14 posts tagged “apple”
By Dr. Chris A. Heidelberg III, Publisher & Producer & Isidra Person-Lynn
This is the second interview with Professor Isidra Person-Lynn of West Los Angeles College on the subject of Edutainment & Convergence. Specifically, we focused on blogging; however, I was quick to point out how convergence technology can be utilized effectively in the classroom from a learner-centered perspective. If the student likes it, and it promotes learning maybe researchers and curricula designers need to place more focus on the needs of students, and less attention their needs and other quantitative measurements. If we as educators and researchers continue to focus primarily on the numbers, and place less emphasis on the people who make up the numbers, we will continue the cycle of educational malfpractice that has resulted in achievement gaps nationally at nearly every level of education. I focused on the needs of the students and constantly adjusted my approach to fit their needs and to meet the core objectives of the course curricula. If the student is the consumer why are we not looking at both the needs and the wants of this unique consumer who also requires nurturing during the process. I focused my answers on the edutainment and convergence methods that I utilized in the class that resulted in the specific content of the students' blogs.
Professor Isidra Person-Lynn
What is the student's initial response?
Me: I can tell you right now that most of them were shocked that I was going to allow them to blog in class. A few
were concerned because they did not feel like they were technologically gifted enough to do it. It is important to note that I had a variety of students ranging from the disciplines of finance, marketing, business, communications, speech pathology, and English.
However, I had experience in this area, so I gave a live demonstration on how to use Vox and I even used my own usability standards that I developed from my research. I divided my students into groups that specialized in the varioius media areas: film/tv, radio/music, print, the Internet and public relations.
The assignment became collaborative in nature since the groups were part of a larger production that I supervised. The students who were techologically gifted assisted students who were not as gifted, and the writers and producers made sure that everyone particiapated online. It empowered the students. Everyone had to work together as groups and as a larger group in order for me to utilize my famous over-the-top skits in the classroom and my version of the game show called Food or Funds.
The students who presented could be quizzed at any time by me or I could quiz the audience. Correct answers resulted in prizes! The challenge for the students was that they had to record what the skits were about, what lessons the skits taught based on the readings, what did they learn that they did not know about the media industry, and they were challenged to critique and commend the industry for perceived rights and wrongs. Yes, all of this was placed on the web via our Facebook group and then transferred to the blogs on Vox. I was notified by Twitter and Facebook when they were done.
Copyright 2009 Edutainment & Convergence
By Chris A. Heidelberg III, Ph.D, Publisher & Managing Editor & Isidra Person-Lynn
I have been contacted by many so many colleagues online over the past few years to explain edutainment & convergence that I finally relented to a series of mini-interviews with Professor Isidra Person-Lynn of West Los Angeles College. Neither one of us can recall who contacted who first online, but that is the point of edutainment & convergence or E & C as Isidra likes to call my techniques and approaches to learning, marketing, communications and technology: edutainment & convergence is collaborative, interactive, intuitive and yes, social.
This is my answer to the first question from Professor Isidra.
Professor Isidra Person-Lynn: Dr. Chris, why did you start blogging?
Me: I must say that when I first introduced the twin concepts of edutainment & convergence during my research in graduate school my professors loved it but some did not totally understand all of its ramifications. However, the department chair and my dissertation chair, Dr. Howard L. Simmons and Dr. Rosemary Gillet-Karam immediately got it and encouraged me from the first day I entered the program in fall 2003. In truth, I now realize that I was ahead of the technology as far back as 2001 when I predicted what would become the iPhone as my Master's professor reminded me when I debated him on this issue and he told that technology was way off in the future, but I digress LOL!
For me blogging is the future business model for many professors, researchers, authors, businesses, and students
because of its interactive and immediate nature. This is why Twitter, a micro-blogging tool is so popular! Think about it, you can now tell a story quickly on your blog and take a photo with your iPhone, Blackberry Storm or other smart phone. The significance of Ashton Kutcher beating CNN to one million followers and raising money for hungry people in Africa should not be discounted. This was a shot across the bow of mainstream media during tough economic times. The age of narrow casting is here to stay and that is why professors, researchers, students and businesses need to use these social media tools because they keep you in constant communication on how to refine what you do and create a better product.
