Friday, December 28, 2007
Will writer's strike push Internet popularity?
When Hollywood writers went on strike last week it fueled speculation that it would further drive the public to the Internet in their quest for entertainment.
Broadcast, and for that matter cable television, has been experiencing an erosion of viewers in recent years as the Internet has become a more popular destination for entertainment. It was once thought that porn was the number one attraction for online visitors. No more. People are using the Net for all forms of entertainment from online gaming, chats, to downloading or stream video television shows or movies on demand.
Some industry observers wonder if the writers or the networks understand that they may be pushing people away from traditional media. Such a move appears inevitable, but do they need to accelerate the pace?
And now for my weekly Google report. Remember Android from last week? Android is Google's effort to provide an open operating system for mobile phones. Prior to this, most phones have used propriety systems provided by the cell phone carrier (Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, etc.).
The Google effort is to set a new standard that would be used on all phones. The Internet giant took the first step toward realizing that goal last week by releasing development tools for programmers to use to develop new applications for the Android system.
Google has offered $10 million in prizes for programmers who create winning applications for the new platform (system). This should prompt a spurt of creativity among programmers.
Google is planting the seed. It won't be long before we find what blossom's from the plant that grows.
Google wants phone users to be able to have the same Internet experience on their mobile devices that computers users now have on their much larger laptops or desktop computers.
I was asked recently what I thought was to be the future of personal computing. I think it involves the personal communications device. We've seen the movement in that direction by devices like the iPhone and Google's Android operating system. Our personal communications device will soon be our primary connection to the world. The information super highway will flow through out hands and around the world.
We already have vision devices that project an image onto an eye glass type device that looks to the viewer like a large flat screen video monitor. Only instead of being 10 feet away, it is an inch from your eye. Voice activation will reduce the need for the large clunky keyboard.
Our children will laugh at the large computers we lugged around at the beginning of the 21st Century. Their devices may be no bigger than a current iPod and have wireless access to the Internet from anywhere in the world.
What will be the psychological and philosophical ramifications of such advancements in technology? How has the horseless carriage and the telephone affected our present society? The short answer is: we adapt. Just as my father's generation adapted to radio and the telephone, and my generation adapted to television and space travel, our children will adapt to having access to instant information.
We can only hope that all this instant information will lead to knowledge and that knowledge will lead to wisdom. For without the wisdom to properly channel the information, knowledge is useless.
What do you think?
As always, you can reach me at rpolkchespub.com.
Broadcast, and for that matter cable television, has been experiencing an erosion of viewers in recent years as the Internet has become a more popular destination for entertainment. It was once thought that porn was the number one attraction for online visitors. No more. People are using the Net for all forms of entertainment from online gaming, chats, to downloading or stream video television shows or movies on demand.
Some industry observers wonder if the writers or the networks understand that they may be pushing people away from traditional media. Such a move appears inevitable, but do they need to accelerate the pace?
And now for my weekly Google report. Remember Android from last week? Android is Google's effort to provide an open operating system for mobile phones. Prior to this, most phones have used propriety systems provided by the cell phone carrier (Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T, etc.).
The Google effort is to set a new standard that would be used on all phones. The Internet giant took the first step toward realizing that goal last week by releasing development tools for programmers to use to develop new applications for the Android system.
Google has offered $10 million in prizes for programmers who create winning applications for the new platform (system). This should prompt a spurt of creativity among programmers.
Google is planting the seed. It won't be long before we find what blossom's from the plant that grows.
Google wants phone users to be able to have the same Internet experience on their mobile devices that computers users now have on their much larger laptops or desktop computers.
I was asked recently what I thought was to be the future of personal computing. I think it involves the personal communications device. We've seen the movement in that direction by devices like the iPhone and Google's Android operating system. Our personal communications device will soon be our primary connection to the world. The information super highway will flow through out hands and around the world.
We already have vision devices that project an image onto an eye glass type device that looks to the viewer like a large flat screen video monitor. Only instead of being 10 feet away, it is an inch from your eye. Voice activation will reduce the need for the large clunky keyboard.
Our children will laugh at the large computers we lugged around at the beginning of the 21st Century. Their devices may be no bigger than a current iPod and have wireless access to the Internet from anywhere in the world.
What will be the psychological and philosophical ramifications of such advancements in technology? How has the horseless carriage and the telephone affected our present society? The short answer is: we adapt. Just as my father's generation adapted to radio and the telephone, and my generation adapted to television and space travel, our children will adapt to having access to instant information.
We can only hope that all this instant information will lead to knowledge and that knowledge will lead to wisdom. For without the wisdom to properly channel the information, knowledge is useless.
What do you think?
As always, you can reach me at rpolkchespub.com.
# posted by Richard Polk @ 4:54 AM 
