The next phase of media, I’ve been thinking, will be after the page and after the site. Media can’t expect us to go to it all the time. Media has to come to us. Media must insinuate itself into our streams.

(Jeff Jarvis)

So I decided to try and consume my ‘media’ only from the stream. No RSS, no bookmarks, no direct access – just streams.

Unsurprisingly, it proves futile after the first day. My new mantra fits exactly to the hype around Streams: old things are not being replaced with new stuff, they add to them. Sometimes they compete and sometime co-habit and complementary and together they evolve and we evolve. So categorically predicting that streams will ‘kill’ everything that was before is plain new-media fetishism.

Yes, the wonderful evolution of streams is making it very challenging for old media folks but that’s not new. First it was iGoogle, then the RSS reader and now our social streams. More and more, people consume media in different customised, ‘pull’ and ‘social’ ways which shakes the business model of the newspapers and old portals. But very very few people will ditch the old behaviour and platforms altogether. The huge majority will adopt streams behaviour that, yes, will come at the expense of something, (most probably RSS readers, if they use them at all).

But it won’t replace everything. It will just add to the old ways and will become another option, another route, another filter for us to cope with the media firehose.

(All together now)
Old things are not being replaced with new stuff, they add to them

Mummy are we there yet?

In the past few years I’ve written couple of posts about the opportunities and challenges of search through people (rather than through better algorithm). Couple of quick wins I had recently through my network reminded me to revisit this topic as the last post I wrote was pre-twitter/facebook.

Quick recap – search as we know it still has more muscles than brain. You google something and get 3 zillion results in 0.14 second and now you have to start searching the results. So effectively, when you google something all you get is a massive filing cabinet which you still need to go through in order to find what you’re looking for. It’s easy when you’re looking for a very specific, encyclopedic kind of information (bio of Mozart) but not so easy when you’re looking for nice hotel in Barcelona or a solution for your unique DIY problem.

The idea that for every question I have, someone somewhere has the answer is fairly obvious, yet very appealing. The challenge of connecting me to this someone has a business potential comparable to cheap renewable energy. Few steps in this direction were taken in the past with google and Yahoo answers but these prove somewhat futile (although i must admit that ironically, yahoo answers comes up high on google search…).

The challenge is overcoming basic human motivation hurdle that stem from the asymmetry between the person’s need for an answer and the other(s) who might know that answer. It’s natural to drop everything in time of need and fire up a question to the air, but how do you get anyone to listen and respond? You cannot expect everyone to sit all day and wait for someone to ask them a question they might know the answer for…

The solution then, must come through networks and communities. LinkedIn created their own version which seem to work better (anyone has some data??). Within a community some rules apply:

1. The more people are attached to the group, the more likely they are to contribute

2. People will have stronger motivation to contribute when their contribution is recognized and the benefit they provide to an individual or the collective is made salient.

The most recent and interesting development as far as I can tell is Lazy Tweet:

The idea with LazyTweet is to embrace and extend the questions being asked on Twitter, progressively enhancing Twitter discussions, with the lowest friction possible, while opening those questions up to a wider audience. Think of this as Yahoo! Answers for Twitter

Here lies the problem: thinking of it as Yahoo Answers for Twitter negates the idea of a community to some extant and therefore, I believe, will hinder it’s success. The benefit of taking the idea of better search through people to Twitter has solved one big problem of immediacy – having these random questions on your twitter stream increases the chance for someone to notice.

On the other hand, the volume of questions on your stream (if you follow @lazytweet) is getting a bit disproportionate and out of context (at least for someone like myself who cannot follow more than 120 people or I’ll start losing context and interest very quickly) and it’s becoming counter productive to the project and it brings us to square one – community and context. My educated guess is that your chances to get an answer from your close network (the people who follow you) is higher than getting it from the people who follow @LazyTweet and this is not a big surprise.

Better search through people – are we there yet? Not really but we’ve made a good step forward with the rising popularity of social networks. I now think that the google way will win. Our salvation will probably come from a kick ass algorithm of the semantic web.

What ya think?

Recently I got into the habit of watching one video with my morning coffee. You should try it too, it’s really an awesome way to kick start your day.

Yesterday it was DJ Faris playing awesome culture remix set, today I watched the always inspiring Jan Chipchase.

I thought it’d be a good idea to compile a list of all great video resources. Here are my own recommendations for brilliant video-presentations – care to help and add some more to the list?

TED
The uber awesome interdisciplinary conference of the worlds’ greatest is still best in show

INTERESTING NYC
Russell’s generalists’ heaven spreads to the US of A

FOWA (future of web apps)
Some hidden gems in this design-focused prestige conference

LIFT
Explore the social impact of new technologies

The Do Lectures
Howies secret plan to change the world

PSFK conferences
Always surprising and inspiring speakers

Please share yours in the comments

Few days ago I stumbled upon the concept of Chindogu. “A tool that exists on the edge of reason” or the art of making/inventing everyday useful objects that are almost completely useless. Think for example of Hay Fever Hat, a strap-on roll of toilet paper that provides allergy sufferers with a continuous supply of tissue that’s always close at hand, Noodle Eater’s Hair Guard, or Baby clothes combined with duster so your baby can practice crowing while helping dust the floor. genius. Read more hereand here.

