Communities Dominate Brands

Tomi Ahonen now based in Hong Kong

To our readers and my various customers

Just a quick note. I've talked about this for a couple of years now, but effective today I am now living in Hong Kong. I came here to Asia primarily as so much of my current business the past few years have been in Asia. While I have paying customers on all six inhabited continents, for the past two years over half of my work has come from Asia. And with Hong Kong being quite central, with excellent flight connections and being an English-speaking city, this ended being my choice. It was a close call between Hong Kong and Singapore..

As to my European colleagues and customers - don't worry. I'm already scheduled to be in Europe many times during 2007, so we'll have plenty of opportunity to continue.

But for many of my Asian customers, prospects and colleagues, now I am really here, a few hours from your city, ready to support you.

If its not on google it does not exist and that includes space

Is my quote of the day...

Its fast approaching to Christmas, and I can't believe its been another year. My last project of 2006 took me to the US and New York state in particular, which is where the quote came from whilst deep in conversation.

Google has even done a deal with Nasa - Wanna search space? Well just google it! ahHa, you see what I did there.

And we are now exploring the the potential of Open Grid Computing and here

And for me, I shall be at home taking stock of a very busy year. And not searching for anything for at least 10 days, other thsn wondering that if I do not exist on google, do I really exist?

Print media struggling with a digital future

So goodbye, Sly Bailey and Mirror mates, if you live in Loughborough or south London's Loughborough Junction. But hello to precisely what? That's the question the analysts ask with redoubled fervour after Bailey's much-touted board-level review and its decision to sell off titles in the Midlands and South (plus the Racing Post), a hundred-plus papers on the block.

You may raise a few hundred million that way, and perhaps keep costs on what remains screwed tighter by hi-tech central controls. You may concentrate all attention on the North, the Celtic hinterlands and the nationals, promising to keep dividends wonderfully steady and shareholders wonderfully happy. But does any of it make long-term sense?

Trinity's latest report on current trading - rather like the Johnston Press report from earlier last week - shows regional advertising revenues flagging by 8 to 10 per cent, with only a slowing rate of decline to look forward to. Meanwhile the nationals also have circulation slides to contend with - the mortally wounded People down 12.18 per cent year on year in November, the Mirror itself dropping another 7.32 per cent.

Indeed – All these papers have a future but its a question of creating value for both advertisers and readers... in a digital age.

And so

Does Sly have an answer to her national problem, apart from trimming another million here or there? She does not. Indeed, she barely mentions such crisis (preferring, quite shrewdly, to hymn the brilliance of her main editor, Richard Wallace). But what did those self-same analysts say about Johnston's parallel difficulties? They said the Edinburgh-based group was suffering particularly because it owned too much in the ad-denuded North and too little in the buoyant, burgeoning South? Something doesn't add up.

Right on!! And too many companies tyring to sell formats, vs., proper solutions that create value for all stakeholders for those print titles.

I hooked up with the Johnston Press earlier this year trying to convince them that print classifieds were a thing of the past - but of course, it was heresy to say such things.

The Johnston Press have a title called The Asian Leader

Which is symptomatic of living in a business/web/mobile 1.0 world. Broadcast+Push no platform for engagement, no persistent conversation - yet we are living in a world where to be British and Muslim has excited great debate in every media. Surely, facilitating this conversation through forums and blogs, and UGC offers a kaliedascope of possibility and is a way to find intelligent ways too monetise that conversation.

Open any newspaper, go to any blog site etc., and we will see that conversation in full flow.

No wonder the print industry is on its knees. There is no contexual linking of one business to another.

So to all those print media people out there, we live in a world of search, of information empowerment, where the advertising is the conversation and the conversation is the advertising.

You, can no longer live in a world of PUSH and Broadcast, but you can live in a world of attraction, PULL and conversation.

Its like learning a new langauge, but one you need to speak if you are going to survive.

And the relevance? Well – never better said

newspapers were more than cash cows: that they mattered to towns, cities, communities.

Communities - of interest and communities of relevance.

Exactly, except the rules of engegagement have changed. Why does the Tour de France exist? And why was it created? To sell more newspapers!!!! Nothing new exists, but lessons from the past can be applied. Lets say blogging existed back in 1903, of course it would have been used, Or the Nokia N93 or Flickr, or digg or de.lic.ous. Leonardo would have been a blogger or vlogger.

Via the Observer

and just in case you are feeling a little sceptical have a read Seasonal spree in cyberspace

To build the mobile internet? Google and Orange of course, via HTC smarphone

The Guardian/Observer reported yesterday that the mobile operator (carrier) giant Orange is in development with Google to release a smartphone optimised for search and internet services. The phone would be manufactured by HTC. Sounds most promising. Orange is perhaps the most advanced European operator in expanding into communities. Google obviously has stated publically that their future is not the fixed web, but rather the mobile internet. Makes sense for them to collaborate and release a phone that is optimised for this. We'll keep our eyes on this.

