14 septiembre 2010 – Gabriel Catalano®

Helping Journalists Become Hackers and Entrepreneurs

Journalism schools are useful for many things, including research into ethical standards, traditional skill development, and so on — but increasingly, some journalism schools are focusing just on building their students’ digital chops and entrepreneurial spirit alongside interview etiquette and the correct use of the off-the-record comments. One of the most recent projects in that vein is called Local East Village, a joint venture between the New York University’s journalism school and the New York Times that launched on Monday.

The website describes the venture as an attempt to “help foster a journalistic collaboration with a third partner, our neighbors in the East Village,” and to “give voice to its people in a wide-reaching online public forum and create a space for our neighbors to tell stories about themselves.” As NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen — who helped create the project — notes in his blog post about the launch, the area of the city that the site aims to cover is already well-covered by local blogs, but the LEV site states that it hopes to bring the “academic and intellectual resources of NYU [and] the vast journalistic experience and high professional standards of The Times.” It also adds that:

We hope, too, to provide innovation: For years now the lines between those who produce news and those who consume it have become increasingly blurred. And so we hope to bring our readers even more into the process of producing news in ways that few other sites have tried before.

We hope, too, to provide innovation: For years now the lines between those who produce news and those who consume it have become increasingly blurred. And so we hope to bring our readers even more into the process of producing news in ways that few other sites have tried before.

One of the most interesting features of the project is what it calls the “Virtual Assignment Desk,” which is an application — essentially a plugin for the WordPress blog-hosting platform, which the site uses to publish its content — developed by a team led by Daniel Bachhuber, who is the digital media manager for the City University of New York graduate journalism school. The plugin makes it easy for anyone who wants to contribute to the site to see what stories or events need to be covered, so that they can volunteer. Readers can vote on the topics or news stories they want to see covered as well. Continuar leyendo «Helping Journalists Become Hackers and Entrepreneurs»

Problem Solving Skills Different Than Intelligence

Professor Mylonadis suspects that the reason that our problem-solving ability in management is limited is because our models of problem-solving are devoid of people while actual problem-solving isn’t. As useful as a decision tree might be as an analytical abstraction, the issue is how do you actually define a problem with the help of others around you? Who should these people be? What kind of input should you be asking from them? Which part of that input should you disregard? Which part of that input should you take into account?

He says further, “If you look at engineering or architecture the ability of people to explain the problem they’re working on, and ask questions so they can get feedback is very high without their need to resort to either dogma or trivia. They are helped by reference to blueprints which are a highly codified way of communicating. Our equivalent in management is jargon. Like blueprints, jargon was invented to make our exchanges efficient (we all know what is meant by a “functional organization”.) But the analogy to the blueprint ends when jargon becomes meaningless. It is also a sure way of eradicating any arguments left standing from the onslaught of dogma or trivia.”

Putting More Smart People On A Problem Might Not Be The Answer
by Idris Mootee

Problem Solving Skills Different Than Intelligence Early breakfast in a Boston hotel and I’m ready for an executive workshop. There are so many decision to be made in one day and just over breakfast we’re made several important decisions on some strategic issues. I realize 70% of my time on a day-to-day basis are spent on problem solving – organizational, strategic, customers, people and resources etc. It is pretty much the biggest part of any managerial job. Problem solving skills development is therefore critical for young managers.

