lunes, julio 06, 2009

¿Está cambiando la medida de la popularidad en la web? Backtype tweetcount

By dreig | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

No sé qué va a ser del Page Rank, del Alexarank o del ya muy mermado Technorati, como del resto de los ránkings que se basan, como criterio fundamental en el número de enlaces entrantes a un espacio para determinar su popularidad, pero leer a Louis Gray me confirmaba algo que muchos defendemos desde hace tiempo:

Twitter amenaza a muchas de las cosas que dábamos por sentadas en la red. Así , se confirma la disminución de la tendencia a enlazar en favor del incremento del fenómeno Retweet (RT).

Quizás el tema vaya en la línea del aumento de la “continuous augmented awareness” (conciencia contínua aumentada, escribiremos en breve sobre ello), que incluye una idea que también quiero reflejar aquí:

Que cada vez somos menos dados a creer (y sellar con enlaces) en meritocracias (poder derivado del mérito que atribuimos a unos pocos) y más a premiar de forma leve, puntual pero efectiva, el trabajo que valoramos y nos gusta de todos (democracia).

Dicho de otro modo, la disponibilidad del conocimiento, el aumento de nuestro sentido crítico nos convierte en menos mitómanos, menos necesidades de autoridades que nos digan lo que es correcto o no leer u opinar.

Veremos cómo se adaptan los índices, las analíticas de popularidad, las corrientes de pensamiento sobre internet a este tipo de fenómenos de reinvención por parte del usuario, pero quería presentaros, de momento, una nueva característica en este blog: el botón de retweet de Backtype.

Lo he cambiado por el de Tweetmeme (lo revisamos aquí), después de haber constatado y leído sobre múltiples fallos. No ocurre con el botón que véis a la izquierda de esta entrada: Backtype tweetcount, que añade al anterior algunas funcionalidades más, como la personalización en colores.

Aunque Tweetmeme recoge posibilidades interesantes como las que se muestran en el gráfico (contabilización global de retweets, analíticas globales) repito que su defecto al no contabilizar de forma fidedigna los RT limita su utilidad.

No creo, que Backtype tarde, de todos modos, en ofrecer posibilidades similares.

Si queréis instalar el botón, podéis hacerlo descargando el plugin para Wordpress desde aquí, o el script que encontraréis en este otro enlace.

AT&T's Designs for the Wireless Market

The iPhone was just the start. To offset slowing growth, AT&T is seeking devices that will expand the way people use its wireless network

By Roger O. Crockett

In one wing of AT&T (T)'s sprawling corporate campus just outside Atlanta's upscale Buckhead neighborhood, a cadre of wireless employees is doing business in a way that's anything but usual for the telecom behemoth. The newly assembled team, led by about a dozen executives, operates more like a startup than a part of the 132-year-old AT&T. And with good reason: Their mission is to come up with innovative ways for people to use AT&T's wireless network. The idea is to go beyond cell phones and hook up all manner of electronics to the Internet—from digital cameras and navigation devices to parking meters—to change the way people live and work.

Despite the unusual operating arrangement, AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson says this is no sideline for his company. He believes that figuring out how to take advantage of mobile access to the Internet will be critical to AT&T's growth. "It is the strategic initiative. It is the business model," says Stephenson in an interview. "It supports everything we're going to be doing over the next five to 10 years."

WORKING WITH PARTNERS

The Atlanta team, officially called the Emerging Devices group, is led by Glenn Lurie, a 43-year-old industry veteran who earned his stripes managing AT&T's iPhone partnership with Apple (AAPL). Stephenson has backed up his high expectations by giving Lurie wide latitude in testing ideas and arranging additional partnerships. What he wants in return is for the team to help AT&T gain share in what by 2013 is forecast to be a $93 billion market for linking gadgets to wireless networks.

AT&T executives won't disclose exactly what kinds of devices they will offer next. But people familiar with the company's plans say one product on the way later this year is an electronic book reader, similar to Amazon.com (AMZN)'s Kindle. AT&T could partner with companies that make rival e-books, such as Sony (SNE) or startup Plastic Logic. Also in the works is a portable navigation device that lets motorists use AT&T's network to collect real-time traffic data. And there's a gadget that lets drivers alert others to speed traps with the press of a button. AT&T is working with manufacturers to develop the products. As it does with the iPhone, the company plans to sell the devices through its own stores and may share wireless service revenues with manufacturers. "We have to break the rules," says Lurie.

In the future, AT&T plans to offer more advanced gadgets: digital cameras that link to the Net for sharing and printing photos; tools that help city agencies monitor parking meters from afar; and devices that alert businesses when they need to replace candy or soda in vending machines. "In three to four years it's not inconceivable a user may have four to five devices hooked onto a wireless plan," says mobile consultant Chetan Sharma.

Stephenson, 49, can't afford to stick with the status quo. A native Oklahoman who began in the IT department of Southwestern Bell 27 years ago, Stephenson succeeded Edward E. Whitacre Jr. as CEO in 2007. Whitacre, who was just tapped as outside chairman of General Motors, transformed Southwestern Bell into the new AT&T with a series of blockbuster acquisitions totaling more than $200 billion. But with no major targets left, the days of cutting megadeals to grow are over.

