New Media Development
by Greg Demetrick
Protected: FourSquare – Who What Why
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009The New Pocket Watch
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
One classic item which clearly defines a turn of the century gentleman was his pocketwatch. Always at the ready with the time and quite the fashion statement. No Steampunk outfit would be compelete without one. However, most people in 2009 still have this handy time piece is a more digital form.
It could be your cell phone. It may be your iPod. It could even be that iTouch or BlackBerry. Digital convergance has brought back a time honored tradition of looking into your pocket for somethign to tell you what the time is. Now it may not be as cool as a fog watch but it is just as useful.
The next time you grab your iPod to see what time it is, remember that you are carrying on a tradtion that goes back centruries.
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Reward Convergence
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009One thing that Apple does VERY well is immediately rewarding an end user for staying within their suite of software tools and adding value to their data. Sony does this from a hardware standpoint as well and it is a model that software developers should look at and strive for.
Let me give you an example. I have opened iChat (connected to AIM), and Mail on my MacBook. When I look at my Inbox, I noticed a green ball next to the name of one of my contacts. When I check iChat, I see that that contact is online now so Mail is notifying me as such with a green ball because I put this contact’s AIM name in my Address Book. Knowing this, I opened up Address Book and confirmed that everyone i have on my AIM list is in my address book so they show up as online when I have Mail and iChat open. This also makes iChat show the full name of the people instead of their AIM names so it is easier for me to know whom is online and whom is not.
The moment I put an AIM name into Address Book, it changed in iChat, updated Mail, and made me feel like the time I spent on updating had an immediate affect on the system. Of course this is just an illusion of value but it does give me a warm feeling of accomplishing something that helps my programs talk to each other. Sony does this by making all of their components talk to each other easily. A PSP can connect to your home PS3 and stream video or music content to your PSP in real time. Value added content just for staying brand loyal.
This is a simple concept anyone can use when writing a suite of software. Seek out technologies that may make your development easier and allow your users to have value added services. Things like OpenID will allow for single sgn on capabilities and may give you additional information on your users you may not have had the time to develop independently.
The Apple Knee Jerk
Tuesday, January 6th, 2009
Well another set of Apple announcements is now over. Here is my knee jerk reaction to the news.
- iLife ‘09 – This actually looks interesting and any update to iMovie would be most welcomed. iPhoto integration to Facebook and Flickr make it worth it. Totally will upgrade.
- iWork ‘09 – I don’t use iWork at all so I can’t really talk to the updates. Slides forced to iPhones looks like a cool but limited feature. If I did more presentations it might be worth it.
- 17″ MacBook Pro – Let me just say, I am STILL incredibly happy with my MacBookPro and see no reason presented today to upgrade. I rarely use it on battery only mode so 3 hours of battery time is fine vs 8 hours. I am just not sold on the uni-body aluminum design. It has to be thinner and lighter which is a plus but the non-removable battery just doesn’t work for me. Just imagine the first time a system shut down hangs and you can not pop the battery out to force a shut down. Also, the price point is still way too high for only one spec model.
- iTunes – The quick quiz on this one is how many songs that are currently $0.99 will be $1.29 by the end of the month? My prediction: ALL OF THEM! $0.69 is probably the first week of a new single. $0.99 is a “deal” price and $1.29 will become the standard price for all singles with albums going up too. So your 10 song $9.99 album just became a $12.99 album. DRM free music is cool but they have got to cost more than a DRMed version. Putting it on the 3G network is cool but only applicable for iPhone users which I am not (yet).
All in all it was interesting but just not exciting. I think there is very little in these announcements to get me to open the wallet wide and it will actually hurt consumers in the long run.
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When Staying Put is the Right Technology Choice
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
I am neither an early adopter nor late to the game on most technology purchases. I have been described as “ahead of the curve” because I will wait a little while before trying something new. However, certain restrictions always prevent me from being on the bleeding edge. Cell Phones for me are limited because of the limited number of carriers where I live. New gadgets and tech usually are not tested in my neck of the woods. No matter how many surveys and product demos I am asked to give opinions on, they are usually for products in late beta stages and most people know about.
However, there are some pieces of tech that withstand the test of time and I will never upgrade. I am not talking about yanking out the Nintendo64 and shoving some carts in for nostalgia purposes. I mean there is tech that is 5-7 years old in my house that I use on a daily basis.
The grand-daddy of these devices is my Tivo. It’s a series one that I hacked with a larger hard drive and network connection. The main reason for not upgrading to a Series 3 HD? Lifetime Service. When I bought the lifetime service I calculated that I would have to keep the unit running for 1.5 years to see a return on investment. I have owned the box for 7 years now and have seen that ROI without a mis-step in service. OK, so maybe I can;t surf the web from my Tivo , order Pizza, or stream NetFlix movies but it does exactly what I need it to do without costing me money.
Another great example for me is my Panasonic Home Theater system. After an electrical storm claimed my previous receiver I had to make a quick buy replacement. This baby was overstock and cost all of $100 but had SDDS, Dolby Digital, and DTS capabilities. Granted it has no manual or remote but I would rarely use those things anyways. This piece of kit does exactly what I need it to do and has never failed.
Generally, I think of the following things when deciding to replace tech
- Does the new purchase give me significant advantage over what I currently own?
- Is the new tech backwards compatible with what I currently own?
- Can I reuse this I currently own but may not be using to it’s full advantage?
- Does the new purchase help me reduce long term costs over what I currently own?
- Is the price right?
