Sudanese BlackOut

War-torn country Sudan shut down Internet access for all its citizens yesterday.

Renesys a company that, among other things, monitors traffic flows on the Internet, wrote in a blog post yesterday that it is the largest international disruption in Internet traffic since Egypt did a similar thing in the February Revolution of 2011.

The reason why the Internet has been shut down by the Sudanese authorities are the riots that occurred after the government has announced that it will remove subsidies on fuels such as gasoline. This has led to widespread riots and at least six persons have been killed in these. Twitter and other online services has been used by protest groups to coordinate their protests, and it is this possibility authorities now believe they have blocked.

Future of PodCasts

I got asked recently what my thought where on the podcast, and whether or not that medium had a future. I figured it was an interesting question so I decided to dwell a bit into it.

To start off with let’s look at the overall information on the web. One could (with a flexible mind) divide the different sources of information into text, sound and images; much like in real life. These media hold within themselves different characteristics in how, when, and why they are consumed.

- Text can be read over and over again, and really studied in depth. It's easy to tag up and make perfect quotes from a piece of text, which still makes it the only medium (of the three) to be used as a more serious source material. You simply would not cite Discovery channel in an academic text, no matter how accurate facts than show presents.

- Pictures and movies can be made very easy for the consumer to absorb, making the media appealing for anyone conveying information. In a few seconds you can get a simple summation of something that would have taken several minutes to read in text form. A movie clip can be immediately set mood, feeling and presence of the message, thanks to the fact that it plays to all different senses at once.

- Sound is the intermediate step between text and images. An audio file can articulate a feeling and paint the images, but can never directly show you the pictures you are meant to see. Thus, your perception of what is communicated is always influenced by your own judgment. Equally so if you quote an audio file , it's easy to make it into your interpretation of what was said - try singing any song you think you know really well and see how far you get before you lost the lyrics. However, it can be used to convey a whole text in its exact form without having to redo or distort the source. This is something that is really not accepted in the image media (you´re never going to watch a movie with someone reading the Great Gatsby to you), which in turn makes sound unique. It offers consumers a way to take in a whole book without actually having read it, you just listen. In this also lays the problem however; both for sound and podcasts in particular.

Internet is driven solely by advertising. There are a few other services that brings in some income, but most of all that happens and is offered on the Internet, is done through paid advertising revenue. For advertising to be viable, one must be able to ensure those who pay to advertise that their advertising reaches a certain number of people. Normally you would do this by looking at the number of visitors to a particular page, and allow that to govern the cost of your advertising (it's obviously a very simplified picture, but by far the most important variable is the number of visitors). If the visitor can’t consume the advertising it will be useless and in the long run not generate any money.

Podcast are therefore faced with a tough situation when, due to the nature of the medium, one can’t display images in a podcast. People who consume podcasts do it while doing something else (at this instance while writing, I’m listening myself to the Bugle). Some podcasts have solved the problem by either advertising on their own website, letting the podcast break for commercials, or (in some rare cases) ask for donations to keep the podcast alive.

Personally I do not believe in any of the above options. Your podcast needs to be niched enough to make it work, but this demands that you quickly build brand awareness, something that it is extremely difficult to do. Not impossible, just very difficult.

However, I still believe in the podcast as a product, and I am guaranteed that it will only grow over the next few years. I do not think we’ve even seen the beginning of the podcast. If companies learn to integrate the podcast to their existing line of products, it will create a huge added value to the product. Research show that most people (almost 65%) constantly pull out their smartphones when queuing, something that companies need to take advantage of! If you’re waiting in line, commuting or stuck in transit, it means that you have nothing to do but wait – so give the consumer a podcast he/she wants to listen to while waiting!

What is he doing? Who is he? Where is he going? Is it just around the weekend or has the weekend just passed? What is on his mind for the upcoming week/holiday/home projects/dinner right now?

Real-estate apps can releases a weekly podcast updated on the latest in the housing market. Game developers releases podcast which discuss the latest in the gaming world. New technology magazines does the same, and publish panel discussions about the next-gen phones. Travel agents releases special reports about a new, exotic destination each week.

There is a huge spread of news you can implement immediately, it would not cost much and it would (I think) create a tremendous added value!

In my mind the podcast is far from over, rather it has not yet quite found the right place in its new medium. It will perhaps take four or five years, but we will soon be seeing a lot more of the podcast!

Tribute to a Legend

This is a sad day for gamer everywhere...

Hiroshi Yamauchi, the man who transformed Nintendo from a maker of playing cards and board games into a global videogame giant, has died at the age of 85.

