As a followup to the post about data, ReadWriteWeb had an article on Thursday by Jon Mitchell entitled “Here Are 20 Companies Who Sell Your Data (& How To Stop Them)”. Good overview information and some solid suggestions for those who want to avoid being a tool.
All posts in category prudence
News, Commerce, and the Common Good
Another great piece by Mathew Ingram over at GigaOm, this time on the New York Times’ proposal to start offering early access to some of its news to businesses. By saving some content exclusively for businesses to access, they certainly could make money. In that, they would be like Bloomberg or Reuters, which is a concerning idea. Ingram states it perfectly:
One of the things that bothers me about this idea is that I think there is still some kind of public-service or public-policy value in journalism, and especially the news — I don’t think it is just another commodity that should be designed to make as much money as possible. And if the New York Times were to take stories that are arguably of social significance and provide them to hedge funds in advance, I think that would make it a very different type of entity than it is now. What if it was a story about a dangerous drug or national security?
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 27, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/27/news-commerce-and-the-common-good/
“Don’t Be a Tool” and Other Friendly Reminders
When I was a kid, I remember people having diaries. They chronicled their lives writing their innermost thoughts as a way of processing and remembering. These diaries were hidden away so no one saw them, and sometimes had little locks on them to symbolize the privacy of their contents. I presume that some people still keep diaries. I know people who carry journals around and write in them. But I also know people who chronicle their lives in public via Twitter, blogs, or Facebook. Many people chose to share their more than they used to, and draw the lines between public and private in new ways.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 26, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/26/dont-be-a-tool-and-other-friendly-reminders/
Paying (for) Attention
This past week, three stories about advertising caught my eye.
1) Ad Age ran a story on an Innerscope Research study for Time Warner about media device use during non-working hours. Setting aside all of the questionable aspects of the report and study (using the thoroughly debunked category of “digital natives,” referring to people as consumers, and the reliability of a study with a sample size of 30), the study confirmed what we already know from experience: younger people tend to switch between media devices more than older people: 30 times per hour vs. 17. I can’t stop changing the channel on the one device (tv); kids change channels between devices. The big takeaway was that you have to advertise in creative and emotionally engaging ways if you want to be noticed.
2) Yet it may not be as simple as all that. VatorNews reported on a Nielson survey of “28,000 online consumers in 56 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.”
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 13, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/13/paying-for-attention/
Technical Fix to a Social Problem
Why is it that when your cellphone is stolen, someone can just register it with a new account and start using it? In order to get service, you have to provide a service provider with the electronic serial number of the phone. So, they already have massive databases of valid serial numbers. Why not just have an something in the database record that records that the phone has been reported as stolen? That way, it can’t be reactivated, rendering it useless to steal? Technically speaking, it’s a pretty easy thing. But it would be a great thing for cell phone owners.
Posted by Jim Caccamo on April 11, 2012
https://rewiringvirtue.com/2012/04/11/technical-solution-to-a-tech-problem/
Rewiring Virtue 