribe to somewhere between 250 and 300 feeds at the moment so I would prefer not to have to actually visit a site unless I really want to view something in my browser instead of in NetNewsWire. This is just a hassle for me and anyone else who works in a similar way. I would much rather see full feeds published and I could even live with ads in my feed.
These days with Feedburner Pro being free, publishers can get quite a bit of information about their subscribers and how they consume the content so I think the argument that users be directed to the site itself isn’t as valid anymore (but then, what do I know?). I actually tend to skip over sites that don’t publish full feeds and only visit the site if something really compelling pops up. I currently have 9 tech blogs I subscribe to (376 unread posts as I write this) so my attention is relatively limited and I tend to prefer the more detailed feeds. But that is just me.
Otherwise this blog is fantastic. It is well designed, has a great focus and I wish the guys well with it. I am really excited to see that the blog is published under a Creative Commons license although the NonCommercial ShareAlike license means I can’t grab content under that license for this blog (I make a whopping 50c a day in ad revenue so this blog is cooking …). Great job guys.
Technorati Tags:
nudjit, gadget blog, gadget, south africa, justin hartman, gregor rohrig, nic haralambous
Posted in Content licensing, Devices, People, Useful stuff | Comments (8)
MacBook Paper - even better than the MacBook Air January 30th, 2008
So you’ve been wowed by the MacBook Air (or maybe you haven’t) but have you seen the MacBook Paper? The MacBook Paper has an infinite battery life, doesn’t require any sort of data drive and is available in a variety of sizes.
(Source: CrunchGear via Wired)
Technorati Tags:
macbook air, macbook paper, parody, video, spoof
Posted in Devices, Fun | Comments (3)
chilipod 1-13: Mxit August 17th, 2007
In this episode of chilipod I present my interview with Mxit’s Herman Heunis. There has been quite a bit of talk about how secure/insecure Mxit is for children specifically. In this interview Herman sets the record straight and points out that the challenge isn’t Mxit but rather users’ tendency to give out too much information about themselves and this is what leads to the attacks every parent fears.
As always, this episode is available in two formats:
- Enhanced chilipod (AAC/iTunes format); and
- Normal chilipod (mp3 format).
The music we have used in this episode (and which we may use in future episodes) is a track called YFM Late Remix by a crowd known as Deep Fried. The track has been published on the ccMixter:sa site under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
Technorati Tags:
herman heunis, mxit, privacy
Posted in Devices, People, Sharing, Telecoms, Tools, Useful stuff, chilipod | Comments (1)
IMified acquires Feedcrier and intensifies focus on IM May 15th, 2007
I spoke a bit about IMified and the shift to IM (instant messaging) as a communications focal point in chilipod episode 6. Well, IMified has just acquired Feedcrier which translates RSS into IM. According to TechCrunch:
Imified plans on integrating the RSS alerts to its current list of IM services, calling them “Imified Alerts”. Users will also be able to get updates through IM enabled phones and Imified’s widget.
Mashable points out that IMified’s strategy is focussed on more mobile, presence-based applications which is where this whole thing becomes a lot more exciting because, aside from RSS alerts being delivered to your IM client, “they’ll be focused on presence-based alerts that can be forwarded to your mobile phone via sms”.
The IMified blog post about the acquisition speaks a little more about the direction IMified will be taking:
Through this acquisition, IMified will make use of Feedcrier’s rock solid bot platform and super-fast feed alerting technology to offer a complete IM based solution for interacting with web services and presence based alerting. While we’re still working out our integration strategy, I can tell you that we’ve got some really cool features coming down the road. Besides the obvious ability for users to subscribe to real-time feed alerts, developers will be able to use our new API to push alerts to widget subscribers. With this new alert platform, we plan on offering presence-based alerts that will have the option of being forwarded to your mobile phone via sms. Speaking of mobile phones, we’re working on HTTP enabling your IMified menu so you can interact with IMified on your mobile browser.
IM’s reach is extending from your desktop and your laptop to your mobile device and while this is already quite something, when you consider how many services are starting to focus on presence (like IMified and Jaiku, for example) the mobile space is going to become pretty dynamic. Of course the excitement builds even more when you toss in GPS functionality like the kind you find in the new Nokia N95 …
Technorati Tags:
imified, feedcrier, presence, mobile, rss, alerts, nokia n95, jaiku
Posted in Devices, Feeds, Tools, Useful stuff | Comments (0)
12 things to consider before buying a Nokia N95 April 8th, 2007
Om Malik took the Nokia N95 for a spin and came up with a list of 12 considerations to bear in mind before you go out to buy the Nokia N95. For the most part there is pretty good news although the battery life is disappointing. There are some pretty interesting possibilities with a phone that has wifi and integrated GPS. Presence and location-based services like the new hot app, Jaiku, will benefit from devices like the N95.