“The entire Nintendo group will carry on the spirit of Mr. Yamauchi by honoring, in our approach to entertainment, the sense of value he has taught us — that there is merit in doing what is different — and at the same time, by changing Nintendo in accordance with changing times,” said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata in a statement.

Yamauchi took over the company in 1949, when he was just 22 years old. Nintendo was founded in 1889 by his grandfather Fusajiro Yamauchi as a maker of hanafuda, traditional Japanese playing cards with images of flowers on their faces. Yamauchi dropped out of Waseda University to lead Nintendo.

In Game Over, a book about the rise of Nintendo, writer David Sheff reported that Nintendo’s employees “resented youth and inexperience,” and in response, Yamauchi fired “every manager… left over from his grandfather’s reign.”

One of Yamauchi's greatest feats was to take the US arcade market from a slow, underground movement, into the mainstream scene by introducing Donkey Kong in 1981. This game became an immediate hit, prompting new high scores, contests, and the loss of countless quarters. With Donkey Kong we also saw the first real competitive gaming; today a million dollar industry.

Under his leadership, the company developed the Famicom (or Nintendo Entertainment System as it was know to westerners), as well as the Game Boy; two consoles that helped to usher in the era of home game machines. It is fair to say that Yamauchi contributed massively to forming the gaming scene, changing the industry forever ...

9/11 brand stress

Today marks one week since September 11 2013, and also one week and 12 years since the horrific terrorist attacks. Most of us would remember that day as a day of reflection and remembrance (perhaps you lost someone close) or just let it serve as a reminder of the small world world we now all collectively share. 

However some brands do not.

They see this day more as a opportunity to promote their cause and their brand, but needless to say this not an opportunity to market your business!

If you run a business, it’s tempting to use “current events and trends” to market your company. Everyone is talking about the power going out at the Super Bowl? Miley Cyrus twerking is going viral? You’ll look dumb, but feel free to share that pointless video of your employees twerking at a meeting! Now; It’s the 12th anniversary of the terrorist attacks? Well just… leave our thinking behind.

Here is a small collection of what the last week produced of people exploiting 9/11 to promote their brand:

I'm sure there's ways to promote your horses with out the Twin Tower sky line

(and potentially harming the animal).

AT&T is one of the worlds largest cellphone providers and should simply know better. 

Mr. Trump has always been known for having a great ego, but making peace over 9/11 is a bit much.

Charitability #1

Charitability #2

They couldn't have remembered with out promoting?

Speaking of remembering, remember how Kobe Bryant tied into 9/11? Neither do I...

Bezos + Washington Post = ?

Well now this is interesting. 

Jeff Bezos recently acquired the majority of Washington Post, making the former Amazon.com wunderkid the helmsman at this physical media. This has been the grounds for a lot of questions and controversy - what is Bezos REALLY doing? What has he seen in this old, by many doomed, media that we have missed?

Now, Bezos has always had a affection for the printed media, so it is possible that there is a bit of heart in this purchase, however, I think he can do much with this. One should not forget a couple of important details in this: Bezos in an expert on the printed medium, he knows every aspect of push, he owns supply, and he rules advertising. It is possible that he found an opening in these areas not previously thought of .

Bezos also said on the purchase :

" We've had three big ideas at Amazon that 've stuck with for 18 years, and they're the reason we're successful: Put the customer first. Invent. And be patient."

I think if he sticks to these, he will take the Post far; especially if he holds true to the the last. It has been shown quite clearly (going back to Kevin Costner dilemma) that just building a solution on the new "in time" technology, will not get newspapers on the market again.When Swedish newspaper "Svenska Dagbladet" (SvD) saw sales declining they quickly responded by creating and pushing out iPhone and iPad apps, but offered little to nothing new with them. 

The app also requiring a customer subscription number to log in, another step halting the user from getting excited and engaged in the app. Consequently, it was withdrawn after less than a year, the reason for this in my opinion is that you just copied the magazines articles straight into the app. A subscriber, already reading the paper in its physical form mind you, was left wondering what the hell he/she needed the app for? Sales generated from the app was pitiful (mostly because people on the Internet do not expect to pay for news) and everything just collapsed. SvD is in this point NOT good at relating to its customers, something that ultimately will bring them down.

What should be added to this now is that we are also seeing a new trend in users on social media in 2013. Suddenly 50+ people are acquiring and actively using social media, and all of the Internet in general. The mistrust among that generation has passed, and suddenly 50+'ers feel safe engaging on and with the Internet. These individuals also - in general - have more time and money than the average person, making them a very attractive group of customers.

