Out of the Newsroom

I spent the morning attending something called “HootSuite University”.

If you’ve never heard of it, don’t worry.  It isn’t in the Big Ten, Big East or any other conference and it has no teams of any kind.  It doesn’t even have a mascot.

The fact that it doesn’t have a campus should come as no surprise either.

HootSuite is a very good bit of software that is definitely Web 2.0  (For those of you not paying attention, Web 2.0 is in large part about the idea of doing things exclusively via the web, or in this case, via software that is accessible via a web browser (like Internet Explorer (yuk), Safari, Firefox, Chrome, etc., etc.)

It is often referred to as “Cloud Computing” because you don’t have the software on your computer, it actually “lives” on the great “cloud” of data that is the internet itself.

HootSuite is a client for being on various social networks, like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Linked In, and the like.  Why HootSuite is a big deal is that it lets you monitor and post to these various social networks–all at the same time.  While this may sound like no big deal at first, for those of us who have to manage being on several of these networks for big portions of each day, with different “identities” like one for personal use, one for work stuff, and so on–having all of that on one screen, accessible from almost any computer or even a smartphone–HootSuite is a very big deal.

You can also use HootSuite (yes, its free) for just keeping track of one Twitter account if you wish. But given that it has a whole lot of unique features and options that make it very handy for those of us who are multi-tasking the social networks as part of our work, it is a very powerful tool.  And  given that HootSuite does more stuff that a large model Swiss Army knife, you do have to spend some time learning all of its features to get the most out of it as a “power user”.

To help with that, the creators of the program came up with “HootSuite University”, an online learning community that you can pay a reasonable “tuition” into, to take training on the HootSuite program, watch lectures about how different people and companies use the program, and communicate with other students.

Of course the idea of online learning isn’t new, there are hundreds of different virtual “campuses” on the internet, many from traditional outlets of higher learning and even more from newer name who have combined physical classrooms and virtual classes to become rather large concerns.

The University of Phoenix, which seems to be all over the place, has its name on the stadium in Phoenix (as in Arizona) where the Super Bowl was played.  Clearly they are making a few dollars.

HootSuite University is of course, a far less ambitious undertaking.  But the end result is similar.  Teaching people a new skill is always going to be needed.  For busy people trying to live their lives, finding the time to learn something new is often nearly impossible.  Thus where online learning fills a huge need.  The training is available anytime, it works at each individual’s own pace and it is cost efficient.

Just how “online learnin’” will continue to change the face of education on all levels in the future, is anybody’s guess.  But my little experience of attending “HootSuite University” reminded me in a profound way of how much about the way we learn is changing–and just how much our future will depend on embracing and extending these new ways of learning?  Well that might just be the key to our survival.

Now armed with my newly conferred “degree” of Social Media Consultant from HootSuite University, I’m going to spend the rest of the weekend celebrating.

Like every blog owner/publisher, we’ve been struggling over the past few days with the company that I pay for web hosting. They have been moving to a new “server farm” and apparently haven’t played enough “farmville” before doing so. Or been on a real farm.

Where you can’t just not work for a few days, or really bad stuff happens.

For real.

Anyway, we’re back. We think. We hope so. More mindless drivel to follow.

Thanks for your patience and understanding. Or your complete lack thereof.

“Context is Everything. In this piece you will see video evidence of racism coming from a federal appointee and NAACP award recipient…” - Andrew Breitbart, 7/19/2010

“That is simply unacceptable, and Ms. Sherrod must resign.” - Bill O’Reilly, 7/20/2010

“We here at Studio B did not run the video and did not reference the story in any way for many reasons, among them: we didn’t know who shot it, we didn’t know when it was shot, we didn’t know the context of the statement, and because of the history of the videos on the site where it was posted. In short we do not and did not trust the source.” – Shepard Smith, 7/21/2010

“What you see on Fox News, what you read on right wing websites…is a manipulation.  Not just of a story, not just on behalf of a political philosophy.  Manipulation of a society, its intentional redirection from reality and progress, to a paranoid delusion and the fomenting of hatred of Americans by Americans.  And nearly every last word of it is never, in any tangible sense, true.  Ask Shirley Sherrod.” – Keith Olbermann, 7/21/2010

“This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.” – Edward R. Murrow, 10/15/1958

I’ve mentioned before that one of my all time favorite television shows from the “golden age” of the medium is “The Honeymooners”.

