I had to pass this on. Popular Science just finished posting 137 years worth of their magazines online. Not only are they online – the archives are free and can easily be viewed via browser or mobile.
The gadget geek in me is jumping up and down, but so is the designer side of me. It’s very cool to read about and look at photos of past technology, crazy inventions, and (what were) futuristic ideas. At the same time, it is amazing to compare the designs from various dates such as 1874, 1940, 1972, and 2010. Design and the technology printing those designs was constantly changing as well. People were creating new ways to share ideas and information. Layouts changed from plain, standard column text to full page ads and articles with lots of photos and flexible regions of text.
When I last checked my Facebook feed, I noticed a lot of comments being tacked on to a post by Mashable, Hulu to Charge Monthly Fee for Access to Unlimited TV Episodes [RUMOR]. I’m surprised that the post is generating so many negative comments. Yes, Hulu is free. Yes, it’s probably one of the most popular outlets through which to access ‘cable’ TV shows online. Can they survive without charging anything? Probably not.
The thing I am most surprised at is that the majority of negative comments seem to be coming from people who already use Hulu regularly. According to several articles (below), Hulu is considering charging to access content beyond the current 5 most recent episodes… which people can’t see as of now anyways (at least for current TV shows). So they are charging for additional content. What’s the big deal? They have to make money somehow. This seems like a great idea to me. A majority of ‘free’ apps already have some sort of premium subscription to access additional content or to simply get rid of ads including Boxee, Pandora, Spotify, Grooveshark, so on and so forth.
In the past week, there have been several articles on both ReadWriteWeb and TechCrunch suggesting that Twitter Japan might start charging for access to tweets. TechCrunch posted a piece, 6 Reasons Why Twitter Japan’s Subscription Model Might Work. The post cited that Japanese mobile users are already used to having to pay for several services similar to Twitter. They also stated that Japanese users are sometimes more interested in the personal lives of celebrities and growth on Twitter Japan is accelerating compared to Twitter usage elsewhere that is beginning to flat line.
I’m very skeptical of having to pay for tweets. The first concern that came to mind was that I doubt many people would want to have to pay for tweets to begin with. Yes, there are some obsessive fans out there, but what if they are fans of 50 celebrities who all start charging for access to their tweets? I’m guessing each update would be a few cents, but that could certainly add up quickly. Next, what is to stop certain people from aggregating tweets of several people and releasing them under their own account? They could follow a few celebrities themselves, retweet the tweets and then charge a lump sum so that their own followers would then get the updates of a number of celebrities. I’d rather follow and pay for one stream instead of pay for 50 individually.
I can certainly see charging corporations a small subscription fee for tweeting. Many companies are benefiting greatly through both sales and customer relations as a result of their social media interactions, including Twitter. If Twitter wants to make money, it seems like it would be much easier to charge people a subscription fee instead of charging to view individual streams. Of course, as soon as they start charging subscription fees, I’m guessing many will decide to go with other microblogging services to get their link, news, and status publishing fix.
This morning, I read a great post at the UW MCDM blog, Flip the Media. The post was titled, Social Networks and Video Games by Brian Johnson. The post went on to tell how game companies are just starting to work social networking into their systems and how useful social media integration could be.
When I read the post, it got me to thinking, why has it taken consoles this long to integrate social networking into the systems? Why didn’t PC games jump on the bandwagon a long time ago…and why haven’t they yet? Is they Wii going to jump on at all?
Yesterday, came the release of an Xbox update that added Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm, and Zune support. Here’s a few of the features (accessible with an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership), as listed on Xbox.com:
Facebook: The usual, plus invite friends to play over Xbox LIVE and see your friends up close with full screen photos
Twitter: Read, reply, and post updates to your Twitter feed and keep up to date in real time
Last.fm: Explore radio stations, skip, ban and love tracks as you listen
Zune: Instant-on 1080p HD streaming video, share experiences through Video Party
Update your Facebook News Feed with Trophy and PlayStation store activity. It also enables developers to set specific criteria to publish additional game information to your feed.