I have been using blogs for the entire year at Loyola, and I used it from 2006-2008 with students who interned with me while creating their Master's or undergraduate portfolio. It has been quite successful even with some old school professors. Why? Because one can link in a PowerPoint, photos, videos, audio, music and text with my links in one place across multiple platforms.
Copyright 2009 Edutainment & Convergence
By Chris A. Heidelberg III, Ph.D.
As Apple CEO Steve Jobs presented the new iPhone yesterday in San Francisco, I had a "eureka moment" where the impact of the iPhone has really impacted two of my favorite things higher education and entertainment. For the purposes of being contrarian I will deliberately start with the field of entertainment.
Despite the fact that there is a real fight between Apple and NBC, the iPhone and the iPod Touch have enabled television viewers to view NBC, MSNBC, and USA Networks programming for free. NBC willingly gave up $15 million dollars in iTunes revenues from Apple because they wanted variable pricing from Apple which insisted on the old $1.99 download model (Apple, 2008; NBC, 2008). Ironically, Apple has begun offering variable pricing to the movie industry now, so maybe the two companies should mend fences for the sake of consumers. For NBC, this is really a lose-lose proposition because NBC and Fox just started the HULU network online to distribute their television and cable shows online (Apple, 2008; Hulu, 2008; Fox, 2008; NBC, 2008; Newscorp, 2008).
The iPhone changed the debate in favor of Apple because even iPodTouch owners can view NBC content for free rather than downloading. NBC may have created more iPhone and iPodTouch owners who can view NBC content and save money during tough economic times. The fact that many young viewers of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann are becoming very politically active and are tech savvy has benefited the Obama Campaign which has relied heavily on podcasts, blogs, YouTube and the Internet to campaign and to raise record campaign donations from ordinary Americans. The fact that the new iPhone will operate on AT&T's 3G network which will make the device a fully functional convergence device with less problems than its predecessor which operated on the notoriously slow EDGE network.
The iPhone and competing devices will make it possible for new entertainment content that can air on iTunes,
Amazon, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and the Zune Marketplace. Smaller content creators now have outlets for their program offerings, and major networks can also air programming on the third screen first and wait for programs to get popular before airing them on USA, MSNBC or NBC. The iPhone and the iPod have been critical to transforming the political process and the entertainment business from a revenue generating and a pure entertainment perspective.
However, the iPhone and the iPodTouch has already impacted the biggest entertainment business of them all: higher education. If higher education can extend the best parts of its NCAA model to the academic side, it will create a business that will rival the major networks, publishers, and music content providers. Furthermore, this organization would also be a major online player too, since most of the people from the tech world have higher edudational roots.
Finally, the most important reason that higher education will change higher education is the delivery of content. Apple delivers more digital content than anyone in the world, and the company has created a future gold mine with its free podcasts which inevitably will be branded with ads from NCAA corporate sponsors on the academic side. The day will come when Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon will all benefit from residuals of ads placed strategically within podcasts. Apple's new iTunesU has been extremely successful in its first full year of operation.
Did you hear that sucking sound? That is the
sound of big media publishers screaming when colleges begin to create
their own digital publishing outlets that will enable professors to
teach and publish online simultaneously.
Administrators are going to
have problems with the whole tenure process since they love hiring
adjuncts on the cheap! The real question becomes this: what will they
do when the first academic rockstar professors are born! Even if they
win the intellectual property war, which is not a given, many
professors will simply jump ship and sign better deals with
universities because of the new crop of intellectual property
attorneys. Stay tuned because I hear a storm coming!
Now that's edutainment!
Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin face an interesting next four to five years. As the United States is finally adopting high definition technology and true convergence with devices like the iPhone, mobile software like Android, social bookmarking sites like Digg, and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace becoming mainstream, Google faces it biggest challenge: becoming big like Microsoft without being perceived as evil as some regard Microsoft. This will be tough after the bitter fight with regulators when Google acquired one of its largest advertising rivals and Microsoft poured it on about Google being monopolistic and dangerous.
