Trivial Posts #7: Omnishambles, Mobile Search, And Freemium Snooze Buttons
There are some weeks I find a lot during the week to put on the blog, others where it is either a bit quieter, or my attention is focused on deadlines or other projects. It was the latter this week, but I’ve still been squirreling away links and articles that have made me think. And as Monday kicks off, you can enjoy them as well in my weekly collection of interesting posts, ideas, video clips, essays, images, and anything else that catches my eye online.
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Trust The Omnishambles Armistice
Armando Iannucci calls for Al Murray to debate Russell Brand ahead of the UK General Election in 2015. It says a lot for UK politics that this is probably the most sensible discussion around televised debates and engaging the public ahead of the vote in early May going on at the moment….
That said, I really want this to happen. And Iannucci to chair it.
This Is How Pop Will Eat Itself
The hollow husk of the 20th century music industry rolls on, but increasingly everyone who isn’t a middleman is finding ways to step out of the way and find their own path to a earning a living by being creative. Thomas Honeyman lays out how the music industry as killed by a single generation and the power of the internet and the general purpose home computer took the power away from The Man.
How one generation was able to kill the music industry
Could You Extrapolate MySpace?
In 2004 the BBC Creative’s Research and Development team decided to think about how children would interact with the online world in ten years time. How did Matt Locke, Fiona Romeo, Alice Taylor, Hannah Richardson, and the rest of the team, get on? Locke looks back and finds out the answer is a rather English ‘not bad, not bad at all.’
Scenarios From 2004 ABout Kids Online Lives In 2014
Search’s Quiet Transformation
At some point in 2015, more searches on Google will be made from mobile devices than desk bound technology. That changes Google’s mission, and requires ‘changing the jet engines in mid-flight’ I could have put this in the ‘Long Read’ section of the week, it’s going to need twenty minutes and a strong cup of coffee, but Steven Levy’s look at Google Search in the world of smartphones and mobiles lays out the challenge for the company that is arguably the glue that holds the internet together.
How Google Search Dealt With Mobile
The Numbers Behind An Illusory Adventure
With the flag that it really is at the top of the ‘long tail’ the eight-strong team that make up the London-based Ustwogames has released the financials around the 2014 hit game Monument Valley (and it’s sequel/part two Monument Valley: Forgotten Shores) over on Tech Crunch. All the marketing strategies, awards, and promotion hide two basic facts. The first is that it is a really designed and gorgeous looking game. The second is that the biggest money earning strategy was… releasing new content.
The Cost And Reward Of Making A Hit iOS Game
Paying To Sleep In
Now this is just… evil. It’s an alarm clock for your smartphone, but the use of the snooze button is a freemium element. If you want another five minutes, you’re going to pay the developers. Every. Time.
This Alarm Clock Charges For Snoozes
This Week’s Long Read: Can I Come Down Yet?
It costs roughly the same as one carrier group for the US Navy, it is the pathfinder to getting off the Earth in the future and outliving the plant, it’s the waypoint to finding new resources in space, yet the story of the International Space Station (literally) goes over the heads of many people. Charles Fishman’s essay in The Atlantic will hopefully remedy that.
What have I been up to?
Only annoying the five BlackBerry überfans that are left with my review of the BlackBerry Classic. Bringing the BB Bold from 2008 forward seven years to 2015 is a… courageous strategy from BlackBerry’s CEO John Chen.
It’s also the time of year where my duties as the janitor of SXSW Baby! kick in as myself, Eric Young, and a team of contributors bring together the news, views, hints, and tips, to get the most from Austin’s SXSW festivals of music, film, games, health, interactivity, and everything else. The podcasts should kick off in February, but if you are heading to the Texan capital in march, bookmark the site!
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