No Twitter, or Last.fm support just yet. I seriously hope that they continue to add social networking features to all of the systems. It is a great way for people to share a common interest. You should be able to link to friends and share what’s going on as you play. As Johnson said, it would be great if players could connect and share tips and strategies for certain games as they came across certain areas in games. The Xbox update gives the ability to see which of your Facebook friends use Xbox LIVE and add them to your Xbox friends list. I really hope this is a feature that also gets added to PlayStation eventually.
The gaming consoles are just starting to dip their toes in the water on this one. I hope they decide to jump right in because it it would be great to see everyone connect while doing something that they enjoy.
In a breathtakingly risky move, a former Russian police officer has taken to the Internet in full uniform to detail the corruption, danger, and brutality of his line of work.
The video serves as a call-to-action of sorts. Dymovsky wants people to start standing up to corruption. What is so amazing is that he is someone who might not have been heard at all had it not been for the ability for anyone to post a YouTube video. The internet, and social media, gives everyone the equal opportunity to be heard. Of course, it is a regular occurrence nowadays, but seeing articles like this really make me appreciate how connected the world can be and how everyone can have a voice that is not only heard, but shared.
Alright, so I have to admit that I didn’t bother using Twitter lists when it was first introduced. I was just messing around with my account and decided, eh, why not. I made a private list and started adding a few friends. I instantly realized what all the buzz was about. I follow around 750 people on a daily basis. Do I see every tweet that comes in? Definitely not. Out of that 750, there are only 10 or so people that I actually know personally. LIST! Now I can I see the posts of just those few people. I can make it private and call it whatever I’d like. I can make lists of professors I’d like to follow, blogs, tech experts, etc.
If you have yet to jump on the Twitter list bandwagon, here’s a few resources that may be of some help:
Yesterday, WIRED featured a great article by Curtis Silver titled Organized Chaos: Viral Marketing, Meet Social Media. It starts out with of the history of viral marketing and goes on to explain how viral marketing and social media are interconnected more than ever and will continue to grow and evolve. He features some great quotes by industry leaders concerning their approach to social media and marketing.
I just recently finished reading Grown Up Digital, by Don Tapscott. I had come across the book on Hanson Hosein’s website (while reading up a little on UW professors). He has a “Must Read” page of his website which features this, as well as many other books concerning the internet and social media. I am so glad that I did take Hosein’s recommendation. Grown Up Digital is an excellent book.
Grown Up Digital is a book which details key factors that distinguish the Net Generation from all other generations. Tapscott advertises the book with a great video (seen above) in which he quotes several critics of the Net Generation. The quotes are of course, all negative. Tapscott goes on to say that he completed a $4 million research study focused on the Net Generation, and as far as he can tell, the critics are just making things up. As Tapscott writes in the end of his book, the critics are scared of something which they don’t understand. He later goes on to say that no generation has ever been very trusting or admiring of younger generations by the time are elders. He goes as far as to include evidence of similar feelings from ancient civilizations. I agree, it’s expected. But, as Tapscott says, generations need to look past differences and learn from each other if we are going to move forward.
Grown Up Digital for me, was a very different read than it will be for many of the people I have recommended it to. The best thing about the book for me is that I easily relate to Tapscott’s findings. I am after all, part of the Net Generation (11-30 years old by 2008). Tapscott writes that the most important factors which define the Net Generation are: freedom, customization, scrutiny, integrity, collaboration, entertainment, speed, and innovation. As I read, I couldn’t agree more with what he had found.
The book covers everything from a summary of his findings to how to deal with the Net Generation as an employer, parent, marketer, or teacher. I found it very interesting that he was stressing how much people need to change their interactions with the Net Generation, as well as with future generations. I hadn’t really given it much thought until I read the book, but he’s right.
In the chapter to teachers, he tells them that things drastically need to change. Students are basically over stimulated and have access to nearly any information that they will ever need (within seconds). Teachers need to stop lecturing and need to start helping guide students through the learning process. It reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein, “Never memorize something that you can look up.” It seems we may have gotten to this stage on a wider scale then he could have ever imagined.
