Communities Dominate Brands

Day phone, night phone, sim card switch?

I spotted an interesting idea while here in Singapore. And first putting this into context. Singapore is one of the over 20 countries already where there are more mobile phone subscriptions than the total population (Taiwan and Hong Kong lead this statistic with over 125% penetration rates). As 1 year old babies don't really know numbers and can't handle phones, and most over 100 year olds have forgotten numbers and how to use a phone, there is only a limited number of the total population that reasonably can use (and own, and thus become a subscriber of) mobile phones. How can we reach 100% and above? The only way is that some people start to have two phones. In Western Europe, where the average mobile phone subscription penetration rate per capita is about 95%, about 55% of the population has one phone, and about 20% of the population has two phones. Thus 55%+20%+20% = 95%.

Originally when the cellular telecoms technology was being invented, refined and standardized, nobody thought that anyone might carry two phones. The early phones were so big - carphones - that with their batteries they were the size of a small, but quite heavy briefcase. But today it is quite common for the young employed to have two phones. It in itself presents new problems. And then, new ways to deal with those. Here in Singapore the local - and very innovative - mobile operator M1 has launched a dual SIM card service where you have one mobile phone number but get two cards. You can thus have two phones and easily switch between them without doing the SIM-card switch. So this is for example if you have a bulkier smartphone for work use, and want to use a slim phone for the evenings when you go out.

Previously you had to do the SIM card switch. Shut down the phone, remove the battery, remove the SIM card. Remove the battery from the second phone, slip in the SIM card, re-inset the battery, and then power up the phone. Quite inconvenient. Yet if you don't want to walk around with the bulky work phone, that was what you had to do. And then before you went to work, you had to do the same to switch back to your work phone with its smartphone features. Not anymore. Now all you need to do is insert the two SIM cards into the two phones, and send an activation message from one phone to the network. All of your calls, SMS text messages, etc will come to that phone. The other phone seems to be "disconnected" from the network, even if you had it turned on. But if you want to switch phones, take the other phone, send the activation signal to the network, and immediately it becomes your phone and the same number now rings on that phone. Again all of your messages etc arrive correctly and your first phone becomes inactive.

Simple idea, but one that shows that the operator understands our life and the little hassles, and is taking steps to make our life better.

Universal music for all

LONDON ( Reuters ) - Universal Music, the world's biggest record label, is digging deep into its vaults to release download-only recordings from its vast back catalog.

The company said on Wednesday it is embarking on a program to digitise 100,000 out of print 1European recordings, beginning with 3,000 British, French and German albums from artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Brian Auger and Brigitte Bardot.

"Over the next three to four years, we aim to reissue perhaps as many as 10,000 albums for downloading, which amounts to more than 100,000 tracks," said Barney Wragg, senior vice president of Universal Music Group International's eLabs division. "This program will offer material that, in some cases, goes back to the early days of recorded music."

The digitised songs, many of which have only been published on vinyl LPs, will then go to Universal's online music partners such as Apple's iTunes Music Store.

The new initiative -- carried out after Universal digitised all of its active catalog -- reflects the new reality of Internet music stores where "shelf space" is effectively infinite, and a large proportion of sales come from the long tail of non-blockbusters.

Digitising music, particularly back catalog recordings, can be complicated by the fact that older contracts with musicians and publishers did not include digital rights. That adds a tangle of red tape to the task of converting analog tapes or vinyl into a digital file that can played by a computer or a device like Apple's iPod.

Thanks to Jackie Danicki for the hat tip

Searching for success in the interactive age

Thought provoking

Flooding the market with downloads of existing content and breaking up media conglomerates is no way to nurture a digital broadband revolution. Such knee-jerk responses by established media companies to unprecedented technology-driven changes in their business must soon give way to a more thoughtful harnessing of the shifting dynamics and demands of interactivity.

The media and entertainment players whose worlds have been turned inside out by a new generation of digital interactive devices, platforms and services must take a deep breath and contemplate how to embrace still more new-media science and tactics outside their core competencies. We're talking about mathematical algorithms, streaming data management and techno-strategies forged by the likes of Google and Yahoo! that optimize digital returns for all concerned. We're talking about the accouterments of a digital age in which printed words, films, TV shows and video games are being transferred from old- to new-media vehicles, where they are being dissected, reassembled and reborn. Skeptics need only take a look around.

