“ [Three models of collective intelligence] We can argue that there are a range of different models of collective intelligence shaping the digital realm at the present time. We might distinguish broadly between three different models: 1)An aggregative model which assumes that we can collect data based on the autonomous and anonymous decisions of “the crowd” and use it to gain insights into their collective behavior. This is the model which shapes Digg and to some degree, YouTube. 2)a curatorial model where grassroots intermediaries seek to represent their various constituencies and bring together information that they think is valuable. This is the model which shapes the blogosphere. 3)a deliberative model where many different voices come together, define problems, vet information, and find solutions which would be impossible for any individual to achieve. This is the model shaping Wikipedia or even more powerfully alternate universe games. Of the three, the deliberative model offers the most democratic potentials, especially when it is tempered by ethical and political commitments to diversity. This is the model which Pierre Levy describes in his book, Collective Intelligence. Levy’s account stresses the affirmative value placed on diversity in such a culture. The more diverse the community, the broader range of possible information and insights can inform the deliberative process.
November 7, 2009
“ [THe rise of virtual goods] Silicon Valley may have discovered the perfect business: charging real money for products that do not exist. These so-called virtual goods, like a $1 illustration of a Champagne bottle on Facebook or the $2.50 Halloween costume in the online game Sorority Life, are no more than a collection of pixels on a Web page. But it is quickly becoming commonplace for people to spend a few dollars on them to get ahead in an online game or to give a friend a gift on a social network. Analysts estimate that virtual goods could bring in a billion dollars in the United States and around $5 billion worldwide this year — all for things that, aside from perhaps a few hours of work by an artist and a programmer, cost nothing to produce.
“ [iPhone: the worst phone in the world] The iPhone may be the greatest handheld surfing device ever to rock the mobile Web, and a fabulous media player to boot. It may be the highest-rated mobile phone on CNET UK, rocking the pockets of half of our crack editorial team. It’s certainly the touchscreen face that launched a thousand apps. But as an actual call-making phone, it’s rubbish, and we aim to prove it.
Say what? iPhone call quality is bad Call quality on the iPhone is pathetic, and it’s mostly because of the tiny speaker. It has to be aligned with your ear canal with the accuracy of a laser-guided ninja doing cataract surgery, or else the volume cuts down to nothing as the sound waves bounce uselessly around your ear shells.
Say what? iPhone call quality is bad Call quality on the iPhone is pathetic, and it’s mostly because of the tiny speaker. It has to be aligned with your ear canal with the accuracy of a laser-guided ninja doing cataract surgery, or else the volume cuts down to nothing as the sound waves bounce uselessly around your ear shells.
November 6, 2009
“ The Google Wave chatting tool is too complicated for its own good.
November 5, 2009
“ [“app phones” a new type of phones] Apps distinguish iPhonish phones from mere smartphones, so “app phones” it is. The latest hotly anticipated app phone is the Motorola Droid […].
November 4, 2009
“ [A gadget that only tweets] In a world where smartphones are vying to become your all-purpose mobile computing multitool, Twitter believes there’s a market for more specialized devices — a gadget, for instance, able to do nothing but send and receive tweets. In June, Twitter took that vision to Peek, a company that makes a simple dedicated e-mail device, and today the result of that collaboration hits the market in the form of the TwitterPeek, aimed at a curious niche: people who are avid enough about Twitter to want a constant connection, but who for whatever reasons don’t want to use a feature phone, smartphone, netbook, laptop or PC to use the service. For these people, whoever they are, the TwitterPeek offers a lower-cost alternative. The gadget — featuring a color screen, QWERTY keyboard and built-in access to Peek’s own mobile data network — sells for $99 with a $7.95 monthly service fee after the first six months, or $199 with free tweeting for life.
“ [Location services] Loopt aims to distinguish itself by making its service comprehensive. It incorporates feeds from 20 sources, including listings and review services like Zagat, Citysearch and Eventful as well as content sites like DailyCandy, Thrillist and The Village Voice. Pulse produces a personalized and ever-changing list of recommendations based on where you are, the time of day and Loopt’s own data on where you and your friends have been. It shows editorial descriptions and reviews from the partner sites and averages the ratings a business has received. Pulse also factors in more subjective factors, like which places are particularly popular with Loopt users at a given moment. That will help Pulse come up with recommendations that a site like Google might not, said Sam Altman, a Loopt co-founder.
“ [Kindle and Sony Reader owners read more] Amazon […] says that people with Kindles now buy 3.1 times as many books as they did before owning the device. That factor is up from 2.7 in December 2008. So a reader who had previously bought eight books from Amazon would now purchase, on average, 24.8 books, a rise from 21.6 books. “You are going to see very significant industry growth rates as a result of the convenience of this kind of reading,” said Jeffrey P. Bezos, chief executive of Amazon. Sony, maker of the Reader family of devices, says that its e-book customers, on average, download about eight books a month from its online library. That is far more than the approximately 6.7 books than the average American book buyer purchased for the entire year in 2008, according to Bowker, a publishing industry tracking firm.
October 27, 2009
“ Daily newspaper circulation fell a record 10.6% in the six months ended in September to an average of 39.1 million copies, representing a 38% drop from an all-time peak of 63.3 million in 1984. Circulation now is lower than it was prior to World War II. Because the nation’s population has more than doubled in the post-war era, the percentage of households buying newspapers has plunged. Newspapers today are purchased on average in only 33 out of every 100 American households, as compared with 98 homes in 1970 and 53 households as recently as 2000. Details are in the table below.
October 23, 2009
“ [The Nook, a new eBook reader] As much as anything, publishers seemed relieved that Barnes & Noble, which operates the nation’s largest chain of bookstores, had produced a credible alternative to Amazon’s Kindle. The Nook, priced at $259, went on sale Tuesday afternoon at nook.com, at a price that matched the latest edition of the Kindle. The Nook will ship starting in late November.
October 22, 2009
“ [Seniors’ technology gap] While 46 percent of seniors over the age of 65 use cell phones, fewer use the internet, which precludes them from taking advantage of online commerce, communication and innovations like online banking. Only 39 percent of adults between 65 and 74 use the internet, and that figure drops to less than a quarter (24 percent) for those over 74. Because of declining cognitive processes, decreased memory and difficulties maintaining attention, it takes seniors twice as long as other adults to learn new technologies, say the researchers.
“ Now that Bing and Google will be displaying tweets from Twitter and status messages from Facebook, web workers will need to consider how much, and how publicly, we wish to interact with these two social networks.