Another section was for employers. This was something I could relate with entirely. Net Geners are fast, innovative, social, and need feedback. I witnessed these factors at work in both internships and in school. At my internship I worked much faster than my employer ever thought possible. I would have weeks worth of work done in a day, or, sometimes even five minutes (if it was a situation where a simple script could be applied). In school or work, I worked best if I got positive, or even negative feedback. I just needed to know which direction I was headed in. Turns out it’s a common trait of my generation. Next, something that is appearing all over the net more and more -- the need to be social. More and more employees want to balance work, family, and fun. We want family time just as much as fun time and work time. We don’t think there should be a set dividing line, and as long as things get done, balance is a good thing. This is most commonly seen with the increase in telecommuting for jobs or in studies where more and more people are found taking social breaks online or to collaborate with other employees. I have experienced this the most while in college. We had a particular class in which we worked in groups on jobs for local clients. We all took turns being project managers and in general things went smoothly. In fact, we worked so well together that we had to tell the professor that he needed to back off a little bit because he was giving us irrelevant orders or getting on us to do something one way, which we had already done more efficiently another way.
I couldn’t really relate with some of the section for parents. The one thing I could relate with is having families become more democratic then they used to be. My sister and I were always told to be “seen, not heard” by our parents, but that was never really an issue as they usually involved us in most of their visits with friends. Tapscott said that the parents of the Net Generation are less likely to allow children certain freedoms because they got in trouble when they were young as a result of too much freedom. This was not the case in my family. We were allowed to go outside, go to the neighbors’ houses, bike ride down the road, etc. I have, however, seen this in other families. My parents were strict where the needed to be, but otherwise, were pretty relaxed. We had video games and used the computer at a pretty young age, but we didn’t get into trouble. We understood boundaries. The thing I cannot at all relate with is moving back home. I can relate to feeling comfortable enough to do so, but I would much rather be self-sufficient.
Another point I related to easily was having a million things going on at once. The TV is usually always on, but I hardly ever watch it. The only time I really interrupt what I’m doing to watch the TV is if I hear an interesting headline on the news or a funny joke. I watch television shows, but on Hulu. Adium (a chat application with my 10 or so different accounts), is always open, I get my Facebook notifications from the menu bar on my Mac, I always have a ToDo list app somewhere, along with 10 different tabs in Firefox, an RSS reader updating and of course, Email. I usually read about 50 articles a day from various blogs, check YouTube or Vimeo videos that I find in articles, share articles on Facebook, Twitter, Digg and Delicious, as well as send personal updates a few times a day. Yet, with all of those interaction, I still get work done quickly and efficiently and I also know when to close it all out and focus solely on the project on hand.
Lastly, I was glad that he included information here and there about the benefits of video games. Yes, some people have an addiction, just as they can be addicted to the internet (or anything else for that matter), but in moderation, playing video games can be very beneficial. As Tapscott cited, there have been numerous studies which found that people who play video games develop a certain portion of their brain that otherwise wouldn’t get developed. Hand-eye coordination improves, but so does the ability to keep visually aware of multiple objects at once. Massive multiplayer online games can also help people develop management skills if they work with other players in teams.
There are upsides and downsides to all of the technology that my generation has grown up with. It seems to me that there are so many ways things can improve by using the technology which we all have access to nowadays. We can all learn from each other and network for a common goal easier than ever before in the history of the world. We can meet people of different races, religions, and age groups with the click of a mouse and a few entries a keyboard. All generations have much to learn from those that come before and after them. I hope everyone reads Grown Up Digital because it explains a lot and should help close a lot of gaps in all different situations: work, school, family-life, reaching out to a crowd, etc. Go grab a copy!
Mashable is one of my favorite blogs to read. The content is always interesting and covers a variety of social media topics. Today I came across a post titled, What the F**k Is Social Media? Here’s an Answer. The post goes on to explain that marketing director, Marta Kagan created a presentation titled What the F**k Is Social Media? last year and has now followed it up with a second presentation titled What the F**k Is Social Media: One Year Later. Marta gives a whole slew of statistics related to social media and different quotes from business executives basically saying, if you don’t get involved, you’re screwed. It’s definitely a presentation I will share and one that I will probably refer customers to if they are still in doubt on the subject of social media and why they should get involved. Take a look at the presentation above.
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