What Will 2008 Bring? January 1, 2008
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality, OLPC, Opinion.2 comments
I read an interesting article from the Sydney Morning Herald about 10 technology things that will change your future. Some were expected, like the OLPC project. Twitter received a mention as well as social lending. One I didn’t expect was Chumby. What is Chumby? It looks like a pillow with a computer screen. The article says:
The Chumby is a wireless internet device about the size of a rugby ball. It has no keyboard or mouse but instead uses software called widgets to display pretty much anything you want it to – all the time… And the really interesting thing is that it is designed to be hacked – everything from the software code to the specifications for the case are freely available. No one, including the manufacturers, knows what owners will make Chumbys do once they are released. http://www.chumby.com
What do I think the new year will bring? The trend to smaller, more portable, networked devices will continue, mostly from the cell phone industry, although one hears rumors of new portable devices. I also think that open source will continue to invade the business world. I also think that Net Neutrality will be both more important, and more imperiled. Oh, and of course, something will come along that I didn’t expect, I probably won’t understand, and I’ll dismiss it as an unimportant passing fad, just like I did with Twitter in 2007.
Twitter Mobile December 14, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Net Neutrality.add a comment
Okay, I’m not a T-Mobile customer, nor do I Twitter (or would that be tweet?) but I do recognize another attempt by a service provider to restrict access on the part of its customers. If you needed another example of why Net Neutrality is important, read this TechCrunch article:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/14/t-mobile-turns-off-twitter/
Necessary Ingredients Part 2 – Neutral Internet November 5, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Net Neutrality, Opinion.add a comment
The second necessary ingredient in a successful and meaningful integration of technology is also access. In this case, network access. Computers by themselves have great potential. Computers that allow people to connect with each other have even greater potential. The fact that you’re reading this post right now is a small example of how networked technology can connect people.
Follow some of the work by George Siemens for more information about the power of connections. See this recent post on elearnspace entitled “The Value of Connections”: http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/003132.html
He also has a wiki to help explore the concept of connectivism:
http://www.connectivism.ca/
This brings up a second area that I write about from time to time: Net Neutrality. For those who don’t know what it is, it is basically the idea that the companies who supply the infrastructure should be required to maintain an open and unrestricted use of the network. In other words, they built the highway (largely with our tax dollars) and should be able to now charge tolls for different kinds of cars or speeds or directions. Here’s a link to a Bill Moyer’s PBS special “Moyers on Americs, The Net At Risk” on what Net Neutrality is:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/net/index.html
I’ve also put up additional links and resources about what you can do about Net Neutrality on another page for a presentation I did last Spring:
http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/presentations/tie-2007-p2/
If you need additional reasons for why Net Neutrality is important, consider the following recent examples of companies who are demonstrating they will make decisions for us unless their behavior is legislated.
- Gotham Gazette “Censored by Verizon” http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/tech/20071029/19/2331
- Consumer Affairs “Verizon Overrides Internet Searches With Its Own Results” http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/tech/20071029/19/2331
- Geek.com “Comcast blocks Bit Torrent traffic” http://www.geek.com/comcast-blocks-bit-torrent-traffic/
- Consumer Affairs “Comcast Cuts Off Heavy Internet Users” http://consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/08/comcast_ban.html?imw=Y
Net Neutrality Update – July 2007 July 17, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality.add a comment
CNet has reported that Net Neutrality will again be a topic of legislative discussion this year. It provides a short review of the issues, and who is likely to sponsor action in the upcoming session.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9746172-7.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5
Net Neutrality Setback? June 28, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality.add a comment
The FTC issued a report today on the issue of Net Neutrality. In a nutshell, the report says to go slow when thinking about enacting Net Neutrality policy.
Ars Technica’s coverage of the report is linked here:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070627-ftc-shoots-down-net-neutrality-says-it-is-not-needed.html
While the headline seems sensationalistic, the coverage provides 5 specific areas where the FTC will be paying close attention, including demand, effectiveness, degredation, capacity, and response.
The Federal Trade Commision press release is linked here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/06/broadband.shtm
The FTC press release does a nice job of describing some of the actual issues that comprise Net Neutrality, “…including data prioritization, exclusive deals, and vertical integration into online content and applications…” It is also interesting to note that a separate statement was issued by Commissioner Jon Leibowitz who said, “The Report also soberly reminds us that regulation often has unintended side-effects. That surely is true. But is seems to me equally clearly that this Report shows that doing nothing may have costs as well.”
It seems to me that waiting to enact policy or legislation until such time as “significant market failure or demonstrated consumer harm” is proceeding with too much caution in an area that is too important to the future of the Internet in the US.
The report itself is linked here:
http://www.ftc.gov/reports/broadband/v070000report.pdf
TIE 2007 Session 3213 – Free the Internet! June 21, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Net Neutrality, Opinion, Tools.add a comment
3213 – The Internet is (Should be) Free – Me – 6/21/07
This was my first time presenting on my own. I have assisted other people by co-presenting before, so I was a little nervous. Turn out was great, there was only one open seat and at one point a couple of people were sitting on the floor. I even had a TIE board member in the front row. I was a little jittery, so I need to remember that next time I shouldn’t drink pop before the session, only water.
I presented information about free online tools, and how to use a couple of them. All of the materials are posted on my blog at http://villagegreen.edublogs.org. The second half of the session consisted of presenting two video clips, one on net neutrality and another on copyright/fair use. Almost no one had heard of the term net neutrality before the session, but I think they at least knew enough afterwards to dig a little deeper on their own. All in all I’d have to say it was a successful session. Since it was built on an idea that I started with at last year’s TIE, I’m anxious to see where it goes a year from now.
Upcoming TIE Conference June 15, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Conference Sessions, Link Collections, Net Neutrality, Tools.add a comment
I’m putting up my materials for my presentation at the upcoming TIE Conference. Take a look and see if there are better examples of online free tools or categories I’m missing. What are your favorite online tools? There will be a second page covering Net Neutrality still to come. The page is listed above or can be accessed here:
http://villagegreen.edublogs.org/tie-2007/
More Bandwidth May 29, 2007
Posted by Matthew Woolums in Articles/Videos, Net Neutrality.1 comment so far
Business Week has posted an article about the possibility of more bandwidth for home use. In the 12 years or so of connecting to the Internet, my home bandwidth has increased dramatically. Recently, for the last two or three years, it hasn’t changed at all. Time for an upgrade? Possibly. Subscribing to TV shows, having 3 or 4 computers online, listening to streaming radio, and it all adds up. What would you do with more bandwidth? The article answers that question in part, however part of the answer can only be understood once the bandwidth is available. The other question that didn’t get asked is who will pay for the upgraded infrastructure? Is this a Net Neutrality issue? Are we all going to pay for something whether we want it or not? Also, in an even more connected world, what are we doing to prepare our children?
