Yearly Archives: 2009

AP Mobile

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During my “on air” days (the ‘70s and early ‘80s), the AP teletype was our station’s connection to the world. During the late 80’s and early 90’s, I spent a good bit of time trying to create a low-cost alternative (mostly for radio stations) to the AP’s wire service. This morning I downloaded AP Mobile to my iPhone.

I have a feeling it will become my default app for news. Text, photos, video… it’s all there. I can flag topics of interest and AP Mobile will “push” those to me. And if I see a story and want to “report” it to AP, the app makes it easy.

Associated Press used to be pretty protective of it’s stories. Perhaps they still are, I would have no way of knowing. The old radio guy in me can’t help thinking of this is a tiny version of the old teletype. And my next thought is, “How could the AP police all of the broadcasters and keep them from using AP stories without paying for it?”

The answer is, I’m afraid, they don’t care. Would I rather have the full-featured, on-demand experience offered by AP Mobile… or hear my local “announcer” read it to me?

Augmented reality and the annotated world

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The following is from a post by Jeff Jarvis in which he talks about augmented reality and the annotated world and the ever-changing definition of journalism and local news.

“Every address, every building, every business has a story to tell. Visualize your world that way: Look at a restaurant and think about all the data that already swirls around it — its menu, its reviews and ratings and tags (descriptive words), its recipes, its ingredients, its suppliers (and how far away they are, if you care about that sort of thing), its reservation openings, who has been there (according to social applications), who do we know who has been there, its health-department reports, its credit-card data (in aggregate, of course), pictures of its interior, pictures of its food, its wine list, the history of the location, its decibel rating, its news…

And then think how we can annotate that with our own reviews, ratings, photos, videos, social-app check-ins and relationships, news, discussion, calendar entries, orders…. The same can be said of objects, brands — and people.”

His post includes a few videos but this is my favorite:

When I think about the implications of this technology, and what it means for news organizations, I have what I have come to think of as Wile E. Coyote moments. The realization most will never catch the Road Runner (Beep, Beep!) The future –which is here– belongs to small, flightless birds that refuse to play by our cartoon rules.

PS: If you’re satisfied seeing the world through emails and text messages, your BlackBerry will be fine. If you want to augment your reality (and you will), it will be with an iPhone or similar device.

Jonathan Brownfield: Sports Photographer

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Jonathan BrownfieldI don’t remember how I happened across Jonathan Brownfield. One of those six degrees of Twitter things, probably. Jonathan is a professional sports photographer and has shot games involving “our” teams so that was probably it.

Along the way he mentioned visiting family in Missouri over the holidays so I tweeted him with an invite to stop by for lunch/tour/interview.  Today was the day.

Here’s some background from one of Jonathan’s websites (for those that take a pass on the interview):

“While in high school, I started working as an assistant for Sports Illustrated photographer, David Klutho. That marked the beginning of my career as a professional photographer. This lead to having over 20 photos published in Sports Illustrated.

When I started college I began working for the University of Missouri Athletic Department and became their Head of Photography. Besides shooting, I coordinated a group of photographers to make sure every home event was covered.

During my sophomore year I was recruited by Hooters to photograph some of the local girls for the 2008 and 2009 calendars and the 2008 Miss Hooters International Beauty Pageant.

I currently shoot sports for US Presswire.

Now days my work is regularly seen in USA Today, ESPN Magazine, and in the LA Times.”

Did I mention that Jonathan is 23 years old?

I made a list of questions to ask a professional sports photographer only to discover that Jonathan has branched out from that (still a passion but now kind of a weekend thing). I rambled on with my questions so I’ve chopped the visit into two, 20-minutes chunks. The first one is mostly bio and social media. The second finally gets around to some sports stuff.

AUDIO: Interview Part 1

AUDIO: Interview Part 2

I was very impressed with Jonathan. Accomplishing what he has at 23, it would be easy to conclude one’s poop is odorless. He is what your grandmother called “a nice young man.”

You can see some of his photography here. He blogs here. And he’s @johnnybond86 on Twitter.

What might have been (and might be) for newspaper industry

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In his final Stop the Presses column (for Editor & Publisher), Steve Outing revises history with a look at how things might have gone for the newspaper industry. And –since they didn’t– what to expect next. From the HTMHG list:

1. In 1994-95, newspaper executives recognize that the Web is something with the potential to rock their world, and increase R&D budgets significantly in order to plan for and begin building new businesses based on fast-developing new technology.

