Fif-TECH-Teen: Why is technology categorized?

Greetings Tattletech readers,

I think human beings in general tend to put labels on things and think in boxes and it is only when you are taught to think outside of these boxes that you start to see a completely different picture. This applies to the way we think about technology.

I was party to a recent discussion between my father and Jennifer, the founder of this blog. My father (a builder) was actually bragging that he had just purchased a new battery-operated drill that contained a lithium battery pack. In my dad’s eyes, this is a fantastic innovation for the construction industry; it is a lighter, longer lasting, more powerful and quicker to charge.

It was then said that the drill was a good piece of “low technology,” which my father did not quite understand because it was the “highest” piece of technology that he has ever purchased. This got my thinking; what is the line between “low” and “high” tech? What is high tech to one person might be low tech to another, purely because of their career paths and expertise. Why does this have to be the case? Why categorize at all?

When I study the technology of my BlackBerry, the advancements that make a difference to me are Blackberry Messenger, app capacity, the amount of pictures and music I can store and the quality of access to the Internet, so I can check my e-mail, Facebook and Twitter. However (and I apologize for using my father in another comparison, but you have to realize that how different we truly are), my father thinks that advancements in phone technology should mean that phones become more shock resistant, dust resistant and moisture resistant. He once dropped his Samsung Solid from a roof three stories high, went down, picked it up, and and called to order his dinner. So once again, this proves that high tech for one person is low tech for another, but really it’s just technology and all advancement is good.

Even though I stand by my opinion and I think technology shouldn’t be categorized, feel free to comment on this piece by Tweeting at @tattletech or me personally @sean_edwards1 and let me know if you categorize technology and why? I look forward to your replies.

Tags: BlackBerry, high tech, lithium battery, low tech, samsung solid, Technology

Hey Hollywood, Check Out Activision

Hollywood had the Holy Grail once, but a conniving little fiend called technology took it away. First came TV, then VHS, then DVD and now, the Internet. While these new mediums (save the Internet one, so far) brought vastly more income to Hollywood, they also shattered the entertainment biz’s Holy Grail revenue model.

A long time ago, in a time far far more simple, movie studios collected money from every individual that saw a film, every time they saw it. In the age of cinema, you paid every time. Down deep in Hollywood’s lizard brain, that model remains the ideal. The entertainment industry’s rights value-chain (geography, release windows, DVD region encoding, bizarre digital differentiation, streaming, download, tablet, PC, mobile, etc.) are all attempts to simulate the original model: getting paid per product, per person, per view.

It been pointed out repeatedly that Hollywood is terrified of every new distribution medium that comes along, all the way until the point when the new medium ends up making them more money than the last. The Internet is no different. Hollywood is certain this technology will be its undoing.

Enter Activision, with what appears to be Hollywood’s new Holy Grail. Not only does it have a franchise that,  umm … pwns anything Hollywood has created since Star Wars–Call of Duty: Modern Warfare–it has also found a way to charge for content by individual user.

With Call of Duty Elite, Activision’s genius strategy to make sure Microsoft (read: Xbox Live) is not the only party maximizing recurring revenue, the most crucial content cannot be shared. CoD Elite is an add-on to the game, giving subscribers exclusive early access to extra game content. Specifically, new multi-player maps–the gaming equivalent of a popular illicit stimulant in rock form.

Activision is brilliantly exploiting online gaming and interactivity to foil free-riders. Unlike previous versions, the multi-player maps are tied to a gamer profile and cannot be shared with other users. Needless to say, customers are not pleased but it is not stopping them from subscribing, in droves.

Hollywood should take note. Activision seems to have discovered the secret of using digital to increase revenue and they are doing it without law suits, DRM or lobbyists. The are doing it with awesome content and compelling add-ons.

-Josh Mortensen

You can follow Josh on Twitter @razzmuzzen

Tags: Call of Duty Elite, Hollywood, Josh Mortensen, movies, online content, revenue models, rights value-chain, video games

Monday Jumpstart

“A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.”

-Paul Erdos

Clutch: For All You Caffeine Junkies, Including Myself

Remember a few years back when it was “in” to carry a purse that was bigger than you? Fast forward to 2012, where everything is focused on being small, compact and easily accessible. Most likely, you will spot women (or men) carrying a clutch or trendy tote bag instead. No one wants to be the person holding up the line in Starbucks, with their humongous purse on the floor trying to locate their wallet. Although, with so many other options for getting your caffeine fix, does anyone still go to Starbucks?

