Looking back to look forward; I have been searching through old Viodi and Viodi View archives over the past couple of days. As I re-read them, I kept thinking about the saying that suggests technology adoption always takes longer than generally anticipated and when it does finally hit critical mass, what was new feels like it has been around forever (e.g. the iPhone has been out for not quite 3 years, but it is hard to imagine life before the iPhone).
AmFam Gets Social by Roger Bindl
Many people get so excited about social media that they become like Stan's friends on South Park – "You Have 0 Friends." Others adopt the media to explore new ways of communicating, educating, and collaborating. American Family Insurance (AmFam) is one that is adopting and embracing while they transform old ways to new ways. Keith Katers, a Digital Marketing Social Media Administrator with AmFam, explains how they've been using video for a long time and how social media has enabled them to take it further. Distribution, that was once expensive and restricted to Network TV and CATV, is now wide open with social media sites. They started usingYouTube and Facebook in the fall of 2009 and now reach over 1,500 agents with video posts to agent Facebook pages and the clients these agents represent. This video interview gives a brief looks into the activities at AmFam. Click here to read the rest of the article
CTA with Global Reach and Local Presence by Roger Bindl
"My people are stretched to the limit..." Sound familiar? We've never had so many ways to connect, yet it's harder to feel connected. Do you feel that way? Are you an enabler, a catalyst, or feel like a bump in the road? Sometimes it's good to get new perspectives and I got a few last week at the Communications Technology Association of MN (CTA) annual conference in St Paul. [Editor's Note: What the MTA is doing with the CTA is a great example of how a telco association can help spur economic development for its members.] Click here to read the rest of the article
TiECon 2010 Report: Wireless Market Status, Trends and Future Directions by Alan Weissberger
TiECon is 'The Indus Entrepreneurs' (TiE) flagship annual conference and signature event. It typically draws a mix of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investment bankers, market researchers, technology executives and strategic marketing professionals from all over the world. The participants come together to network, learn and hear about latest industry and technology trends in the varied fields of software, mobile computing, biotechnology, clean technology, Internet and others. [Editor's Note: Weissberger provides a comprehensive report on this conference while uncovering some interesting tidbits, such as the popularity of voice search.] Click here to read the rest of the article
TiECon 2010 Wireless Sessions: Mobile Apps and Advertising by Alan Weissberger
In this second TiECon 2010 article, Weissberger reviews the two other Wireless panel sessions that covered a variety of topics very germane to the mobile consumer market. The main themes were: mobile apps, mobile advertising, metrics to measure usage, Location Based Services (LBS), and the real time web. We report on thesse and related issues, but not the self promotion pitches made by a few of the speakers. These two TiECon 2010 wireless sessions were:
- Wireless: Audience Engagement and Metrics in Mobile – Leveraging Mobile Apps, Metrics and Targeting to Drive Value
- Mobile Consumer and Enterprise Applications – Leveraging the Power of LBS and Real Time Web
Weissberger then provides his perspective on the key issues discussed. Click here to read the rest of the article
New ITU-T Focus Group May Set Framework for Cloud Computing by Alan Weissberger
Cloud computing deployments are being announced on an almost daily basis. Cloud computing speeds and streamlines application deployment without upfront capital costs for servers and storage. For this reason, many enterprises, governments and network/service providers are now considering adopting cloud computing to provide more efficient and cost effective network services. The venture capital firm, the Sand Hill Group, has concluded that cloud computing represents one of the largest new investment opportunities on the horizon. Click here to read the rest of the article.
Mark Ellison of Patton Boggs LLP asks a very interesting question as to whether the future of broadband video is at stake in a post on the Law360 blog. He asks this question in the context of the Comcast-NBC merger and he points out that securing content for its broadband properties is, in the opinion of many analysts, a motivation for the acquisition. Ellison poses many interesting questions as to what this powerful combination of broadband and content could mean in for competition. Click here to read the rest of the article.
Some Tweets and Other Short Thoughts:
- The phone as a multimedia device at the turn of the century – the 20th, that is. Good post by Matt Mullenweg
- Linking text in WordPress
- Adding Categories and Tags in WordPress
- Great advice from Google on how to design graphics and interfaces for the television
The Korner – Libraries Also Need Broadband
With almost eight (8) years of accumulated articles and postings, it is difficult to remember what has been published in the Viodi View and ViodiTV. One lesson from the Viodi View experience is the importance of good archiving and good search. As the Director and Librarian for the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Peggy Rudd knows all about the challenges of creating metadata to make archiving and search possible.
In this video interview, filmed at the 2010 Broadband Properties Summit, Rudd talks about the importance of libraries in helping people connect locally as well as regionally and nationally. She suggests that libraries are a key enabler of information literacy. She points out that broadband and computing are critical in order to keep libraries relevant. Rudd makes the convincing argument that libraries are anchor institutions that will help drive broadband demand as well as help the local citizenry take advantage of the benefits of superfast connections to the Internet. Click here to read more.
Related article: Unique Economic Developments