Time Person of the Year 2006 is "You" as in User Generated Content - Communities Dominate!

Yes they all fall in line. On April 2, 2005 the Economist said in its cover story and 16 page special issue, that only firms capable of serving the new connected consumers would survive. Then on 13 June 2005, Business Week put consumer communities on its cover and devoted half of the issue to the topic, and stated that digital community collaboration was the biggest change since the industrial revolution.

Now its Time, in the 25 December issue, names "You" as the person of the year - with a clever mirror on the cover - and discusses user-generated content as the most important phenomenon of the year 2006. Does that sound familiar to readers of our blog and book? Yes, we have echoed these themes for two years now, and totally agree with the award of course. Welcome to the club, Time Magazine and congratulations to "us" as in all the individual "you" people who contribute to user-generated content worldwide, for winning this annual honour.

PS - I am in Indonesia today (running workshops for the local industry with the Siemens Indonesia Developer Community and the Indonesian Telecoms Regulatory Board) and spotted the news on CNN about Time's announcement today, so I don't have the actual printed issue in my hand yet. I'll be buying the issue of course return to this topic when we've read the magazine to comment further.

Education 2.0: The next evolution of school software has arrived

A detailed story on the use of open technology platforms in school education

Aiming to customize their solutions to meet the individual needs of teachers and students, a growing number of school systems are ushering in a new breed of school software that relies on open technologies – whether it's open-source software on their servers and desktops, or so-called Web 2.0 services available free of charge online. Economics and advancements in technology are fueling this latest trend in school software, proponents of the movement say – but it's also about customization, and the desire to employ a variety of solutions as users see fit.

I think ,that we have gone from dare to imagine, to imagine what is truly possible

Within five years, Hirsch predicts, not a single desktop in this 52,000-student school system in metropolitan Dallas will carry the image of a proprietary school software program. Gone will be the familiar Microsoft applications and desktop icons that over the years have become synonymous with document creation. In their place will be a suite of lesser-known, but equally capable alternatives--or, what Hirsch likes to call "open technologies."

Though some might see his plans as ambitious, Hirsch is hardly alone in his dreams. Plano ISD is part of a fast-growing cadre of school districts across the country actively exploring the use of free web-based services and open-source school software alternatives.

Last summer, the state of Indiana announced a plan to deploy more than 24,000 computers with Linux operating systems in its schools. At the time, the project--called inAccess--represented the largest single distribution of Linux-based technology in U.S. K-12 schools (see story: Desktop Linux rolls into Indiana). Experts estimate the deployment could expand to more than 170,000 desktops across the state by the end of this year.

It was comedian Bill Bailey that said, People often ask me if I am an optomist, and I say, I hope so.

And in a recent post here we quoted Bruce Sterling who said

The future of the Internet lies not with institutions but with individuals. Low-cost connections will proliferate, encouraging creativity, collaboration

So at last a chance for every child?

Though industry watchers say it's unrealistic to think schools eventually will abandon proprietary software products in favor of open alternatives, the thinking among many district technology coordinators is that, as the market for open technologies in education expands, schools will enjoy the luxury of shopping for solutions aligned with students' and teachers' specific needs--regardless of platform.

And

Unlike proprietary software solutions that come shipped in boxes with complex license agreements attached, open technologies--the vast majority of which are downloadable over the internet at no cost--give schools the freedom to mix and match tools based on the needs of students and faculty, proponents of the movement say. What's more, many of them are available sans licensing agreement, which means schools can use them wherever and however they want, free of charge.

John Stuart Mill in writing On Liberty in 1859 said

Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing

Like in business, human creativity is exponential, when it is unfettered, grassroots and allowed to flourish, I think that is what Mill was on about.

The industrial revolution was an abberation, in complete contrast to the natural world. If our world is going to be built on knowledge, knowledge creation etc., then we need a very different type of educated citizen.

For example Hirsch

is working with a U.K.-based firm called Editure to create an educational portal that will feature a whole suite of customizable solutions for use by teachers and students. Using an open-source model, Hirsch said, the portal would query the district's different informational databases, automatically pulling up learning resources, grading information, and other school-related applications based on a set of personal preferences and restrictions assigned to the individual, whether it's a teacher, a student, or an administrator.

Finally

As a next step, Hirsch says he is looking into how open technologies can be used in conjunction with cell phones, PSPs, and other portable devices to connect with students on the go.