Now, as Microsoft is trying to acquire Yahoo, it is Google that is playing the role of spoiler to Microsoft's ambitions. Microsoft has acquired exclusive advertising deals with Facebook and Digg which are two of the major players on the social media front and look to be the next Google. Microsoft was pro-active and invested heavily in Facebook, and that is what earned Microsoft equity in Facebook with the opportunity to buy more. Moreover, it kept Google out of the picture for the foreseeable future by obtaining ownership. Microsoft did not get equity with Digg, but in effect it did by creating an exclusive advertising with Digg which I believe is a real long term competitor for Google.
Google understands this fact which is why it immediately developed its own version of Digg. Google is fighting desperately to keep Yahoo free from Microsoft without appearing too much like the monopoly that Microsoft has described it as being with its complaints to regulators. Frankly, Google needs a cutting edge social network in this country. Orkut which Google owns is huge in Brazil and India, but not in the United States. Orkut needs a major upgrade to compete here in the states, but I believe that Google should do it. I also believe that Google should consider a joint project with Apple and Yahoo to create their own social network. This could Yahoo the needed advertising revenues and Apple the social network that it needs to promote its product and services to its extremely vocal fan base so that it can head Amazon off at the pass.
If Google really puts money and creativity into Orkut while simultaneously working a social networking alliance with Apple and Google would actually help to promote Orkut which could be a default site in its Android mobile operating system.Google has to do something, but it will have to use partners to do it if it does not want to become evil. It has two partners in Apple and Yahoo who face considerable threats from Amazon and Microsoft. Even though Apple and Microsoft are big partners, there is real tension in that relationship as Apple gets bigger, and has the ultimate chip of licensing its operating system in an open environment. Microsoft is also providing the software to Amazon which is now doing quite well with its own media store, Amazon Unboxed, and its Kindle reader and multi-media player.
Apple also knows that it needs a promotional vehicle to help it sell its AppleTv because unlike the iPhone, Macbook computers or the iPods that sell themselves with advertisements; AppleTv is a product that is unique and requires a longer look from average buyers who can benefit tremendously from this project. The solution to this problem seems quite simple to me: Apple and Google should form a strategic alliance with Yahoo, buy equity in Yahoo, form a separate social networking firm with Yahoo where Yahoo can lead as long as Google gets the advertising and shares it with Yahoo; Yahoo creates the social network that links directly to iTunes and a new Apple Digital Store that directly takes on Amazon; and Yahoo can really push its news, flickr, email and television service which is a natural fit for iTunes for downloads with ads or without and for live streaming with advertisements.
The networks are greedy, are jealous of Apple and Google, and will be compelled to release their shows. Why? Well, the writer strike just ended and they need the money; the writers need money and have finally realized that they can control their content and get paid through online distribution on YahooTv, iTunes, YouTube and GoogleTv. AOL is a juicy purchase waiting to happen, and if Google can engineer a joint deal with Apple and Yahoo to save Yahoo, it can easily put together a favorable deal with Time Warner to jointly purchase AOL as long as there is an agreement in place to provide this alliance Time Warner content at favorable rates.
Google becomes the white night by saving Yahoo; Google creates a social network that it desperately needs for its ad service and search; Apple gets a badly needed social network for its loyal fan base and a promotional vehicle for its AppleTV which can record and download the content through iTunes on the Yahoo site; and finally Yahoo keeps its independence, makes plenty of guaranteed money, and can focus on its creativity and promote its news, flickr, email and other services. At the end of the day, Google may get richer but so does all of its partners and new partners that they will bring in to make this thing work. So can these visionaries succeed and innovate without being evil? Yes, it can but they need the power of coalitions. Google must adopt the tactics of a start up to prevent from being cast as evil because then when Microsoft attacks Google it is attacking Apple, Yahoo and all of the other partners that Google will bring to the table who will be part of the Google eco-system.