Now if Bezos manages to create a new Washington Post app that takes over new customers, and in addition manages to reduce the cost of pushing unsold newspapers, he can quite possibly have found a very profitable business. It is unclear whether this is his intentions, but I think if there is anyone who can turn on the newspaper market back on its feet, it would be Jeff Bezos.

Guest-lecturing at KTH

Today I will be guest-lecturing in Social Media Business at KTH. The lecture will be held in room D3 at 1 pm.

- drop by for an interesting look at how companies leverage social media to communicate with new and existing customers!

Pakistani YouTube

We often forget when we are watching all manner of things on sites like YouTube that we can only do so because of freedoms that we are given. There are many countries around the world that limit or just plain block sites from being seen on the region’s internet servers. As an example, due to a perceived blasphemous video on YouTube the government of Pakistan has had the site blocked since September 2012.

Well, there could be some good news for YouTube lovers in that country as apparently 12 months later the government may be ready to unblock the site. This is due to hard work by Pakistan’s Ministry of Information Technology. The ministry has been working with filters provided by the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL). It would appear that previously these site filters have managed to block blasphemous content from over 4,000 sites and has also been able to do so on YouTube. This could mean that the country will be able to unblock the site in the near future. There is, however, a little confusion as the country’s IT minister Anusha Rehman had said that tests had been completed while the ministry as a whole claims tests are ongoing. Either way, signs are good

Iran becoming social ..?

At the risk of getting too political, this story is just too important to leave unmentioned. It has been the case for several years now that Iran has been a source of concern for the world at large under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was for so long a country shut off and secretive to the outside world and notably missing from the social media age. Currently, even under new President Hassan Rouhani, social media giant Facebook is still blocked from the populous of Iran but there are rumblings that this could soon change.

Apparently, even though Facebook is still banned from Iran’s internet services, there has been a recent influx of top ranking Iranian cabinet members to the site. Around 15 ministers have recently opened Facebook accounts as has in fact the President himself following his recent election victory and inauguration. The pages of these ministers can be viewed via the people of Iran via what is know as Proxy servers which are technically illegal in the country. Newspapers and the world at large are seeing this seemingly small move as a sign that the long closed of country of Iran is about to open up. This could create a great sigh of relief considering the nuclear posturing that became so much a way of life under Ahmadinejad.

Is this the new line for Iran? Leave your comment below!

Google Glass App Store

Google will launch the Google Glass App Store at the same time as Google Glass is launched, that is, sometime in 2014. However, it is not clear whether the new addition will be a separate, stand alone business, or if it will tie in to Google Play.

The most logical would be if both businesses are connected, given that the apps from several different developers will be launched for the glasses. Among other things, developer Sean McCracken recently showed posted a video of their upcoming games Psyclops to Google Glass, in which the player must destroy objects in the old "Space Invaders"-spirit.

What are you most excited about concerning Google Glass? How will you use them? Comment below!

Geotag Your Favorite Novel's Locations

Location is one of the foundations of every great story. Some authors, like Stephen King's town of Derry, chose to set their stories in places that don't exist. Others draw on the rich history and visuals of real world locations to the point where you feel like you're really there. A smaller but even greater group uses the location so well that it feels like a character all its own. That's why this website "Placing Literature" is cool. Visitors can map the places from their favorite novels, so you can actually visit them in the real world. Here's a quote from Indiereader.com:

Using the website, detective novel fans can see where Sam Spade of the Maltese Falcon lived and worked in San Francisco. Book lovers in Duluth, Minnesota, can track the literary scenes that take place around the shore of Lake Superior. Amy Tan fans can track the Woo, Hsu, Jong and St. Claire families through their journeys from China to the Bay Area.

Most of my favorite books are set in outer space, anyway, so I don't have much I can do with this website. But it's still pretty cool. Someone needs to make an intergalactic version.

Where does your favorite novel take place? Comment below!

IT out of Business

Approximately 1.5 million IT jobs, ie, half of all IT services that existed in North America and Europe in 2002, will be eliminated by 2017. The new research from The Hackett Group.

The research also includes newly created jobs in the calculations. During the the upcoming years there will be 620,000 new IT jobs created, but it also removes 1,2 million services due to improvements in productivity, and 950,000 jobs due to offshore solutions.

Fortunately, we have most likely passed the toughest period. It is estimated that the elimination of IT services to calm down over the next few years. This year it is estimated that "only" 63,000 jobs disappear, thanks to the fact that we can look forward to brighter times in the economy.