Yesterday I attended the Future of Media Summit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. Host Ross Dawson walked us through his Future of Media Report: check out the Future of Media Lifecycle and the Seven Driving Forces Shaping Media.
Many of the panel sessions involved people in both Sydney and Mountain View. Several times, this led to existentialist moments: trying to get the people on the other side of the Pacific to get back on schedule.
Panelists discussing television were fighting a rear-guard action, claiming content is king, and never once mentioning interactivity. Personalization boiled down to letting people use their Tivos.
Robert Scoble turned up for the Future of Journalism panel, mixing it up with Phil Bronstein, Tom Abate, JD Lasica, and Brian Lott, a partner from Burson-Marsteller. Bronstein: The answer to every question is “I don’t know who is going to pay for this.” JD: Ten years ago, reporters for the Sacramento Bee were not allowed to mention the name of a website without management approval. Brian: Journalists have been taught they own the story. Tom Abate, quoting Mark Twain on the advent of the telegraph: A lie goes halfway around the world before the truth gets its boots on. Scoble: Old-style journalists are not keeping up; they dont’ know what’s going on. Great debate on reporter neutrality. Old reporters were not to reveal their political preferences; Scoble says right up front that he backs Obama. Which is more frank?
Scoble told me about the wonders of modern tech he’s experiencing. He was interviewing the head of Tesla, the controversial maker of the pricey all-electric sports car. They’re driving around, Scoble shooting live video with his iPhone. A viewer asked Scoble a question about the car’s brakes. Scoble relayed it on, and the driver answered it on the spot.
I pulled out my Flip videocam and asked Scoble about technology-assisted learning:
The Computer History Museum is a trip for computer buffs. Here’s an original Apple 1:
This is Deep Blue, the IBM machine that beat Kasparov:
And this is a five-ton Charles Babbage Differential Engine for computing (and printing tables of) polynomials to 31-place accuracy. One of two made from the 1840s plans.
2 comments ↓
I am stunned by the empty and shallow responses of people that are reputed to be knowledgeable. You asked Scoble how technology was going to affect education. He laughed and joked about his kid and mobile devices and declared we are living in exciting times.
This kind of tripe serves no one and diminishes the dialogue on important topics. Stop interviewing people like Scoble who exhibit zero knowledge of cognitive learning.
mike whatley
altadena, ca
I hope that the next FOM will have more speakers who are aware of FOM-relevant public R&D in Europe. Some of that R&D (notably, undertaken by coordinated “Networks of Excellence” in specialist areas such as ambient technology, trust, networks, cognitive science, technology-enhanced learning, innovation) is far ahead of what’s been reported in FOM blogs, and could change not just the media landscape but also other landscapes, eg networking and learning.
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