March 2006 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

Re: [Air-l] Mobile TV
by Heidelberg, Chris 07 Mar '06

07 Mar '06

Shani: I am a weird combination of film/tv producer and public relations consultant/writer who is a podcasting and content manager for a U.S. civil agency. My dissertation is examining mobile TV and gaming. James Gee is a good start on the power of gaming. However, Sprint/Nextel which is located in the DC area has embraced mobile TV and so has Verizon in the United States. My research indicates that South Korea and Japan along with the UK have some of the best mobicasts. The U.S. is a major content creator but the telecomms, entertainment companies, software firms and electronics makers are spending too much time suing themselves and their customers to really develop this type of programming. However, the new iTunes phones from Cingular allows the downloading of only 100 songs but I am not sure how many television shows one can download. Many of the new Motorola phones and Verizon phones; however, have Windows Media which will allow one to watch television via phones. This is a new area but the pending telecom deal between AT&T and Bell South will actually speed up the process of television by phone because the new AT&T and Bell South own Cingular jointly and can provide this service. Verizon is already providing cable service in the Washington area. The real war for viewers is the telecomms versus the cable companies. The winner of this battle will take control of the satellite industry and battle with Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Apple for eyeballs. Apple controls handhelds currently with its popular iPods and iTunes music store. The music industry is trying to charge higher prices but Apple has held the line on prices (.99 U.S. for music and $1.99 for television and films). Apple chair Steve Jobs called the industry greedy several months ago and now there is a legal investigation of the music industry again. They lost the last time and settled for alleged payola and other offenses. Apple is the key. If Apple develops a cell phone with larger capacities, this industry will flourish. There are rumors that a new phone iPod with heavier storage will be available by years end. However, its competitors and allies like Motorola are utilizing Windows so that they can sell more phones. Apple wants people to buy more of its PC's hence they have switched to Intel chips and they want people to connect their phones to laptops. Its competitors charge $1.99 for a computer free download to the phone directly which is where Apple may be forced to go. Remember, Apple just had its 1 billionth download a week ago so it is still the leader. If you find some good things send them my way. Thanks! You just got the quick abbreviated version. Chris Heidelberg PhD Student Morgan State University Chris.Heidelberg(a)ssa.gov -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of S.S.Orgad(a)lse.ac.uk Sent: Monday, March 06, 2006 7:58 AM To: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Mobile TV I am seeking recommendations for readings on mobile TV. This may seem slightly off-topic, as this is not a directly Internet-related topic. However, with the increasing trend towards the convergence of technology, it becomes harder to make a distinction between Internet and new media and so I believe this is not that off-topic after all and may be of interest to others on the list. If you've come across interesting studies on early adopters, interviews with people in the industry or anything you think may be relevant, I'd be grateful if you could email me your recommendations offlist and I will post a summary to the list. Thanks for your help, Shani ********************************** Shani Orgad, PhD Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom e-mail: s.s.orgad(a)lse.ac.uk tel: +44 20 79556493 fax: +44 20 79557248 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad>

1 0

Re: [Air-l] Mobile TV (Intern)
by richard-seyler.ling＠telenor.com 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

