To connect one piece of media to another means to find a relationship between the two. Whether it is opposites attracting or birds of a feather, the future of media is the creation of advanced narratives. By this I mean that instead of media existing as isolated pieces, there will be means of weaving information together. Today, this takes on the form of technology such as a wiki tags.

While researching for this post, I ran across a post from Daniel Bachhuber who seems to be in agreement with me about the importance of organizing information and media. In his post, Daniel addresses the use of tags as organizational tools for his data. He also refers to his data being something as, “infinitely reusable”. These two elements, organization and access are important to the success of connected media.

In May, I wrote an post titled, “Customizable News Streams“. In that article I outline an idea for creating customized “streams” of News (information). That stream would be delivered as a linear story; moving from one segment to the next. To advance that idea I would like to propose that the delivery of information should represent the nature of information, which is anything but linear.

Raw information is environmental by nature. Having access to more than just a single source of information, in-fact a limitless supply of sources, allows for creativity and learning to take place. This in-turn invents new media, which is how we are continuing to expand our ability to communicate.

The very verbs that we use to describe our relationship to information needs to change. Today, we commonly use words such as consume, read, watch and listen. Words such as organize, collaboratively, design and share are gradually being introduced into our culture’s lexicon. It is exciting to see this happen as it shows progress towards a much deeper relationship to information.

The world is gradually changing and I believe it is for the better with things becoming much more flexible and transient. Connected Media is just one example of how one industry might behave. It would be interesting to learn how other industries of production are developing.

Vimeo Page Description: Resonance is a collaborative project with over 30 independent visual and audio designers/studios. The aim was to explore the relationship between geometry and audio in unique ways.

Reaction: While this video jumps around a lot, from designer to designer, it is a great watch if you are interested in the relationship between shape and sound. Taking on very different forms through out the video, the impacts of shape and sound on each other are explored.

According to this video’s Vimeo page, “20 Hz observes a geo-magnetic storm occurring in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Working with data collected from the CARISMA radio array and interpreted as audio, we hear tweeting and rumbles caused by incoming solar wind, captured at the frequency of 20 Hertz. Generated directly by the sound, tangible and sculptural forms emerge suggestive of scientific visualisations. As different frequencies interact both visually and aurally, complex patterns emerge to create interference phenomena that probe the limits of our perception.” At first I thought this was a bit eery, but knowing what I am seeing and hearing made a difference. I suggest that you watch this full-screen.

Technology is enabling us to experience the world with our base senses in new ways. It is as if we are enabling technologically induced Synesthesia. Are we finally bridging the senses or are we just teasing ourselves?

]]> http://www.bretevan.com/20-hz/feed/ 0 http://www.bretevan.com/2-questions-about-internet-tv/ http://www.bretevan.com/2-questions-about-internet-tv/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:11:51 +0000 Bret Bernhoft http://www.bretevan.com/?p=2628

How does running an Internet TV network differ from running a traditional TV network?

Here are three major differences between an Internet and Traditional TV Network.

1. The first is the use of Video, Social and Web Analytics. These three technologies allow Internet TV Networks to immediately discover detailed information about their audience for free; something Traditional TV pays expensive fees for. Using these three tools, Internet TV can create an profile of a typical viewer that can then be used to target advertising with.
2. The second major difference is the cost of operation and production. Internet TV is capable of producing full-length programming for a fraction of the cost to produce and distribute Traditional TV. It really is the power of Internet distribution that saves money.
3. A third major difference between Internet and Traditional TV is the difference of inherent content restrictions, no FCC. Traditional TV must strongly guard against breaking Federal regulations such as curse words and sensitive subjects. On Internet TV, there is none of that. Internet TV is able to make our own decisions about content.

• What are your thoughts on the future of Internet TV?
  

This is an important question. Here are three major changes/trends in Internet TV.

1. The first trend is a greater flexibility in content delivery. The audience will be able to more freely explore and experience video content. This will be aided by technology that responds to individual site preferences. In essence, the website will aid you in finding the best content based on your preferences.
2. The second is an increased dependence on Analytics by all Internet Media for revenue. The use of precise media measurement tools will become the norm.
3. The third will be the continued growth in the efficiency of the product. As production and distribution chains become cheaper and more intuitive, the distance between the audience and the Network shortens. This means that an Internet TV Network can film, produce and distribute high quality video for a fraction of today’s costs, which are already a fraction of yesterday’s costs.

