Some really good points on why an iPad user says they prefer Safari over apps.
http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/05/i-prefer-safari-to-content-apps-on-the-ipad.html

What really resonated with me:
- apps don’t talk to each other
- social media doesn’t launch apps
- the UI is different for every app so you need to work out how each works
- yah, multitasking… no multiple tabs!
- web content is still free

Really makes me wonder about the volume of trade in the ipad app store. The crucial differences between iphone apps and ipad apps are the display size of the device, the cost of apps, subscription (you keep paying) and the fact that it doesn’t really matter if media companies have worked out how to automatically redirect urls to an optimised experience… as it was in the old days with the iphone… if it is a half decent site to start with that is!

Now, I know there are plenty of places and people and purposes for this. But my post is speaking generally. After all the business model should be about attracting as many consumers as possible. So how many is possible?

I wonder if users are going to be paying more for premium products will it equal less variety per user? How thin will that dollar need to be spread out across the media landscape? Will people really be loyal to more than one paper and a few magazines? And that’s just the slither of the market who are interested in the short to medium term.

At least this whole consumer fanaticism going on in the net world might distract the attentions of developers getting that one URL thing sorted and keep the iphone app industries pockets licked.

Even so, there are free news apps on this device to compete with already. And in many cases they got to market first. Just like the real web. (real, ha!) So does it all come back to brands backed by plesant experiences? (note brands first and loyalty second… UX as insurance?)

I guess what I’m really saying is that we should also be focused on making sure our current web properties perform well on these new devices as well as hopping on the app train. Just like you would support and test for any browser. Users already have two communications bills on the whole. One for our internet and the other for our phone.

Sure, the app store is an amazing business model and a cash cow if you get it right, but is it as neccessary for users with a larger screen for sites with good web infrastructure? In a competitive market it is likely that someone else will get this right if you don’t.

“The internet is like this new human experience. At first everybody is going to like it, but there will be a fundamental change in the human condition. One day we’re all going to wake up and realise that we’re all just servants. It’s captured us.”

- Josh Harris, Protagonist of We Live In Public (Ondi Timoner’s Sundance winning doco)

Josh Harris, most remarkable for his online video and streaming businesses / experiments did some ground breaking and odd things in the late nineties, just before the bubble burst.

Here is a list of just a few of them featured in the film:

• Founding Jupiter research (brought by Forrester Research in 2008 well after Josh floated, sold and then moved on to begin his next project)
• Founding Pseudo.com an internet tv station (1993)
• Creating an alter ego called Luvvy, the clown who would happily come out at networking events
• Filming and streaming  footage of 100 ordinary Americans and artists who were living in a wild and sanity challenging bunker in 1999. (totally nothing like Big Brother)
• Filming and streaming his own relationship from home
• Becoming an apple farmer

Josh is extreme, visionary, in many ways successful and decidedly strange. His success came from a ballsy approach so there is no surprise that his high flying take on things meant he would suffer badly in the dot-com crash. Josh always spent his personal profits on the next big idea and he loved to live it up wildly. Audiences will probably think he’s a jerk, but they will certainly find him interesting. I’m glad people like him exist, because extreme thinking and doing is just so damn interesting. For me, this film is a net-nuts must because it explores an era at its most insane and because it is totally wild and annoyingly fun. Thank you Trimoner!

So, as I become hopelessly addicted to podcasts, I have a desperate urge for the fix of sharing them with others. So, as promised to a few friends, here is a list of what I’ve been captured by recently, with more lists to come as I go.

Oh, and please send your suggestions – I’m always on the look out.

On The Media
Website | iTunes
For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of “making media,” especially news media, because it’s through that lens that we literally see the world and the world sees us. | Published: Monday’s EST time, WNYC, USA

The Moth
Website | iTunes
Open mic unscripted story telling. Usually 15 – 20 minutes,  amazingly well told personal stories. | Published: Tuesday’s EST time, Non-for-profit, New York

Future Tense
Website | iTunes
Exploring the social, cultural, political and economic fault lines arising from rapid change. | Aired: Thursday 8.30am repeated Friday 12.30am | Published: Thursday’s, Radio National, ABC

Media Talk USA
Website | iTunes
Jeff Jarvis and a regular panel of media commentators analyse the latest developments in the US media and tech worlds. | Published: Monthly, The Guardian

This American Life
Website | iTunes
This American Life exploring a different theme, every week by telling the stories of everyday people. | Published: Monday’s EST, Chicago Public Radio

How delighted was I hear my T-Shirt has shipped?

Well heaps, coz when I read this email it was from a real person and it made me laugh. I think I have a crush on Jason Yelland, because he’s so smart to see that the user experience is about personality.

Here is his grandma in the T-shirt I brought.

True user experience engagement genius.

—–Original Message—–

Dear Mel, thankyou for your purchase. Your new T-shirt package has now started its excellent adventure towards you. It will travel via truck, plane and possibly camel until it arrives on your doorstep ready for you to wear at your local lamington bake sale next weekend. Remember that $10 of your money has gone directly to the artist who created the design, which they will most likely spend on beer, plastic novelty telephones filled with candy, and of course lamingtons. $1 from each t-shirt also goes towards buying my wonderful parents a present for putting up with their house looking like an exploded t-shirt factory.

Your T-shirt has many uses, we recommend wearing it.

You may experience a number of side effects from wearing decibel clothing:
-        extreme comfort
-        constant cravings to skip work and go to the beach
-        improved appearance
-        heightened desire to consume lamingtons.
-        tingling knee caps
-        sudden urges to bush jump
-        an increase in the number of pissed idiots coming up to you and telling you they like your t shirt
-        you may also find riding in shopping trolleys more enjoyable whenwearing our products.
-        Don’t forget to check the site for fresh designs each week.

Cheers.

jason yelland – decibel clothing co.

The push towards the long tail continues with Australia’s first print on demand book machine. Dubbed the ATM for books this machine defies shelf capacity and will surely bring a broader collection of obscure books to Australian audiences.

Content diversity: Amazon & Espresso Book Machine 1 all.

Delivery time: Amazon – 2-3 weeks, Expression Book machine – Minutes.

Ba!boooow!

Amazon watch out… you’ve still got a physical delivery model.

As for content authors…. hmmm… this sort of diversifies our collective cognitive surplus doesn’t it? Same surplus, more authors.

It doesn’t surprise me that audience consumption & the direction of / role that media plays in democracy makes a key point in Al Gore’s Assault on Reason. It seems as though Al’s personal accounts of the effect of media on democracy will deliver impact. Interestingly, Al appears to favor interactive media for its ability to provide platforms for participation and makes calls for the www to remain open.

Calling for an open web – I wonder what Al thinks of Google & if he in fact uses it at all.

 http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622015,00.html