Any student of the history of television ends up impressed at the visionary that Jackie Gleason was about the still-in-its-infancy business.  Gleason’s use of the kinescope is why we still have the ability to watch the 39 episodes from the single season that the show was on the air in 1955.  We all know of Gleason the legendary clown, but his acumen as a television producer may not be as well appreciated.

My favorite “Honemooners” moment is when Ralph and Ed get into scheme to sell a kitchen gadget by doing a television commercial.  Ralph assumes the character of “Chef of the Future” and promptly blows the whole deal by getting a case of stage fright as soon as he sees the red light on the camera.

As usual, I’ve used this elaborate backstory as a device to get to my real point here, the idea that something that promises to be “the future” can’t just be a potato peeler with a really good marketing campaign.

The whole “Chef of the future” thing was on my mind because I was thinking about this because of some weekend work I’ve been involved in on the idea of using a personal computer as the “media center of the future.”  (You can do your own Art Carney as Ed Norton voice here.)

More and more, people want to hook up their computer to their television sets.  Why?  Because that is where most of their entertainment is kept.

My older daughter moved into a new apartment this weekend and one of the first things she wanted to do was connect her college graduation present (a new Macbook Pro laptop) to her new apartment housewarming present, a flat-screen TV.

Frankly at first, I didn’t get it.  But after about ten seconds–it began to make perfect sense.

Think about it, many people now get their movies, television shows, and certainly their music as downloads to their computers.  Your computer’s hard drive is likely to be most occupied by these “digital entertainment assets” that are internet delivered.  (This is why most music retailers have closed their stores and video rental places are not far behind.)

Personal computer manufacturers have taken notice by putting HDMI jacks (or ports) on more models of computers, including laptops.  Why this is significant is that the HDMI jacks allow users to connect their laptops to HDTVs and playback anything on the computer’s screen on the television.  And because many high end desktops and even laptops can actually produce resolutions equal to or greater than the 1080-line standard of HD, the computer becomes an all-in-one content engine, capable of playing downloaded content–and even streaming content from the web.

(Apple has just released a version of its Mac Mini, which many people have turned into a media server, with the first HDMI jack on a Mac.  While they still don’t ship a laptop with HDMI, a $35 adaptor from an outfit called Moshi turns the latest MacBook Pro’s Mini Display Port jack into a full-fledged HDMI port.  Apple even carries the item in their stores now.)

If you’re still following all this technical jargon, you may have jumped ahead–if not, then let me make it simple for you:  Online content like Hulu, Netflix, and even YouTube–all on your big screen TV. Along with whatever you have from iTunes, Napster or Pandora.

Make sense now?  Your computer could replace your DVD player, your CD player, your….  well you get the idea.  Your computer becomes, “the media center of the future!”  (Again, the Ed Norton voice here is optional.)

With the large amount of legal video and audio content available online (not to even mention the larger amount of content that is less than legal) you begin to understand why one of the hot new technologies is something called “Wi-Di”.  Being pushed by Intel, it is short for “Wireless Display” and the technology allows a properly equipped laptop to wirelessly connect to a external adaptor which then plugs into your HDTV.

These are just the first salvos to be fired in the battle to merge your computer and television together to be the center of your entertainment universe.  There will be more, but for now–don’t be surprised to walk into someone’s new apartment and see their laptop hooked up to their big screen TV, pumping out their favorite shows, music and whatever.

I’m looking forward to seeing that–and the rest of her new apartment in the not-too-distant future.

It’s been a big few weeks for everyone who just can’t stand anything that Apple does.

And there are more than a few folks who just don’t like all those things with a small i in the name, like the iPod, iPad and most of all the iPhone.