Earlier in the week I was broadcasting a live performance using both the Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder and Ustream. I ran into an issue with lag or skipping in the feed, something that would turn away the majority of viewers.

Potential Solution: Lower Bit Rate

To resolve the lag issue I followed these steps and resolved the issue.

1. Test your Internet upload speed: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/. Make sure to choose Los Angeles as your destination as that is where the Ustream servers are.
2. lower your video bit rate below your upload speed. This can be done inside of the Flash Media Live Encoder broadcast interface.

In my case it was just that simple. I measured my Internet upload speed and lowered my bit rate. I am interested to see whether or not this works for others. Feedback is welcome!

According to Wikipedia, Synesthesia ” is a neurologically based condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway.” In other words, imagine being able to smell colors, see sounds and hear sights as part of your everyday world. But what does this mean?

For some, Synesthesia is part of their biology; their filter. To help explain the experience of Synesthesia here is a TED Talk on the subject by Daniel Tammet.

After having watched the TED Talk above, it becomes obvious to me that what is missing from the sensory diet of the typical person is “diversity of experience”. I can imagine that in the near future having a typical sensory experience will be a disadvantage.

In an article published on GOOD called”Digital Synesthesia“, exciting examples of extending our senses through technology provide glimpses of what is coming. For example, imagine being able to see with your skin. Known as “Skin Vision“, it has been hypothesized that through biomimicry human skin cells could be given the ability to sense light. And while there are incredible medical uses for technologically enabled Synesthesia, could you imagine the revolution in communication?

Instead of simply receiving and decoding messages according to today’s understanding, you could mix it up. Each of your body’s senses would no longer be limited by their nature, but expanded by it. And that’s just the beginning. If we were able to work with the five basic senses, there is no reason to think that we couldn’t realize new ones.

But, am I throwing caution to the wind? Are we not meant to taste sound or smell shapes? Is the human experience static? I don’t think so. I am a proponent of expanding the human condition beyond what we see as its limitations. And something to remember is that achieving Synesthesia through technology is like a single drop of water in the vast ocean of human potential.

Contact Information:

• Email: johnl@johnlabovitz.com

Notes:

• Typography is a representation of the author.
• Design is very important to publishing.
• eBooks have seemingly minimized design in technology.
• Because of the industrialization of bookmaking, the quality has decreased.
• William Morris was a textile designer who believed in craft and art instead of industrialized processes.
• Our current eBook industry represents the circumstances of the late 19th century book manufacturing.

Contact Information:

• Email: toddsattersten+contact2011@gmail.com

Notes:

• We are four years into a five year disruption cycle. It all started in2007 when Amazon released the first Kindle.
• “We are not trying enought stuff out. It angers me. It saddens me. We need to searching for new business models. This doesn’t mean that we need to execute old business models.”
• If we are going to play the game we need to understand what the game is.
• The Power Law Distribution, not the Bell Curve, illustrates the publishing industry. Every decision needs to be based on this model.
• Are you selling vitamins or aspirin?
• Publishers need to talk in terms of benefits to the reader compared to the possible function of the book.
• It is important to identify the “felt need” of an audience, this is where your opportunity as a publisher exists.
• Publishers are problems solvers. We are amplifiers of solutions to people’s problems.

Contact Information:

• Email: abbey@abbeygaterud.com
• Address: Portland State University

Notes:

• Sustainable development means to leave the world in as good or better condition then when we found it.
• We are amplifiers as publishers.
• Publishers are the experts.
• The increase in quantity demands that publishers create quality. Publishers need to be in a position to ensure quality.
• Publishing is going to get smaller.
• Publishers, especially small publishers, need to have many more skills then ever before. You can’t go to New York and do one thing.
• Believes that publishing will be too broad for one person or one company to be able to do it all.
• The definition of success needs to be changed within the publishing industry.
• Small publishers have taken advantage of new means of distribution.
• The old model of publishing means to release based on quantity and hope that the drag net captures enough volume to recuperate costs.

