… da unser Studienalltag meist grau und langweilig ist, freut man sich doch über jede kleine Abwechslung

cool guys don´t look at explosions – eine Parodie von den MTV Movie Awards 2009, mit meinem Lieblings-Entertainer Will Ferrell.

Ebenfalls witzig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU

In New York City, where the unemployment rate remains at 10.3 percent, the jobless have started leaning hard on coffee shops and bookstores to get out of their tiny one-bedrooms and away from their annoying roommates. In these harsh, career-vanishing times, the members of this laptop brigade do everything they can to re-create the office environment they no longer have to complain about.

Ich gebe zu, das Problem wird in dem Spiegel-Artikel von Frank Schirrmacher teilweise sehr überspitzt dargestellt, allerdings trifft es den Kern in der Sache: Der ständige globale Informationsüberfluss sorgt für eine permanente Überforderung und so richtig sortieren, was nun wichtig oder unwichtig ist, kann man nicht. Was ist denn überhaupt wichtig? Eigentlich doch nur Dinge die einen selbst betreffen. Aber das ist leicht gesagt, in einer globalisierten Welt, in der der Erfolg oder Misserfolg eines mehrere Tausendkilometer entfernten Krieges darüber entscheidet, ob ich morgen noch Benzin tanken kann oder nicht. Ist im Prinzip nicht alles wichtig? Ist der Mensch überhaupt geeignet für unsere moderne Informationsgesellschaft?

“Mir scheint, dass viele Leute gerade merken, welchen Preis wir zahlen. Buchstäblich. Ich bin unkonzentriert, vergesslich, und mein Hirn gibt jeder Ablenkung nach. Ich lebe ständig mit dem Gefühl, eine Information zu versäumen oder zu vergessen. Und das Schlimmste: Ich weiß noch nicht einmal, ob das, was ich weiß, wichtig ist oder das, was ich vergessen habe, unwichtig.”

Mein Kopf kommt nicht mehr mit

http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/0,1518,661307,00.html

Absolut lesenswert!

Steven P. Jobs from Apple Inc. is CEO of the Decade.

This past week, after much anticipation, I watched the documentary film Objectified, by Gary Hustwit. His Helvetica (see my previous review) was one of my favorite documentaries ever, so I’d been looking forward to this for some time. It’s just cool to see a well-done film about design. Overall, didn’t enjoy this one as much as Helvetica – probably more due to my background in graphic design, as Objectified is more about industrial design. However, it’s still a great film, and I enjoyed it more upon a second viewing.

The interview with Jonathan Ive, one of the chief industrial designers at Apple (he was the main designer on the iMac, MacBook, iPod, and iPhone), was a highlight. He really explained (and embodied) the obsession to detail that makes Apple a standout in its product design. There are many other great interviews with prominent industrial designers speaking of their design process and philosophies on items as mundane as toothbrushes to as iconic as cars and the first laptop computer.

I think the most effective scenes in the film are the close-ups of objects in use, such as forks and plates, chairs, faucets, alarm clocks, etc. – filmed in such a manner as to focus on the object itself. Just felt somehow like you are observing these everyday objects in such a way as you’re seeing them for the first time. Really well done. Similar to the scenes in Helvetica showing the font in signs and storefronts, but more subtle and probably harder to achieve this effect with objects, searching for the right framing to make it work. I also dug the scene showing the front end of cars, which are sometimes overlooked in the design process – producing some unfortunate “faces”.

As always, Mr. Hustwit’s films have a great soundtrack with some cool electronic/ambient grooves, and Objectified doesn’t disappoint. His movies always get my design juices flowing. Hopefully he will continue with the design theme for the next documentary. What’s next, maybe architecture?

