Image by Jan Chipchase

The story goes something like this: Vic was out for dinner with family and friends. The adults were on one side of the table, the kids on the other. The adults were debating some issue, and Vic said, in response to a question from one of his friends, “I don’t know.”

His four-year old daughter Samantha, whom everyone knows as “Tiger,” piped up from the other side of the table: “Daddy, where’s your phone?”

“What do you mean, where’s my phone?” She explained that she’d overheard the question. Why wasn’t he just looking up the answer on his phone?

Out of the mouths of babes. Vic said that he realized in that moment that the era of the PC was over, and that the future belonged to cloud applications accessed via phones.

[…]

[Until know I thought] about the web as experienced on a PC, and then about mobile as an add on. The tipping point has come; that notion has to flip: if we’re trying to get ahead of the curve, we need to think first about the phone, and then think about the PC browser experience as the add-on.

That’s a good, and incredibly important point. From what I see happening all around me, mobile is discussed a lot, and of course there’s a lot of (mostly smaller) service catering to iPhones and the like. But primarily the web is perceived as something you access from your laptop, or even desktop. What’s wrong about that? Simply what I emitted in Tim’s quote above, which is:

Kamla Bhatt was busting my chops about the same subject when I did an interview with her last week for Mint, the Indian business site. “Tim, you don’t talk enough about mobile!” she said. “In India and around the world, there is a whole new generation that accesses the internet, and they have never seen a PC. To them, it’s all on their phone.”

Emerging markets and all those areas in the world where PCs aren’t ubiquitous. In large parts of the world, cellphones are the way to go, now and in the future. PCs and laptops may never make it there, at least they won’t play the same role as they do in the richer industrialized countries.

A great read about the role of cellphones in developing countries can be found in the NYTimes: Can the Cellphone Help End Global Poverty? If there’s one person who does the really cool research in this area, it’s Jan Chipchase of Nokia, who’s also quoted extensively in this article. Jan goes to all those countries, cities, neighborhoods in less industrialized countries and checks out what people do with their phones, how they interact with them, which role those phones play in their professional and personal lives. It’s incredibly fascinating; and it’s clear that we should look much more into mobile than just developing more web services for 17/15/13 inch screens and full QWERTY keyboards. Instead, small screens, different input devices, location-based and context-based features are things we should be really looking into. Interested? For a good starter reading I recommend Jan Chipchase’s blog. No matter if you read it on your laptop or your cellphone.

Among the nominations are a lot of truly amazing blogs, and it won’t be easy for the jury to decide who to give the awards to. But one thing is for sure, it’s going to be extremely high-quality stuff. So I’m really excited that Deutsche Welle asked me to come and liveblog (or is it: blog live?) from the awards ceremony. (Full disclosure: It’s a paid gig.) The ceremony is open to the public, by the way, and takes place in the Berlin communications museum, in the evening of 27 Nov.

So drop by if you’re based in Berlin. For those who can’t make it, I’ll be liveblogging here and on the BOBs website.

A seven-page questionnaire being sent by the office of President-elect Barack Obama to those seeking cabinet and other high-ranking posts may be the most extensive - some say invasive - application ever.

The questionnaire includes 63 requests for personal and professional records, some covering applicants’ spouses and grown children as well, that are forcing job-seekers to rummage from basements to attics, in shoe boxes, diaries and computer archives to document both their achievements and missteps.

Only the smallest details are excluded; traffic tickets carrying fines of less than $50 need not be reported, the application says. Applicants are asked whether they or anyone in their family owns a gun. They must include any e-mail that might embarrass the president-elect, along with any blog posts and links to their Facebook pages.

The application also asks applicants to “please list all aliases or ‘handles’ you have used to communicate on the Internet.”

And you thought your new employer checking out your Facebook profile was kinda odd? Hah!

We’ve been writing this for a little while now with rather low frequency, but we’re getting to a point where we produce more steady output. Partly we cover basics, partly more edgy ideas. This one is a classic, Thomas about how Facebook can be of value for university education:

Social Communities have grown rapidly over the last years, offering people the chance to publish personal information and connect with each other. The biggest social community today is Facebook with more than 120 million members. Due to the myriad possibilities to use Facebook, there many ways to support teaching and learning.

