Making the complex simple was perhaps Steve Jobs greatest legacy. Unfortunately, most of the tools intended to make life easier, actually make things more difficult and detract from what we are trying to accomplish. Too often, what should be a simple task of connecting to the mobile Internet or printing a document turns into a spiral of trial and error that ends up becoming the proverbial time-sink.
For decades, technology has held the promise of improving the education system. What makes it different this time? Clearly, low-cost broadband and portable computing devices that are easy to use are catalysts for a change in teaching. There is also a mindset change that needs to occur as well, particularly in the form of policies that reflect new ways of learning.
In this interview, Michael Horn of the Silicon Valley-based,Innosight Institute, talks about the shift in education from a factory-based model to one that is student-centric. Citing their research, he suggests that by 2019 50% of all high school classes will be available online. He talks about how blended learning has started in the places where one would least expect it; rural and inner city areas, while suburban schools tend to be the laggards.
Window on Youth Symposium at the Media Innovation Summit, December 1st
[note: Viodi is helping to organize the Window on Youth Symposium at the Media Innovation Summit in Santa Clara on December 1st. This is one in a series of videos that looks at the convergence of broadband and technology with the education field.]
To get a special Viodi registration rate, click here.
XO Communications Leads Competitive Carrier Upsurge in Business Ethernet Services by Alan Weissberger
Business customers are buying Ethernet services from legacy and competitive carriers as well as from MSOs. Cost effective performance, simplicity of operations, scalability and the ability to use the same access technology as in the enterprise LAN are some of the reasons for this uptake. In addition to the extra bandwidth and the variety of services Ethernet supports, small and medium-sized businesses appreciate Ethernet’s flexibility and lower cost. Carriers and their customers like the fact that Ethernet adapts to their premises based (switch/router) equipment, which helps them to grow their businesses quickly. Wholesalers are doing the same things as their retail counterparts. Click here to read the rest of the article.
Some Tweets and Short Thoughts:
- Insight from
#EIA11 – Part of digital learning is moving from an agrarian calendar to an achievement calendar. - Put this on your virtual calendar – Digital Learning Day – 2/01/12 –
#DLDay - No surprise…Open Range, Rural Wireless Provider, Files for Bankruptcy @CullenMC @BloombergNews – my first thought – Solyndra of the Telecom Industry?
The Korner – Back to the Future of TV at TelcoTV
Nine years and ten shows ago, TelcoTV launched as a partnership between NTCA and Shorecliff Communications and New Orleans was the home of the first event. Kudos to Bernie Arnason, then of NTCA, for the vision to turn a one-time NTCA conference (held in Indiana the previous year) into the premier event on the topic of IPTV.
A recurring theme at today’s TelcoTV sessions, and I suspect the rest of the show, was multiscreen video services. Reaffirming research I have been involved with, multiscreen services will soon be table stakes for operators.
It is ironic then, that multiscreen services were a topic of conversation at the first TelcoTV, nine years ago. Granted, the multiscreen demonstration I gave as part of my presentation on VOD services was very rudimentary, but the short-lived Movielink service helped lay the foundation for the online pay television services we see today.
It is somewhat amusing to go back in time and and see how this service worked or didn’t work, as can be seen in this series of articles I authored just after that first TelcoTV (it is also amusing to see how sparse the Viodi View’s virtual pages looked).
- A Cheapskate’s Review of Movielink
- Follow-up to Last Month’s Review of Movielink
- Movielink to the Bedroom?
This delivery of content to a PC is but one feature in what really is a continuum of features that define the full multiscreen experience. Which features become must-have and which ones resonate with customers remains to be seen. Regardless, whether nine years ago or today, the features that succeed and gain consumer acceptance will be those that are simple to use and enhance the viewing experience.
For those of you at TelcoTV 2011 this Thursday at 3pm, please attend the panel, Technical Solutions to Integrate the Small Screen for Rural Providers, in which I will be participating in a discussion about multiscreen video.