Now is the time to admit I am a caffeine junky. I prefer coffee, but I must admit, Redbull is quite an alternative, as is the occasional five hour energy shot; they get the job done quickly and both contain fewer calories than most lattes and cappuccinos. As a caffeine junky, I have now learned firsthand that everything consumers crave is getting smaller and smaller, starting with the purse we chose, to the amount of calories we consume throughout the day, to what we chug to get an energy burst.

At first I thought it couldn’t get any cooler than a Sheet Energy Strip that dissolved on your tongue and gave you energy. Then I came across the best (and smallest) caffeine-related project I’ve seen so far, the Aeroshot — a shot of caffeine, right out of a mini can. I was intrigued when this concept was introduced to the market, and clearly wanted to snag one and try it out (I mean a guy from Harvard created it, it has to be legit), so I ordered some Aeroshot.

The sleek design and size, which resembles my favorite lipstick, is what really drew me in. One container is equivalent to one cup of coffee, except that there are zero calories involved, and no stomach filled with liquid. The lime flavored powder quickly dissolves, leaving you alert and ready to go.

Although none of the above replace a good ol’ cup of Joe, it is interesting to see what other products are available and how they are continually becoming smaller and smaller, jam-packed with the one and only caffeine. Who knows, pretty soon we could be going to Aeroshot shops to sit and chat, and take a puff in between, pointing and laughing at the people who are still going to Starbucks.

Its official, the future of caffeine has arrived.

-KC

Tags: Aeroshot, clutch, Energy, energy packets

Fif-TECH-Teen: Cyberbullying

Tags: bullies, bully, bullying, cyberbullying, Internet cruelty, Internet safety

Monday Jumpstart

“A conclusion is the place where you got tired thinking.”

-Martin H. Fischer

Introducing: Clutch

It’s all about perspective. Any story worth telling has many perspectives and we at Tattletech are in the business of telling stories. We tell stories about technology, venture deals, the Internet, pretty much anything we can find that is on the edge of something that interests us. With that in mind, we are introducing a new blogger with a new feature called Clutch. Kelsey Barry, who we have nicknamed our “trend-seeking missile,” will be undertaking the Herculean task of trying to stay cooler than the rest of us (we are very cool, I assure you. Sean even skateboards!), keeping her eye out for the best urban media and tech trends and checking in every now and then to share with the rest of us. Kelsey, take it away.

Before I could walk, I knew how to sniff out a trend, always carrying my pacifier in a purse, or other such things trendy babies do. What I’m trying to say is that I like keeping up with the latest and greatest. Now, I am pleased to be able to share what I find on my new beat covering urban media and tech trends for Tattletech. I’ve always enjoyed reading Tattletech and am thrilled to be a part of the team now. So, stay tuned to learn about all the cool stuff that crosses my path! Peace and Love.

-KB

Tags: clutch, tech trends, urban media

Living In Data

I had the pleasure of going down to Austin, Texas last weekend for the second iteration of Spark Camp, an intimate gathering of forward-thinking professionals working in journalism, technology, public policy, government, mobile, private and public sector agencies and other areas of digital media. The camp featured a weekend of conversation, where 80 participants gathered to discuss a single topic and brainstorm new ways of solving problems or of providing access to information. This weekend, the focus was data.

It is easy to look at data as something static or boring. Ostensibly, data shows us truths. Get the data, show the data and keep it clear — those are the rules. However, there is a lot more that goes on with the collection and distribution of data than you may suspect, layers and layers of planning and strategy and contextualizing and reassessing. The process of getting quality data to those who can benefit from it most is complicated and built from the work of a great many dedicated people.

Good data is first a good idea. There is a story that needs to be told, and in order to tell the best story possible, something quantitative must be added. The first step is picking what data best helps that story. Whether it’s crime statistics for a journalist, or gadget performance for a tech writer, the vast field of potential data has to be whittled down to what is most useful. And this is no easy task; a great clarity of curation is needed.

Once it is clear what data the story needs, the next step is collecting that data. This data can be collected specifically for the story, but often exists elsewhere, which does not make things easier. Not surprisingly, given the power of data, those who have it, guard it and mete it out carefully. And also not surprisingly, those who have it, often have it scattered, unfiltered or in disrepair. Data collection is a challenge to find what is needed, to secure what is needed and then to properly clean what is actually received so that it becomes what is needed.

Now we have our cleaned data. We set out to tell a story, decided we needed to back it up with something quantitative, figured out exactly what we needed, went through whatever set of hurdles to get it, cleaned away all the bad practices and noise around it and finally have our data set, ready to put into the story. Now what?

Presenting data in a narrative means more than copying and pasting some cells from a spreadsheet or a simple chart. Data presentation involves figuring out when and where to give what detail and which format displays the information most clearly. Just because numbers are involved doesn’t mean a story is not being told and just like with any story, presentation and careful editing are key.