Contact Information:

• Email: ps@publicationstudio.biz
• Address: 717 SW Ankeny, Portland Oregon

Notes:

• Within the literary world we are not dealing with consumers, but readers.
• When the scale shifts into a 1-to-1 relationship between the writer and the reader, the issue becomes scalable monetization. This is known as “The Puzzle”.
• The first thing we, as publishers, are involved with is publishing. This means that there needs to be a intentional creation of a public.
• Our role is to intentionally create a public space through our work.
• The book is one of the most “potent” social networking tools used throughout history.
• It goes without saying that the digital, social and material lives of reading belong together. This ecosystem, these relationships, need to be radically intertwined. There needs to be an redundancy inside of each of these environments.
• It goes without saying that reading drives the life of a book.
• Reading and writing are quite different actions.
• The IPRC is a great resource for writers to learn about how to create, maintain and monetize a public.
• Publication Studio relies on relationships that lead to sales of literature over the course of years. The nature of these relationships makes it hard to “pin down a sale date”
• The social life of the book is fundamental to the success of the book. Getting together, socializing, is the life of the book.
• The enemy of publication is the itemization of sales.
• “Make it more expensive.”
• “We should sell books to people who actually want to read them.”
• “Curation is coherence.”
• “You are unlikely to survive in a traditional retail environment.”

Contact Information:

• Email: corey@exprimamedia.com

Notes:

• Disintermediation is an issue for publishers.
• Publishers need to “take over the research and development for publishing platforms”.
• “Electric Incunabula“
• eBooks are a problem because they don’t consider platforms when they are being published.
• To become relevant again, publishers need to re-intermediate themselves inside of the value chain by creating new opportunities as platform developers.
• “When everything is ‘nebulous’ everyone is nervous. This is especially true inside of the publishing industry.”
• The future of libraries is unknown. A library is an archive is cultural items and therefore deals with whatever the publishers create.
• What is the revenue model for future publishers? “Refinement
• Curation is more important than ever.
• Where do publishers belong on the Web? They belong as “artful and specialist voices” among the noise.

Today I was walking home from work and I noticed something interesting in Pioneer Square; a YouTube promotion. But instead of promoting their Channel content, they were promoting their newly released movie rental service.

Most people seem to use YouTube to find obscure media. Yet, it would seem as if YouTube is beginning to appeal to the broader market through movie rentals. This seems almost counter-intuitive in that YouTube is the home to such a great wealth of user generated content. It seems to be almost counter productive to offer movies when viewers have been trained to watch 30 second clips.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I depend on YouTube for probably 90% of the video media I consume. I understand the value of YouTube and would be more than willing to pay for access to the content I consume. Instead of promoting mainstream movies for a fee, YouTube should be offering full length original user generated content, which is currently clipped into 15 minute lengths due to upload restrictions, for the same fee. They should also consider offering premium content plans for their channel operators under a shared fee agreement.

YouTube’s red box seems like a stark departure from it’s roots. If the goal is to encourage revenue from rentals then let’s start from where we began; users.

While much of YouTube is littered with trolls and nastiness, there are many excellent communities that self-organize around benefiting each other. These communities aren’t outright seeking to forward an agenda or bias, but simply to introduce curious explorers to niche entertainment.

What makes this community possible is the ability to freely access, remark on and share the media that is uploaded. YouTube is, by it’s nature, an enabler of generosity. It is also, by it’s nature, an abundant resource. These two elements, abundance and generosity, have led to communities that thrive on cooperation, sharing and progressive ideals. These communities are also made possible through a nearly complete absence of barriers to entry, beyond having high-speed access to the Internet.

With “Walled Gardens” becoming increasingly popular these YouTube communities are beginning to take on new roles as taste makers in a world where choices are limited by budget. If an individual does not know how to see out the uncommon, then the work of these loosely connected communities becomes their map.

Over the past two years I have drastically changed my taste in music from what used to be MTV to what is not a simple peer recommendation system. The music that I have discovered has changed my life and I desire to give back to this community in ways that I can. Whether it is through podcasting or simply introducing a friend to a talented artist, the act of sharing is awesome. My preschool teacher, Mrs. Bobby, was right.

Below you will find examples of the how members of these generous YouTube communities frame some of their favorite music.

Take a look.

As mentioned above, I found that the majority of people who watch the same videos as I do are in the same age range as me; 25-34. I also found that as someone who recently turned 25, having moved from a younger demographic to an older demographic, that the age range that I just left behind still enjoys a good percentage of the music that I do as well. Similarly, the older demographic of 35-44 could be a predictor of future music tastes.

