BBC NEWS | Technology | Net phoning starts to win friends
A Skype survey said:
Almost half of those questioned said they knew that they could make cheap phone calls via the net using so-called voice over IP (Voip) technology.
Other operators are also looking to reduce prices and encourage consumers onto VoIP.
A sea change? or is this purely a cost driven exercise? If so why are Telcos not responding in other ways?
Communities Dominate Brands: Don't feed the lions?
Tomi highlights some great examples of engagement marketing using mobile phones from Alexey Chuikin of Admarplus ie Plastic Media of Moscow.
The Moscow Zoo. Like all zoos around the world they had signs at all the cages to the animals saying "please do not feed". Don't feed the monkeys, don't feed the lions, don't feed the tigers, etc. That is so typical of our society, with signs everywhere telling us what we are not allowed to do. No longer. If you visit the Moscow zoo, today you see signs saying "if you want to feed this lion, send an SMS text message to.." and you will be charged a premium text message fee.And:
[The WWF started] a campaign to plant trees in Russia. The payment was again via premium SMS text messaging, and as a further gimmick, each participant received a picture as a return message, of the kind of tree they had helped plant.As Tomi suggests, some fantastic ideas that can be used by companies with limited budgets to generate addition revenue streams, whilst engaging wholeheartedly with their customers.
Via David Isenburgisen.blog
Doug Mohoney writes:
Verso Technologies (www.verso.com) announced the rollout of a "carrier-grade applications filter" that can block so-called bandwidth drains such as Skype, P2P messaging, streaming media, and instant messaging.
So I pay for the service but I can't use what I want over it? Good call Verso. I know of at least one other provider who was considering this; they may well still be. I hope they don't go down this route...
As David suggests:
Clearly the best network is one that has no users and supports no apps
BBC NEWS | Technology | US broadband take-up slows down
A little surprisingly US broadband penetration slowed in the last year:
broadband take-up has grown by just 3% in the last year.Of the 67% of Americans online, 53% of them are now online via a broadband connection.
The remaining half are going to be harder to convert thinks report author John Horrigan.
"There are fewer people hankering for high speed now and that means less pent-up demand for broadband," he said.
Reading the article I can see why it would slow down, but it doesn't augur well for the UK market which seems to follow the US by about year to 18 months.
The digital divide mentioned in the article can only get worse, as more organisations seek to put things online and not offer via other means. Personally I haven't been convinced by government backed programmes to increase penetration or support less well off.
Perfect Path: Our Social World sampler
Lloyd has put up a sampler of video from Our Social World conference.
Haven't looked at it yet but I'm sure its worth a view, to gain a flavour for the event. I was disappointed with the conference myself but I recognise that it would have had value for others.
Just listened to Lloyd's lunchtime podcast from OSW which shows an interesting selection* of viewpoints about the whole conference. I think it would have been really useful to have had these views expressed at the conference itself. Could have given us all something to talk about, which may have led on to more interesting questions.
In fact the whole idea of dialogue, rather than discussion would have proved extremely useful.
*except for this strange person called Paul in the middle
I've been keeping a watching eye on Inifinty Games, primarily because I used them as a customer and then noticed that they had produced an RSS feed for new releases. Soon after they added a blog.
First few postings were a bit disappointing but recently they have started to expand into games reviews, an introduction to board games and an interview with a new games company owner / designer. This in addition to providing news updates on what's going on at Infinity.
Its quite a niche area and you may argue quite geeky but the principle of utilising a blog to add value to your site, your customers and ultimately your business is there. They don't have A list bloggers like Hugh promoting them, but they are using the same model that he has helped develop for English Cut and Stormhoek.
Be very interested to talk them regarding its success.
Lloyd provides excellent coverage of the podcasting conference in London. Fascinating insight into a variety of different factors within the podcast scene.
Personally found the overview of Milverton Wallace's talk very informative. I have been trying to encourage my wife to use this with her infant class. Must point her at this.
As an ex-teacher it always fascinates me how people learn and perhaps more importantly how people learn outside of conventional approaches. This type of approach would have been excellent for the type of Open and felxible learning that I wished to advocate, particularly if you could mix and match topics that interest you whilst still gaining a good coverage of curriculum areas.
feedback loop does seem to be an issue but I am sure it could be overcome.I know I always learn more explaining something to other people - firstly becuase it clarifies it for me and secondly because they always have a different perspective and ask the questions I've missed - fascinating to do this via podcasts or comments around a lecture. An informal seminar. Brilliant.
Think I should try this...
Lloyd provides excellent coverage of the podcasting conference in London. Fascinating insight into a variety of different factors within the podcast scene.
Personally found the overview of Milverton Wallace's talk very informative. I have been trying to encourage my wife to use this with her infant class. Must point her at this.