Apparently Chindogu has an international cult following of thousands of people with Kenji Kawakami being the head of the international society and the Dalai Lama of the Chindogu cult.

While exploring the wonderful world of Chindogu, I looked at some of the inventions and definitions and it became obvious that we need a sub-category/culture of Chindogu web apps and widgets. Over the past years, hundred of web apps and widgets, pipes and mash-ups have been built that are (exactly like the Chindogu objects) almost completely useless. Suerly each one of you readers have came across a web app / widget that made you scream in the sheer uselessness of it’s existence. Check out, for example that list of iphone apps.

So here we go. Let’s start a little wiki here. I started by tweaking / re-phrasing the ten tenets of Chindogu to adapt them to the world of web apps and widgets. Can you help with more examples?

The Ten Tenets of web apps Chindogu

Every Chindogu-app is an almost useless object, but not every almost useless app is a Chindogu. In order to transcend the realms of the merely almost useless, and join the ranks of the really almost useless, certain vital criteria must be met. It is these criteria, a set of ten vital tenets, that define the gentle art and philosophy of Chindogu. Here they are:

1. A Chindogu cannot be for real use

It is fundamental to the spirit of Chindogu that inventions claiming Chindogu status must be, from a practical point of view, (almost) completely useless. If you’ve developed an application which turns out to be so handy that you use it all the time, then you have failed to make a Chindogu. Try the Patent Office.

2. A Chindogu must exist

You’re not allowed to use a Chindogu, but it must be made. You have to be able tolook at the interface and think ‘I can actually imagine someone using this. Almost.’ In order to be useless, it must first be.

3. Inherent in every Chindogu is the spirit of anarchy

Chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from the chains of usefulness. They represent freedom of thought and action: the freedom to challenge the suffocating historical dominance of conservative utility; the freedom to be (almost) useless.

4. Chindogu apps are tools for everyday life

Chindogu apps are a form of digital communication understandable to everyone, everywhere. Specialised or technical inventions, like a fatal error dialog with an “ok” button or, the memory address on the blue screen of death (the uselessness of which will only be appreciated by developers), do not count. (Thanks MikeT for help with re-phrasing this one)

5. Chindogu are not for sale

Chindogu apps are not tradable commodities. If you accept money for one you surrender your purity. They must not even be sold as a joke.

6. Humour must not be the sole reason for creating a Chindogu

The creation of Chindogu is fundamentally a problem-solving activity. Humour is simply the by-product of finding an elaborate or unconventional solution to a problem that may not have been that pressing to begin with.

7. Chindogu is not propaganda

Chindogu are innocent. They are made to be used, even though they cannot be used. They should not be created as a perverse or ironic comment on the sorry state of mankind.

8. Chindogu are never taboo

The International Chindogu Society has established certain standards of social decency. Cheap sexual innuendo, humour of a vulgar nature, and sick or cruel jokes that debase the sanctity of living things are not allowed.

9. Chindogu apps cannot be patented

Chindogu are offerings to the rest of the world – they are not therefore ideas to be copyrighted, patented, collected and owned. As they say in Spain, mi Chindogu es tu Chindogu.

10. Chindogu are without prejudice

Chindogu app must never favour one race or religion over another. Young and old, male and female, rich and poor – all should have a free and equal chance to enjoy each and every Chindogu.

I’d really really appreciate your help with taking this further.

I will start with an app that I thought about as Chindogu even before I knew about the concept of Chindogu – Bkkeepr. An app that let’s you track the progress of your book reading. It’s a Twitter-based app that lets you keep track of, and share, your reading via your phone and twitter – an app that was built so you can tell yourself and the world that you’ve reached page 22 on Little Women. How Chindogu is that? (A tool that exists on the edge of reason, remember?)

naff said. I am tempted to tag some people for help but I won’t. What is your favourite Chindogu app?

Sounds perfect, you say, why are you spoiling the party?

Well, let me take you couple of years back to Iain’s unpleasant experience with Virgin Media. He described in details his ordeal and, surprise surprise, someone from virgin contacted him and solved his problems. That was just one story of that increasing trend of companies staying tuned to the blogosphere and replying to people rants – and we all blogged about these cases and how wonderful and advance these companies are and how the ‘get it’.

And now the story repeats itself on the twitter platform. Excuse my cynicism but I’d be a bit more critical and less hasty in heaping praises all over the place. Since Iain’s case I’ve only heard more horror stories on Virgin Media CS, most recently Dave’s ordeal. And I say, don’t hurry to make an invaluable PR service for companies with bad CS reputation.