Facebook started in 2004 at Harvard University and was aimed at connecting students. Now, almost every American student and many Europeans have profiles on Facebook. They use it to share information, such as links, photos and videos, to arrange real life events and to communicate in groups.

The use of Facebook also shows the current cultural differences between teachers who slowly have to adapt to new technologies and students who grew up with digital communication. The differences in media use and learning behaviour between so called “digital native learners” and “digital immigrant teachers” are shown below. Understanding how to use Facebook opens up a way to stepping closer to actual student behaviour and to create a more appropriate way of teaching.

Image source: Apple

Read more…

Social Media, I think, won’t suffer through the financial crisis, not at all. Quite the contrary, really: Even if the crisis killed the ad market (which I don’t think it will), Social Media will at least stay very stable. Rather than that, I assume they’ll grow even quicker than before. This isn’t simple optimism at work here, but rather a mix of both the work-related requests I’ve been getting over the last few weeks and months, and of some very simple reasoning:

Where users/customers/guests are insecure, they are less likely to spend money on products, services and companies they don’t know. Instead, they turn towards trusted sources: Ones they know personally or that are recommended by trusted folks. Trust must be earned. And that’s the core business of Social Media.

I don’t know about you (but I’m curious, please share in the comments), but I base my purchase decisions on a mix of research, instant gratification and recommendations by experts and friends. (If you’re lucky, the latter two overlap.) My extended network plays a crucial role there. Yes, I’m speaking of the folks I interact with primarily online: via Twitter, Skype, my blog. This is where the mavens of the web world hang out, this is where I turn to advice (and am being asked for advice, too).

So, short and simple: If someone has money to spend, they won’t throw it at a random faceless company. They’ll turn to those brands who’re open and approachable. They might even speak to them before deciding. And you know what? That’s good for both sides.

Example? Before buying my beloved messenger bag from Alchemy Goods, I had some very specific questions about it. Within a few hours the owner himself, Eli Reich, had answered them in a brief, but informative and personal email. I got it right away, even though it meant ordering a bag all the way from Seattle to Berlin and picking it up at the customs office. And I couldn’t be happier with it. This might seem weird, but I don’t think I’m the only one thinking like this. Lesson learned #1: Listen and respond to your customers. Lesson learned #2: It doesn’t matter which tools you use (Alchemy Goods isn’t on Twitter) as long as you get the basics right.

So am I worried about the financial crisis? Not really. (Knock on woods!) Actually, I’m pretty psyched about the way Social Media will hopefully be embraced by companies outside the tech sphere now. Let’s see where it’ll all go!

Image: Robot by genewolf, released under Creative Commons (by-nd 2.0)

I’m really psyched about the great feedback we’ve been getting for our conference coverage on Berlinblase, which is after all a pure fun project by a bunch of folks who’re passionate about the web (here’s who we are). So while I’m at the conferences, I’ll be trying to provide as much inside coverage from the events as I can, and some others of the Berlinblase crew will be around as well. (Some of the coverage will be in German, particularly of LeWeb, some in English. We’ll have to play that part by ear. If you have a strong opinion about the language, please let me know.)

To cut a long story short: The next few weeks will be busy, but a blast. Here’s what’s going to happen:

First up (20 Nov) I’ll be at Dresden Open Space, where it’s all about the impact of new technologies on society. Cool stuff indeed! If everything works out as planned, Steffen Büffel and I will be taping interviews galore. (Disclosure: I’ll be there for T-Systems, who also organize the event. Thanks, Marcella, for putting it all together!)

Just two days later (22-23 Nov), Barcamp Hamburg 2 will hopefully be a blast. Plenty of friends to catch up with, and hopefully plenty of new folks to meet as well. It should be interesting to see how the different size plays out - while Barcamp Berlin 3 had about 500-600 attendees per day, Barcamp Hamburg will be in the 200-300 region.

