Recently in Work; Other Category

First published here on 18/12/08.

There's a risk that we all think super-fast broadband is a "good thing" (copyright Sellar and Yeatman), and so Kate Bevan is right to ask in The Guardian today whether we actually need connections at 50 Mbps or more.

Arguably, based on current consumption patterns the answer for most people is "no".

But if we took that view then we would never see any innovation, and society would risk standing still.

Harry Warner, one of the studio founding Warner brothers, opined in 1927; "who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" Later that year Al Johnson's The Jazz Singer - Hollywood's first talkie - was released and movies changed forever.

But Warner's comments weren't as ridiculous in 1927 as they might seem now. Talking movies were an unproven technology and many people thought they would be little more than a passing fad. In contrast, silent movies were a proven winner with large scale audiences. Now there's only one year-round silent movie cinema that I know of (in LA, and it's fabulous,) whereas every one horse town has a talking movie cinema.

When we talk about the possibilities for super-fast broadband, we're not in too dissimilar a position to Warner et al in the late 20s. We've already speculated about some of the possible uses of super-fast broadband from HD movie downloads to multi-player gaming, but arguably the real innovation will come about as the technology is embedded and becomes established. Consumers will probably start to do things with the technology we haven't considered or thought to be niche. This is exactly what's happened with SMS or many Web 2 applications and will, I'm sure, be equally applicable to a super-fast broadband age.

As they say (repeatedly) in the Field of Dreams, build it and they will come. Who they are, and what they will do with it, of course is another matter altogether...

I got a nice letter a few months ago inviting me to become a Fellow of the RSA, which I've now done.  

I was there last night, having a quiet drink in the bar, there's worse places to hang out...

I don't remember this being filmed, but it was. It's not as bad as I thought!

An exciting new project which has been bubbling away under the surface for a while was announced in this months BBC Outreach newsletter.

Launching in 2007 we are working in partnership with BBC Sport and BBC 1Xtra and the Asian Network to offer 10 media traineeships for people who are long term unemployed (six months or more) and who would not consider the BBC to be an employer they would typically think of working for.

A new (ish) project which we're delivering, and which has great potential. We launched this a few months ago, I'm working on, and as ever, suitably excited about!

Agents4Change is an innovative project set up to encourage young people between the ages of 16 and 25 to use their passions and their energy to make a difference in their local community.

The project is led by 20 young people - Community Catalysts - who are volunteering full-time to set up exciting opportunities in their local areas for other young people to join in with.

Volunteering charity CSV is using its expertise to support the Community Catalysts to engage with 12,000 young people across England. The project is sponsored by Tesco and youth charity v.

I referred rather opaquely to some freelance work I was doing a while ago on my blog (see entry for 29th June,) now I can - without any danger of breaching commercial sensitivities - finally reveal what it was.

Glyn Jones, who was my first boss at the BBC and who now heads up the Operations side of the commercial DAB Digital Radio broadcaster Digital One, approached me a while ago about writing an independent buyers guide to every digital radio available in the UK marketplace.

It proved to be quite an undertaking - there's a lot of products and we wanted them reviewed not just by us, but punters too - and so to do the project a few other people were brought on board to work on it too.

The fruits of our labour (and my evenings and weekends for a seven week period!) is now available to buy. The magazine came through my door the other day and it looks great. Really great. So much so that it's hard to recognise a lot of the stuff I did, but then that's always the way!

Worth checking out if you want to buy a radio and don't know where to start - the reviews are pretty warts and all (which may piss some manufacturers off,) and if you're still unclear on what to buy in Lewis' let me know and I'll give you the inside track ;-)

There's a lot of great stuff out there, but there's a lot of shite too...

A little late with this post I know, but I had the pleasure (or otherwsie) of reading this full report the other week. The main findings were predicatable and can be found elsewhere what is much more interesting is the analysis done by Spectrum Strategy Consultants.

This paints a picture of the technological landscape in the next few years and includes some interesting projections about what technology will become the norm in the next five years.

Most of what they talk about is already available - so the predictions aren't exactly groundbreaking or radical. However much of it is currently expensive or hard to find. Spectrum think prices will tumble quickly so that luxuries will become everday objects.

For example, in their world, I'll soon be posting photos direct from my camera to my blog straight after taking them wherever I may be. No need to wait several days to sit down on a PC to edit and upload - it's all instantaneous, but I doubt we'll still feel that the technology buys us more time, like with the labour saving devices of the 50s, they just opens up more possibilities and more things to do....

Some of you know about this, some not, but here's the text of an internal email from my boss from the other week.

"Following recruitment for the new role of Head of Strategy and Development, I am pleased to welcome Damian on board to this post.

The new role will involve reviewing our current activities with a view to ensuring we offer a holisitic service to our users; identifying policy areas within national and local government activity where social action and media training can present solutions eg. crime reduction, civil renewal, media literacy; working with National and Regional Managers to identify resource requirements and funding opportunities to sustain current activities and the development of new and innovative work.

Damian's extensive media experience across editorial, strategic and communications issues, in commercial and public service arenas, as well as the third sector, will help contribute to our potential to deliver our strategic plan.

Damian's experience includes time in commercial radio helping to launch Oxygen FM in Oxford - the first UK volunteer led radio station with a full FM licence. From here he joined the BBC where his most recent role was as Business Manager for the BBC’s New Media & Technology Division, during a period that saw the launch of BBCi, the roll out of a comprehensive Interactive TV service, and the submission to DCMS of the BBC’s case for its online service."

NB: this is what I've been doing for the last year (more or less,) but it's now permanent!