Hi, Would you all mind if I re-posted this thread on the mobile society list? There might be some people there that think it interesting. Rich Ling -----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces(a)listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of A.C.Roibas(a)bton.ac.uk Sent: Monday, 06 March, 2006 17:46 PM To: S.S.Orgad(a)lse.ac.uk Cc: air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org Subject: [Air-l] Mobile TV Hi Shani, This is a quite tricky issue. As you know many companies in Europe, Canada, Korea and the USA are launching what they call 'mobile TV' but at the end it is just broadcast of TV channels. I am doing research about this issue (first with Vodafone and then BT) and I've found out that there are reasons that might undermine the success of such operation. The first one is related to the intrinsic physical diversity between both interfaces (TV and handhelds) making them unsuitable for the same way of delivering of content. The second regards the context of use: TV is traditionally used in a domestic private environment and usually involves a social sharing while mobile phones are mainly used in public environments, entail an individual experience and generally the is much shorter. Moreover, unlike TV, handhelds are regularly used in different situations and with different purposes and they are likely to be used as an auxiliary tool to assist users' in a main activity (in this sense, mobile content could be related to the specific context of the user - context awareness). Finally, there are also operability differences: TV (including interactive TV) is considered a passive or low interactive medium while handhelds entail a high interactivity and connectivity... So, broadcasting of TV programs on handhelds is likely to be as deluding as interactive TV was. In other words, mobile TV will be something else and will have to do with issues such as socialibility, context awareness, creativity, interactivity, convergence (as you say: iTV, mobile & Internet) and connectivity (one to one and one to many). We are organizing a workshop and a SIG at CHI 2006 in order to generate discussion and share research experiences and case-studies about this topic [http://soc.kuleuven.be/com/mediac/chi2006workshop/index.htm] Regards, Anxo ---------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Anxo Cereijo Roibás, School of Computing, Mathematical & Information Sciences Faculty of Management & Information Sciences University of Brighton Watts Building, Moulsecoomb Brighton BN2 4GJ, United Kingdom t +44(0)1273 64 2458 f +44(0)1273 64 2405 m +44(0)7814 491790 http://www.cmis.brighton.ac.uk/staff/anxo/ I am seeking recommendations for readings on mobile TV. This may seem slightly off-topic, as this is not a directly Internet-related topic. However, with the increasing trend towards the convergence of technology, it becomes harder to make a distinction between Internet and new media and so I believe this is not that off-topic after all and may be of interest to others on the list. If you've come across interesting studies on early adopters, interviews with people in the industry or anything you think may be relevant, I'd be grateful if you could email me your recommendations offlist and I will post a summary to the list. Thanks for your help, Shani ********************************** Shani Orgad, PhD Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom e-mail: s.s.orgad(a)lse.ac.uk tel: +44 20 79556493 fax: +44 20 79557248 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad> _______________________________________________ The air-l(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

1 0

Mobile TV
by A.C.Roibas＠bton.ac.uk 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

Hi Shani, This is a quite tricky issue. As you know many companies in Europe, Canada, Korea and the USA are launching what they call 'mobile TV' but at the end it is just broadcast of TV channels. I am doing research about this issue (first with Vodafone and then BT) and I've found out that there are reasons that might undermine the success of such operation. The first one is related to the intrinsic physical diversity between both interfaces (TV and handhelds) making them unsuitable for the same way of delivering of content. The second regards the context of use: TV is traditionally used in a domestic private environment and usually involves a social sharing while mobile phones are mainly used in public environments, entail an individual experience and generally the is much shorter. Moreover, unlike TV, handhelds are regularly used in different situations and with different purposes and they are likely to be used as an auxiliary tool to assist users' in a main activity (in this sense, mobile content could be related to the specific context of the user - context awareness). Finally, there are also operability differences: TV (including interactive TV) is considered a passive or low interactive medium while handhelds entail a high interactivity and connectivity... So, broadcasting of TV programs on handhelds is likely to be as deluding as interactive TV was. In other words, mobile TV will be something else and will have to do with issues such as socialibility, context awareness, creativity, interactivity, convergence (as you say: iTV, mobile & Internet) and connectivity (one to one and one to many). We are organizing a workshop and a SIG at CHI 2006 in order to generate discussion and share research experiences and case-studies about this topic [http://soc.kuleuven.be/com/mediac/chi2006workshop/index.htm] Regards, Anxo ---------------------------------------------------------- Dr. Anxo Cereijo Roibás, School of Computing, Mathematical & Information Sciences Faculty of Management & Information Sciences University of Brighton Watts Building, Moulsecoomb Brighton BN2 4GJ, United Kingdom t +44(0)1273 64 2458 f +44(0)1273 64 2405 m +44(0)7814 491790 http://www.cmis.brighton.ac.uk/staff/anxo/ I am seeking recommendations for readings on mobile TV. This may seem slightly off-topic, as this is not a directly Internet-related topic. However, with the increasing trend towards the convergence of technology, it becomes harder to make a distinction between Internet and new media and so I believe this is not that off-topic after all and may be of interest to others on the list. If you've come across interesting studies on early adopters, interviews with people in the industry or anything you think may be relevant, I'd be grateful if you could email me your recommendations offlist and I will post a summary to the list. Thanks for your help, Shani ********************************** Shani Orgad, PhD Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom e-mail: s.s.orgad(a)lse.ac.uk tel: +44 20 79556493 fax: +44 20 79557248 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad>