Well now that my holiday vacation is officially over, it is time to get back to work my friends. I really like what Apple is doing with the Macbook Air product. I am sure that the movie and music industries will love it because it prevents the ripping of DVDs and CDs. The Macbook Air has been critiqued by many because it does not allow one to do these very things. However, this machine was not designed to do that, it was designed to be a different kind of machine for people who hate carrying around heavy laptops for meetings, for travel and for college. The MacBook Air also offers colleges and universities a chance to distribute content through iTunesU via iTunes without having to worry about infringement issues that have seen many universities sued by the music industry. The fact that it is so light and stylish many women may buy one to supplement their PCs or their existing Macs. I say this because I witnessed a similar thing occur in the late 90's when lighter digital cameras and pro-sumer cameras began being rolled out by Sony and other camera manufacturers who made a business decision to appeal to this valuable market. All one has to do is to witness what Apple did by creating multi-colored iPods and smaller versions of the iPod like the mini and the nano.
On another front, I loved the fact that the iTunes Store has added movie rentals from all of the major studios at reasonable prices. I think that Apple should offer a movie subscription plan too, if they want to solidify their position in this market and take on NetFlix. Apple should consider offer subscription plans for music and television shows as well. It will be free money, and it will still give folks and option to buy. In fact, subscribers may be more interested in buying after viewing or listening to a movie, a show, an album or a music track. If Apple is going to remain customer driven it will have to do this.
This drives me to the real beneficiary of all of Apple's new efforts: AppleTV Take 2. Steve Jobs admitted that Apple did not get the job done with the original AppleTV, and he was right. This product needs to be where Apple needs to direct its energies for the foreseeable future because it will act as a centerpiece for all of its offerings because of its storage capacity and its ability to tie the computer, the iPhone, the iPod and iTunes together. Apple needs to create its own original content development line and create exclusive deals with the writers once the strike is settled. This will give the writers a chance to develop, distribute, and produce their own products, so that the studios cannot use their heavy-handed tactics on the industry, on electronics makers, and most importantly on the public.
Two of the best examples of this are Apple's distribution of podcasts, and especially its iTunesU content. Apple has not really begun marketing its iTunesU content likes it need to do because if it did Apple could drive iPod and Mac sales through the roof because of all of the concerned parents who want their kids to succeed in the classroom. The Duke iPod project provides hardcore research on student performance that will only serve to justify parents' buying more Apple products. Now that I have digressed, I will return to the importance of original content and why it is important for the Hollywood writers to cut individual and collective deals with companies like Apple. The writers will not win this strike no matter how great of deal they get unless they create their own content distribution centers on places like iTunes, YouTube, AmazonUnboxed, NetFlix, Facebook, Google Tv and Zune Marketplace. All of these online entities desperately need their own original content that is independent of the studios, the networks, and the cable companies.
Why? Have you witnessed the vendetta that NBC Universal has exercised on Apple by pulling its offerings from YouTube, starting HULU, and cutting a deal with device maker SandDisk which is a good manufacturer but they are not in the Apple class, and they are not where the customers are. The customers reside with Apple, and even a Microsoft deal by NBC will not solve this problem. This is like a manufacturer saying I will not put my products in WalMart because I do not like how they operate. NBC does not understand retail, and it is showing. A basic tenet of marketing is that you have a place or distribution where customers can easily buy your goods. How do you throw aware $15 million in profits, and try to play the pimp game by asking for iPod profits like the music industry tried to do to Apple and they failed badly too? Just because Bill Gates and Microsoft caved into the music industry's shakedown by giving them portions of their profits from their Zune media player out of desperation for any market share does not make the industry behavior questionable. If there was real enforcement by the FTC and FCC, there might have been anti-trust investigation into these kinds of deals. If the movie and music industries want all the profits, they need to create their own devices. Oh that's right Sony is doing that and Apple is still dusting them up royally. HULU and rthe rest of the industry owned sites are digital immigrant efforts from digital immigrant companies who are fighting against digital native companies like Apple and Google who understand digital natives and concepts like ease of use. It will take another decade for them to get it right so that the new blood is in charge. Steve Jobs is not Bill Gates! Steve Jobs is an old school player, a real baller and shot caller as the hip hop generation says. NBC made the mistake of trying to pimp a baller, and they got played. Viacom is trying to do the same thing with Google about its YouTube copyright violations even though CBS has a huge YouTube presence.