Finally, there is the step which I can only describe as “beyond!” There is so much data on the Internet now, that those who are truly on the cutting edge are getting through the steps outlined earlier without much thought. Sure, a lot of time and care are put in, but the real brainwork comes in finding the edge of what is possible with the data presented. How can it be best disseminated? How can it be made living and adaptable to the story it relates to? How can it be shared with others who could make use of it? How can it be properly cited? How can it be contextualized for longevity? Regardless of the type of data or its original function, clean data should be preserved and kept usable for anybody else who needs it. It is a waste of manpower otherwise. The data should not die with the story.

Living, collaborative data seems to be the future for journalists of all types (citizen, vocational, tech, news, blogger). I left the weekend energized with the knowledge that even in a process that seems so tedious and mechanical as data collection, there are those with a passion to continue to make the process better and ultimately the product more useful and more human. After all, we use data to explore the world outside of the library, where things are messy and people have not gotten there before us. It is like with any story: we perceive, filter, clean, share and then live in the relationship born of that sharing. And that also seems like a perfect way to describe my weekend.

-JO

Tags: cleaning data, data, online data, sharing data, Spark Camp

Monday Jumpstart

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Tags: Jr., Martin Luther King, quotes

SOPA: The Ugly, The Ugly and The Ugly

The first thing that becomes abundantly clear when you devote and entire week to different perspectives on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is that you could have just as easily devoted two weeks, a month, a few months to the subject. This is not because the subject is particularly difficult to grasp, but because of its manifold implications. And that isn’t just to say that everybody has an opinion; it goes deeper than that. It seems as if people respond to this legislation on a guttural level, which I suspect is both a product of the subject matter and (for lack of a better phrase) “the times.”

At its core, SOPA is simple. Rights holders are losing money because of piracy and are attempting to slam an act down the public’s throat to address this. Rights holders have failed to adapt to the new digital marketplace in ways that can ensure their profitability, have been consistently a step or two or three or four…behind innovation and are playing catch-up with the same myopic arrogance and fury that made them fall behind in the first place. SOPA is the latest, loudest yell of protest in a battle that has (probably needlessly) been waged since the beginning of the Internet.

Despite all the anxiety from major rights holders, they still have a lot of money and money buys votes. So, taking advantage of an American political system that seems to have given up any pretense of not being firmly clamped in the money clip of the corporate pocket, a large group of rights holders combined their power and decided to buy themselves an act. Now here is why politicians make the big bucks – performing their sacred duties as public speakers for hire, a bipartisan coalition took this legislation and began the process of covering a short-sighted, sloppy act with broad anti-piracy, pro-business rhetoric, weaving in something about “foreign piracy” to make it sound patriotic and trying to move the whole thing through the system before anybody noticed. And that’s how the sausage gets made.

Well, this time things were a bit different. And to spot the difference, you need look no further than the pieces we have put up this week. Casual consumers understand the entertainment industry more than any other industry because they are so clearly a part of it. If I don’t like this thing, it dies! If I buy this thing, it lives! And it’s not a matter of functionality, it’s a matter of taste. What I think and what I feel and what I care about drive the industry more than any other. So it doesn’t matter if the general public probably understands the entertainment industry from a business perspective just as poorly as it understands any other business, they understand their part in it. And this makes them feel entitled. I like this thing. I used to have to do X to get it. Now I do Y and it is better. Progress. Don’t ever make me go back to X. This is why I don’t know a single person under the age of 25 who has not stolen things online.

SOPA is dealing with a subject matter with which people feel entitled in a unique way. Changing the way we interact with online content is an incredibly difficult task whether the change is ultimately better or worse for the consumer. We have to be sold in either direction. And SOPA is far from winning people over. This is one area in which policy cannot be forced, it has to be proven effective and it has to prove that it will make people’s lives better.

This is where we can pull back and look at the other issue of “the time” facing SOPA’s advocates. We are coming out of the most populist year in recent history. Populist sentiment is so strong in the zeitgeist that for months, people camped out in the center of almost every major city in the Western World doing their best to make something productive out of inchoate rage at a variety of institutions they felt had failed them. It took organized state-condoned violence, the scale of which has not been seen in decades, to move these people back to their homes. Broadly stated, this is bad time to mess with things to which people feel entitled.

People are taking SOPA personally. Like so many steps made by copyright holders in the past, this one is too ill-conceived and too behind the times. One gets the sense that, one way or the other, they have already lost this exchange.

-JO

Tags: copyright ownership, Internet legislation, online content, online piracy, SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act