2. Learning from media history (e.g., TV started out as radio with a video image of the announcer speaking into a microphone), newspaper leaders decide not to repeat it this time around. They direct new-media R&D staff to design new online services that create original content and new utilities — things that are not possible in print but are online.

3. Fat and happy with enviable profit margins, newspaper companies’ leaders take note of the wave of Internet start-up companies in the late 1990s. Business development executives with technology experience are brought in from outside the newspaper industry to identify the most promising trends and start-up companies, and begin making acquisitions and/or significant investments, in a big way.

You get the idea. I do dread the day I read a similar “what might have been” about the broadcasting industry.

Congress 2.0

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Here’s a little thought experiment I’d love to try. It comes in two parts:

Part 1: On January 1, 2011, we put every member of Congress (along with their families if they want to go) on a big cruise ship. Two, if necessary. And they set off on a year-long cruise, around the world. They’ll stop –for 24 hours– at the nicest ports of call, but a security escort sees that they get back on the boat. At meals, they’re seated R-D-R-D-R.

Part 2: The management of our country is turned over to Google and Apple for this year. Any questions of constitutionality go immediately to the Supreme Court of a ruling within 24 hours.

Any bureaucrat that puts sand in the wheels can be immediately dismissed, without cushy government pension.

What would/could Google and Apple accomplish in a year? No idea. Would they institute a bunch of policies that do nothing more than line their pockets. Maybe, but I don’t think so.

At the end of the year, every U. S. citizen casts a single vote on whether to keep the Google and Apple teams for another year. This vote will be electronic and an effort will be made to get everyone in front of a computer.

As for Congress, we’ll let them off the boat if the project goes for a second year, on the condition they don’t try to foment rebellion. If they do, back on the luxury cruise ship.

And what happens if The People vote to send the Google and Apple kids back to California? There’s a year of transition, during which the HR departments of the two companies recruit, interview and hire the best and brightest to serve in Congress 2.0. The new kids take over on January 1 of the following year and serve a 2 year term, at the end of which, we return to the current system of electing officials. But none of the Boat People can serve (they had their chance).

I fear our system is so broken that it no longer has the means to repair itself. The people wielding that power do not want to fix it. They like it fine, as long as it allows them to remain in power.

PS: This might make an interesting movie or novel, no?

Balancing my checkbook

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My friend Keith tweeted his surprise that I still write cheques (He’s British) and balance my checkbook. I write less than half a dozen checks a month and it would be easy to pay all my bills electronically.

I confess there’s something comforting (?) about the routine of opening the bank statement and reconciling it with my checkbook. Maybe it’s an age thing. I’m old enough to remember Diner’s Club cards and the introduction of ATM machines.

And while there’s precious little math involved in balancing a checkbook, it’s the only math I have/do these days.

But I think the real reason I cling to this anachronism has something to do with my perception of the “reality” of money.  The same reason I have never used a debit card and always keep a little cash in my pocket. I love PayPal and used it every few days. But a bank statement and my little money clip with a few bucks in it are the threads that keep money real, at least in my head.

Bonus reference: Who remembers counter checks?

Up in the Air

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I didn’t see a lot of movies in 2009 (Inglourious Basterds, District 9, Watchmen, Burma VJ, The Informant, Star Trek) so putting Up In the Air at the top of the list belies how good I thought the movie was. Watching the people get fired was disturbing. I know they were actors but, watching them, it was easy to imagine my butt in that chair.

If you do a lot of flying in your job, this movie will speak to you. One way, or the other.

PS: Have not seen Avatar

Apple to offer online TV subscriptions?

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I’d hate to see the math on what DirecTV really costs, based on how many channels/programs I watch each month. And I thought I wouldn’t live to see a) cable/sat unbundle programming or b) a serious alternative. But maybe I was wrong.

“Apple is eliciting tentative interest from some networks in its proposal to offer a TV subscription package via the Internet. Theoretically, customers would be able to tune in online, allowing them to cancel their cable or satellite subscriptions.

Broadband Internet subscriptions to TV networks could potentially destabilize the bedrock of the television business, which relies on subscribers paying for dozens of bundled channels.

The blog All Things D reported last month that Apple was proposing a $30-a-month supplement to its iTunes service to the networks. The networks would receive monthly payments from Apple.”

Rest of the story is here.