The writers are the X factor because they can even out the playing field, sign their own individual deals through a special emerging artists and producers program through Apple. If Apple leads, Google, Microsoft and Amazon will follow! It will provide writers, the true content creators, the opportunity to get paid as producers, and to get their worth. This is America, and its the MLK holiday, so why not have a little justice in the industry for a change. Finally, I will keep advocating that Apple develop its own open social network that could act in concert with an AppleTV network of original content just like Fox is doing with MySpace. Google could handle the advertising, and Yahoo could help with the email and other features. Could you imagine all of the Mac, iPod, iPhone, AppleTV and iTunes customers having their own social network? It would instantly be a game changer, and it may make Microsoft wonder why it spent so much money for the Facebook deal. It would also give Google a chance to fire back at Microsoft for taking its Facebook and Digg advertising business away from it. It would also give Google a chance to become a real player in the game. Remember, Yahoo still has the most viewed online news among key demographics that advertisers love. So Steve what is taking you so long to make this happen? Think different again! Make it happen! You can keep the .Mac for pro users, and save it at the same time! Let's here your take, do you agree or disagree?
The recent debuts of iTunesU, the iPhone, the Wii, and the Kindle have combined with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, the iPod, blogs, Macs, video cameras, Google search, Facebook, and YouTube to initiate the future of learning from both an individual and collaborative effort. The
Amazon already has put many of its books online for readers who purchase paper copies of books for a small fee above the cost of a paper book. The time is coming within the new five years that nearly every college or university will have its own digital press business and digital press cooperatives with other universities to provide inexpensive or even free digital books, journals, and other publications with embedded advertisements that can be downloaded from iTunesU, YouTube, AmazonUnboxed, XboxOnline, Wii Online and various sites to iPods, iPhones, Zunes, cell phones, Kindles and what ever new device that is developed to answer the Kindle.
Anyone with half a brain can see that students will be able to get all of their books, classes, and notes through sites like iTunesU, AmazonUnboxed, YouTube, and ZuneMarketplace and this development of convergence may spell doom for the media conglomerates that control, own, and distribute content. They will not own the scientific, humanities, business and communications research that the colleges and universities created through their own digital publishing networks. The future already here and some people still want children to learn in the past and not learn in the present with edutainment and convergence. Apple appears to be the logical brand to get this device done with its own operating system - Leopard, the iTunes Store, and its AppleTv offerings to support its iPod and iPhone brands. However, Apple desperately needs a social networking site and so does Google in the United States to take on Facebook and MySpace.
The ramifications are tremendous for such an object that uses touch screen, and you now know that we will be following this development, but remember the future of education revolves around the development of edutainment and development. Imagine turning an electronic page of a digital book with touchscreen technology while listening to the audio book and then viewing a video wrap up of the book. This is edutainment and convergence at its finest, and it is already here, so watch what happens once the HD conversion takes place in 2009. These are exciting times for learning and the entire industry is being transformed by edutainment and convergence.
The real fight of the digital wars will take place on Apple's home turf, and it is coming from a Microsoft surrogate. I will be commenting on this throughout the holiday buying season. ZDNet is rhetorically asking whether or not Apple and Amazon are headed for a collision course. The answer to this question has always been a resounding yes in my mind because as iTunes became bigger and more popular Amazon knew that it would have to face off against Apple which could decide to compete against Amazon in selling everything once it had safely passed Amazon in the downloads wars. So Amazon made a preemptive strike with the aid of some of Apple's competitors in the media and Apple's own partner/competitor Microsoft which may not like Apple being this strong and hanging too close with Google. At the end of the year, I will be making my predictions for 2008 based on sales.