They are smart and cynical. They learned that satisfying a couple of angry Tweets is the easiest and cheapest PR trick as the public rant turns into a public praise and gives the false impression that this company has a great customer services.

Do you honestly believe that Comcast really changes their ways?

Mind you, for every one satisfying tweet there are probably hundreds of angry customers that don’t blog or tweet. They do it the old fashion way by talking to their friends down at the pub – and their problems don’t get solved that way. Their problem meet layers of poorly designed pre-recorded menus and canned responses that don’t actually help them.

Only time will tell if the sea change we crave for will come and businesses will (truly and deeply) change their ways and invest in their most valuable brand building scheme – customer service – or will they simply employ 2-3 people to make sure that they satisfy social media rants and that would be the end of it.

Rejoice with cautious.

“Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going—so far as I can tell—but it’s changing. I’m not thinking the way I used to think. I can feel it most strongly when I’m reading. Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy. My mind would get caught up in the narrative or the turns of the argument, and I’d spend hours strolling through long stretches of prose. That’s rarely the case anymore. Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, begin looking for something else to do. I feel as if I’m always dragging my wayward brain back to the text. The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle”.

Wow. I can’t remember when was the last time I’ve read something that resonated so strongly with my personal experience. I was reading these lines and my heart started going faster and faster… yes! thats exactly how i feel! I’m not alone in my increasingly severe ADD!

In this thoughts provoking article, Nicholas Carr goes on to recall Marshall McLuhan brilliant observation that media are not just passive channels of information. They supply the stuff of thought, but they also shape the process of thought.

Luckily I can still get lost and immerse myself in a good fiction. But I find it difficult to consume non-fiction literature whether business or scientific books. The web’s way of reading somehow killed my ability to concentrate and delve deeper into something. The frantic browsing, scanning and skimming of information on the web – articles, blog posts, links, videos and feeds – all with constant interruptions have indeed alter my way of thinking for the worse.

But there’s a bit of conspiracy theory tone in the article that i find hard to accept:

The idea that our minds should operate as high-speed data-processing machines is not only built into the workings of the Internet, it is the network’s reigning business model as well. The faster we surf across the Web—the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements. Most of the proprietors of the commercial Internet have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link—the more crumbs, the better. The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.

It’s an interesting point but I’m not sure I buy into that. It’s not (just) google that making us stupid. For me it’s the great paradox of abundance of information beautifully epitomise in ‘drinking from the media firehose’ metaphor that alter our minds and the way we read and think.

It’s the combination of (1) the extreme abundance of content that generated constant minor anxiety that we’re missing something, (2) the RSS culture that made it so easy to become feed-junkies and generated the scanning, skimming and hopping patterns of our excessive, yet shallow reading and (3) de.licio.us that gives us the illusion that ‘you know what you store’ or that if you park a half-read article you will come back to it later when you have the time or when you ‘really’ need it.

But if I’m honest with myself, my de.licio.us is just a massive bin for half-read information that I’ll never actually read or get back to because I’m too busy skimming through and saving other stuff…

We need better discipline and more tools to help us switch off and restore our ability to concentrate, contemplate and process information. It’s easy to blame google but at the end of the day, it’s us feed-narcotics that add 5 more feeds to our RSS reader everyday. It’s us neurotically checking our emails every 2min. It’s us skimming and hopping from one link to the other repressing the fact that the process of real learning diminished.

I strongly resist any kind of Andrew-Keenian doomsayers rhetoric. The web is us and what we do with it. And I strongly believe that the blessings to the human society and culture are by far greater than the dumbing down of individuals. Just as books and Rock ‘n’ Roll and TV in the past, google and the web do not make us stupid as a society.

But we surely need to find better ways to deal with that abundance of content/information. So far we invented productivity tools like RSS readers to help us handle massive amounts of information, which might be effective on one level but are totally ineffective on another. We now need tools to help us realise we don’t really need 500 feeds…or tools that will scans the 500 feeds for us and automatically delete/reduce the overlaps and redundant chatter.

But no such tools better than ourselves to know our limits and what good or bad for us, so at the end of the day it’s really us and our self discipline that will have to overcome that childish anxiety that we’re always missing on something. We will have to learn to curb our obsession with feeds and to re-learn our mental and intellectual boundaries.

nuf said

Few recent search frustrations reminded me that with all the massive development in social media (read, the internets), search functionalities feel somehow legging behind. I’m sure Google, yahoo and Microsoft are pouring millions on development but that doesn’t (yet) change the feeling that it’s time for search to be smarter.

Couple of weeks ago Udy rightly noted how anachronistic it is that when you search something on google or any other search engine, you still gets 25,878,765 results in 0.3 seconds. wow. that’s so 90′s