As an ex-teacher it always fascinates me how people learn and perhaps more importantly how people learn outside of conventional approaches. This type of approach would have been excellent for the type of Open and felxible learning that I wished to advocate, particularly if you could mix and match topics that interest you whilst still gaining a good coverage of curriculum areas.
feedback loop does seem to be an issue but I am sure it could be overcome.I know I always learn more explaining something to other people - firstly becuase it clarifies it for me and secondly because they always have a different perspective and ask the questions I've missed - fascinating to do this via podcasts or comments around a lecture. An informal seminar. Brilliant.
Think I should try this...
Note to self:
Tom Coates demo'd phonetag system for Radio shows at OurSocialWorld and comments on his blog (cool piece of work v.impressed).
James gets to emphasise how business, particularly PR are beginning to engage with blogging through search tools and Collaborate Marketing Services.
Can the two approaches - be combined to search folksonomies for blogs and perhaps more importantly podcasts and video logs?
There is probably something doing this already, but the idea of providing meta-data on such media must be very powerful.
Thinking about it someone at Headshift or the BBC is probably working on it as I type.
Happened to be purusing the Guardian Jobs section:
Publicity Co-ordinator Surrey County Council Surrey £23,118 You are particularly interested in new media from web communications to pod casting. We need someone who will contribute creatively to the development of publicity campaigns.
Forward thinking lot at Kingston, or perhaps someone just read the term in the Guardian?
Sounds like a good job...
(NB you have to imagine the Prince song being played in the back ground as you read)
Ben Hammersley's new haircut. Well, not so much the haircut as the menacing look to camera.
And he called Johnnie a psychopath!?!
Actually maybe sociopath is the correct defintion?
Edit: apparently they refer to the same thing: anti-social personality disorder and I don't think it applies at all to either person concerned, although quite a few could be applied to me...
My planned Seminar in Sunderland has unfortunately been postponed for the time being due to circumstances beyond my control. Looking to re-scheduling for the near future.
If anyone is interested in attending a seminar in the North East please drop me an email (or comment) as it would be interesting to see what sorts of topics you would like to cover.
The agenda is roughly depnding on the audience:
Blogging and how its being used
Applications in business and marketing and KM
Podcasting and how its being used (with a little vlogging too)
Wikis
Social Networking sites
Bespoke development
Possible inclusion of other technologies such as Skype, open source software
Dependent on the demand I would also look to undertake a 'how to' session too.
Links: Woodholmes
BBC NEWS | Technology | Xbox 360 set for November launch
And further moves towards digital convergence as Microsoft announce the launch date in Europe (and the rest of the world). Of course the launch is aimed at gamers but I wonder what the push will be by the time of the PS3 launch in Spring 2006?
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Jowell outlines switch-over plan
In a speech to broadcasters, she will say viewers on the English-Scottish borders will have their existing TV signals switched off in three years.The rest of the UK will follow, region by region, ending in 2012.
So analogue switch off is happening. We'll see :)
Monkeymagic: Social Computing and the Organisation day
After the disappointment of Our Social World another Conference in the same area comes along - obviously Oxford had to compete with Cambridge!
Altogether different animal though - organised by Piers Young (who used to have me on his blog role - I must have bored him) and having some very interesting speakers and topics.
I f I had the money I would definitely sign up, primarily because of the speakers but also because of the small participant (Piers?)numbers and the Open Space session.
Oh well. Maybe I can take part virtually via any connections they have. Unless anyone fancies sponsoring me :)
P.S. I'm not going to get into the diversity debate thing - I wholeheartedly believe in diversity not least because science says its a good thing but it doesn't mean that because you're white and middle aged you can't make a contribution.
Stephen Price (currently blogless) emailed me a link to David Isenburg's blog (added to my regular reads) and a wonderful quote from the Observer (Guardian Unlimited Website) by Rafael Behr (who I've met - small world)
In an era whose triumphant idea is capitalism, where success is generally measured in the accumulation of wealth, it is hard to conceive of a parallel society established and self-governed on principles of trust and common ownership. But it exists. The biggest aggregation of human experience and knowledge ever created belongs to everyone, it is available on demand and it is free.But for how long? Ranged against the new culture of digital freedom is a strange coalition of spooks, suits and vandals. There are governments unable to resist the technology that can track our every move; there are corporations lusting after the attention of the 2 billion eyeballs focused on screens; and there are the spammers, clogging up the net with junk mail, hijacking computers to peddle trash.
In a very detailed article he goes on to show how big business are becoming far more interested in what is going on and his pessimistic view is that the Internet will move over to the dark side:
I listen to today's web gurus, the people who preach freedom, and am fired with enthusiasm for the new digital society of the future. But I fear the odds are against them. An excess of idealism only seems to prove that the golden age of the web is, in fact, right now.
