MY DAUGHTER RECENTLY UPGRADED from the I can’t-believe-you-carry-that-embarrassing-relic iPhone 4 to the new, shiny, I-am-a-respectable-member-of-modern-society iPhone 6. She touched the device and the heavens opened: Streaks of sunlight embraced her from the sky, fireworks erupted in a brilliant ballet and woodland animals gathered nearby to celebrate. Okay, not really. And by “not really” I meanContinue reading “In 2015, Let’s Create Stories That Live Up To Our Screens”
Category Archives: Technology
From Search Engine to Super App: Getting Stuck in Google’s Web
Google’s mission is simple, bold, and in the annals of silicon culture, tantamount to sacred gospel: “Organize the world‘s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Today, however, there is a New Testament being written: “Organize Google’s information about the world and make it selectively accessible and mostly useful.” Okay, not as sexy. ButContinue reading “From Search Engine to Super App: Getting Stuck in Google’s Web”
2012 Prediction: Paper Will Be the Next Disruptive Technology
There’s a little-known scene in the movie “Star Trek: First Contact,” where Lt. Commander Data, an android, observes Captain Jean-Luc Picard touching the hull of an historic spacecraft. The captain smiles and taps the ship with his bare fingers, to which Data asks, “Sir, does tactile contact alter your perception of (the ship)?” “Oh yes,”Continue reading “2012 Prediction: Paper Will Be the Next Disruptive Technology”
Death of the Keyboard, Apple’s Siri and the Semantic Web
“The Semantic Web is not a separate Web but an extension of the current one, in which information is given well-defined meaning, better enabling computers and people to work in cooperation.” — Tim Berners-Lee The promise of technology almost always outstrips the reality of technology. Back when War Games came out in 1983 – tenContinue reading “Death of the Keyboard, Apple’s Siri and the Semantic Web”
Google+ and The Entropy of Social Media
First there was order, then chaos. The universe was born in near-perfect order: small, organized and perhaps even serene. Over time, the universe expanded and became messy, diverse and beyond comprehension. Chaos reigned. This effect is called entropy, the process by which order decreases in a system over time. This is admittedly a simple description,Continue reading “Google+ and The Entropy of Social Media”
Murdoch, The Daily, and Journalism as Art
“I do certainly see the day when more people will be buying their newspapers on portable reading panels than on crushed trees. Then we’re going to have no paper, no printing plants, no unions. It’s going to be great.” — Rupert Murdoch, Sept. 14, 2009 “Thanks for the trial subscription, but so far, it isContinue reading “Murdoch, The Daily, and Journalism as Art”
Personal is the New Social
The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held last week in Las Vegas, is both a birthplace and a graveyard for technology. Some devices will “make it” and even change our lives, while others will never get to market. If T.S. Eliot were alive today and a tech nerd, he would have called January the cruelestContinue reading “Personal is the New Social”
CES 2011: And the Winner Will Be…Reading
Predictions are a fickle business, but with the new year just begun and CES still days away, the writing for 2011 is already on the wall (and I don’t mean Facebook). There will be stories, tweets, posts, photos, videos, slides and all sorts of content spewing from CES about the latest technological gadgets and guessesContinue reading “CES 2011: And the Winner Will Be…Reading”
Social Media Technology is History in Motion
I’m a technology evolutionist. Granted I just made that up, but it fits. I don’t believe new technology is just created — I believe it evolves, with each innovation building on the other. No printing press, no iPad. These technologies are from different centuries yet share the same DNA. And like technology, content evolves too:Continue reading “Social Media Technology is History in Motion”
Legos, Airplanes and the Future of the Web
IN THE UNITED STATES we have a two-party system — well, technically. There’s the Democrats, the Republicans, and then the dozens of mini parties within and outside the main Parties, not to mention the multitudes of non-affiliated, disenfranchised and disillusioned. But for all its failings, Democracy is an open system which, for the most part,Continue reading “Legos, Airplanes and the Future of the Web”