Ken’s Blog

The Om part of GigaOm recently posted an article about the news and information we get, especially from sites like Facebook and Twitter, refering to a “river of news” metaphor. The metaphor might be accurate but the idea that “Overload isn’t a problem anymore since we have no choice but to acknowledge that we can’t wade through all this information” is just wrong.

I don’t know about you but as much as I like the people I’ve added on Facebook or Twitter (or else I wouldn’t have added them), I can’t say that the majority of what people who are actually active on those sites post is of any relevancy to me. Maybe I’m in the minority here but I can’t imagine that everyone out there gets 9 out of 10 posts that are of any interest at all to them.

Just looking at the replies and ILTs (I Like This) you usually see one or two (or none) showing any interest in a particular link, news article, video clip, what have you. Sure, once in a while, there’ll be something controversial or really funny (in a stupid way of course) but that’s like a life preserver floating down the Amazon.

That statement about overload is ultimately just highlighting a human trait that would make Freud proud: humans can adapt to information overload. But, this isn’t necessarily a positive thing. Just like the general population gets desensitized to crime when they watch the evening news report on crime constantly, we switch into ignore mode. We take that deluge of information coming at us like water from a fire hose and just divert most of it off to the side. That’s not dealing, that’s apathy. It becomes random luck that you’ll discover something interesting or it’ll be up to the Facebook junkies to be the ones to spread the word.

What we really need is something akin to that tag cloud functionality that you see everywhere. News items, etc. bubble up some how based on popularity or relevance. Instead of a big long list of noise, maybe you get a much shorter list showing the most popular (based on a threshold you set or just a relative one) or most liked (like those sites where a discussion thread falls below a threshold and disappears from the page unless you expose it) tidbits with the option to dig deeper if you care. Combine this with an algorithm based on your actions/preferences (if you tend to click on political news items those might bubble up), and you’ve got yourself a way of managing the deluge.

This sort of  “smart” information culling has been talked about for the better part of a decade or more (at least as long as the Web’s been large enough for people to realize it was needed) but few if any solutions really exist out there. Everyone’s put a piece of it together but no one’s combined it all into a single interface for information. New sites just put the most recent and maybe have a box or callout with the most popular but imagine a page where the news will look different for you versus the other guy…even better, imagine that it’s a news site you’ve never visited before. You could have a roaming profile that people tap with basic rolled up statistics that can be interpreted into a profile for that site’s content.

Now, if only this blog entry would show up in all the right places so it can happen.

kn

GigaOM’s correspondents have been on a tear about the obsolescence of POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) or landlines.  Their latest snippet by Jim Courtney entitled “Area Codes are Dead — Thanks VoIP” talks about the “loosening” of the anchor of geographically locked phone numbers…specifically for the home/office. Obviously, cell phones have been doing this since the FCC forced the carriers to support number portability and more recently ensured this wasn’t something the carriers could drag on, it’s not like this is a surprise. As VoIP has gotten more widespread (Qwest was expanding its network to cover a large chunk of their residential customer base years ago…and they probably didn’t even realize it), it wasn’t going to be long. There are still hiccups (while clear, Skype calls can drop out or otherwise end up fubar if the net connection falters anywhere along the way) but with increasing bandwidth, faster cellular data connections, and a coming bump in WiMax support as adoption starts to spread, it won’t be long before you can (finally) have uninterrupted cellphone access.

Imagine being able to get 99% coverage because where cell service dips, your phone can automatically switch to WiFi without you noticing. One of the cool things that I’ve wanted to try out were those IP phones that really routed to wherever based on your location. So, you could have calls follow you if needed. Don’t roll your eyes. Think about family calls. Your son or daughter’s stuck somewhere and they need you. What if you left your cellphone somewhere or it got dropped in the toilet (yes, this happens but thankfully not to me…yet)? Walk over to a “public” phone wherever you are that you can log into and pull up your phone book or even have the phone ring for you if  someone calls.

Big Brother may be watching but there are a number of other reasons this sort of thing benefits people. I’d even go for the Minority Report-style ad/public screen that can ID you and say, “Hey, your wife’s trying to reach you…it’s important!”

In the end, though, I still feel a bit defensive when I hear about the end of POTS. Maybe it’s one of those things where you’re familiar with something…like an old friend…and you hate to see it go. One more thing from your history that disappears under the mob of progress, leveled to the ground and replaced with a new strip mall. One of those weird duality things with me. I love new tech, stylishly new architecture and the like…but I also respect and enjoy old things (okay, I don’t appreciate stuff from the 60’s or 70’s…yeesh).

Or maybe it’s because of what it implies…that we’re no longer grounded in a place that we know but are becoming digital era nomads without a home. How long before nationalism gives way to something new…technologism–your identity becomes like those Mac commercials where you’re identified by your tech platform…no more religious wars or wars for land…it’s a war for bandwidth or adoption. Ugh. And when those little green men finally show up a thousand years from now, picking through our technological bones…will they just shake their heads and mutter about misguided automotons or will they just be the Borg, showing up and collecting some more technology for their own?

kn

ffs…only The Onion…

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As ‘Fun, Watchable’

A bit old and heavy handed but still a bit funny…

kn