This TED Talk is over two years old, yet still feels very relevant today. In just eighteen minutes Lawrence Lessig manages to masterfully crystallize the impact of the democratization of the tools of content creation and its distribution on the way we communicate. Or more specifically, how today’s “kids” are communicating. As the title of this video suggests, this presentation is about how copyright law lacks the common sense to allow the reuse and distribution of digital content for non-commercial use.
As presentations go, this one is just ... awesome. I love the fast pace of his slides and their simplicity. And his narrative just pulls you in.
It’s finally here. The ultimate device that we’ve all been waiting for, right?
The iPad is probably the most controversial and polarizing piece of consumer technology to date. Never has anything been hyped this much before its announcement - not the iPod, not even the iPhone. And with such a monumental build up, shattered expectations could only follow.
All this, and so few have even touched this thing.
I have to admit, when I saw Steve Jobs unveil the same over-sized iTouch that all the Photoshop retouchers had predicted with such a lack of imagination, I was disappointed. We expect more from Apple. I mean, don’t I already have the Internet in my had with my iTouch?
It all really clicked for me, however, when Steve played the promo video - seeing the device on the coffee table and on the couch, watching people having a shared experience. I really think Apple has reinvented the computing experience here. Surely they have on the UI, but much much more on the where and how we interact with the computer. Apple has un-glued us from our desks, un-cramped our hands from the laptop, and shown us how the computer can more seamlessly and naturally be integrated into our home.
And man are we pissed. Why do so many people want this thing to fail? We all look to Apple to innovate, and when they do we’re criticizing them for going too far (or not far enough if you ask others) - “it does too much”, “it doesn’t do enough”.
All of us who live in this (tech) world tend to forget that using a computer is not a pleasurable experience for the average person - Macs included. The iPad just might change that. Apple’s talent is in stripping away the features, not adding them. Do fewer things, but do them right. That was the magic of iPhone 1.0.
There’s a lot of debate over how the public will perceive needing a device like this. Many are calling it a luxury device. Need is a relative and ever-changing thing though. At what point did you realize you needed a smartphone, or a netbook, or a Kindle, or an mp3 player? I distinctly remember turning the corner on the Kindle - going from “that’s too expensive” to “that would make my life easier and more enjoyable”. Many said the Kindle would never succeed - it’s too expensive and it only does one thing. I was one of those people. Turns out we were wrong.
But rather than ramble on further ... My thoughts on all this are probably best summarized in a response I posted on a friend’s blog - which I’ve re-posted below. It’s probably best to read his post first. He’s skeptical, I’m optimistic. We’ve bet a bottle on it.
Over the past couple of weeks two proof-of-concept videos have been making the rounds that give a glimpse at where a tablet-centric magazine experience might go.
When doing some financial research recently, I came across a bank that I had never heard of before: Ally Bank.
I was impressed with how frank and human the language on their site was. I was even more impressed with the interest rates and terms they had for their banking products.
Thinking that this was too good to be true, I decided to do some digging. Turns out Ally is the newly-rebranded GMAC. GMAC as in General Motors, as in the bank that’s received two government bailouts.
I also then made the connection to the sponsor of one of my regular podcasts, NPR’s Planet Money. Well, the other shoe finally dropped, and Planet Money decided to do a program on GMAC last week as they’ve gone back to the government for a third bailout.
Kudos to the team for tackling the tough issue of critically reporting on a major sponsor.
A few weeks ago my wife had a bit of an accident in the kitchen with a cutting knife. As we quickly took action to slow the bleeding I scrambled to look online to see if the wound was serious enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room for stitches.
I landed on About.com’s First Aid site. And after reading some informative articles I clicked to watch this video on how to dress a wound. Would you believe that I first had to sit through an ad spot? The video is currently playing ad-free, but I’m not sure if that’s because they caught this monumental fail or if the campaign had wrapped.
A few weeks ago my wife had a bit of an accident in the kitchen with a cutting knife. As we quickly took action to slow the bleeding I scrambled to look online to see if the wound was serious enough to warrant a visit to the emergency room for stitches.