1 0

Mobile TV
by S.S.Orgad＠lse.ac.uk 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

I am seeking recommendations for readings on mobile TV. This may seem slightly off-topic, as this is not a directly Internet-related topic. However, with the increasing trend towards the convergence of technology, it becomes harder to make a distinction between Internet and new media and so I believe this is not that off-topic after all and may be of interest to others on the list. If you've come across interesting studies on early adopters, interviews with people in the industry or anything you think may be relevant, I'd be grateful if you could email me your recommendations offlist and I will post a summary to the list. Thanks for your help, Shani ********************************** Shani Orgad, PhD Department of Media and Communications London School of Economics and Political Science Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE United Kingdom e-mail: s.s.orgad(a)lse.ac.uk tel: +44 20 79556493 fax: +44 20 79557248 http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad <http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/media@lse/whosWho/shaniorgad>

1 0

AoIR Executive report March 2006
by Matthew Allen 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

Matthew Allen, President Briefly, since October, I have been mainly working as liaison between the Executive and the Conference and Program Chairs for the 2006 Conference. I have also been negotiating with Peter Lang concerning future publishing arrangements for the annual, redeveloping parts of the AoIR website, seeking new discounts for members, coordinating exec activities including finalising locations for the 2007 and 2008 conferences. Charles Ess, Vice-President 1) I worked with the exec and the program chairs for AoIR 2006 to develop the call for papers and distribute it widely. 2) I summarized the results of the AoIR Ethics Working Group meeting at AoIR 2006, including proposals for new projects and our endorsement of a new chair, Elizabeth Buchanan; presented these to the executive committee, and received their approval. Elizabeth Buchanan is now official chair of the Ethics Working Group, but I continue to work with her, e.g., in fielding occasional queries. (We've received a few over the past several months regarding research on blogs and forums, as well as occasional notes informing us that the AoIR guidelines are being used in a research and/or publication project.) 3) I will work with the exec and members to identify the conference venue for 2007, and then pursue the organizational details with local organizer(s) and volunteer(s). Monica Murero, Treasurer Since my election as the new Treasurer I have been taking major steps to improve the AoIR membership process and criteria, and make them easier. I am about to present to the exec a report about the further steps we need to introduce to activate the new process (re 1 date for renewal at conference time -- you will hear more from me very soon) with the help of our system officer and secretary. This is a complex process, but all is proceeding smoothly. I am involved in several other volunteer activities for aoir. For example, I am offering the chance to have refunds or donations to members who renew in 2006. I am going to introduce an organized activity of fund raising and donation, and have been very active in all aoir exec business, and discussions; these include for example criteria for organizing the current conference in Australia , future conference locations, and previous conferences financial matters. Lack of volunteers to form a working team refrained me from organizing a new survey to learn more from AoIRs (expectations, needs etc.), but hopefully in the future conditions will be more favorable. I invite all to contact me anytime to let me know thoughts and suggestion to bring to the exec's attention. I often remind to the exec to be very careful in their decisions when have an impact on costs, to make wise use of our limited resources, and keep in mind students 'pockets. In these days, I am looking forward to receiving from Matt the budget and the conference fees of this year's conference. I am working with Steve Jones to finalize financial aspects of the last conference in Chicago. Irene Berkowitz, Secretary Assisting with membership changes Ted M. Coopman, Graduate Student Representative Since taking office I have strongly advocated for the interests of graduate student members. I am happy to report that the Executive Committee has shown a great deal of interest and support for the special needs of graduate students in the planning and execution of AoIR 7. These include the availability of less expensive accommodations at the conference site as well as food inclusive in the price of registration during many breaks and events. I successfully advocated for an alternative presentation session that provides an opportunity for novel ways to display research and intellectually interact in more casual environment (so use it!!). Finally, we are in the final stages of approving a Graduate Student Research Group project that will provide graduate student members a way to contribute to the success of AoIR through supportive research. This research will be used to provide the Exec with important data concerning our past and present operations as well as create useful content for the membership. Randolph Kluver I have been focused primarily on building the visibility of AoIR in the Asia-Pacific region, through recruitment to the organization and to the Brisbane conference. Caroline Haythornthwaite I have been participating with the executive in discussions of current business. Kate O'Riordan 1) Co-ordinating an updated list for distributing the AoIR conference cfp and helping to distribute the cfp 2) Organising an opportunity to promote the work of the AoIR ethics committee through the Economic and Social Research Council methods festival (UK) in negotiation with Charles Ess 3) Helping review proposals for papers at the AoIR conference Alex Halavais, Systems Officer Much of my work has been getting up to speed on systems since I got started. I think I've got a map of our systems and an idea of where we want to move going forward. Instating, maintaining, and fixing the submission process for our coming conference, and dealing with papers from last year. Looking now at alternatives that are more effective for our 2007 meeting. Working with Monica and Irene on creating a new system for managing membership. Holly Kruse, List Admin I've been approving subscription requests and helping people who are having problems subscribing to AoIR lists, unsubscribing, setting them to digest, and so on; and just generally working to make sure the lists are running smoothly. Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)