The value of this information isn’t in what it says upfront, but what it implies is possible. Appreciating that it is possible to see which age groups are interested in specific media pieces, there seems to be a secondary opportunity here; insights into culture. It is possible, if you take the time, to learn about how certain fragmented cultures express, entertain and inform themselves. It is possible for citizen and professional anthropologists alike to find the digital footprints left by scattered online tribes and to infer their collective interests.

1. The first use of a Living Wall is as a cooling and filtering system. According to Vegitecture and Urbanarbolismo the use of plants as a cooling and filter system is simple and effective.
2. A second use for a Living Wall is as a Living Roof. This definitely not a new technology according to Wikipedia and has been used in wetter climates around the world in quite the same way.
3. A third use for Living Walls is the aesthetic value that it brings to an internal or external facade. You know that feeling you get when you stand next to something alive, especially plants, when you know it has a certain vibrancy to it? To get that is to understand the point of a living wall.

More to come.

1. Putting QR Codes as part of window display for quick advertising reference.
2. Geo-location based information that provides instant context for any experience, touch point or other interaction.
3. Activating a feature or function within an app or mobile website that only responds to a specific QR Code.
4. Combining a handheld iPhone projector with a QR Code with an embedded image URL. This would allow the user to project a piece of artwork onto the wall where it previously there hadn’t been.
5. Similar to the “United States Currency Tracking Project”, place a QR Code on a dollar bill so that it could be immediately tracked as it is identified.
6. On Mobile Food Trucks so that people in line can check out their menu and prices.
7. In games as way points for information or direction.
8. On resumes.

To me, it seems like the purpose of a QR Code is prompt a use to access otherwise unrelated information by turning their smart phone into a “data access point”. Yet, it seems like we are just at the beginning of using symbols (QR Codes) to give access to an immense amount of peripheral information.

Ultimately, the thing to remember is that QR Codes are not new; having been invented in 1994 by a Toyota company. However, as their adoption begins to trickle into Western Mainstream, their usefulness will be limited by the adoption of smart phones and the imagination of people with printers.

If I were employed by Apple to review podcasts for iTunes here is a list of “Quality Checks” or qualifications I would like to see in each program.

1. Quality of Media: A high BitRate for each audio and/or video episode would be encouraged.
2. Hosted Website: A functional hosted website that acted, at least in part,  as the home for the podcast.
3. Archives: At least three previously published full-length episodes of each submitted program.
4. Feed Monitoring: It would be encouraged for each podcast feed URL to be submitted through a “Feed Tracking” service such as FeedBurner.
5. iTunes Feed Information: Accurate and detailed information about each program and episode being submitted to iTunes.
6. ID3 Tagging: Creating the correct ID3 tags for your MP3 episode files.

Now, I should say that these five criteria are only hypothetical and that iTunes may have different ideals entirely. However, after having submitted over a dozen different podcasts for myself and others, these elements seem to be universally successful in achieving a listing in iTunes.

After having podcasted for the past two+ years, I am beginning to see the value in quality across the board when it comes to production and distribution. And as iTunes is one of the most valuable resources for disseminating independently produced episodic media for most publishers, understanding their internal review requirements is important.

In the past, most qualitative metrics were guesses at best. Now, through the introduction of Social Analytics content publishers are able to specialize their content to an ever more specific audience. The goal for emerging publishers is to learn how to target a specific audience, not necessarily appeal to the masses.

It will become increasingly profitable for both advertisers and publishers to release better information to a smaller audience. This isn’t a print-on-demand service or a reduction in the circulation of a Newspaper, it is the creation of original content that is delivered to specific individuals. Essentially, the information that we consume will become a completely customized experience. Unfortunately this puts the paperboy out of business completely.

More specifically, this puts a larger strain on major news outlets and their massive overheads. Yet, hope is emerging in the form of experimentation. I recently joined the Oregonian News Network through my work with the Clark County Blog and experienced firsthand the impact that a small investment can make in diversifying the incoming news sources of a larger outlet.

It is this investment that is going to introduce me to a new context for the relationship between traffic sources and Social data. I am looking forward to learning more about how to use Social and Web Analytics together in the hopes of making better, cheaper and faster News. Who knows what we will learn.