Objectified is available for download on iTunes:
http://www.itunes.com/movies/Objectified

http://www.ftd.de/div/podcast/business_english

Der Business-English-Podcast der Financial Times Deutschland ist wirklich sehr lehrreich. Er klärt einen über häufig verwendete Ausdrücke im täglichen Geschäftsbereich auf und geht dabei auch auf die Unterschiede zwischen American- und British English ein. Zum einen für Studenten interessant die evtl. ein Praktikum im Ausland machen möchten, zum anderen aber auf jeden Fall für das spätere Berufsleben wichtig: internationale Vernetzungen und Märkte erfordern nicht nur in großen Unternehmen ein einwandfreies und fließendes Englisch.

Überhaupt ist die Seite der Financial Times jedem wärmstens zu empfehlen. Wirtschaftliche und politische Zusammenhänge sollten auch für Mediendesigner kein Fremdwort sein, schließlich verdienen die meisten unserer Kunden in diesem Wirtschaftssystem das Geld, mit dem wir später bezahlt werden. Da kann es nicht schaden über die neusten Entwicklungen informiert zu sein.

Jetzt wird es aber auch endlich mal Zeit diesen Blog mit Leben zu füllen. Allerdings raucht mir nach einem langen Tag voll Arbeit dermaßen der Kopf, dass ich nur noch über hedonistische Konsumabsichten berichten kann. Da ich mein aktuelles Handy (Samsung SGH-E950 Bild) vor einigen Wochen während des Fußballspielens, schlauerweise mehrere Stunden im Regen hab liegen lassen, gibt es nur noch unverständliche Pieps-Töne von sich. Das Display wechselt beliebig zwischen Hell und Dunkel und der Standby-Modus scheint wohl auch nicht mehr zu gehen, was zur folge hat, dass der Akku nur noch eine Stunde hält bis ich ihn nachladen muss.

Da mein Vertrag Ende des Jahres ausläuft bin ich auch zu faul eventuelle Garantieansprüche geltend zu machen. Wobei es eh die Frage wäre, ob ich bei so einer mutwilligen Zerstörung nicht selber für den Schaden aufkommen müsste.

Naja wie auch immer. Zur Zeit nutze ich so ein Steinzeit-Nokia sechstausend-irgendwas, glaube ich, da habe ich meine SIM-Karte reingesteckt, jetzt bin ich wenigstens erreichbar. Nur die ganzen Kontaktdaten sind natürlich weg, die waren auf dem alten Handy gespeichert. Dieses alte Ding ist von der Menü-Führung her etwas umständlich (vielleicht auch weil ich´s nicht gewohnt bin) und auf dem 37×22 Pixel Display erkennt man auch nicht so richtig viel. Außerdem ist die ganze Anmutung dieses Teils irgendwie scheußlich, wenn ich diesen Stein in der Hand halte überkommt mich unweigerlich der Gedanke, dieses Gerät wurde gebaut um Leute zu erschlagen oder Flaschen zu öffnen und nicht um zu telefonieren. Ein richtiges Männer-Handy also. Trotzdem will ich es loswerden und mir so ´ne moderne Diva holen, so ´en Alleskönner: Internet, Musik, Telefon. Nicht so männlich, aber in unserer heutigen Zeit eindeutig nützlicher.

Kein iPhone

Als erstes hatte ich natürlich ans iPhone gedacht. Nicht weil es stylisch ist, oder cool, oder man damit angeben kann, sondern weil es in sämtlichen Tests seine Kontrahenten schlägt. In Sachen Benutzerführung, Simplizität und Design ist es seiner Zeit einfach ein Stück voraus. Und nichts ist besser geeignet zum mobilen surfen als das großzügige iPhone-Display. Außerdem wären die reibungslose Anbindung an mein MacBook bzw. iTunes ein weiteres Kauf-Argument. Allerdings legt sich die Euphorie spätestens wieder wenn man sich die Vertrags-Konditionen der Deutschen Telekom von T-Mobile angeschaut hat. Selbst mit dem Studenten-Tarif muss man monatlich noch 35 Euro berappen und kann dann zwar unbegrenzt surfen, aber muss überteuerte 19 Cent pro SMS und 29 Cent pro Gesprächsminute latzen. Außerdem darf man einmalig noch 100 € für das 3GS und 25 € Anschlussgebühr drauf legen. So geht´s natürlich nicht. Ein “gecracktes” iPhone aus dem Ausland ist mir dann doch irgendwie zu umständlich und zu heikel und deshalb hab ich mich mal weiter umgesehen:

Bei Nokia

Die aktuelle E-Series von Nokia erscheint mir für meine Zwecke recht sinnvoll. Das “E” steht für Business und so sind die Handys auch ausgestattet: UMTS, E-Mail-Client, HTML-Browser, umfangreiche Adressen-/Kontaktverwaltung und allerlei sonstiger Schnick-Schnack. Was man halt so braucht oder auch nicht.

Zwei sehr neue Modelle sind das Nokia e72 mit vollständiger QWERTZ-Tastatur (Bild) sehr komfortabel und das Nokia e52 (Bild), welches wiederum eine übliche Handy-Tastatur hat, aber dafür auch etwas robuster und handlicher scheint. Die Modelle e66 und e75 sind schon knapp ein Jahr alt, machen aber auch keinen schlechten Eindruck. Ist wohl ne Geschmackssache was man lieber hat, ob Slider, Blackberry oder Standard-Handy. Ich werd mir noch ein paar Testberichte durchlesen und die nächsten Wochen abwarten – vielleicht tut sich vor dem Weihnachtsgeschäft ja noch etwas.

Beim Vertrag wirds wohl ein E-Plus Time&More Web-Edition 150 mit einer Internet-Flat dazu. Was wohl 20 € im Monat wären. Im Vergleich zu meinem jetzigen Vertrag, ca. 15-20 € im Monat nur fürs Telefonieren, ein richtiges Schnäppchen.

Was meint ihr dazu? Hat einer von euch schon Erfahrung mit mobilem Internet oder den oben genannten Handys? Oder vielleicht andere Empfehlungen? Scheut euch nicht vor Kommentaren

Right now I’m watching a BBC documentary called Upgrade Me. It’s about the digital age we live in and how disposable hi-tech gadgets have become. The Head of Consumer Electronics at John Lewis (Department Store) says that their entire range of laptop computers is “refreshed” four times per year, so manufacturers like Sony and Toshiba replace each new model with an even newer one every three months. Three months. The entire range. Staggering. Modern electronic gadgets are so disposable; so what happens to all our unwanted “old” tech? Well if you’re like me (and the show’s presenter — writer Simon Armitage) then you’ll have one (or more) gadget graveyards: that bottom drawer where you slung your old gameboy, ipod, camera, and laptop. So each of us has our own little shrine that tells our own personal upgrade story, but what about the big picture? What happens to all the old TVs, VHS recorders, HiFi’s and computers? I’m sure the programme will get to that question eventually (in fact I know it will because they showed a preview of the guy wearing a hard hat and hi-viz vest and being walked around a huge computer dump). If they teach me anything I didn’t already know I’ll report it here. Don’t hold your breath.

I want a new:

• iPod Touch (the top of the range 64 Gb of course)
• HD TV — big, LCD, full 1080p resolution, multiple HDMI slots
• Archos internet tablet with hundreds of Gigabytes of storage and built in WiFi.
• Digital SLR (I’d like the bit pro model but would settle for a D5000)
• Blackberry Storm (WiFi, 3G, touch screen, multi-megapixel camera)
• Garmin Zumo (sat nav for my motorcycle)

Anyone want to buy an old iPod/TV/Archos/SLR/Blackberry/Satnav? Didn’t think so. I know! Let’s all meet up one Saturday. We’ll each bring all our old unused gadgets and build a huge robot. Or even better we’ll form two teams, build a big red robot and a big blue robot, then set them on each other in a battle to the death. Loser buys the drinks.

The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions by David McCandless

For long google has been dissed for its investment made in Youtube and how it was unwise to invest in the video platform with low monetization potential.

Over last couple of months have started seeing increasing usage of youtube among peer to check reviews for things ranging from cars, white goods, holiday destinations to movie reviews as preferred way of discovering information. This means its important for consumer facing brands to have a strong online video strategy which focuses on creating online video content for users to consume similar to whats happening on Television.

In recent past my searches have brought me closer to selecting Skoda Yeti as potential car to wait for instead of Honda Civic or looking to buy a new laptop which lead me to this hilarious video which actually proves point on how light weight their thinkpad laptops are. (Video)me.

What aspect of online video content generation should brands focus on

i) Generating Editorial content on laptop – nothing to see other people talking about their experience with product

ii) 1 minute video which are either information driven or entertainment driven which embeds a brand product line feature as whenever someone will talk about owning light weight laptop i am sure to point to this video seen.

iii) Why not like a music artist own a channel and keep creating content and keep engaging user.

When we look at positioning its also important there should be connecting videos which doesn’t require user to leave the youtube platform and keep consuming more brand mantra.

If anyone has a better case study of something being done in US or elsewhere would like to dissect it further from RoI point of you.

25 things journalists can do to future-proof their careers. Read the details on eConsultancy:

1. Start a blog.
2. Collaborate.
3. Big up yourself.
4. Write about your passion.
5. Feeds FTW.
6. Embrace Twitter.
7. Produce video.
8. Mobile is a truly wonderful tool.
9. SEO is the one acronym that you really need to learn.
10. Learn to love links.
11. Tag, tag, tag. 
12. Online copywriting.
13. Readability rules.
14. Ignore the hype.
15. Exclusives are passe.
16. Objectivity is overrated.
17. Subjectivity kicks ass.
18. Participate.
19. Listen.
20. Real time news.
21. Embrace crowdsourcing.
22. Network.
23. Learn how to be thrifty.
24. Be platform agnostic.
25. Do it now.

A September 2009 edition of Entertainment Weekly makes history as the first magazine to include full-motion video within it’s pages. Pepsi, CBS Television & Americhip Inc. joined forces to combine digital video and paper.

Teaching Anthropology: Teaching Naked: Another one of those nothing new here movements.

[Had to split my response into several comments because of Blogger's character limit. Thought I might as well post it here.]

Thanks for the ping. No problem about the way you do it. In fact, feel free to use my name. I use “Informal Ethnographer” accounts for social media stuff having to do with ethnographic disciplines, but this is more about pedagogy.

The main thing I noticed about this piece is that the author transforms an interesting and potentially insightful story about problems facing a large number of academic institutions “going forward” into one of those sterile debates about the causal relationships between technology and learning.

Apart from all those things we’ve discussed about teaching method (including the fact that I still use the boring PPT-lecture on occasion), there’s a lot of room for discussion about the “educational industry” not getting a hint from the recording and journalism industries. Because we’re academics, it’s great to deconstruct the technological determinism embedded in many of these discussions. But there’s also something rather pressing in terms of social change: the World in which we live is significantly different from the one in which we were born, when it comes to information. It relates to “information technology” but it goes way beyond tools.

And this is where I talk about surfing the wave instead of fighting it (or building windmills instead of shelters).

As I said elsewhere, I’ve only been teaching for ten years. When I started, in Fall 1999 at Indiana University Bloomington, it was both a baptism by fire and a culture shock. Many teachers complain about a “sense of entitlement” they get from their students, or about the consumer-based approach in academic institutions. There’s a number of discussion about average class size or students-to-teacher ratio. Some talk about a so-called “me generation.” Others moan about the fact that students bring laptops in class or that teachers are forced to use tools that they don’t want to use.

These are really not recent problems. However, they are different problems from the ones for which I was prepared.

I’d still say that they affect some institutions more than others (typically: prestigious universities in the United States). But they’re spreading throughout higher education.

Bowen perceives a specific problem: campus-based universities face competition from inexpensive and even free material online. As a dean, he wants to focus on the added value of campus experience, with a focus on the classroom as a context for discussion. It seems that he was hired precisely as an agent of change, just like some “mercurial CEOs” are hired when a corporation is in trouble.

The plan is relatively creative. Not so much in the restrictions on PPT use, but on the overall approach to differentiate his institution. It’s a marketing ploy, not a PR one.

As for the specifics of people’s concepts of “lecturing”… It seems that the mainstream notion about lecture is for a linear presentation with little or no interaction possible. Other teaching methods may involve some “lecturing,” but it seems that the core notion people are discussing is really this soliloquy mode of the teacher exposing ideas without input from the audience. One way to put it is that it’s a genre of performance, like a “stand-up” or an opera.

As a subgenre, “PowerPoint lectures” may deserve special consideration. As we all know, it’s quite possible to use PPT in ways which are creative, engaging, fun, deep, etc. But there are many <a href=”http://www.jstor.org/pss/674535″>keys</a> to the “PowerPoint lecture” frame. One is the use of some kind of  “visual aid.” Another is the use of different slides as key timeposts in the performance. Or we could think about the fact that control over the actual PPT file strengthens the role differentiation between “lecturer” and “audience.” Not to mention the fact that it’s quite difficult to use PPT slides when everyone is in a circle.

So, yes, I’m giving some credence to the notion that PPT is a significant part of the lecturing model people are discussing <em>ad nauseam</em>.

Much of these discussions may relate to the perception that this performance genre (what I would call “straight lecture” or «cours magistral») is dominant, at institutions of higher education. The preponderance of a given teaching style across a wide array of institutions, disciplines, and “levels” would merit careful assessment, but the perception is there. “People” (the general population of the United States, the <em>Chronicle</em>’s readership, English-speakers…?) get the impression that what teachers do is mostly: stand in front of a class to talk by themselves for significant amounts of time with, maybe, a few questions thrown in at the end. Some people say that such “lectures” may not be incredibly effective. But the notion is still there. You may call this a “straw man,” but it’s been built a while ago.

Now… There are many ways to go from this whole concept of “straight lecturing.” One is the so-called “switcharound”: you go from lecturing (as a mode) to discussion or to group activities (as distinct modes). The notion, there, is apparently about the fact that “studies have shown” that, at this point in time, English-speaking students in the United States can’t concentrate for more than 20 minutes at the time. Or some such.

I reacted quite strongly when I heard this. For several reasons, including my personal experience of paying attention during class meetings lasting seven hours or more, some of which involving very limited interaction. I also reacted because I found the 50 minute period very constraining. And I always react to the “studies have shown” stance, that I find deeply problematic at an epistemological level. Is this really how we gain knowledge?

But I digress…

Another way to avoid “straight lectures” is to make lecturing itself more interactive. Many people have been doing this for a while. Chances are, it was done by a number of people during the 19th Century, as the “modern classroom” was invented. It can be remarkably effective and it seems to be quite underrated. An important thing to note: it’s significantly different from what people have in mind, when they talk about “lecturing.” In fact, in a workshop I attended, the simple fact that a teacher was moving around the classroom as he was teaching has been used as an example of an alternative to lecturing. Seems to me that most teachers do something like this. But it’s useful to think about the implications of using such “alternative methods.” Personally, though I frequently think about those methods and I certainly respect those who use them, I don’t tend to focus so much on this. I do use “alternative lecturing methods” like these, on occasion but, when I lecture, I tend to adopt the classical approach.

Common alternatives to lecturing, mentioned in the CHE piece, include “seminars, practical sessions, and group discussions,” These all tend to be quite difficult to do in the… “lecture” hall. Even with smaller classes, a large room may be an obstacle. Though it’s not impossible to have, say, group discussions in an auditorium, few of us really end up doing it on a regular basis. I’m “guilty” of that: I have much less small-group discussions in rooms in which desks can’t be moved.

As for seminars, it’s clearly my favourite teaching mode/method and I tend to extend the concept too much. Though I tend to be critical of those rigid “factors” like class size, I keep bumping into a limit to seminar size and I run into major hurdles when I try to get more than 25 students working in a seminar mode.

