“ [Transmedia] What is particularly unique about Korean mobile culture is the continuing emphasis on the potential of mobile phones as ‘screen’ media. It is not surprising phenomenon considering the weight of ‘screen’ related - all dimensions of hardware and software - industries in Korean society. I would like to illustrate how the mobile screen is positioned in the flux of these transmedia experiments across new and old media in a culturally specific way through the case of Click Click Rangers: aka Mobile Rangers, an entertainment program on channel MBC in Korea.
November 17, 2009
“ [Not paying for online news] Americans, it turns out, are less willing than people in many other Western countries to pay for their online news, according to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group. Among regular Internet users in the United States, 48 percent said in the survey, conducted in October, that they would pay to read news online, including on mobile devices. That result tied with Britain for the lowest figure among nine countries where Boston Consulting commissioned surveys. In several Western European countries, more than 60 percent said they would pay. When asked how much they would pay, Americans averaged just $3 a month, tied with Australia for the lowest figure — and less than half the $7 average for Italians. The other countries included in the study were Germany, France, Spain, Norway and Finland.
“ [Volunteers building Mpas] Like contributors to Wikipedia before them, they are democratizing a field that used to be the exclusive domain of professionals and specialists. And the information they gather is becoming increasingly valuable commercially. Google, for example, sees maps playing a growing strategic role in its business, especially as people use cellphones to find places to visit, shop and eat. It needs reliable data about the locations of businesses and other destinations. “The way you get that data is having users precisely locate things,” said John Hanke, a vice president of product management who oversees Google’s mapping efforts. People have been contributing information to digital maps for some time, building displays of crime statistics or apartment rentals. Now they are creating and editing the underlying maps of streets, highways, rivers and coastlines.
November 15, 2009
“ [journalisme payé par le public] Les frais engagés par la journaliste Lindsey Hoshaw pour réaliser son reportage ont ainsi été réglés par des centaines de donateurs, via Spot.Us, qui se définit comme “un projet à but non lucratif visant à être pionner du journalisme +payé par la communauté+”. Selon son site internet, Spot.Us permet au public “de lancer des enquêtes avec des donations qui peuvent être déduites fiscalement sur des sujets importants et peut être négligés”.
November 13, 2009
“ [Beware says Nicholas Carr] The Web has been called a “database of intentions.” The bigger that database grows, and the more deeply it is mined, the more difficult it may become to discern whether those intentions are our own or ones that have been implanted in us.
November 11, 2009
“ [End of Digital Divide in 2017 in the US?] Should the expansion and upgrade of infrastructure not be passed on to the users (highly unlikely scenario) the report projects that by the years 2017 virtually every household in America can or will have broadband access. Flat Rate Increase Should current laws, or choices made by ISP, result in flat rate increases across the entire customer base, the report projects that only the highest income bracket will approach uniform access (86.4%) by 2017, whereas under $30,000 will reach 79.4% and the $30,000-$74,999 bracket will reach 85.7% by 2017. 20/80 Split Between Heavy Users/Others The report makes the interesting observation/assumption that the heavy user will not overly care if he has to assume 80% of the cost of infrastructure expansion. For one, he can most likely afford it; and for two, the habits that have driven him or her to high bandwidth usage in the first place, will stay in place and he or she will stick with current—or reach for higher—bandwidth, regardless of cost. In this scenario, the price increases (20% of cost over 80% of users) will not be such that it will dramatically stifle growth. Therefore, by 2017 98.5% of the under $30,000 will have broadband access, and 98.7% of the $30,000+ bracket.
November 7, 2009
“ [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.
“ [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.