If you’re a well educated, highly intelligent person and have a well-respected job in your chosen career, it usually means you are a good problem solver both in professional and personal settings. Professor Yiorgos Mylonadis at London Business School research is finding otherwise. His recent research shows that people can be extremely well educated with many years of experience, they may be successful managers who have accomplished great things, but frequently their ability to solve a problem is severely limited. Continuar leyendo «Problem Solving Skills Different Than Intelligence»

Facebook Vs Zynga: The Ultimate Showdown [Infographic]

Posted by Nick O’Neill

Ever wonder how the most popular online game developer compares to the world’s largest social network, the Platform which it built its fortune on top of? We decided to take a look at how the two companies stack up against one another. The image below depicts how the two companies would compare in a face off. We’ve broken down all the important numbers including funding, revenue, and more.

http://www.allfacebook.com/facebook-vs-zynga-the-ultimate-showdown-infograhpic-2010-09

La nueva gestión de marca

Se podría decir que, de acuerdo al enfoque convencional, la gestión de la marca trabaja fundamentalmente en la fase inicial del proceso de decisión de compra (conocimiento y notoriedad), quedando muchas veces desligada de las acciones implementadas en las fases posteriores, que cuentan con fines comerciales directos (compra). Además, sólo de forma puntual, y sobre todo en determinados sectores, se desarrollaban actuaciones en el resto de las fases intermedias (consideración y preferencia).

Además, la crisis se solapa con la Revolución Digital. Llega un nuevo tipo de consumidor cuyas motivaciones, percepciones y comportamientos (incluso su proceso de decisión de compra) difieren del de siempre, dado que digitalización y la interconexión de los consumidores está cambiándolo todo y a todos los niveles. Todo ello hace que muchos demanden un nuevo modelo de gestión de marcas más acorde con lo que viene que con lo que ya pasó.

por Javier Suso
//yorokobu.es

A veces me preguntan si hay alguna forma totalmente incuestionable de cuantificar el rendimiento económico de la inversión en construcción de marca. La respuesta siempre es la misma: NO.

Si ya de por sí es complicado estimar en qué medida la inversión en comunicación se desglosa entre objetivos de marca y comerciales, conocer la parte de los ingresos que son consecuencia de tener una marca potente es imposible. Hasta hoy hemos podido vivir con ello, pero ahora más que nunca se nos exige demostrar de forma inapelable la rentabilidad a corto plazo de cada euro invertido, algo que nos pone en un compromiso.

Es posible que el problema tenga su origen en el énfasis por desarrollar vínculos emocionales entre marcas y consumidores. Este enfoque hizo que la construcción de marca se centrara en conseguir el conocimiento, el recuerdo y el posicionamiento de la marca (y, en el mejor de los casos, la generación de predisposición a la compra). Continuar leyendo «La nueva gestión de marca»

Why Entrepreneurs who want to ‘Change the World’ should learn from Damien Hirst and Harry Potter

by jeremywaite

Heartfelt criticism of your idea or your art is usually right (except when it isn’t…)

Check out this letter from the publisher of a magazine you’ve never heard of to the founder of a little magazine called Readers Digest:

“Personally, I don’t see how you will be able to get enough subscribers to support it. It is expensive for its size. It isn’t illustrated… I have my doubts about the undertaking as a publishing venture”.

Of course, he was right–given his assumptions. And that’s the except part.

Criticism of your idea is usually based on assumptions about the world as it is. How was the publisher to know that the world would change it’s reading habits and turn Readers Digest into a multi-million dollar empire.

Think about Damien Hirst for a second. The world’s richest living artist. He could never have made it as an artist in the world as it was. He was one of the first modern artists to sell directly to buyers (cutting out the dealers and auction houses).

He also took the unprecedented step of having a price list of his obscenely expensive creations without explaining the logic of their existence to justify their price tag – fine art, cows in formaldehyde, bottles of religious drugs, diamond encrusted skulls… He broke many barriers to clear the way for a new generation of artists who now don’t know any differently. In the beginning though, Hirst himself was written off by the art world because he was too rock’n’roll!

Harry Potter was rejected by just about everyone because for it to succeed the way kids read would have to change.
Starbuck’s didn’t listen when they were told, “No-one will pay $4 for a cup of coffee. Not even in New York”.
Analysts said that the world’s biggest book retailer needed to be on every High Street. Apparently no-one told that to Amazon.