The newest iPhone has been ground zero for this comeuppance.  The amount of vitriol which has gushed forth over whatever signal problems the iPhone 4 may have, rivals that which has leaked out of that well down in the Gulf of Mexico. (For those just tuning in, the issue centers around the sudden signal drop when a certain part of the metal that wraps around the unit and serves as its antenna is touched.)

So imagine how happy the Apple “haters” were when CEO Steve Jobs held a press conference on Friday to deal with growing PR problem that Apple was facing.  Even Consumer Reports said the iPhone 4 had a problem and it couldn’t be “recommended.”  It was all proof positive that they were right and that all Apple products are all mediocre, over-priced technology that is made popular by exceptional marketing to status seekers.

This is where I usually get into fights with people who aren’t fans of anything to come from the folks at Apple.

Because it just isn’t so.

Debate the merits of Apple’s technology advances all you want, the fact is that you might not have a mouse or a graphical window interface on your home computer, Wi-fi on your laptop, or those apps on your touchscreen phone–if it weren’t for Apple pioneering each of those things.

This is not to say that everything that they have ever made has been groundbreaking, and history will be the ultimate judge of the current iPhone 4 kerfuffle, but whatever you may think of Steve Jobs, you can’t argue that he and his team haven’t made personal technology better through their efforts.  Including changing the way cell phones work and what they can do.  Because I don’t remember any phone from Samsung, Motorola, or Blackberry sporting a usable touch screen prior to mid 2007, when the first iPhone was released.

To mostly mediocre reviews.

And then a few million flew off the shelves, and the rest is history.  Until now.

The internet is overflowing with gleeful cynics who are already to bury the iPhone 4 and Apple right along with it.

Oh, and that whole hip marketing theory?  Depending on whose figures you use, the general consensus is that Apple spends about one third of what Microsoft does each year.  It is a little more than half of what Dell coughs up on marketing every 12 months.  We wont even talk about what the cell phone companies spend on advertising in a year.

Of course, that spending doesn’t take into account the quality or memorable level of the advertising those dollars are used on.

And I don’t remember a press conference from anyone at Microsoft to tell us how lame Windows Vista was.  But many still used it just the same.

Did anyone hear Steve Ballmer go on stage and say “if you don’t like it–bring it back for a full refund?”

Yeah–me neither, but it is so easy to rag on Apple, isn’t it?

Well, everybody who bought an iPhone 4 already.

That was the word today from Apple’s CEO.  After Consumer Reports said that they couldn’t recommend the latest version of the smartphone that changed everything, Apple called a press conference to say “We’re not perfect.”

They didn’t say that the iPhone 4 was broken, they said it had an issue that some other smartphones have.  Namely, your hand can degrade (the technical term is attenuate) the signal being received and thus lead to dropped calls and other kinds of bad performance.

The answer as I suggested it should be back on July 2nd will be to give out free “bumpers” to new iPhone buyers, and current owners who don’t have them already.  If you already forked out the $30 bucks for the bumper already, you get a refund.  (Apple promises full details by the end of next week.)

The reason I made this call early on was that I am a real world customer who was underwhelmed by the new iPhone until I got a bumper, and magically–almost all of my problems disappeared.  The glaring one left is that the “proximity sensor” that determines if the phone is pressed against the cheek is not working as well as the previous models and often allows the cheek to accidentally put the phone on hold or do something else unintended.  Apple promises a software update to come will address the sensor problem.

Here’s another prediction:  the free bumpers (cases) will NOT make everyone happy and  the serious Apple bashing that has been going on will likely continue unabated.  But the fact remains that Apple has said that there is some kind of problem and they have said that they had to do something to fix it.

Chances are that if you bought an iPhone–you probably have had the problems caused by the “death grip”, which seems to be any way you put your fingers around the case of the phone and touch its metal antenna.  Having a bumper seems to help with or solve the problem.  If you still aren’t happy–you can return the iPhone 4, no questions asked.

Seems like a pretty fair deal, though Consumer Reports now says that Apple’s plans are good for its consumers, but they still can’t recommend the iPhone 4 until something more permanent is done.

No word on just what that might be.