Wednesday was apparently so busy that when I woke up on Thursday I realized that I had not posted. Today has been filled with interesting topics, but also a diverse set of topics. Just to give you an idea of what has caught my attention today here are a few links:
First off we have Dan Patterson talking about how to save journalism:
I like how he breaks down the problem. The people are still needed, the platforms need to adapt. It is a great five minute talk.
Then moving on to virtual worlds there were quite a few different pieces that I read, but the one that seemed share worthy is a piece by Caleb Booker on Somebody Make Me a 3d Platform. Platforms like Second Life are amazing because of the potential that they have, but honestly the learning curve to get into them is just too large. Some normal human interactions take far too many clicks, special programs or klugy workarounds.
The whole problem was made particularly relevant when I received an email invite to a “virtual conference” on a site that strikes me as a fairly standard 2d website with a little flash glorification. When people see this as “virtual conferences” I can see why they would say “How is this better than Webex/Netmeeting”. In truth it isn’t much better than it. It doesn’t give you the immersive experience of a true 3d platform, but at the same time makes people think they know what the potential of a virtual event is. So, while I don’t think all of the features Caleb mentions are critical (although nice) getting that barrier to entry down is something I hope we will see soon.
Lastly a bit on the subject of gaming in the form of an article from Jezebel on marketing to the female gaming market. I agree that lumping all women and girls into a single demographic is silly. Also ignoring the demographic of women gamers who already play seems like leaving a whole chunk of money on the table. I found the article good food for thought, but even more so it provided some good linkes to other articles, blogs & research. Gaming and marketing and women gamers (even though I am one) are all new topics to me and I enjoyed the links as they gave me a good view into some of the research and though in the area.
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