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Tuesday, July 02, 2002 |
"Peter Ford's Parent Teacher Night: 'Talking with parents tonight at school. It's great to see how many are positive about the effect of weblogs on their child's education. 'Weblogs have expanded her horizons,' said one. She went on to outline how the whole family across the States have been reading her child's writing and research.'
If only he knew how true this is as well!" [Adam Curry's Weblog]
I'd love it if teachers blogged at the kids' school because then I'd have a better idea about what goes on there on a day-to-day basis!
4:04:25 PM Permanent link here
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In regards to the sad state of wireless content in the U.S., I wanted to note how important something like traffic reports can be. As we move away from the mass markets, niches will become ever more transparent. Example: I rarely listen to the radio anymore. The only thing I really miss is the traffic reports (even though they're not localized appropriately for my drive). As more people go with satellite radio, as ubiquitous wireless becomes a reality, and as more folks take portable music with them (MP3s), we'll need new ways to get information we've previously gotten from mass market sources.
I get my news from the web now, although eventually I want my portable news aggregator with me at all times. So how will I get my periodic traffic, weather, and national news alerts? (I didn't know anything about September 11 until I got to work that morning and others told me what was happening.) Whether it's telematics, cell phones, or something else - that's going to be a niche, and there's lots of money to be made in niches.
3:10:15 PM Permanent link here
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Filter Firm’s Web Site Bares All
"Graphically illustrating its contention that its software is second to none, the Internet-filtering firm Websense is linking its corporate home page to a daily roster of sites featuring hard-core sex, hacking information and racist rants that it says weren’t blocked by two of its rivals.
Users who take the San Diego-based company up on its invitation to 'test the competition' also encounter links to sites offering Internet gambling, weaponry and 'questionable or illegal' products — such as a site showcased Monday that offers free downloadable essays for students.
The Websense site features disclaimers similar to those found on adult Web sites that ask viewers to click on a button to verify that they are at least 18 and are prepared to view 'sexually explicit or other material which you may find offensive.'
Andy Meyer, vice president of marketing for Websense, said that the company added the comparison feature to highlight a recent analysis by an independent lab that rated its corporate content filters higher than two of its rivals....
Meyer said that company executives were not concerned that kids would use the tool to access objectionable content that that might otherwise be blocked by their parents, teachers or librarians because the company’s site caters to corporations and government entities rather than the public." [MSNBC]
If your library is using the Websense filter, can you let me know if it blocks the Websense site? And how confident would you as a corporation or government entity feel if you installed their filter and couldn't get to their web site?!
1:46:44 PM Permanent link here
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No sooner do I rant about enhancing cell phones in the U.S. than I find this in my aggregator: Nextel Intros Color Java Phone (emphasis mine). It's not everything I want, but they're getting closer.
"Nextel Communications Inc. and Motorola, Inc. announced a color display, Java technology-enabled phone for the U.S. -- the Motorola i95cl, available Monday from Nextel.
This clam-shaped phone incorporates Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME) technology, which allows users to customize their handsets with applications. It has a 120 x 160-pixel color display that can show up to 256 colors for Java applications. To accommodate color applications such as games and streaming video, the phone offers expanded Java functionality. It contains expanded memory capabilities, enhanced T9 text input and Lightweight Windowing Toolkit (LWT) functionality. Ten pre-loaded musical files and nine selectable ring styles allow users to personalize the handset with rich polyphonic sound. A color, animated icon-based menu allows easy navigation of the phone's many features.
Pre-installed Java applications include the games EA SPORTS PGA TOUR Golf provided by JAMDAT Mobile Inc. and MotoGP from THQ; as well as a calculator tool, expense pad, and several selectable wallpaper patterns. Nextel Wireless Web customers can download additional applications and musical MIDI ring tones at www.nextel.com/idenupdate.
This handset has a built-in speakerphone, voice-activated dialing, and voice recorder. Nextel Direct Connect, available on all Nextel phones, allows users to communicate instantly with one or up to 100 individuals at the touch of a button. The flip phone's exterior display allows access to the Caller ID, date and time, and VibraCall alert without opening the handset, and the smart button enables multiple tasks to be performed with a single keystroke. The large interior display makes dialing more accessible, as each number pressed can be confirmed by a large, full-screen digit....
The Motorola i95cl carries a suggested retail price of $399.99 and is available immediately at more than 200 Nextel retail stores, from over 1,600 authorized Nextel dealers, on the Web at www.nextel.com, or by calling 1-800-NEXTEL9." [allNetDevices Wireless News]
9:51:33 AM Permanent link here
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Japan and the United States Worlds Apart on Wireless (emphasis below is mine)
"....Despite the existence of a successful 3-year-old model in Japan, attempts by the giant U.S. wireless companies to launch services beyond voice have not gone very far, and now the entire telecommunications industry is reeling financially. Meanwhile, a working dad in Japan gets to watch his son grow up.
The reasons why the U.S. market lags are many, and they go beyond what's repeated ad nauseum by the industry — that the services appeal only to the Japanese culture, that they fit the Japanese lifestyle of mass transportation versus driving, that personal computers have not caught on as much there....
'I'm very disappointed to see that the majority of phones in the U.S. are black and white and four lines (of text),' said Satoshi Nakajima, chief executive officer of UIEvolution, a Bellevue company that develops software for Japanese wireless companies. 'Then you'll never succeed....'
