Sep
2
Given that Twitter is currently reigning as the virtual watercooler for everything from world events to daily minutia — every #hashtag an artifact for future archeologists to unscramble — you have to wonder: if only Ev and company had come up with this just a few hundred years earlier, what 140-character gems might we have gleaned from our forefathers?
Thanks to Historical Tweets (@historicaltweet) we now have our answer…
Jun
23
Okay, I’ve finally had enough — after an unexpected and completely dibilitating hard drive crash (aren’t they all?) this weekend, I have, like all victims overcoming tragedy, decided to pickup the pieces and move on. I am therefore officially making it my goal for 2009 to shift more than two-thirds of my digital existence to the greener pastures of “The Cloud”.
- Goodbye Microsoft Office, hello Google Docs
- Goodbye Quicken, hello Mint
- Goodbye bookmarks, hello Delicious [again]
- Goodbye folders, hello Flickr [exclusively]
- Goodbye iTunes… oh wait :(
IT fanboys may scoff at how quickly I shake off my longheld ties to physical disks and pricey programs, which they will claim to be “more secure”… to which I say:
Anyone willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both. — Benjamin Franklin
Freedom, in this case, is our inalienable right to have our information (and media) at any time, in any place, and displayed on any acceptable device with complete integrity and usefulness; to own this information despite that we do not physically possess it; and to decide one day, on a whim just as impetuous as this one, to move our lives and information from one cloud to another.
“We the people” need a Thomas Payne for the Information Age.
Mar
31
via catbird:
Apparently, Web 3.0 is shaping up to consist of young people regurgitating old Web 1.0 ideas but using Web 2.0 technologies.
At least this helps to explain why there hasn’t been much to get excited about lately, and why I can lose an entire week listening to people talk in circles about last year’s news… like a former high school quarterback recounting a touchdown pass he threw 12 years ago. Thus:
- Human Years = 1:1
- Dog Years = 7:1
- Web Years = 12:1
Jan
22
Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.
— President Barack Obama, Inaugural Address
While the world watched over the inauguration of Barack Obama with hope and anticipation, the first signs of change were already underway with the re-launch of whitehouse.org. Though currently only enabling one side of the dialogue that democracy requires (no comments?!), it nonetheless is an important recognition of the fact that “we the people” demand more transparency and deserve more input into our elected governance in the years ahead.
As referenced in his innagural address, forty-three Americans have preceded Obama into office; but among many other firsts, he will certainly be our first Blogger-in-Chief. I can only hope this first step evolves into more than a thinly-veiled megaphone for pre-approved talking points.
Jan
1
On the eve of a new year, within minutes of the ball drop in Times Square, millions of Time Warner Cable customers found themselves pawned like the children of a belligerent divorce. “We’re not making the decision, it’s up to Viacom — call them,” said one flustered Time Warner representative when I called to confirm whether I would wake up Colbert-less in 2009. The consumer had now become the fulcrum of leverage between two conglomerates battling over twenty-three cents.
In the battle of content versus dumb pipe, we’re naturally inclined to side with the one who makes us laugh — and were it not for geographic monopolies and painful switching costs I would expect 90% of customers to acquiesce to Viacom’s demands. Yet, in this case, the advantaged party is attempting to turn us against our ourselves by prescribing higher fees for content that is, with a few stellar exceptions, unwanted and stagnant — an ambitious and rather myopic strategy.
Viacom may have gotten their twenty-three cents within seconds of the new year; but in doing so they have also heightened awareness of the ridiculousness of the system:
- Why can’t we subscribe only to the channels and content that I want? Must I support Nickelodeon if all I want is Comedy Central; or 24 hours of Comedy Central content on the back of the one hour I actually want and watch?
- Why can’t I watch said content on my schedule instead of yours? On-Demand is not a promotional opportunity, it’s the way we (your CUSTOMERS!) want our entertainment.
- Do you expect consumers to pay more for more of the same, or will this twenty-three cents actually better the other 95% of your programming?
- Why has capitalistic competition given way so easily to monopolies in what is one of the most vital infrastructure needs of an information economy for the century ahead?
- If content is king, then what feudal metaphor should be ascribed to the power who can silence the king with the flip of a switch?
- Most importantly: is this petty fight a sign of things to come if we fail to affirm net neutrality? Should we expect passive aggressive advertisements urging us to open our wallets so that Gmail can load 20% faster, or to spare multiplayer lag on XBOX Live?
Corporations acting like children is one thing; but when they move so aggressively toward mutually-assured destruction, and attempt to wield their customers like children in a feigned divorce it’s evidence of a much greater, systemic problem.