"You have to think about being adaptable," said Hirsch. "I don't just want to connect with these kids in schools, I want connect with them outside the local Starbuck's, or wherever they are."

Other relevant posts on the CDB blog:

The education podcast network || From education to cultural competitive advantage || 20th Century education no match for the needs of a 21st Century world || Sir Ken Robinson talks about creativity and education || At last a chance for every child || Henry Jenkins on why Convergence is a cultural phenomonen not a technological one || Class rooms without walls

Apache Software Foundation

Centeris Corp.

Consortium for School Networking

CoSN's K-12 Open Technologies Initiative

Editure

Futurism has no future

Bruce Sterling writing his last post in Wired Magazine says

The future of the Internet lies not with institutions but with individuals. Low-cost connections will proliferate, encouraging creativity, collaboration, and telecommuting. The Net itself will recede into the background. If you're under 21, you likely don't care much about any supposed difference between virtual and actual, online and off. That's because the two realms are penetrating each other; Google Earth mingles with Google Maps, and daily life shows up on Flickr.

He also says

Reading the Pew study it becomes clear that we're entering a new era, the post-Internet age, a world in which the Net will be everywhere, like the air we breathe, and we'll take it for granted. It will be neither the glossy nirvana of technophilic dreams nor the dystopia of traditionalist nightmares. It will look a lot like today – but with higher contrast, sharper focus, and a wide-angle lens.

Via Wired

Also Young and Wired: How today's young tech elite will influence the libraries of tomorrow

Teen Content Creators and Consumers

Teens and Technology: Youth are Leading the Transition to a Fully Wired and Mobile Nation

Your jokin' me

Players and creators of video games could face imprisonment for acts of virtual violence under draft legislation being drawn up by two of Germany's state governments.

Politicians in Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed a new offence that will punish "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" inside games. Early drafts suggest that infringers should face fines or up to 12 months' jail for promoting or enacting in-game violence.

German gamers face jail for acts of virtual violence

Shot on a nokia N93

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vM1WgikljTc&mode=related&search

The world of the Pro-Am

Viral video and the death of the broadcast casino

Hurricane Arianna

She's the Blackberry-toting, Bush-baiting Queen of the Blogosphere who has made her two-year-old website the most potent force in American politics.

A well documented insight into the phenomonen of Arriana Huffington founder of the Huffington post

Arianna states

The argument that the old media will simply die off is becoming obsolete. Honestly, there is room for both of us. Both of us are here to stay

The article observes

The Post is now the fifth most popular site in the world. It shapes the debate of American politics and gives Arianna real power and prestige. This year she made Time magazine's list of the 100 most important people in the world, and next year she looks likely to climb the list.

You can just feel those die hard Republicans clenching their teeth. And we all know about the impact that our digital world is having on 20th Century Business models. But the seismic effects are social and cultural too...

Politics is changing, too. America's midterm elections were largely defined by the internet, blogging and YouTube. Just ask the Virginian Republican ex-Senator George Allen. He off-handedly called one Indian American political activist a macaca (a racist slur) - then found a video of the remark posted on YouTube and highlighted by blogs like the Post. It triggered the collapse of his campaign and the destruction of a political career many Republicans believed was headed to the White House.

whoops and Arriana believes

The power of the internet allows us to influence what is happening. We can advocate for change now. Everyone can. The internet has democratised power

So, collective intelligence + the power of many + nobody is as clever as everybody + the end of information fuedalism...

A new model of economic production, different from both markets and firms, in which the creative energy of large numbers of people is coordinated (usually) with the aid of the internet into large, meaningful projects, largely without traditional hierarchical organisation or financial compensation.

argues Yale Law Professor Yochai Benkler

The real secret of the Post's success is not its star names but its army of citizen bloggers (including Arianna herself) who write freewheeling posts on a variety of subjects. They are men like Bob Cesca, a Philadelphia-based animator. 'We can write whatever we want. There's no real censorship. This is raw, unfiltered power,' Cesca says. Though there are conservative commentators, the tone is overwhelmingly liberal and it has already claimed some notable scalps. It was the Post that drove the Judy Miller scandal at the New York Times, panning her pre-Iraq war coverage of Saddam's non-existent weapons of mass destruction. As the Post began covering Miller's reporting, she was seen as a brave woman going to jail to defend her right to keep her sources secret. By the end of it, she was portrayed as a shill of the White House who had unquestioningly accepted the case for invading Iraq and acted as a spur for the war.

And lets not forget that OhMyNews the Korean digital news platform is considered the worlds most powerful domestic news site.

Success in an information rich world

The Post's power stems from the secret of all blogging's success: increasingly it is interpretation, not facts, that matters.

Indeed it does...