Such major content players as CBS, Viacom, NBC Universal, the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp. have climbed aboard the on-demand bandwagon the past year in a grab for new digital revenue.

But, in so many ways that matter, these same companies remain mired in an old-media world framework -- from legacy operating structures and overhead expenses to audience measurement systems, industry lexicon and pricing models.

Via the Hollywood Reporter

As we say in the book "Primetime is no longer a time of day - its a state of mind"

Will the blood flow? - are corner offices around the world about to be vacated? Because you are either a digital immigrant or a digital native. Get with the beat shaggy - the rhythm has just changed.

Old World New World

Of course, the advantage of relative newcomers such as Google and Yahoo! is that they have been born of this new age and built from scratch according to the new disciplines and rules of play.

Google and Yahoo! are nimble and technologically keen enough to cultivate Internet functionality with search, making it easier for consumers and providers to initially exchange information, entertainment and communications across a spectrum of new digital platforms and devices.

But even some of their early efforts have proved vulnerable: Some advanced searches are too broad and include errors, the integrity of some online communities can be compromised, and the veracity of some click-through advertising is under scrutiny.

Understanding and addressing these developments is part of the digital learning curve -- just like trying to figure out where to go next with search. To be sure, Google's road map of evolving search services is being guided by algorithmic strategies that are foreign to the creative likes of publishing, filmmaking, television production, marketing and advertising. But a willingness to embrace the new math and science of connecting with and selling to consumers and advertisers will make artistic media's leap onto the digital broadband fast track quicker and more profitable.

And finallly

The formulas for success in the interactive age will be as varied as the players. But they all will relate to ways in which the unwieldy, infinite information, entertainment and communications in the big black hole that is the Internet and digital broadband space can be made more relevant, secure and immediately useful to the user -- whether it is the average consumer or the corporate decision-maker

Participatory Journalism - From Reporting To Dialogue: An Italian Viewpoint

This post is without doubt worth a proper read.

Participatory Journalism - From Reporting To Dialogue: An Italian Viewpoint

It covers all the major issues facing the creation, delivery and distribution of news and content in a superdistributed world.

Highlights for me

In our case, new technologies have played a very important role. After each issue of "Profondo Italia", the Corriere della Sera online site has received many contributions from readers, who not only were expressing their views on the newspaper treatment of the subject, but who, and here is the real news - were contributing themselves facts and information, which in turn significantly extended and enriched the panorama painted by the report while providing new points requiring further investigation and research: a contribution to which newspapers will not be able to do without."

The courageous experiment conducted by the Corriere della Sera best demonstrates the possible benefits that audience involvement can bring to today's journalism. To continue in this direction is the message arriving from a Universe in constant evolution in information on new media.

And

The most successful experiment among Italian participatory journalism is surely Il Barbiere della Sera.

Born on the total voluntary idea of a small group of young journalists, the Barbiere has rapidly become a reference point for uncensored information on the world of journalism and communication in Italy.

Apart from the tight knit newsroom composed by volunteers, the BDS (as it's known in it's circle of readers) is packaged in large measure thanks to news sent in by registered users.

There are almost 5,000 of them, many of them who work in the world of information and communication and tell of its facts, gossip and secrets.

"Every day", writes the Barbiere Della Sera, "in our work we see the actual daily life of a newsroom, the relationships with the directors and managers of the companies that we work for, and we automatically capture in our memories small episodes, comments, ideas and tips of our many colleagues, all news which often remain unused in the drawer because they are not "in line" with the rest or because the chief editor has decided not to use them.

At the Barbiere Della Sera, if a news story is true and verified, it is always good to publish it."

originally written in Italian by Diego Galli
as "Che cos’è il giornalismo partecipativo?
Dal giornalismo come lezione, al giornalismo come conversazione"
on Problemi dell'Informazione (il Mulino)
September 3rd 2005

via Robin Good

book reviews

Customers reviews

via Books shop
Date: 2005-09-20
Title: Brilliant
This book is brilliant...I read it cover to cover in 6 hours. A must read for all those interested in integrated messaging and new media.
Mark Barounos
President of Marketing and Sales

Date: 2005-06-21
Title: If you haven't read this yet what a treat you have in store!
An excellent insight into what enpowered communities will want to do. For people who are interested in the rapidly growing opportunities of the mobile connected youth there are some brilliant inspirational ideas leaked.

What is the value of a blog? who is the writer? why have they felt compelled to write?