He could well be right.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Broadband to rule the TV waves
IPTV will eventually change the 'broadcast' paradigm. A new report, highlighted by the BBC:
The 'pull' of broadband network television will replace the 'push' of traditional broadcast television," explained co-author Graham Lovelace. This means that the control of what programmes and content is available to watch will move out of the hands of the traditional broadcasters and into the hands of the viewer
I think broadcasters should all be given a copy of "Communities Dominate Brands" and then go and lock themselves in a room and try and work out what they are going to do, because if they don't react soon they will be history.
MIT Technology review makes the comment that:
An explosion in podcasts' popularity in the first half of this year, culminating in the launch of a podcast directory at Apple's iTunes online music service, has providers scrambling to keep up with server demands and businesses looking for ways to turn a profit.
Social software in a business context seems to always move to the equation tool == ROI / profit. Yet companies are willing to spend billions on enterprise tools, especially ERP systems that often lose them money.
So the choice is very expensive software which has a great business case but rubbish execution and appalling return.
OR
Very cheap software which has a shaky business case, simple and often brilliant execution with unproven results.
Which one would an entreprenuer go for? Which would you go for?
Tom Asacker commenting on Al Ries:
...his mind is set in the stone age of mass marketing manipulation.
And quoting Maslow:
"If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."
What worries me slightly is that people begin to do the same with social software and blogs in particular. Yes, they are great tools but they don't solve every problem. I'm not even sure that they will solve the problem of the mass marketing manipulation age - but I suppose you could argue that at best they are a Swiss Army Pen-knife* and not a hammer?
(*The latest ones have USB drives in them too!)
Great to see the Ashes return to England after so long.
My Grandfather was a great lover of cricket and his beloved Warwickshire and a lot of that love rubbed off on me. I don't go and watch the game except on TV but it is the last sport that I really competed in!
Well done to the current England team for not only winning but managing to eclipse the exploits of 1981 which I thought would never be beaten in terms of dramatics.
I'm dying to go bowl a few off breaks :)
OSW happened and despite some oddly controversial stuff, some quite interesting takes and great location, I left feeling mildly disappointed.
Despite taking copious notes most of the day simply failed to enegage me, possibly because I have heard most of it before. The little nuggests I hadn't were more sound bites than anything substantial.
Although I am generally an experimental, near cutting edge type of guy (well on some things:) ) I felt, given the objectives of the conference that they would have failed to convince the business community. Now you could argue that that is because they don't get it. Well maybe. BUT THIS WAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP PEOPLE TO GET IT. Journalists and other 'creative types' can cquite easily move forward on this basis. To a certain extent serious cientific guys can move forward on this basis. Straightforward business I believe will find it harder to swallow in the UK.
Perhaps as Tom Coates suggested, we in the UK don't believe you are allowed an opinion. Maybe we simply demand the numbers. Maybe the proof of the pudding is in the eating, but no one is willing to buy the pudding just yet, afterall they haven't finished with the main course.
Having has my little rant, its worth noting that there were some interesting talks, particularly from the psuedo academic stance.
I thought Lee Bryant's talk had a lot going for it - particularly if it had been dumbed down for the hard of thinking.
Suw Charman offer some insights into blogging behind the firewall, but it only felt like an entree and not the main meal I had been hoping for; more detail and case studies, less it feels like a good idea so lets play.
The afternoon was far too crowded with speakers and the very interesting Ross Mayfield was cut woefully short and I ended up missing Hugh's talk altogether.
Some plusses - talking with Stephen Price, Johnnie Moore, Lloyd Davis (and getting recorded) seeing Tim Kitchen again after a while. Seeing Suw Charman. Ben Hammersley's kilt and bowler though not the attitude and meeting, Ash, Rob, Graham and Taron Maberry.
I did get up at 4am to go to the conference and this (not the rain) may cloud my views but mild disappointment is here.
My own answer is that I think I can do better than 70% of speakers there - just got to consider the pitch.
Flames expected.
I'll add rest of links later and probably some more notes which may encourage me to change my perception.
EDIT: I should add in Loic's (or Bloic) talk on the wonder that is French blogging and the interesting, though not unique story of lafraise.com (I think). The customer participant model of product design and business as a community.
Our Social World is now one attendee bigger, as I have managed to find time to get there.
I notice a lot of talk regarding negative comments abound however I think this is a bit premature. I'm going to wait and see. The speakers, most of whom I know via blogging and / or personally are well worth hearing. The venue sounds good, and Friday seems an ideal day to take off to attend a cutting edge conference with wonderful people.
I hope therefore that it achieves its own objectives, whatever they may be.
P.S. And I get to see an ex-colleague from ntl Stephen Price, who is always worth listening to :)