1. Carla Axtman from Blue Oregon (CA)
2. Paul Souders from Mercy Corps (PS)
3. Carri Bugbee from Big Deal PR (CB)
4. Dene Grigar from WSU Vancouver (DG)
   

Questions:

• How is the technology changing the way we consume media?

PS: Humanity will change, not the technology, in regards to filtering the information. Ultimately the technology is unpredictable.

CA: If we allow technology to change the way we consume media by only selecting what we want to hear then we will live in a bubble.

DG: There is a tendency to want to follow people first. We flock together already. 2/3 of the world’s population already use Social Media.

• How is it possible to have tools that change things so quickly and still have the dichotomy of “like-groups”?

CA: Events on Social Media create a new sense of synergy for events. It was because of the Social Media coverage that the News paid attention to. We have to overcome Corporate Media to actually get information.

CB: What is interesting about the News and Social Media is that Twitter publicly aggregates and tracks messages.

• How do you use Social Media to get people to do things?

PS: More people donate through Facebook Shares than through paid advertising. Essentially, sharing the action of “doing good” on Facebook is advertising you can’t buy. Twitter is a broadcast medium and it takes a critical mass for things to happen.

• How far does Social Media extend?

PS: It is hard for people to distinguish between media and the real. YouTube and cell phones enables us to act like CNN from 20 years ago.

DG: Online multimedia is especially interesting to women. Rodney King was an example of “eye-reporting” over 15 years ago.

• What are your thoughts on the compression of time through Social Media?

CA: There needs to be an ethical standard for using Social Media. The speed at which we transmit media allows people to make immediate opinions without knowing all of the details and this is an ethical issue.

DG: Many Communications Schools at various Universities don’t teach Social Media. The idea of the “greater good” doesn’t work anymore. We have to look at what is best for not just the now, but the future. This is called Deontology. The Hindenburg event reporter was fired for being passionate.

CB: There are two ways of looking at Social Media. 1. Social Media is narcissistic and therefore will fall by the wayside. 2. Traditional Media is so dispassionate, but Social Media is more personal and therefore connects you to the event more than others.

• Is Social Media a trend or a new reality?

PS: Social Media is like a body of water that is always running, if it gets turned off then people notice. We now accept Social Media as a baseline of connectedness.

CA: You can dam the river but Social Media, the Internet, will find a way. It’s a brave new world my friends.

• What are the risks of Social Media becoming something that can be used in bad ways as well?

CA: One of the ways that the Tea Party came together was through Facebook events. You can look at the Obama Campaign as a great example of someone who was charismatic could use Social Media.

• Does Social Media allow us to find a common ground?

PS: People on Facebook use their real name today, while people 15 years ago used fake names. The anonymity of the Internet allowed people to swing punches from the dark corner.

CA: At Blue Oregon we used Facebook Connect because of the “cesspool” of comments and since then the comments have cooled down. Conversations today are much more amicable.

DG: Anonymity is the problem. Social Media allows you to create ethos, your brand and your image.

Audience Questions and Subjects:

• Wikipedia and Social Media acting as the fact checker of the Internet.
• To silo is to restrict the information that you receive and that is impossible on the Internet.
  
• Mubarak shutdown the Internet and as a result shutdown the country.
• What is the effect of Social Media on our youth?
• What are your thoughts on Live Blogging?
• Noise sucks!

The New Newsroom Flow

In a recent article on the Forbes website, Lewis DVorkin paints a picture of the evident dichotomy between traditional Newsrooms and the emergence of New Media Newsrooms. In his article titled, “9 big steps in 9 short months, now Forbes is building The New Newsroom,”Lewis points out that,

The Web and social media turned everything upside down. Knowledgeable content creators, audience members and marketers, too, now possess tools to independently produce and distribute text, photos and video that is then shared, “followed” and commented on across the digital landscape.

From the image that began this post (The New Newsroom) we find that the entire process of telling the News is now matter of context and analysis.The very positions involved with the “Flow of the News” essentially revolve around making content smarter and understanding it’s success through monitoring. This is a radical shift in the world of storytelling as it puts a greater level of responsibility onto the shoulders of the Newsroom to validate its performance.

Above is a video with an audio piece I put together about “The Future of the Internet”. Take a watch!