Well in this case it's because you will find nothing that has a better finger on the pulse of newly emerging connected communities - communities that have the power to ruin your brand or promote your competitors.

Date: 2005-05-06
Title: Brilliant, deep book makes you think
This book impresses on every page with statistics, quotes, evidence and logic. The book proceeds logically from one concept to another. It forces the reader to re-examine assumptions, and constantly presents impressive examples from all around the world. The concepts are real, the trends sustainable and therefore their conclusions are indisputable.

The book is loaded with insightful examples and revealing case studies. The brand names and companies are all household names but the reader will be surprised how many unrelated industries are now involved with communities, from Adidas to Red Bull. Many times you have to put the book down to fully grasp the extent of their meaning.

There are chapters on blogging, on virtual worlds/videogaming and on cellphone based Generation-C. These are used as the three primary areas where digital communities already exist. The book then shows how just about every industry from TV and the internet to locksmiths and aerospace are feeling the impacts of communities.

The early part of the book discusses familiar themes of disruptive technologies, convergence and fragmentation. These are amplified with alarming facts, stats and examples. The second half of the book takes the reader deep into the near future, showing what changes are already happening to society. The book makes a compelling case as it so broadly provides examples from countries such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, England, Finland, Holland etc, in addition to USA and Canada.

The book concludes with the earth-shattering impacts to all of business, that brand dominance is now being superceded by community power. But where most books might end at introducing a revolutionary new problem or issue, this book goes on with another chapter to explain how that problem can be solved.

A remarkable book, thoroughly captivating, immensely insightful. I recommend it to anyone in business or technology.

rockin 'an' a rollin'

Interresting post from Simon Waldman Rolling News Gathers No Moss Gathered up from Rolling news RIP

Rolling news has been an achievement: it raised the game of TV news organisations in the battle for immediacy, global presence and local relevance. But broadcast news has to move into a cross-platform world now. Rolling news is a medium that cannot be interactive, lacks sufficient power to tell a story and is no longer unrivalled as the way to get moving pictures to a mass audience. As people begin to create and share their own content, and the PC screen merges with the television, it is worth asking “what’s the point of rolling news?” In other words: it’s bye bye Sky News; hello YouTube!

Craig on Journalism

'I'm seriously trying to be more cynical

Newmark favours the idea of "community truth" derived from a global army of fact-checkers whose intentions are well-meaning, based on his experiece of dealing with the users of Craigslist. "I’m looking to organise the world’s news using the best of technology, community, and editors because I think we’re in a period of historic change," he says. "With the internet everyone gets the chance at describing what history is."

As Tomi and I like to say "Nobody is as clever as everybody."

Gather

The site, Gather.com, positions itself as a kind of eBay for online writers and their readers -- a gathering spot for musings and discussions on everything from wine and computers to fitness and spirituality. And, with a business model that could shake up the writing profession, executives from Gather Inc. are recruiting bloggers by offering them a share of the company's advertising revenue.

Eventually, popular writers will be able to earn a living by posting their work and attracting eyeballs to advertisements, said Gather's founder, 35-year-old technology entrepreneur Tom Gerace. That won't happen right away, though.

Gather.com

Think of Gather.com as a scholarly MySpace with less hook-ups and more intellectual stimulation. Says the Social networking blog

George Bush - The Cookie Monster?

The intelligence service at the centre of the row over eavesdropping tracked visitors to its website, despite US government regulations. Monitoring files, known as "cookies", were discovered by a privacy activist at a time when the White House is on the defensive about its use of the National Security Agency to monitor the communications of US citizens.

Although the cookies were dismantled this week and the NSA issued an apology on Wednesday, the episode will add to pressure on the White House to engage in a national debate about its use of the agency, and its interpretation of the constitutional limits on George Bush's presidential powers.

US intelligence service bugged website visitors despite ban

Once again - the blogosphere was responsible for uncovering an unsavoury attack on people's privacy.

In a posting on his googlewatch.org website a privacy activist, Daniel Brandt, says he discovered that the NSA was using tracking devices when he logged on to the agency website on Christmas Day. He found the site was using two persistent cookies that would not expire until 2035, well beyond the life of most computers.

Business 2.0 - thought for the day

The world is moving from a place where value was created in vertical silos of command and control to a world where value is increasingly going to be created horizontally by how you connect and collaborate

Thomas Friedman. The World is Flat

PBS newshour