Sunday, 30 January 2011

Trying to describe the internet in 1994


In a Today show flashback from January, 1994, Katie Couric and Bryant Gumble debate how to pronounce @—“is it at or about?” Couric seems even more perplexed by the bigger idea of the internet, which she acknowledges is “becoming really big now.”
Found here via@ on Twitter

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

BBC: How has Social Media changed your life?

BBC: How has Social Media changed your life?

Homo Interneticus

The first few parts of the fourth episode of the BBC's Virtual Revolution looked at some of the concerns over how 'Generation Web' might be being changed in their ways of thinking and relationships as a result of heavy use of the web at an early age.

Watch the clips and make notes on positive and negative aspects.

A positive counterpoint is this column by blogger and author Cory Doctorow describing how he and his daughter use the internet:

Jack and the interstalk: why the computer is not a scary monster

Friday, 10 December 2010

How big are online communities?

The digital reading revolution

Books have come late to the digital party, but change is now happening at such a furious pace that even conservative members of the trade are starting to realise that their industry is being snatched away from them before their eyes. The undisputed leader in the race to sell digital books is Amazon. Its Kindle e-reader was a late entry into the race but it used its redoubtable marketing muscle to gain a 76% share of all digital books sold. It could have been much more but for the arrival of the iPad, which now has a 5% market share, though rising fast.
Guardian: The digital reading revolution

ecommerce example

One example of an ecommerce site is Amazon. This started off as an online book store but now sells much more, including an ebook reader called the Kindle which allows users to download books and browse the web in black and white.