Big ideas are always resisted initially because things need to change in order for them to succeed. Continuar leyendo «Why Entrepreneurs who want to ‘Change the World’ should learn from Damien Hirst and Harry Potter»

Chrysler Aims for February Deadline to Open U.S. Fiat Showrooms

Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of both Chrysler and Fiat, has said the Fiat 500 will go on sale late this year in the U.S. as the Turin, Italy-based automaker reintroduces its namesake brand to the world’s second-largest auto market. Fiat, which owns 20 percent of Chrysler, took control of the U.S. automaker as part of its bankruptcy restructuring in 2009.

The company said it will pick new Fiat franchises based on several criteria, including plans to create a standalone facility. Dealers have been told to build a business case for a Fiat franchise based on gross margins of as much as $1,500 for each Fiat 500 sold, people familiar with the planning have said.

Free Space

Some Chrysler dealers will have open space for a Fiat franchise after the closing of General Motors Co.’s Saturn and other brands, said Alan Helfman, vice president of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Houston. Helfman said in a telephone interview that he’s planning to submit a franchise application.

“I can have preparations in place, but I think it’s going to take a little time” for a showroom, he said. “Anytime I’ve built anything, if I thought I could do it in three months, it took six.”

Marchionne is scheduled to attend his first large-scale meeting with Chrysler dealers today in Orlando, Florida. The meeting, the first since 2007, comes as Marchionne is introducing 16 new or refreshed vehicles before the end of the year.

2011 Lineup

The heads of the automaker’s vehicle brands — Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat — are also expected to attend the meeting, Kisiel said. For most dealers, it will be their first chance to see the 2011 model year lineup, much of which will reach showrooms later this year, he said.

By Tim Higgins

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) — Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker run by Fiat SpA, said dealers who want to sell the Fiat 500 subcompact car in the U.S. should have their new showrooms completed and running by the end of February.

Dealers will need time to train staff for selling the Fiat 500 and should have a separate showroom in place prior to the start of marketing in March, Ralph Kisiel, a Chrysler spokesman, said yesterday.

“We’d like it up as soon as possible so they can get their Fiat franchise and start selling the vehicle,” he said in a telephone interview.

Dealers must submit their Fiat franchise proposals to Chrysler by Sept. 22, and about 165 winners will be picked in October, the Auburn Hills, Michigan-based company has said.

Some dealers may be allowed to open later, Kisiel said.

“The key here is you don’t open something if they’re not ready,” Kisiel said. Continuar leyendo «Chrysler Aims for February Deadline to Open U.S. Fiat Showrooms»

When Twitter becomes real life. Where’s the line?

I saw something happening on Twitter a few days ago, and ever since then I’ve been thinking more and more about the role it plays in our lives and at what point it actually stops becoming something that we ‘do’ and actually starts to replace real life altogether. I don’t want to name the person involved in the incident, but they were very publicly tweeting about something upsetting, as it was happening. As much as I was upset by what they were going through, when I stopped and thought about it, I realised how disturbed I was by the fact that this person had chosen to tweet about this thing, as it happened, instead of giving it the real attention it needed. It was as if Twitter had replaced the real-life situation and it was incredibly strange to watch it happening.

Twitter has always been a different animal. Never quite hitting the mainstream in the way that Facebook has, yet always finding itself in the headlines (or responsible for them). It has hugely affected online communication in ways that we never could have imagined in its early days. But it has had such an odd effect on so many people (myself included). I’m sure I’m not the only one that will think, when something particularly exciting happens or you spot a celeb etc.. that you can’t wait to put it out on Twitter. You think this, even as you’re going through something and you almost forget to enjoy it or notice it as you’re composing your tweet in your head. I find it fascinating that for so many people it’s fundamentally changed every human experience.

//thenextweb.com
By Lauren Fisher

Your other Twitter life

I think this has contributed to many people almost creating a ‘Twitter self’ that needs to be maintained. I’m often surprised for example, when I see couples talking with each other on Twitter when I know they’re in the same room. But I’ve realised now that it’s not so much about using Twitter as a way of talking to someone next to you, but more contributing to the content around your online self, and talking to your online community. Your Twitter self is something that has to be maintained and so in this way, it almost starts to take over from your real self. For all the benefits of Twitter and all the ways it can enhance your life, there comes a point when it almost replaces your life. And it’s easy to forget this, because it’s just somehow not the same as sitting in front of a chat window. In that case it’s always there and it’s pretty much all you’re doing. But Twitter can run in the background while you watch telly, you can dip in every now and again and work and it doesn’t seem like all you’re doing is reading updates that actually have nothing to do with your work. Continuar leyendo «When Twitter becomes real life. Where’s the line?»

El anunciante desnudo

El auge de las redes sociales –o más concretamente de Facebook- vuelve a traernos el debate de los especialistas. Ciertamente, las redes sociales son un fenómeno nuevo, relevante, irreversible y se requieren especialistas en comunicación social. Ciertamente, los móviles van a ser la puerta de entrada a internet, y se requieren especialistas en esos dispositivos. Ciertamente, la publicidad tradicional no va a desaparecer y los anunciantes seguirán necesitando a los especialistas en la publicidad del fragmento.

Qué bueno. Qué lío. Esto es un sinvivir.

Necesitamos –necesita el sector- que existan esos especialistas, porque gracias a ellos la publicidad evoluciona y se perfecciona. Lo malo es que si cada especialista tira de su esquina de la manta, lo que puede acabar sucediendo es que entre todos desnudemos al cliente.

//marketingcomunidad.com
por Daniel Solana

El auge de las redes sociales –o más concretamente de Facebook– vuelve a traernos el debate de los especialistas. Ciertamente, las redes sociales son un fenómeno nuevo, relevante, irreversible y se requieren especialistas en comunicación social. Ciertamente, los móviles van a ser la puerta de entrada a internet, y se requieren especialistas en esos dispositivos. Ciertamente, la publicidad tradicional no va a desaparecer y los anunciantes seguirán necesitando a los especialistas en la publicidad del fragmento.

Qué bueno. Qué lío. Esto es un sinvivir.

Bing Overtakes Yahoo as No. 2 in Search Survey

The Microsoft search growth coincides with a decrease in usage of Yahoo’s services. [Más…]

It’s important to note that Bing and Yahoo announced a search deal in 2009 that would use Bing’s search technology to power the Yahoo search engine. Yahoo officially began using the search technology behind Microsoft Bing in August, but the entire transition to the service won’t be completed until 2012.

Nos. 4 and 5 on the list of United States search services are Ask.com, owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp, and AOL. Both account for 2 percent of the search market apiece and have remained stagnant, according to Nielsen’s research.

By NICK BILTON

The Nielsen Company

Yahoo search just dropped from No. 2 to No. 3.

According to a report released today by Nielsen Company, Microsoft’s search services, which include Bing search, overtook Yahoo search in the United States as the No. 2 search engine during the month of August.

Nielsen said that the Microsoft search services had taken 13.9 percent of the search market in the United States compared with Yahoo’s 13.1 percent. Nielsen also noted that neither company came close to Google’s domineering 65 percent share of the United States search market.

The Microsoft search growth coincides with a decrease in usage of Yahoo’s services. Continuar leyendo «Bing Overtakes Yahoo as No. 2 in Search Survey»

El bunker de Churchill durante la guerra

Lo más interesante para los visitantes incluye las dependencias de la familia Churchill, la sala de mapas (con mapas originales de la guerra todavía en las paredes), el centro de comunicaciones y una mesa interactiva de 15 metros de largo donde los visitantes pueden acceder a información pormenorizada sobre la vida de Churchill, por año, por mes, por semana y hasta por día.

El bunker tenía una línea telefónica especial con la Casa Blanca en Washington, Estados Unidos, que salía de allí hasta un sótano de la gran tienda Selfridges, en Oxford Streety, donde las señales eran pasadas por un criptógrafo antes de salir en su viaje transatlántico.

“Las habitaciones del Gabinete de guerra” son el único bunker militar en Londres que merece ser visitado. En su interior, el visitante se da una clara idea de lo que era la vida de Churchill en esos años y de las condiciones en que manejaba el gobierno desde allí.

Construidas a las apuradas durante 1938-9, cuando era cada día más evidente que Gran Bretaña entraría en una guerra que podría implicar bombardeos aéreos a Londres, las dependencias del gobierno de guerra eran el lugar de reunión del gabinete de Churchill durante toda la guerra, aunque el propósito del edificio era, en realidad, mucho más amplio.

La entrada pública a las Cabinet War Rooms en Londres, Gran Bretaña.

Comprende más de 12.000 metros cuadrados de espacio, el complejo (sólo una pequeña parte del cual está ahora abierta al público) tenía cabida para 528 miembros del staff, suficientes para mantener al gobierno en plena actividad, y estaba cubierto por una enorme losa de concreto de uno a tres metros de espesor. Continuar leyendo «El bunker de Churchill durante la guerra»

Cell phones, how are adults using mobile phones?? [PDF download link]

Some interesting items that pop out of the report and graphics?

– 18% of people 18 to 24 years old send more than 200 text messages per day

– This heavy texting (200+ per day) drops to 3% for people 25 to 29 years old

– Heavy text users do not text exclusively. In fact, they also make a lot of voice calls. 26% of heavy text messegers make 31 or more voice calls per day

What is it these people text and say in all of these messages every day?

By Todd Ogasawara

What Do People Who Send 200+ Text Messages & 30+ Voice Calls Per Day Have to Say?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project released another report of interest to gadget fans.

Cell phones and American adults (available online & PDF download)

Flowtown.com turned Pew’s numberes into a series of easy to understand pie charts and bar graphs.

How Are Adults Using Mobile Phones?

Some interesting items that pop out of the report and graphics?

– 18% of people 18 to 24 years old send more than 200 text messages per day

– This heavy texting (200+ per day) drops to 3% for people 25 to 29 years old

– Heavy text users do not text exclusively. In fact, they also make a lot of voice calls. 26% of heavy text messegers make 31 or more voice calls per day

What is it these people text and say in all of these messages every day?

http://www.mediabistro.com/mobileContentToday/

Integrative thinking and the misuse of power

The cascade

Some say that the power affects the world view and I agree!

Some experiments show that people in a position of power shows to have patterns of behavior usually associated with fault zones of the cerebral cortex that control the empathy and the ability to imagine the world from the point of view of others .

The power destroys the ability to understand that there are other perspectives in addition to the hierarchy. The hierarchy works like a waterfall.

But there is no easy cure for the paradox of power. [Más…]

Keltner argues that “the best treatment is transparency, and that the worst abuses of power can be prevented when people know they are being monitored. This suggests that the mere existence of a guard dog or a regulatory active directory may help deter people from doing bad things.

However, people in power tend to reliably overestimate their moral virtue, which leads them to stifle oversight” Lehrer

But power can also be refined in other ways and become a lever for success as declaring the Mattimore Laura, Procter & Gamble.

“Integrative Thinking has become an essential component of the training and development program for our most senior managers at P&G. Our executives are able to take the lessons of integrative thinking back to their jobs with them, putting the tools into action to solve the thorniest issues in their businesses.”

How integrative thinking can help managers and holders of power to look into the “world” and for people as an important part in their decisions ?

The cascade

Some say that the power affects the world view and I agree!

The power destroys the ability to understand that there are other perspectives in addition to the hierarchy. The hierarchy works like a waterfall.

But there is no easy cure for the paradox of power. Continuar leyendo «Integrative thinking and the misuse of power»

Por avalancha de dólares en Brasil ya hay alarma por el real y festejan los argentinos

¿Víctima de su propio éxito?
La combinación de un robusto crecimiento económico (7% anual) y una de las tasas de interés más altas del mundo (10,75%) han convertido al país en un blanco irresistible para inversores extranjeros, en momentos en que se ven afectados por un crecimiento débil de la economía global.

Para los analistas el vigor de la moneda brasileña no encuentra freno. Ni siquiera “hicieron mella” los malos indicadores que emergen en los Estados Unidos ni la difícil situación europea.

«La moneda ha aguantado los embates, es muy fuerte”, sostuvo Michael Woolfolk, estratega cambiario de BNY Mellon en Nueva York.

El esquema cambiario está subordinado por la política de metas de inflación que define un sistema de flotación libre, donde el valor del tipo de cambio es determinado por el mercado.

Hasta no hace mucho tiempo, las compras de divisas de la autoridad monetaria eran “residuales” y no buscaban alterar la cotización.

Pero esta política se vio alterada en la medida en que su fortalecimiento empezó a comprometer la competitividad y el superávit comercial.

Pese a que el Banco Central viene sosteniendo que no está tratando de fijarlo en un nivel particular, los analistas internacionales apuntan a un piso de 1,70 como el punto de quiebre del Gobierno.

Para lograr ese objetivo, durante agosto duplicó las compras en el mercado de cambios (dando lugar así a la intervención más alta en lo que va del año) y en las últimas ruedas la autoridad monetaria se vio obligada a realizar una segunda ronda diaria para absorber excedentes de la plaza, algo que no hacía desde mayo.

Al descomunal ingreso de divisas del último año, en el que arribaron unos u$s93.000 M, ahora se suma el temido “efecto Petrobras”. Ofertará en el mercado acciones por u$s65.000 millones y el Gobierno busca enfrentar este nuevo aluvión de divisas. ¿Qué valor se espera para la moneda? Impacto local

Por avalancha de dólares en Brasil ya hay alarma por el real y festejan los argentinos

¿Puede ocurrir que a un país se le haga “incontenible” la lluvia de dólares que le llega desde el exterior? La respuesta es sí.

Y este resulta ser el caso de Brasil. Es que ese ingreso es de tal magnitud que las propias autoridades están enfrascadas en una dramática “lucha” con inversores extranjeros, por el impacto que esto tiene -y tendrá- en el valor de su moneda.

En este contexto, varios analistas presagian que la batalla será larga y advierten que, muy probablemente, la divisa podría sufrir grandes consecuencias.

El problema que se le presenta al gobierno no es nuevo, pues el incesante flujo de capitales provenientes del exterior viene impactando en forma recurrente en la cotización del real.

Desde que el presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva asumió su primer mandato en 2003, su moneda se ha fortalecido en más del doble contra el dólar, para convertirse en la actualidad en una de las divisas más sobrevaloradas del mundo.

En concreto, se necesita casi un 50% menos de reales para comprar la misma cantidad de billete verde desde tal fecha y un 33% menos respecto de la cotización de finales de 2008.

“Brasil tiene un saldo enorme: en los últimos doce meses ingresaron u$s93.000 millones al país”, manifestó el economista Marcelo Renda.

¿Qué factores se dieron para que esto suceda?:

El vigoroso crecimiento que experimenta su economía.
El volumen creciente de capitales externos de corto plazo y de inversiones de cartera directa.

Incluso, las autoridades debieron apelar a medidas tendientes a controlar la entrada de capitales, aunque en la práctica tuvieron escaso éxito. Continuar leyendo «Por avalancha de dólares en Brasil ya hay alarma por el real y festejan los argentinos»

La terminología, un mediador cultural

La Terminología como «puente ineludible de la mediación cultural» será el eje del XII Simposio Iberoamericano de Terminología que comienza mañana martes con la presencia de especialistas de una decena de países de América y Europa. Académicos y estudiosos de la Argentina, Portugal, Chile, España Uruguay, Francia, Brasil, Estados Unidos, Perú y México se darán cita -del 14 al 17 de este mes- en el Hotel Savoy, donde expondrán cerca de un centenar de trabajos que analizan el rol de esta disciplina en la era de la tecnología y la globalización.

La Terminología se ha transformado en una herramienta indispensable para que las lenguas puedan expresar, por medio de recursos terminológicos propios, los conocimientos científico-técnicos adquiridos y creados en los diferentes ámbitos profesionales. «La Terminología ya no se concibe solo como una disciplina científica, sino que se ha transformado en una actividad íntimamente vinculada a la cooperación interinstitucional e internacional y a la planificación lingüística, que contribuye al fortalecimiento de las lenguas dentro de los diferentes ámbitos», expresan los organizadores.

//revistaenie.clarin.com

Organizado por la Red Iberoamericana de Terminología y el Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, mañana comienza un encuentro internacional sobre el tema con invitados llegados de toda América y Europa.

INVITADOS. La catedrática española María Teresa Cabré Castelví, la brasileña María da Graca Krieger y el francés Dardo de Vecchi son algunos de los invitados que participarán del encuentro

Mañana comienza un encuentro internacional sobre Terminología con invitados llegados de toda América y Europa. Conectada directamente con la traducción, la terminología transporta el conocimiento profesional hacia las diferentes lenguas. Lo organizan la Red Iberoamericana de Terminología y el Colegio de Traductores Públicos de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Fue declarado de interés nacional por Presidencia de la Nación.

Nick Bilton’s new book puts Google, GPS, Twitter, Facebook, and your iPhone in proper perspective

Does Facebook make you nervous? Terrified that Google will make you stupid? Alarmed by the frequency and brevity of Twitter? Offended by people talking and texting on their smartphones? Made nauseous by iPads? Compelled to vomit at the sight of somebody reading a book on an iPad? Filled with Orwellian horror by GPS devices? Scared witless at the prospect of what Vinton Cerf calls an «Internet of Things» that will eventually connect the status—lost, unpaired, mismatched, being worn—of your socks to the Internet?

Then I’ve got the book for you: Nick Bilton’s I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works: Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted. Bilton, currently the lead writer of the New York Times’ Bits blog, has good news for those who dread our technological present, panic about our future, and pine for the days when you actually dialed a phone call, just three TV networks did business, and computers, which were the size of a VW microbus, were kept in big, air-conditioned rooms.

Digital Native Calms the Anxious Masses

By Jack Shafer

Then I’ve got the book for you: Nick Bilton’s I Live in the Future & Here’s How It Works: Why Your World, Work, and Brain Are Being Creatively Disrupted. Bilton, currently the lead writer of the New York Times‘ Bits blog, has good news for those who dread our technological present, panic about our future, and pine for the days when you actually dialed a phone call, just three TV networks did business, and computers, which were the size of a VW microbus, were kept in big, air-conditioned rooms.

Related in Slate

In 2009, Jack Shafer explained how the newspaper industry tried to invent the Web but failed.

Bilton’s conversational book helps readers understand the current technological upheaval by placing it against the backdrop of previous disruptions. He points to, for example, the arrival of the telephone and cites one Cassandra who predicted in the March 22, 1876, New York Times (PDF) that the experimental device «by bringing music and ministers into every home, will empty the concert-halls and the churches.» On Nov. 7, 1877, the Times reported that the phonograph was going to eclipse the telephone and kill public speaking and reading:

Why should we print a speech when it can be bottled, and why would [the next generation] learn to read when some skillful elocutionist merely repeats a novel aloud in the presence of a phonograph. Instead of libraries filled with combustible books, we shall have vast storehouses of bottled authors. Continuar leyendo «Nick Bilton’s new book puts Google, GPS, Twitter, Facebook, and your iPhone in proper perspective»