Technorati Tags:
nokia n95, gps, wifi, nokia, n95
Posted in Devices, Telecoms | Comments (1)
Media Centre RSS Reader March 16th, 2007
Lifehacker has a post about a very cool service for Windows Media Centre users. The Media Centre RSS Reader is a plugin for Windows Media Centre which brings RSS to your TV screen. Wow! Now if that doesn’t do a lot to make feeds more accessible to Joe and Thembi at home then I don’t know what does.
The software will run on Windows Media Centre edition and Vista. There are some issues with the plugin though. It apparently strips out images so you are going to be left with text feeds. I am also not sure if it supports audio/video enclosures so podcasts may be out too.
If you are in the market for podcasts on your TV then perhaps you should consider the Apple TV?
Tags: windows centre rss reader, rss, feeds, windows, vista, apple tv
Posted in Devices, Feeds, Useful stuff | Comments (0)
MyStrands: Music sharing on your Series 60 mobile device March 15th, 2007
MyStrands is a -
free (absolutely free”no strings attached!) desktop application that lets you get more connection from your digital music: more music, more friends, and especially more fun! Find friends through music in the MyStrands community. Throw parties and entertain your friends with music, messages, and pictures through partyStrands, the newest MyStrands feature. Tag music, create playlists, and of course, get instant recommendations with other MyStrands features.
The software is available for free on a number of operating systems, including the Symbian Series 60 (3rd edition) operating system (the operating system found on recent Nokia smartphones).
There are some old favourites when it comes to the features. There are recommendations, the ability to connect with like-minded users and to blog about your music choices. What I like is the ability to organise your collection using a tag cloud. The software is platform independent and even give you information on iPod plays.
I took a look around on the site and it seems that the file format for a preview is WMA (Windows Media Audio format). I wonder if the free player doesn’t act as a kind of Windows DRM facilitator? The music you may want to buy is bought from partner sites like Amazon. I haven’t had a chance to give the site a good work up so I am curious what people’s experiences are. Even if my impression is accurate and the music bought from or through the site is DRM’d to the point where it can’t really be shared or listened to except through the player, is that a terrible thing? If this is how it works, it is a really smart idea actually. When you can access the service from any platform, does DRM matter that much to the average user?
(Source: TechCrunch)
Tags: mystrands, community, music sharing, symbian series 60
Posted in Devices, Sharing, Useful stuff | Comments (1)
YouTube on your Nokia with the Nokia Video Center February 16th, 2007
Nokia recently announced its new Video Center application which enables Nokia Nseries mobile device users to view and subscribe to YouTube videos:
The new Nokia Video Center offers a comprehensive and user friendly mobile video RSS feed and video on demand consumption experience with an easy-to-use interface for discovering, viewing and storing one’s favorite content on the Nokia Nseries multimedia computer. It combines branded video RSS feed services, internet videos and sideloaded videos from the PC into one single place such as the Nokia N95 and the recently announced Nokia N93i.
"Our cooperation with YouTube paves the way for continued growth for internet based content distribution. Enabling people to have access to a wide range of videos on their connected multimedia computers offers great potential for this area," said Torsti Tenhunen, Director, Multimedia, Nokia. "Also, Nokia Video Center offers content producers and distributors a unique way to lead consumers directly to dynamic video services which can easily be produced and tailored for various interests."
Nokia Video Center will be available globally in the markets where Nokia Nseries devices are sold. It will first be preinstalled in the Nokia N95 device and thereafter in most of the new Nokia Nseries devices. Nokia Video Center will also be available as download version for selected compatible S60 devices.
The Nokia Video Center supports H.264 videos which is a format supported by your video iPod and this means there will be even more content formatted for the smaller screen. Add feed capability (apparently the Nokia Video Center will support the Media RSS format which Yahoo! is promoting) and you have a whole new audience that wasn’t there before in the mobile space.
Nokia is really making serious headway in this space with their deals with Six Apart and now with Google/YouTube. The Nseries devices are high end devices with cameras with up to 5 megapixels and almost DVD quality video. Combine that with high speed data access and you have not just the ability to stream video over mobile networks (something that analysts have been predicting year after year since 3G networks started rolling out a few years ago) but also to further develop the citizen media movement by adding high quality video and image content.
(Source: Niall Kennedy)
Tags: nokia video center, nseries, n95, n93i, mobile device, youtube, media rss
Posted in Devices, Feeds | Comments (0)