In December (9-10 Dec) it’s time to head over to LeWeb Paris, which I’m really excited about. From what I hear (and judging by the list of speakers (PDF)) LeWeb really is a league of its own. What I’m particularly curious about is the difference to Web 2.0 Expo Berlin: Whereas Web 2.0 Expo is a series of conference that started out with (and still has) a strong U.S. focus, LeWeb is as European as it gets. Never mind the speaker overlap with Web 2.0 Expo ;) (Thanks to Stephanie Booth and the LeWeb press team, you guys are doing an amazing job.)

If you’re at any of those events, make sure to say hi! To make the coordination easier, why not connect on Dopplr or Twitter?

Image Berlinblase (top) by dotdean, licensed under Creative Commons (by-nc)

While tapping into some very interesting points in itself, the clip was produced by Demos, a “think tank for ‘everyday democracy’”, as a teaser for their report on Network Citizens (PDF). From a first glance, the report looks like it digs into some interesting points. From the executive summary:

Social networks are providing tremendous opportunities for people to collaborate. But until now, thinking has focused only on how organisations can respond to and capitalise on networks. This report argues that we have to look equally at how networks use organisations for their own ends. That is where the new contours of inequality and power lie that will shape the network world. We have to face networks’ dark side, as well as their very real potential.

Interestingly, the report concludes that in economically tough times, networks are even more important than at other times:

The kind of networks considered in Network Citizens–relationship ties between workers in different types of organisation – are likely to be more important in difficult economic times. Our analysis suggests that the ‘ties that bind’ within organisations are important incubators of innovation and productivity. Networks contribute to organisational resilience, a vital attribute in an economic downturn.

This is something I have thought about quite a bit recently and hope to get around to posting some thoughts on this blog soon.

(via)

The products presented here were designed and produced using an alternative design and development method that frees a designer to pursue creative expressions, realize them as industrially repeatable products and have the ability to globally distribute design.

Open Design is a personal attempt to close a creativity gap between product design and other fields (music, graphic design, animation and photography), Which found their creative output in phase with the realities of information technology and economics.
The Open Design method is based on the principles of the already successful Open Source method that revolutionized the software industry, and gave birth to a social movement that is cooperative, community-minded and seeks legitimate ways of sharing creativity.

In Open Design, the design is a two dimensional “cutout” represented as digital information. It relies on the Internet’s communication resources, to publish, distribute, and copy the designs under a CreativeCommons license. Coupled with The flexibility of CNC production methods, all technically conforming designs are continuously available for production, in any number, with no tooling investment, anywhere and by anyone.

More importantly, though, these are pieces of exceptional beauty. Did you notice that you can’t see any joints? It’s because there simply aren’t any - all these pieces are just stuck together, or folded into themselves. The table and the fruitbowl you see in the pictures below are delivered flat, then folded into shape. How awesome is that?

Open Design: “Fruitbowl” by Ronen Kadushin

Open Design: “Italic Shelves” by Ronen Kadushin

Open Design: “Square Dance Low Table” by Ronen Kadushin

“So where’s the business model?”, you might ask. Same as in open source software development. It’s extra services, customization, plus as a rule of thumb: If you want something done well, you ask the guys who made it in the first place. In the case of Ronen Kadushin, there’s also the idea that others can use his designs commercially in a revenue share-like model; if you’re interested, talk to Ronen. Also, at www.movisi.com you can buy designs by Ronen and a couple of like-minded designers.

You can find more pictures on Flickr.

The exhibition Hard Copies - Open Design will be open till November 22 at Appel Design Gallery, Berlin.

(Maybe I should have voted then? Oh wait. Wrong country. ;)

Klartext: Wie pitcht man bei TechCrunch? from Blogpiloten on Vimeo.

Full disclosure: We had this video (and a whole lot more) produced for Blogpiloten.de, which I’m project lead of, and who are clients of mine. The video was produced by Bas Bergervoet and Volker Agüeras. It’s produced by Blogpiloten.de and released under a Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa).