I’ll be back…

June 7, 2012 By

If you’ve wondered where I’ve been for almost a month, the simple and somewhat dull answer is that I’m awaiting the connection of a landline and the internet at my new address, and in the meantime any internet usage is devoted to client work.

No Internet

It’s a bit frustrating, as my ISP is generally very good at solving problems very quickly, but in this case they’re relying on those who supply the infrastructure, who appear to be inflexible and somewhat slow…

In the meantime, it’s allowed me to understand what it’s like to be without home broadband for the first time in probably 7 or 8 years, and reconsider how I make the most of the time when I’m actually connected.  There’s a definite feeling of disconnection, as well as the frustration when I want to check an address or make a purchase and instinctively reach for my laptop.

On the plus side, a combination of nice clients and friends mean that business is barely affected – so far the only real sign of any change is my ever-declining Klout score…

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Why does the UK budget reward print and punish web?

June 24, 2010 By

The new UK Government unveiled their new budget on Tuesday, which is their response to the economic downturn and the increased borrowing which happened as a response.

Most of it is debatable on a more personal level, but there’s one interesting paradox.

Books, magazines and newspapers continue to sold without Value Added Tax (VAT), which is commonly applied to purchases in the UK, and will increase from 17.5% to 20% from 4th January, 2011.

The reason for this is that all of these print materials are valuable sources of information and people should be access them without paying VAT – which I can understand.

But internet access does get VAT charged and will therefore be subject to the increase of 20% in January.

And yet, for a flat monthly fee which I can predict and budget for, I can access the biggest repository of valuable information in the history of the world, which is being added to at an unbelievable daily rate on pretty much every subject imaginable. Even discounting the 99% of content which may be skateboarding dogs on Youtube, that still leaves more valuable information than I will ever have the time to read and access in my lifetime, including the sites run by the UK Government.

Not only that, but access to the internet also allows more people to not only produce content, but also new businesses and business models which can fuel the economy – or to take part in existing job or freelancer markets to get work.

And there are savings for bigger, established businesses and organisations, as they seek to cut back on personal and telephone service and increasingly switch customer interaction to the internet – including a growing range of Governmental departments and services. And that’s in addition to the actual VAT bill itself.

After all, digital was a noticeable part of the election campaign promises for the first time, with a debate over funding a nationwide broadband infrastructure that can support high speed internet access, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the UK Digital Champion appointed by the last Government, Martha Lane Fox, will continue under the new regime with the aim of aiding universal internet access to all as an enabling tool.

So either the money being raised and the challenge of cutting VAT from one part of telephone/TV/cable/broadband deals was too complicated, the money being raised is too important, or it just didn’t come up during the budget planning (I can understand that there may have been other immediate priorities). But surely if the Government is really serious about providing universal access to broadband internet to boost the economy and help business in Britain, lowering the cost of that access for everyone has to be a good starting point.

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When novelty becomes necessity

July 1, 2009 By

When technological advancements such as the printing press, telegraph or the car were invented, it took a while to get going. Even something as simple as sliced bread took a good few years before becoming widely adopted.

And yet the increasing pace of change means what seemed a novelty just a short time ago soon becomes expected.

The free wifi on National Express trains is one case in point.

When it was first introduced, it seemed like a minor miracle that I could now access the internet and get work done whilst travelling, for no extra charge, even in standard class.

But within a couple of years I’m amazed that other trains don’t have it, and I’m immensely frustrated and disappointed that the speed and reliability hasn’t improved. In fact it’s got much, much worse as more and more people are using laptops and netbooks on the train.

Mobile broadband is similar. It took a while for the mobile phone to become widely adopted, but now mobile internet access is becoming a standard and expected part of any new mobile device. And it’s data costs and anything less than 100% access that become the talking points, rather than the fact I can access the web from something in the palm of my hand.

And that frustration we feel is because we don’t just become accustomed to this access.

We come to rely on it.

For work, home, and everywhere in between.

Postscript:

Just remembered that apparently, 53% of British mobile phone users suffer ‘no mobile phobia’, or nomophobia, ‘with 48 per cent of women and 58 per cent of men questioned admitting to experiencing feelings of anxiety when they run out of battery or credit, lose their phone or have no network coverage.’ (HT Textually.org).

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Will Britain become a rural backwater online?

May 2, 2009 By

Although I already knew the difference in broadband speeds around the world, seeing the direct comparison in a BBC article on 100Mbps broadband really lept out at me.

‘The upcoming Digital Britain report is expected to outline plans to give the UK population universal broadband access at the modest speed of 2Mbps by 2012.

In South Korea, the government is aiming for speeds of 1Gbps by 2012, up from the current average speed of 15Mbps.’

Now I know that companies will be able to justify the additional cost for the faster speeds available, but in an online world where everyone is networked, what’s the cost for entrepreneurial individuals if they’re stuck on 2Mbps competing with someone on 1Gbps?

I’m thinking about people like my son, who will probably start using computers and games consoles around 2012.

And about businesses which will always aim for the majority market – globally in the case of the digital world. If you’re running a service in 2012, will you build it for those on 10Mbps? 20Mbps? Or the people on 2Mbps?

The other major problem doesn’t seem to have been mentioned anywhere – in the U.S. for example, there’s uproar about the introduction of data caps at 250Gb…in the UK I’m doing fairly well to have a data cap of 20Gb!

Competing with 1/12th of the information, data and capacity available seems like a bit of a handicap.

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The Xbox could rule the living room with bundled internet access

February 14, 2009 By

Since I questioned Microsoft’s change in marketing strategy for the Xbox, I’ve been thinking about positive suggestions for boosting the market share of the Xbox 360. And I think I’ve got a good one, although it might be bit odd – as always I’m hoping your comments will aid my thinking.

The idea came to me as:

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is a major attempt to ‘own the living room’ with a device which converges gaming (especially online gaming), videos, and other entertainement and community building.

Xbox Controller by A_Hermida on Flickr (CC Licence)

Xbox Controller by A_Hermida on Flickr (CC Licence)

The Xbox Live service is a major selling point for the Xbox.

Videos on Demand were one step towards convergence.

Then integrating with Netflix was the next step to boost the pretty measly catalogue of videos on demand. (Sadly still unavailable in the UK).

US broadband suppliers are starting to limit data. Meanwhile in the UK, far lower limits are normal. In fact, one major reason for my decision to go with Zen Broadband was that they offered a decent data limit for 2-8Mb connections, unlike most other ISPs (It’s the maximum speed I can get in my area). But even with a 20GB limit, I’m getting closer and closer to hitting the data limit every month, as more and more of my media usage is online.

So why doesn’t Microsoft bundle internet access with the Xbox 360/Xbox Live accounts?

There may be issues around conflicts of interest etc, but if Microsoft wants to own the living room, particularly outside the U.S, then perhaps becoming an ISP, or partnering with an existing supplier might be the best move they could ever make.

1. If they offered the highest data limits in the market, they’d give an added incentive for families to pick the Xbox.

2. Increased data limits would encourage the download/renting of full films online – as it is, a handful of films would mean no more internet for a month for me.

3. They could ensure maximum compatability, and also work to reduce issues with lag and connections. There are still many issues with online gaming, especially given the speed differences between U.S and U.K for example.

4. They’d be in a position to stimulate broadband improvements, and drive down prices by subsidising the costs with the increase in revenue from an uptake in sales, Live Accounts, and VoD. Plus it may stimulate more innovation in the services being offered. And they’d also be able to benefit from offering services from the entire Microsoft business to families which are likely to have other internet-enabled devices alongside their Xbox.

5. It gives an added incentive for people currently using/considering a PC as a media centre to use the Xbox instead.

It seems to make sense, but in my enthusiasm I may have missed some reasons why this would be difficult/impossible – so please do help improve my thinking through the comments.  Maybe we’ll end up with better broadband because of it!

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Gadgets aren’t important, but tools are

December 7, 2008 By

I’ve just been reflecting on a weekend visit by my parents. I’ve been lucky enough to always have a good relationship with them, especially as they’ve always had a particularly youthful taste in music and films, which means we’ve always had some common ground, and we always have a new band or film to recommend to each other.

In the old days, we’ve each end up bringing CDs and DVDs for entertainment, but things have changed:

I played them new music on Last.fm, as recommend by @stephenfry.

We watched some classic Rallycross on Youtube, which we were at when I was a child. (For the record, one of my favourite drivers and cars of all time was the black Audi Quattro of Dimi Mavropoulos, even when he was up against local hero Will Gollop. In those days, the top Rallycross cars were the awesome vehicles which had just been banned from Group B rallying for being too fast!

We looked at recent holiday pictures on Flickr.

And I helped them do some shopping on Amazon, before catching up with a TV programme on iPlayer.

The only mainstream media which we all actually shared in as a family was the original Swedish language Wallander shown on TV (and far superior to the new English-language version with Kenneth Brannagh).

And it all reminded me that laptops, digital cameras, and mobile phones are no longer ‘gadgets’. They’re tools.

A gadget is a small technological object (such as a device or an appliance) that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technology at the time of their invention. Gadgets are sometimes also referred to as gizmos. (From Wikipedia)

It’s why I don’t really care when Michael Arrington claims netbooks are underpowered, too small and hard to type on. Or Wired doing a side-by-side comparison of the specs of the Apple iPhone vs the T-Mobile G1.

The specifications of each device only matter to the geeks – the possibilities matter to everyone.

That’s why I’m so excited about the fact Barack Obama is putting investment and accesibility to broadband at the forefront of his recovery plan for the U.S. I only hope the UK’s copying of U.S. policy extends to one of the best ideas, as well as many of the worst, and one of my Christmas wishes for 2009 comes true!

It’s not about processing power or battery life – my backup laptop is old enough to have been upgraded to Windows 98, and just managed to run Open Office and the unfortunately named Gimp. But that’s more than enough for my partner to check her social networks and interact, and for me to run my blogs, do my dayjob, and keep up with everything.

Snow shovel by cindy47452 on Flickr (CC Licence)

Snow shovel by cindy47452 on Flickr (CC Licence)

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and enthusiasm of obsessing over every minute detail when it comes to technology. The iPhone, N97 or G1 show what’s at the cutting edge, but the INQ is at a more accessible price – and the content and value of your emails will be the same whichever device you use.

You can use Myspace, Blogger or WordPress to write a blog, and the message will have the same value (even if I’d always recommend a hosted WordPress blog!).

It’s all about what you’re doing with what is available that counts. Especially if your budget buying is being cut back at the moment – don’t worry about what you can’t afford, but figure out how to maximise what you can do with what you’ve got.

And remember, the days of broadband, a laptop, or an internet-enabled mobile phone being just a gadget are over.

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The Christmas wishlist

December 3, 2008 By
Letter to Santa Clos by The Jamoker on Flickr (CC Licence)

'Letter to Santa Clos' by The Jamoker on Flickr (CC Licence)

Normally the list of what I’d like for Christmas would be a 50-50 split between technology and entertainment, but the responsibility of being a new homeowner and a new parent in the current financial climate means the end of the gadget list.

Instead, I want to list some of the things I’d like to see happen – some of which I could actually play a part in catalyzing. (Although, if you do want to gift me a gadget, I’ll accept: smartphones,laptops,netbooks, a flip mino, digital slrs, or digital video cameras!).

  • Health and financial security for my family – One most parents would subscribe to, and why I’m quitting smoking right now.
  • Increased speed and data limits for UK broadband without raised costs - Everyone loves the BBC iPlayer until they realise going over their limit cost them £200 last month. And everyone would love to download a good film quickly. But unless you’re with a decent ISP (I’m with Zen Broadband - 20GB limit per month), you end up with enough to watch one video. Slowly. If the Government wants technology and innovation to help get us out of a recession, superfast broadband is an essential resource.
  • More innovation in the media and entertainment industry – It’s starting to happen, but only in isolation. If not, the music industry might as well bow to Steve Jobs now, whilst text, image and movies will be the toys of Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
  • Successfully quitting smoking: After about 14 years, I think it’s long enough – at least until the child has left home and I’m too old to worry about impotence or my breath smelling. (Can’t wait to see the ad google places next to this post!)
  • More success for my friends and people I respect: My social networks really have made true the idea that the success of my friends benefits me in some way – better quality back links if nothing else!
  • Twitter monetisation: We’ve talked about it for long enough, and all I want to know is how the plans will affect my usage of Twitter.
  • Developers who have spare time/desire to do new things: Like most people in digital, I have various ideas for services and applications which may be successful. Also like most people in digital, I’m not in a position to pay for development work, and although I know that a developer working for a revenue share shoulders most of the work and risk if it fails, I’d love Santa to find me one or two who fancy risking some time and effort.

There’s probably more, but that will do for now! I’m quite intrigued to see what some other people would wish for, so I’m asking Dave Cushman, Chris Brogan, Jonathan MacDonald,  and Neil Perkin.

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