What Would Maslow Think?
There have been two interesting events this week in my job as Editor New Media in Northern Ireland. First was a demonstration of the 大象传媒 iPlayer which is an advance on the iMP (integrated media player). The concept is pretty simple - download and watch any TV or radio programme for a week after transmission. Yet it is incredibly complex to deliver. We can probably look forward to the first version being delivered to your PCs around about March next year.
The second was a long discussion yesterday about how the 大象传媒's website will continue to develop into the next generation of WWW (usually called Web 2.0 - a phrase I dislike); how we make the web simpler, more intuitive and provide a way for the audience/users to make the site their own.
On the way to the Web 2.0 meeting I was with an old friend. "But where are we going to get the time?" he pleaded. "Someone told me that I wouldn't be switching on the radio to listen any more - I'd have to pre-choose all the programmes and download them. Now you're telling me I have to do the same with TV?" The good news for all schedulers everywhere, the schedule is not dead. Good news for the 99% of us who collapse at the end of the day in front of the TV - the Google Box will not replace the Goggle Box. We will have a greater choice of what we want to see and hear, when we want it - but it's not DIY 24/7.
In (1. Physiological 2. Safety 3. Love/Belonging 4. Esteem 5. Actualization) there is no 6. Downloading. It's not a need - just a convenience.
Comments
I hope a good part of the conversation was about content, this mini renaissance on the web is as much to do (if not more) with better content than it is to do with technology. The small changes that have made the web more writable have brought about better content, and as we used to say in ye olden days 'Content is King'. Weblogs are a success because of content, Wikipedia is a success because of content, MySpace - content, Cork'd, Flickr, last.fm, etc etc
/This/ weblog will be a success because of content, I have no doubt, the technology that underpins it is really no different than forum software.
The phase we're entering/have entered of entertainment on demand is driven by content, there is a greater selection of good quality entertainment available and fitting it into our busy schedules requires more fluid organisation - bittorrents, iTunes video, iMP, etc etc.
In a sense you don't need to worry to much about delivery, the people largely take care of that as long as you provide information in open formats, as a corporation your focus should be more on the actual content.
:)
As my father often said;
"For thirty years we had 3 channels to watch the programmes on, now we have 30 channels to watch the same programmes we were watching 30 years ago and paying through the nose for the privilidge"
I like the way R4 - You and Yours -splits the listen again for each programme into items so I don't have to listen to the whole prog
Perhaps Sunday Sequence could follow that example? - Much better than Wiliam giving 'scroll to' times
I agree that it is all about the content 鈥 well almost all. I鈥檓 not too concerned about the technology, just as long as it鈥檚 the right technology and the audience can use it. Apart from the content my interest is 1) bringing the audience to the content they are looking for and b) when they find it having the opportunity to contribute/respond/interact with it and Share it.
That links to Alan鈥檚 point. We should be delivering 鈥渃hunking鈥 of some Radio Ulster programmes very soon 鈥 Sequence is the priority. If it could be automated, you would have it already; but it has to be done by people. Then once you have found that piece and you want to tell someone else about it 鈥 you can easily do that. But we鈥檙e getting there.
There was once 3 channels in America.Since I did not trust the three channels, I listened to my shortwave radio. There are more channels, more varieties, and I now listen to the Internet as well as listen to my shortwave radio. If there is something positive about the age we live in, we have choice in what we want to watch. It is logical that we pay for that priviledge.
David -
Is it possible to apply 'chunking' to the podcast of a prog?
Listen again links should give an actual prog date - not just 'latest prog'
Quite often when reading a report on say - the N Ireland news page, I would love to contact the writer directly with a correction or complaint. - Presumably the site has an editor and the pieces are written by your local radio or TV reporters?
I think their names shoud be added to their posts - or would that just overload their inboxes? - Have a general comment link for the whole sub-site?
If someone follows me on these comments is there any way for me to know without coming back regularly?
Alan - Let's see how much of that I can answer here. There is discussion going on about some of the topics, so forgive me for avoiding some answers just now. There is a "Contact Us" on every page - messages go to an inbox and are re-directed to the person responsible or the Editor or producer of the site.
I'm not entirely sure about "Latest Programme" - I'll happily look at that if you send me some examples of what you mean. Radio Player normally displays a day Mon Tue Wed etc. Is there something else that you mean?
Hey - keep coming back regularly. I think the RSS only works for posts rather than comments.