Noted OS X security expert Charlie Miller was in Vancouver for CanSecWest, the annual computer security conference. He was good enough to give me his time for an interview for Mac | LIfe, seen below….
Not as random a collection of words as you’d think at first glance. Scott Rosenberg of Salon fame has a post up on Silicon Alley Insider where he relates the excitement of Big Media over the incoming iPad as parallel to their clueless exuberance over CD-ROMs in the early 90’s. The web showed up soon afterward and the CD-ROM became a historical curiosity.
It turns out that nothing can compete with people connecting with each other around common interests. While the iPad will likely have some of those features, the Big Media hope of creating new walled gardens through apps is likely just that, a hope. Personally I would but a New York TImes or Wired app, provided the price was cheap enough and it took advantage of the platform in ways I couldn’t experience with any other medium. BUt I think there wil likely be quite a few misfires as big media outlets try, and fail, to turn back the clock.
Does that mean the end of the Ipad? I don’t think so. The tablet form factor is advantageous not just for reading media but a host of other applications, including ones we haven’t yet come up with.
Canadian broadcasters have recently have been crying wolf over how little money they make and how we have to support (terrible) local TV. But they’re facing an even bigger foe in the internet, which has progressed to the point where much of the programming they used to enjoy on their television they can now enjoy online.
I have to say that’s been my experience for a few years. I no longer listen to the radio, instead opting for a steady diet of podcasts. And I barely watch ant television anymore. I simply download the best stuff the BBC has to offer, and the rest of my video diet consists of shows people have put together on their own and put on the internet.
And for the most part, I don’t miss TV. But I am a little concerned that as viewers shift online, context and production quality will suffer. I once worked with someone who had poured their heart and soul into making the slickest possible tv show, and after years of success they saw their core audience migrating to internet shows that didn’t look anywhere near as good and were, in all fairness, not as well put together as his show. I pride myself on making video content for the web that looks as good as tv. BUt I sometimes worry that my effort is for nothing, that people’s tastes have changed to the point where they’ll watch any old crap and production value will mean nothing to them.
Right now the industry is in flux, with money leaking out of TV but not enough money going online to sustain producers. Eventually the money will shift online, but I hope that in the meantime quality content doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
…..and I’m seemingly running out of things to say on this blog. When I started the blog sometime in 2000, I did so to force myself to write every day.
10 years later, I’ve accomplished that task. I now write for a living, freelancing for various magazines as well as creating videos for clients.
Of course, all of this activity requires time, energy and attention, none of which I can devote to the blog while in working. Throw in Facebook, Twitter, and my podcast and I just can’t muster up a post most days.
But that doesn’t mean I’m giving up on the blog. On the contrary, I want to keep it up as long as possible. But I’ll have to figure out a way to do so and not interfere with my busy life. Stay tuned.
The FCC will introduce a national broadband plan tomorrow to Congress that puts the internet front and centre as the most important medium in the United States. While broadcasters will hate it, I say it’s a long-needed move. The internet has usurped so many other industries in a path of creative destruction that should be further encouraged. Power is sapping from big broadcasters to tiny producers, in media and otherwise, and I’m glad the FCC recognizes this fact. If only Canada would do the same.
I have a new article on Mac | Life, this time about GPS on the iPhone and how it can be unreliable in a variety of circumstances.
Nepal is one of the poorest and least connected nations in the world, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many Nepalese geeks looking to stake a claim on the web and better themselves and their families. Boing Boing went to Nepal’s biggest tech fair and documented the goings-on in a fascinating photo essay.