It wasn’t until I sat down the owner, Erin Sutherland, and asked her about her new venture that I realized how unique this clothing store was. Above you will find the audio from our conversation and below you will find a photo gallery of Lodekka. Enjoy!

]]> http://www.bretevan.com/lodekka/feed/ 0 Double Decker Bus,Erin Sutherland,Lodekka,Portland Oregon Earlier today I was walking down N. Williams in Portland Oregon near Failing Street, where there are typically only "brick and mortar" businesses. However, today there was something quite different. I noticed a traditional British Double Decker bus tha... Earlier today I was walking down N. Williams in Portland Oregon near Failing Street, where there are typically only "brick and mortar" businesses. However, today there was something quite different. I noticed a traditional British Double Decker bus that had been converted into a Dress Shop called "Lodekka". This mass-transit vehicle had been retired in a very fashionable way. It wasn't until I sat down the owner, Erin Sutherland, and asked her about her new venture that I realized how unique this clothing store was. Above you will find the audio from our conversation and below you will find a photo gallery of Lodekka. Enjoy! Bret Bernhoft no 3:46 http://www.bretevan.com/context-through-technology/ http://www.bretevan.com/context-through-technology/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 03:47:06 +0000 Bret Bernhoft http://www.bretevan.com/?p=1405 Technology is an amazing thing, despite being something of an unreliable misfit. From technology have sprung many new abundances, information through the Internet is one of them. However, there is a something that technology has not been able to give us; readily accessible context in the public space. By this I mean that technology has not given us access to the information we need to truly understand who someone is or what something was. I feel that technology is going to being us closer to finding this out, in real-time.

If our environments decide much of who we are, then I would contend that by providing context through technology you will improve the well-being of those involved. Being able to be in a space and to understand where someone is coming from encourages the good in us all. This is how technology returns from where it came, by allowing us new levels of understanding to who we are both as a collective and as individuals.

Growing up with technology has given my generation the greatest gift yet, connectivity. Whether it’s Wikipedia or World of Warcraft, my peers and I who were fortunate enough to have access to technology were prepared for a future of a vastly different relationship with each other.

As we begin to identify our new skills we become increasingly frustrated with limitations on our ability to remain connected. Imagine, if you will, that for someone who is in their 20′s, communication is constant and fluid. It is communication that has moved from the phone to Facebook to Facebook on the phone, that makes it so that we are now reliant on the “status update“. This in turn has shifted our perspective from regional to global in no less than four years. As a result, there are things happening in small pockets around the world that are changing the ways people learn and create.

Here is a TED video of Sugata Mitra explaining his work with exposing children from around the world to a technology that can help you learn anything; the Internet. If you have a time crunch then I would suggest forwarding the video to the last two minutes, there you will see a summary of his presentation and what it would take “to change everything“.

Now, not only is my generation learning with the internet, but we are creating with it too. From financing to displaying, our art is part of a global museum. The halls of which include Flickr, Facebook and Google Image Search. Instead of having to forgo creativity because of a lack of money, now you can “crowdsource your funding”. The project known as KICKSTARTER is one example of how this is possible. The video below is an explanation of one use of the Internet to enable creative minds.

The videos above help illustrate the main point that “the speed of being creative and sharing knowledge is quickening.” There is little in the way of preventing this that can happen. However, the obstacle of “limited exposure” prevents an equal share of knowledge for all who seek it. It is my sentiment that sharing our understanding of the internet with each other will only inspire great things.

Interesting things are happening and I feel privileged that we can be a part of them together.

As classes rely more heavily on the PDF, the library has responded with an expanded online/downloadable Scholarly Article selection.  Something that used to be the toil of scholars by candlelight is now available, for the cost of tuition, to 20,000+ students at one University. This, by itself, isn’t the noteworthy part of the relationship the individual has to information, the future is.

I feel privileged to be a part of the transition to an entirely digital catalog of course texts and media. Every class I have taken for the past 4 years has included the use of YouTube, TED or iTunes University in some way. As technology and media begin to replace the use of physical text in the learning process changes in the way we think about information will occur.

Beyond the generational communication issues that are continuing to deepen, the students of my generation and those to follow will be communicating with media in ways that we cannot imagine. The library will be redefined by a noticeable reliance of computer labs, similar to what we see today. And as a result of this, the ability to know what is being learned will improve education holistically.