If the answer to any of these is “no” or “costs go up”, I am more likely not to upgrade. That is not a bad thing either. You don’t HAVE to have the latest and greatest if your digital needs are being met. Sure I would love to play with a G1 phone but I don’t NEED to have it. Looking at wants vs needs is what should guide some of your tech purchases.
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Test Drive Playstation Home Beta
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Well I don’t know if someone out at Sony was listening to my previous rant or not but this weekend I was lucky enough to get an invite to the closed Beta for Playstation Home. Having tooled around in it for about an hour I finally have an opinion on it.
Let me make one thing clear. This software does not break any new territory. It basically is Second Life for the PS3. However, it does have fairly extensive features like Second Life does. The problem is because they are in beta stage, you can’t really use those features. For example, when you start off you create an avatar and are given a home. The home is plainly decorated but the view is incredible. When you go to the mall to buy new furniture, the store is empty. The feature to customize is there but does not exist yet.
You also have the ability to create spaces which they call “clubs”. Create to your heart’s content but it may be gone after Beta stage and the EULA gives Sony the right to take your club, name, and design to make on it’s own after full launch. Hard work and popularity could lead to poaching but the same is true of Little Big Planet.
One place where they have spent time and works well is the Bowling Alley. In here you can play games and demo mini versions of titles in the store like Echochrome. Do well enough and you can win new outfits. The pool games are addicting but I do have one minor issue here. As in real life, if the bowling alleys are full, you can’t play. I would have liked this to be more virtual so lanes expand as the need rises. If the 4 lanes have 2 people on each then a 5th lane should appear for the people waiting.
Socially, it’s a replica of Second Life right down to the huge billboard ads for Sony products. It’s ingenious and I will definitely be spending more time there as it expands. But in the end it is just a big marketing tool to get people to connect and sell banner ads. Until I can create something and own it I will probably be spending more time in Rock Band or on Little Big Planet.
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VOTE!
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
This should go without saying but if you are registered in the United States to vote, you NEED to do this today. I don’t care if you vote for Obama or McCain. Just go out and exercise your civic duty to vote.
Now if you already did vote, make sure you get an “I Voted” sticker on the way out. Not only will it show people you are a cool frood but it will score you free stuff. Starbucks will give you a free cup of coffee with your sticker. Ben & Jerry’s will give you a free scoop of ice cream between 5-8pm with your sticker. Krispy Kreme will give you a free star shaped donught for mentioning you voted. Chick-fil-a is also offering free sandwiches at participating stores. Also, check your local merchants who may also be giving out free stuff.
All offers are reported in this AP article.
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Playstation® Home closed Pay Beta
Thursday, October 30th, 2008Subscribers to the Playstation newsletters got the following e-mail this morning from our friends at Sony.
As an update to the PLAYSTATION(R)3 News email sent on Friday, October 24th, the special invitation to PlayStation(R)Home’s closed beta is available only to Qore annual subscribers who purchased subscriptions by 10/29. Qore Episode 06 purchasers will not be eligible for the special PlayStation(R)Home beta invitation at this time. We apologize for the miscommunication.
Lets read between the lines here. In order to get the “closed” beta code you have to Purchase a subscription to Qore. That’s not a closed beta, it’s a pay-to-play beta. I am not opposed to it but Sony should label this properly. Also, when was the last time you paid to be part of a Beta program?
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Revising my Mac Book Pro remarks
Monday, October 20th, 2008
This past weekend I was able to get my hands on the new Mac Book Pro that was announced on Tuesday. After having a bit of hands on with it I have to revise my comments from earlier this week as the user experience is different than what I imagined.
- I need to take back my comments on the trackpad. Instead of it being an unresponsive flat pad you tap, I was surprised to realize the whole pad is actually a button. One big clickable button with the proper feedback as a normal button on a mouse. That totally negates my argument about tap clicking. Also, I found that 2 finger scrolling came naturally, 3 finger was ok, and 4 finger was just kinda annoying.
- I didn’t notice if this model had the keyboard mistake on it but I will definitely check next time.
- I have to add that the glossy screen is not my favorite. I could deal with it but I can see how it would massively annoy some people.
All in all still a good machine but I am much happier with what I have.
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Blog Action Day 2008 – Poverty
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
I could quote you the statistics on poverty in the Americas. Or tell you how unjust this is and how children suffer. Or how the majority of the world lives in poverty even tho you don’t see it from day to day. But I am not going to do that. Other bloggers for Blog Action Day already have.
What you may not know is that poverty does not equal homeless in the Americas. Here are some interesting facts from the Heritage Foundation on just what it means to be poor in America.
# Forty-six percent of all poor households actually own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
# Seventy-six percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, 30 years ago, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
# Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
# The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
# Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 30 percent own two or more cars.
# Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
# Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
# Seventy-three percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Blog Action Day is trying to raise awareness of GLOBAL poverty. Just like in other realms, the poor in America have it far better off than the poor ni other countries. But there is a simple way we can raise the standard of living for all of the people living under their own poverty levels. Encourage them to take a step up.
Organizations like Kiva offer you the ability to give loans to specific entrepreneurs and help lift them out from poverty. $5 USD can help someone start a business and make a better life for their family. This is not a grant. It’s loan which they must repay so they help themselves out of poverty.
Supporting companies that engage in Fair Trade like The Body Shop is another way to help. They have had a long held a commitment to Community Trade in over 35 countries. Support their efforts by purchasing their products and giving back to their efforts.
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