1 0

2006 Conference update
by Matthew Allen 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

Dear all In a further conference update, we can announce that paper and panel submissions for the 2006 conference in Brisbane, Australia have closed and reviewing is now underway. There were over 350 submissions (including panels) and around 380 individual papers. The conference, which will be over 3 days 28-30 September; it is shaping up to be another great, interdisciplinary showcase of research into internet and other network technologies. Stand by for further information on keynotes, program and registration soon. Matt (with thanks to Axel Bruns - Conference Chair and Fay Sudweeks - Program Chair) Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)

1 0

2007 and 2008 Conferences - Canada, then Europe
by Matthew Allen 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

Dear all It's been great to see the discussion of future conference locations on the list. This discussion has helped the executive as it has over the past 2-3 weeks been determining locations. The AoIR Executive is pleased to announce that the 2007 AoIR conference, the eighth organised by the association, will be in Canada and that the following year, 2008, the conference will be in Europe. Charles Ess, Vice-President of the AoIR, will be the executive member responsible in the coming year for developing concrete plans for these conferences including specific city locations, program chairs, local conference chairs and then liaising with organisers and the Executive. The final decision on a specifc city location and personnel will be made by the AoIR Executive based on recommendations brought to it by Charles over the next 2-3 months. The Executive invites AoIR members and others who are interested in being closely involved in conference organisation to contact Charles (cmess(a)drury.edu) directly. We are particularly seeking local organisers in one or other Canadian cities to commence organisation of next year's conference; we are also keen to begin planning for 2008 in Europe. Charles will help you with the first steps you will need to take in providing to the Association the kind of information necessary to bid successfully to host the conference and the various responsibilities involved. Matt Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)