It has become obvious that the content owners and to a lesser extent Microsoft have decided to bring a real challenger to Apple in the same weight class. In this corner is Amazon with Jeff Bezos! This guy is no slouch and in 2008 Steve Jobs will feel the body shots as Amazon has now released Kindle its book reader and media player to accompany its Amazon Unboxed music offering with no DRM and its video and television offerings. The networks and the music industry is already hopping mad with Apple over its iTunes pricing scheme and no subscription service and no profits from iPods sales. Microsoft is giving the music industry some proceeds from Zune sales and Amazon is using Microsoft technology for its Amazon Unboxed online offering.
In the next corner is Apple with Steve Jobs. His corner has Al Gore and Eric Schmidt along with Sergei and Larry. Bill Gates is playing the role of Don King. He wins if Apple wins because he owns a lot of Apple and Microsoft is still Apple biggest customer. However, if Apple loses, Gates and Steve Ballmer will make money from Apple from Amazon and from the Zune which will prosper if Apple loses ground and the Kindle catches on with consumers. Kindle has some pricing issues that may hurt it before it gets out the gate. Moreover, Kindle is trying to use subscription services for blogs and newspapers even when these industries are going the free route with the recent announcement by The Wall Street Journal that it will be offering its online paper for free under Rupert Murdoch. You guys need to give Mr. Murdoch some credit! He is giving back to the community, and I am with him on this one and his MySpace move.
This fight is more than just Apple versus the content industry and its love-hate partner Microsoft. This is a proxy war between Microsoft and Google too! Google and MySpace are already teaming up against Microsoft and Facebook. What is funny is that Google and MySpace are actually number one in search, advertising and social networking eyeballs, but Facebook has been making the right noise with the right demographic groups. Microsoft is now the hunted and has resorted to striking back as any good empire would against the upstart kingdom. The media industry been trying to break the Google - Apple alliance. If Apple were to do what I have been advising and develop a social networking group on iTunes that partners with Google this will be just what the doctor ordered for Apple and Google. Then, Apple can really do something with its AppleTV and iTunesU and Google's Alexandria Project by creating an online library, learning and book channel and store through iTunes. Apple should create its own black version of a reader that utilizes electronic ink from MIT like Sony's reader but add touch screen, Google, WiFi connectivity, PC connectivity, iPhone connectivity, Safari, Firefox and a list of free publications and blogs and go for the juglar with YouTube.
Amazon needs to improve the appearance of the Kindle and get WiFi and bring the fight to Apple with its own devices and add an Xbox gaming platform courtesy of Microsoft its sponsor in this war. Amazon needs to get some real memory into its device and utilize Microsoft's touch technology too. They ought to make their device compatible with the Zune and Facebook too and use Microsoft search and Digg bookmarking. Amazon is already bringing the fight as Apple just recently has pulled into a dead heat for downloads. If Amazon is really serious about this fight it will create bookstores like Barnes and Noble, but sell Amazon books, Microsoft gear, Sprint phones and items that sell well on Amazon. Then, Amazon can partner with Dunkin Donuts and provide downloads.
Hey this is the real fight of the century and it all begins for real if Google buys spectrum space with Apple's support. Apple could eventually use Quest instead of AT&T or Google could use Quest which needs help but has the telecomm know how that Google and Apple need. Remember, the AT&T deal only has a few years left so Apple has to learn how to play nice with others. Stay tuned.
Are Amazon and Apple on a digital content collision course? by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- With the introduction of its Kindle ebook reader, music and video services, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is stepping further into the magic kingdom of Steve Jobs’ Apple. In fact, Bezos and Jobs seem to be on a collision course. Apple doesn’t have an ebook reader, but it’s not difficult to imagine Apple adding digital books and other [...]