What's more, AT&T's own growth is slowing. The traditional wired phone service is shrinking by about 10% a year, and wireless growth has slipped enough that it may no longer make up the difference. Analysts expect sales to drop by $1 billion this year from $124 billion in 2008. Next year, AT&T may lose the exclusive right to sell the iPhone for Apple in the U.S., which has helped lure millions of new subscribers.

RIVAL STRATEGIES

Stephenson is betting he can turn the tide with new wireless gadgets. Already, AT&T is selling inexpensive portable computers called netbooks, and the CEO thinks that could soon be a $1 billion business. Lurie believes his team can pull in another $1 billion from other wireless-connected devices over the next few years. "If you get a few billion-dollar businesses I'd say you're doing pretty good," says Stephenson.

But how much difference will this make for AT&T? It will take time to persuade customers to consider buying computers and cameras from the telecom giant, instead of, say, Best Buy (BBY). Even if AT&T adds $2 billion in new revenues over the next three years, that's less than 2% of the total. It may not be enough to get AT&T back to positive revenue growth, given the declines in its other businesses. "It's hard to find things to move the needle for a company as large as AT&T," says John Hodulik, an analyst at UBS (UBS).

At the same time, AT&T's rivals are pursuing similar avenues of growth. Verizon Wireless (VZ) is already selling inexpensive netbooks in more regions than AT&T. In addition, Verizon's network often ranks higher than AT&T's in surveys measuring reliability. "This is a game of catch-up on [AT&T's] part," says a Verizon spokesman.

For his part, Stephenson took an unprecedented step when he signed off on the iPhone partnership that gave Apple a slice of the monthly service revenues from each device. Now he plans to break more new ground with the next generation of wireless devices. "Mobile broadband is where the growth is going to come from," he says. "And we don't think we are even scratching the surface yet."

Crockett is deputy manager of BusinessWeek's Chicago bureau.

domingo, julio 05, 2009

Make your own radio programming

[Photo from MetroMode]

Michael Jackson's death caused radio's roboprogrammers to take a back seat for a while. Increasingly, over the past few decades, broadcast radio has ceased to be a local affair. As the FCC regulations on local ownership of media outlets has faded towards corporate behemoths, radio programming more and more these days is done by databases and distant decision makers. For those of us who remember real radio dj's who made personal decisions about what song would come next, this has driven us more towards our own music collection, rather than being stuck listening to the corporate drivel. Pandora and Last.fm are okay, but they lack the personal touch.

With Michael Jackson's death announcement, the clacker driven music machine was taken off line, if only for a few hours and only on a few stations. Human beings again ruled the airwaves of some radio stations.

"It's a good reminder of what live radio can do, of the role that radio can play in bringing a community together,'' said Scott Fybush, editor of Northeast Radio Watch in Rochester, N.Y.
Many stations no longer have live announcers, using canned voices for part or all of the day, and so can't react to a major news event, he said.

DJ Deirdre Dagata, 39, has been working at Mix 98.5 part time since May, after being replaced at Kiss 108 by recorded programming the month before. And yesterday, she was back in action for the biggest radio day in memory.

Dagata was in constant motion during her 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift. Sitting in an elevated office chair in front of four computer screens, she punched blinking phone lines, tapped on keys, and slid knobs - simultaneously editing recorded calls and fielding a steady stream of new ones from listeners who wanted to share stories about Jackson.

Back in the day, I recall listening to the radio knowing something unique was happening. The radio announcers had their own tastes in music, and they helped to create a following around their musical tastes. Sometimes there was dead air as the dj missed the cue for a variety of human reasons, some more innocent than others. This caused me to volunteer at and work at several radio stations in the 1980's and 1990's. I actually chose my university because I liked the on air feel of the campus radio station, which turned out to be a very influential organization for me. At the station, I did on-air work, production of public service announcements, newscasts, dj training, and eventually became Program Director. The audience's active listenership of the music and programming was exciting to be involved with.

Back then, radio was a public service to be provided to the community, not just a marketing opportunity. Almost radio programming was done with people at the microphones, nearly always they were playing actual records, tapes or cds. Even the commercials were created in-house, except those for national campaigns.

Do you miss real radio? There are a bunch of college radio stations around, and most of them depend on the student body and sometimes local community members to create their programming. With web streaming, it is possible to listen way beyond the broadcast range of your favorite station. WERS in Boston plays a good mix curated by communications students. KEXP in Seattle has a wonderful mix of live performances and genuine djs choosing the music they play. Transom and Youth Radio are helping to cultivate the new voices of radio that we need. Public Radio Exchange has a channel on XM radio, and features a mix of voices that you may not have heard before.

With podcasting and the great suite of computer software and hardware available for free, just about everybody has the radio recording studio in their laptop, desktop, cellphone and digital camera that I had in my bedroom as a high school kid. If you want to broadcast, you may want to build your own transmitter. Sending out your homebrew radio programming out to your house or close neighbors could be a neat experience. You could record some short pieces like songs, jokes, or seque buffers, drop them into your music library and set your music player loose, sending your personalized radio program out to the transmitter.

Radio used to be a LOT of fun as a listener and programmer. Now the tools are much easier to get and use for us regular folks. Hopefully, the corporations will lighten up on their centralized programming and return to the human touch of radio, but even if they don't we can realize that we can choose what radio we listen to or create. If you have any stories of making your own or listening to real radio, pirate or otherwise, tell us in the comments.