1 0

teens and myspace
by Carol Perryman 06 Mar '06

06 Mar '06

The idea that 'reciprocity is critical for bonding' appears to be better accepted by teens than by 'suited humans' judging by the tenor of Dr. Cornwell's response. I believe the comment that was criticized was made by someone else, and was based upon informant interviews: >>Consequently youth do have a sense of stigma around online socializing in cases where online communication supplants face-to-face interaction. At least this is how I interpret my informants when they talk about all the benefits of using personal media (e.g. easier to admit things and be open, and the flexibility of online socializing), yet still emphasize that face-to-face interaction is their preferred mode of socializing. - Marika Luders, March 1. There does appear to be some imprecision in several places here regarding the attribution of stigma. Stigma by whom? The comment by Marika Luders appears to refer to peer-group stigma applied when non f2f interaction becomes preferable to f2f - a sense of social dysfunction, perhaps, compared to a more acceptable norm where online is adjunct to in-person. Dr. Cornwell's comments, on the other hand >>My research, observations and common sense tells me that this assertion is nonsense. The fact is that there is a stigma attached to not having the ability to cell phones, text messaging, email or chats. clearly address a completely different issue. He is not talking about an imbalance, but about an ability, a literacy level. I see no reason to belittle others' comments, especially when the original messages have been misinterpreted. Carol Perryman MSLIS TRLN Doctoral Fellow School of Information & Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "From then on, when anything went wrong with a computer, we said it had bugs in it." -- Grace Murray Hopper, on the removal of a 2-inch-long moth from an experimental computer at Harvard in 1945, quoted in Time 16 Apr 84.

1 0

(no subject)
by Dr. W. Reid Cornwell 04 Mar '06

04 Mar '06

In response to Dana Bodys discussion of MySpace. At last there is some sanity offered to this discussion. Several days ago Nancy Bayme suggested that there is a stigma attached to having email and chats as a focal point in teens' social life. My research, observations and common sense tells me that this assertion is nonsense. The fact is that there is a stigma attached to not having the ability to cell phones, text messaging, email or chats. MySpace reprensents the freedom of communication offered by the internet. Gen X,Y and Z have embraced this open communication in ways that the button down views of academe brethren cannot seem to grasp. Remember these opinions emerge from an organization that is paranoid about one to one communication between its members. How can they possibly understand that young people, however naieve, are not afraid to share their feelings, thoughts and creativity among themselves. Are there dangers inherent in this openness? Of course there are. The authors of "Cluetrain Manifesto" have expressed this nature of this open communication with a clarity everyone in AOIR should know. They also clearly point out that the fear among those in authority is borne of the loss of control they perceive. Academes by nature thrive on being in control. It is whipped into them through the rigors of academic training and the power derived from holding hostage the aspirations of their students. They hang on to it with unnatural and arbitrary constructs like tenure. They label those who disagree with these constructs as unprofessional. There is a powerful and immutable disconnect between the connected generation and those that consider the Internet as a career building oddity. There is a powerful and immutable disconnect between internet entrepreneurs and the false scholarship of those whose thinking is not vetted by the peer review of actual competitive experience. Personally have difficulty ascribing credibility to people who won't open an unsolicited communication even when the subject line is within their stated interest. Crush open communication and you crush curiosity and creative thinking. Is it any wonder our education system is in disarray? _____ Dr. W. Reid Cornwell The Center For Internet Research P.O. Box 6369 Breckenridge, CO 720.212.0719 (phone) 970.485.5109 (mobile) <mailto:wrc@tcfir.org> wrc(a)tcfir.org http://tcfir.org

1 0

teens and myspace
by Nancy Baym 04 Mar '06

04 Mar '06

I have a question for those of you working with youth culture, particularly but not just around MySpace. I have been interested recently by what I perceive as a gap between the ways in which most of us *use* the internet socially (ie, often without big issues about it) and the way we *think* about using the internet socially (ie, a poor substitute for more meaningful face-to-face interaction). Recently a number of adults have said to me that this gap between action and perception, which they acknowledge in themselves, is completely gone with teens, what with myspace and all. My question is whether youth really perceive their online communication to be completely non-problematic compared to face-to-face communication, or if even amongst teens there is a sense that it might be a little pathetic or embarrassing to use the internet socially (even amongst those who do). Is the stigma around online socializing really completely gone for youth? Of course, adults always perceive kids as way better and more comfortable with the net than they are, which makes me wonder if this sense that kids have no sense of stigma is adult perception vs youth reality. Thanks for your thoughts, Nancy

12 15