I love it when the mainstream media, also known as the MSM on the net, finally grasps a concept that I have known in my professional, my academic research, and my professional research: convergence has not only linked the world it has transformed the world. The United States literally went wild this year with the introduction of the iPhone, the iTouch iPod, the classic iPod, Google Apps, the Wii and new marriages of Digg and Facebook with Microsoft. In fact, the iPhone was named the invention of the year by Time Magazine as the first massively adopted convergence device that has an ease of use and innovative features like touch screens, iTunes and You Tube with the Mac interface. A report by the USA Today demonstrates the power of convergence worldwide, and how it has already conquered Japan and people are turning to handhelds like smartphones, handheld media devices like the iPod, gaming devices, and cell phones instead of personal computers.
Experts like Tapscott & Williams, (2006); Steve Jobs, (2007); Bill Gates, (2007); Marc Prensky, (2006); Henry Jenkins (2006); James Paul Gee, (2003, 2004, 2005); and others have been predicted the convergence avalanche. The recent development of the Internet, the iPod, the personal computer, and web-based tools like You Tube and Facebook into single convergence devices that can held in one's hand is the clearly the future of entertainment, learning, government, commerce, home, and work in one device with a quality web camera and video camera with note taking and large memory capacity (Gates, 2007; Jobs, 2007; Pavlik, 2000; Tapscott & Williams, 2006).
The personal nature of cell phones has now extended past the traditional web experience provided by the personal computer. Personal computers, like laptops, are portable, but lack the personal portability and the ability to make calls on the run. Increasingly, our cell phones are becoming portable handheld electronic extensions of our minds, our personalities and our core beliefs and values. McLuhan (1967, 1968) suggested that would occur in the 1960's that we would live in a connected electronic global village and that the medium would be the message.
To be sure, we are moving closer to Star Trek than any of us ever could have imagined more rapidly than most people could have ever thought.
Here is the USA Today article below.
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/computing/2007-11-04-japanpcs_N.htm?csp=Tech
By Chris A. Heidelberg, III, Publisher & Executive Producer
The cloud based iPhone with cellular service would be a blow to telecomms, who definitely want to control the web, because the iPhone would be an open phone and allow Apple to be independent since Microsoft has said its not bidding on spectrum space so that means that Microsoft will be working with the telecomms and cable firms. Apple should allow third party applications and reserve the right to approve them all just like Facebook does and end this stupid cat and mouse game. This is wasted energy. Apple has been in the phone business for less than six months and is acting worse than Microsoft and the worst telecomm over opened iPhones. The deal with AT&T has helped AT&T with its horrible EDGE service and Apple is getting its image killed trying to battle their own customers just like the music and video industries. Now isn't that ironic, Apple the maverick pro-consumer brand is acting totally corporate? I am an Apple fan but you cannot make this stuff up, its real. Apple needs to modify that deal or prepare for the day that deal ends quickly because Apple needs a 3G phone and it needs a better network.
Besides let AT&T enforce the open phone issue. It's their phone lines they know what people are doing and they should kill phone service of people who decide to go open or dare I say sue. Obviously, if a phone goes open, the other telecomms could kill the iPhone on its line. There are only two companies left how hard could it be. However, this issue points out how important it is for Carter Rules to be extended to cell phones so that the US can join the rest of the world with open phones and cheaper prices and more access. For readers who do not know the Carter Rules forced phone companies to allow people to buy their own home phones or opened phones from non-AT&T approved manufacturers before the split of AT&T in 1984 when everyone paid monthly fees for phones I know it sounds so 20th Century but this is how it was until a manufactured sued after the phone companies used the same excuse the Apple and many telecomms used about the device being bad for the network. Ha! The courts did not buy this line then and people are not buying it now and Apple needs to stop carrying water for AT&T, who I actually like better now, Apple is just a manufacturer. You don't see Research in Motion, Motorola or even Nokia doing this with their popular lines of phones like the Blackberry, the Razr or the Nseries. Apple needs to tell AT&T that this issue is hurting Apple and will hurt sales for everyone and take AT&T to court eventually while developing a truly open 3G phone. Apple was right to want control over its phones the telecomms do not make phones and should not be allowed to dictate any more to consumers with closed phones which are not legal in most European nations. Can the US please get with it, do you know we are barely in the top twenty as far as being fully digitally connected and we do not have HD yet either? South Korea is number one if you are interested,
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