Here are three of the potential realities Libraries are facing as things begin to change.

1. First of all, let’s appreciate that we are still going to refer to learning as “borrowing”. Meaning, each time someone views a piece of media they are in-fact borrowing knowledge, just as we do today with books from libraries.
2. There are three possibilities for the future of interacting with libraries.
   1. Libraries will either transition into archives, similar to a museum.
   2. They will be completely online and therefore decentralized.
   3. Libraries will become community computer labs.
3. The information that is available will broaden and deepen significantly as access to it improves via the internet.

With these in mind it is important to understand how these changes will enable you. Here are several ways I think access to online information will change the speed with which we learn.

1.      Guided Research: In some ways, the hyperlink was the beginning of this kind of enablement. It is my guess that an automated intelligence, beyond the search engine, will be able to lead you in your pursuit of information.

2.      Visual Learners Excel: As many people, including myself, rely on what they witness to be able to learn, video, audio and other interactive media will become our books. I also assume that libraries will have more games to play as a way of learning.

3.      Malleable Information: I also assume that people will be able to make, comment and alter a copy of the information they are viewing, while they are viewing it. It would only make sense that information becomes malleable.

These are only ideas, but I think that they have very real potential for becoming a reality within my lifetime. Ultimately, I think that the library needs to be redefined as a place of community and wisdom, not just quiet knowledge.

The media that we are creating is interactive and feedback is immediate.

Writing as a Technology

YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are truly replacing emails and hand written letters as the foremost medium of communication for my generation. Why would we write a letter when we can shoot a video and share an unprecedented level of connectedness with complete ease? In my mind, the action of reading is to share and express an idea through time and over space. Yet media can fulfill this fundamental human need in ways that Johannes Gutenberg never could have imagined. Books were, and to some degree still are, quite good at this. However, the written language is “out of date” when it is compared to newer technologies.

Like cursive, I assume that the hand written letter will become a secondary learning objective for students in the coming decades. Instead of learning how to write a paragraph in English class, students will be learning how to create and share multimedia in their “Futures Class”. I understand the irony of my having written this post with text and your having read it, but understand that what I am describing here is an observation of a slow decay.

Not to Worry

This is not something that anyone should worry about. Instead of spending energy fighting against something that is already here and isn’t going away, we should be embracing these changes. “User Generated Content” is what we are calling the first stages of the (r)evolution of laymen communications. People are now empowered to communicate as if they were in the presence of a crowd from their computers. These are incredibly exciting times and I am looking forward to the next decade of innovation.

Like many of my peers and colleagues, I use Pandora to listen to music. However, I rarely find that I am staying longer than 2 songs. The reason for this is that I cannot choose which specific songs I want to listen and when. This is a deal breaker for me. So, instead I use YouTube playlists to act as a “Cloud” music library. A music library that I have complete control over as long as the music is available.

But Pandora is not useless as it serves as an amazing discovery engine. Their “Music Genome Project” is solid. This being so, if you explore Pandora’s stations you will find an artist you have never heard before who you enjoy. That is where it stops being useful and YouTube begins. Like I mentioned earlier, I use YouTube playlists to essentially bookmark my favorite songs and artists. I can then replay this music from any desktop at anytime; truly being OnDemand music from a reliably endless source.

Here are the four steps I take when discovering new music.

1. Use Pandora.com to discover a new song or Artist I enjoy.
2. Search and find that song or artist on YouTube.
3. Create a playlist by hitting the “Add To” button underneath the video.
4. Using the “Suggestions” on the right hand side of the video you are watching, I find related music and artists based on me peer’s and YouTube’s suggestions.

All this together is a process of being free to access the media that I want to when I want to. This is the predicament of my generation as we need unfettered access to our entertainment. Thank you Google.

1. A public facing representation of a body’s actions and motivations.
2. Able to be held accountable.
3. Works with a system of distribution.

In addition, here are the 8 Expectations from both his presentation and our conversation.

1. We need the Press to be an Authenticator.
2. We need the Press to be a sense maker.
3. We need the press to be a watchdog.
4. We need the press to be a whiteness bearer.
5. We need the press to empower us.
6. We need the press to be a smart aggregator.
7. We need the press to be a forum organizer.
8. We need the press to be a role model.

These 8 Expectations have been made integrated into Tom’s new book, Blur. You can review it here.