We could also talk about distance education as an alternative to lecturing, though much of it has tended to be lecture-based. Distance education is interesting in many respects. While it’s really not new, it seems like it has been expanding a lot in the fairly recent past. Regardless of the number of people getting degrees through distance learning, it mostly seems that the concept has become much more accepted by the general population (in English-speaking contexts, at least) and some programmes in distance learning seem to be getting more “cred” than ever before. I don’t want to overstate this expansion but it’s interesting to think about the possible connections with social change. Telecommuting, students working full-time, combining studying with childcare, homestudy, rising tuition costs, customer-based approaches to education, the “me generation,” the ease of transmitting complex data online, etc.

Even when distance learners have to watch lectures, distance education can be conceived as an alternative to the “straight lecture.” Practical details such as scheduling aren’t insignificant, but there are more profound implications to the fact that lectures aren’t “delivered in a lecture hall.” To go back to the performance genre, there’s a difference between a drama piece and a movie. Both can be good, but they have very different implications.

My implication with distance learning has to do with online learning. Last summer, I began teaching sociology to nursing students in Texas. From Montreal. I had been thinking about online teaching for a while and I’ve always had an online component to my courses. But last year was the first time I was able to teach a course without ever meeting those students.

My impression is that the rise of online education was the main thing Bowen had in mind. He clearly seems to think that this rise will only continue and that it may threaten campus-based institutions if they don’t do anything about it. The part which is surprising about his approach is that he actually advocates blended learning. Though we may disagree with Bowen on several points, it’d be difficult to compare him to an ostrich.

All of these approaches and methods have been known for a while. They all have their own advantages and they all help raise different issues. But they’ve been tested rather extensively by generation upon generation of teachers.

The focus, today, seems to be on a new set of approaches. Most of them have direct ties to well-established teaching models like seminars and distance education. So, they’re not really “new.” Yet they combine different things in such a way that they clearly require experimentation. We can hail them as “the future” or dismiss them as “trendy,” but they still afford some consideration as avenues for experimentation.

Many of them can be subsumed under the umbrella term “blended learning.” That term can mean different things to different people and some use it as a kind of buzzword. Analytically, it’s still a useful term.

Nellie Muller Deutsch is among those people who are currently doing PhD research on blended learning. We’ve had a number of discussions through diverse online groups devoted to learning and teaching. It’s possible that my thinking has been influenced by Nellie, but I was already interested in those topics long before interacting with her.

“Blended learning” implies some combinaison of classroom and online interactions between learners and teachers. The specific degree of “blending” varies a lot between contexts, but the basic concept remains. One might even argue that any educational context is blended, nowadays, since most teachers end up responding to at least “a few emails” (!) every semester. But the extensible concept of the “blended campus” easily goes beyond those direct exchanges.

What does this have to do with lectures? A lot, actually. Especially for those who have in mind a “monolithic” model for lecture-based courses, often forgetting (as many students do!) the role of office hours and other activities outside of the classroom.

Just as it’s possible but difficult to do a seminar in a lecture hall, it’s possible but difficult to do “straight lecture” in blended learning. Those professors and adjuncts who want to have as little interactions with students as possible may end up complaining about the amount of email they receive. In a sense, they’re “victims” of the move to a blended environment. One of the most convincing ideas I’ve heard in a teaching workshop was about moving email exchanges with individual students to forums, so that everyone can more effectively manage the channels of communication. Remarkably simple and compatible with many teaching styles. And a very reasonable use of online tools.

Bowen was advocating a very specific model for blended learning: students work with required readings on their own (presumably, using coursepacks and textbooks), read/watch/listen to lecture material online, and convene in the classroom to work with the material. His technique for making sure that students don’t “skip class” (which seems important in the United States, for some reason) is to give multiple-choice quizzes. Apart from justifying presence on campus (in the competition with distance learning), Bowen’s main point is about spending as much face-to-face time as possible in discussions. It’s not really an alternative to lectures if there are lectures online, but it’s a clear shift in focus from the “straight lecture” model. Fairly creative and it’s certainly worth some experimentation. But it’s only one among many possible approaches.