In Japan, the video camera in a phone is just the icing on a multilayer cake. At the end of March, 51.9 million people were using their cellphones to send e-mail, play games, take photos, find restaurants, locate businesses, track down friends, schedule meetings and download maps, ring tones, screensavers or karaoke songs....
What's more, the Japanese willingly pay for these services. In fiscal 2001, Japan's largest wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo, generated $5.8 billion in revenue from users on its i-mode wireless-data service....
In the U.S. the carrier with the most subscribers using data service is Sprint PCS, and it has just 3 million users generating about $15 million a year....
The Japanese numbers, however large, don't quite capture the relationship the Japanese have with a cellphone. To them, the wireless phone is as intensely personal as a watch or a purse. It's an extension of the body, often with designer leather straps, World Cup flags, rhinestones or little animal figures dangling off the end. The screen is customized with a screensaver, the ring tone with a song of the user's choice.
The U.S. cellphone, by contrast, remains a drab, albeit functional, appliance, less a watch than a toaster....
Some analysts point to how train or subway commuting gives the Japanese time to kill playing with their cellphones. In comparison, the average American drives to work, and talking on a phone while behind the wheel — let alone looking at its screen — is a major issue.
Actually, many Japanese content providers find their peak hours are not rush hour. G-mode, a wireless game portal, said the peak hours for its games are between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Yoshiro Mizuno, chief executive officer of content provider 104.com, said its traffic peaks between TV shows.
'Our deduction was there were lots of couch potatoes messing with i-mode at home,' he said....
Some say that many Japanese have turned to wireless phones because a residential phone line costs $700 to install. While that explains the quick adoption of mobile phones for voice calls, it doesn't explain the embrace of data services....
Even if cute pictures of cartoon kitties won't appeal to U.S. tastes, that doesn't mean no content will. If someone developed an application where a user pressed one phone key to get the traffic report on Highway 520 and another to get conditions on Interstate 90, a decent number of commuters probably would pay 50 cents a month for that service.
The problem is that, until now, no one in the U.S. has had a financial incentive to develop that application. Japan's carriers set up a business model in which content providers — the ones who develop the ring tones and games — could make money.
When users choose to play games, a monthly charge of $2.50 or less shows up on their phone bill. The carrier takes a small slice, but about 90 percent goes to the game developer. The result is that 56,000 content sites are available to i-mode subscribers....
'It's a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem,' Nakajima said. 'If you try to launch a color phone in the U.S. today, the price point is going to be high. So unless there's good content, there's no reason to buy a $125 phone. It's a volume commitment. The operators are skeptical, so nothing happens, right?' " [SeattleTimes.com, via Slashdot]
I think that the cellular market in the U.S. could be even bigger than the one in Japan if the carriers would just start researching what services Americans want. (After all, we have the most couch potatoes per capita, and if a phone was easier to use than a PC, we'd have more thumb jockeys, too.) I don't want a cell phone that does all things internet because I have a PC for that, and at this rate, I'll have a PDA that does that long before I have a similarly-capable cell phone.
But I understand quick, fast information. I understand carrying my electronic life around in the palm of my hand. A smartphone that just synched automatically with Outlook on my PC (via Bluetooth) would grab me tomorrow. What else would it need to have in order to get me to pay the higher price point for it? A color screen, a memory card slot (I'm not picky about which type), MP3 capability, voice recording, and a fast connection. Throw in a digital camera, GPS, and WiFi, and reel me in. I'd be emailing pictures to people, recording the funny things the kids say in the car, playing games while waiting in line (which seems to be happening more and more frequently), getting traffic reports, checking my news aggregator (once the aggregators reach a more mobile point), and I'd be paying for a lot of stuff using my phone if I could (sodas, parking meters, etc.). I'm a Gen Xer in my 30s who would download screensavers and ring tones, too, and I'm not alone.
Content is indeed the key, but the capabilities of the phone are the door and at this point and that's a real barrier. I don't want a black & white cell phone anymore. Now that I have a PDA with a color screen, I will never go back to a black & white one. It's just too difficult to read the screens when the letters look like old Atari fonts on a pea green background. My eyes are having enough problems without having to squint at the small screen to find someone's entry in my phone book, thank you very much. (How about a jog dial that increases magnification?!)
Cell phone manufacturers need to hurry up and work on improving their interfaces. On my Samsung N200, the first choice on the menu is "Wireless Web," something I've never used. Well, okay - I tested it once two years ago and haven't gone back since. I have to actually scroll down to the THIRD option to get to my phone book. Talk about poor usability! Hype me your wireless web when you have color screens, provide content, and understand appropriate pricing models! Until then, put my phone book first, and back away from the phone slowly.
Right now, it's like we're stuck in the mid-20th century with black & white TV sets. Sure, they work, but why would I want to use these phones for anything other than just voice calls? Would you really want the full spectrum of digital cable services on a black & white TV? Something's wrong when there is no hook for early adopters.
9:38:24 AM Permanent link here
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I'm feeling a little better today, and I'm ready to try a few test posts at the computer before heading off to the chiropractor. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions so far!
8:57:16 AM Permanent link here
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© Copyright 2004 Jenny Levine.
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