At least for the past few years, I’ve been posting material online both after and ahead of class meetings. I did notice a slight decrease in attendance, but that tends to matter very little for me. I also notice that many students tend to be more reluctant to go online to do things for my courses than one would expect from most of the discussions at an abstract level. But it’s still giving me a lot, including in terms of not having to rehash the same material over and over again (and again, <em>ad nauseam</em>).

I wouldn’t really call my approach “blended learning” because, in most of my upper-level courses at least, there’s still fairly little interaction happening online. But I do my part to experiment with diverse methods and approaches.

So…

None of this is meant to be about evaluating different approaches to teaching. I’m really not saying that my approach is better than anybody else’s. But I will say that it’s an appropriate fit with my perspective on learning as well as with my activities outside of the classroom. In other words, it’s not because I’m a geek that I expect anybody else to become a geek. I do, however, ask others to accept me as a geek.

And, Pamthropologist, you provided on my blog some context for several of the comments you’ve been making about lecturing. I certainly respect you and I think I understand what’s going on. In fact, I get the impression that you’re very effective at teaching anthropology and I wish your award-winning blog entry also carried an award for teaching. The one thing I find most useful, in all of this, is that you do discuss those issues. IMHO, the most important thing isn’t to find what the best model is but to discuss learning and teaching in a thoughtful manner so that everyone gets a voice. The fact that one of the most recent comments on your blog comes from a student in the Philippines speaks volumes about your openness.

The Conversation Prism. The art of listening, learning and sharing by Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks and blogger on PR 2.0.

NewsGator online will cease and that is certainly bad news for me. Why? I have just switched to NewsGator Online few months back.

I was using Google Reader and it was under utilized, maybe I di not like the interface. My reading rate improved with the use of NewsGator Online because of 2 things.

1. Interface

    I just like it better.

2. iPhone 3GS

    Just bought it and started to go log in everywhere I go. My iPhone has made me more mobile (more inclined to log in due to the ease)

    Well, I just have to get back to Google Reader and hope for an improvement in the layout.

Steve Rubel, Director of Insights von Edelman Digital und webbekannter Blogger hat in den letzten Wochen eine interessante Online-Strategie gewählt und − wie es sich für einen Director of Insights gehört − in diversen Postings darüber berichtet.

I have been blogging for over five years – and it has certainly worked well for me. However, in the last year, things really began to change. Blogging began to feel too slow and methodical in a world where apps like Tweetdeck bring real-time Twitter conversations right to our doorstep. At the same time, however, I have always felt it’s important for me to have my own hub. But I want it to connect to the spokes.

Ist der “traditionelle” Blog also für Rubel alter Kaffee? Nein, sagt Steve, aber:

The blog format needs a reboot. For one, people don’t have time to read as much as they used to. There’s too much competing for our attention. This means you need to be creative to stand out. Second, blogs must connect to social network hubs. Posterous lets me do so in a number of ways through auto-posting, but also by letting you send your comments into Facebook, Twitter, Backtype and Friendfeed.

Rubel argumentiert also mit den Lesegewohnheiten der User. Offenbar ist er aber auch an einem Punkt angelangt, an dem er vor lauter Updating seines Blogs micropersuasion.com und seiner unzähligen Social Media Präsenzen keine Zeit mehr findet, seine Kunden bei Edelman bei der Stange zu halten.

Jetzt publiziert Steve Rubel einen Livestream mit Hilfe der Software Posterous sehr oft mobil mit seinem iPhone.

In addition, I have been seeking a platform that lets me publish daily and do so from my mobile device. (I often spend more time on the web on my iPhone than I do a PC or Mac.) Since it works primarily via email, Posterous was perfect for my needs and when I began to see what you could do with it, I felt it was time to switch over.

Die amerikanische PR-Agentur Rudder Finn veröffentlicht den RF Intent Index (mit wunderschöner interaktiver Grafik mit Klick unten auf “full index”), der sich der Frage widmet, mit welcher Absicht die User online gehen.