Excerpt:
"First some background: We told you earlier that this alternate reality game started with the delivery of a backpack containing the “personal effects” of Peter Parker, effects that led to a website, which in turn revealed six Twitter accounts that belonged to ARG operatives in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Denver, Phoenix and Seattle. That far-flung ARG team then tweeted five locations in each city — it was then up to the players to dash to be the first to arrive at one of those destinations..."
full post here:
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/02/24/amazing-spider-man-arg-paints-the-t...
We are connecting everything to everything.
When we permit any object to transmit a small amount of data and to receive input from its neighborhood, we change an inert object into an animated node.
Dumb parts, properly constituted into a swarm, yield smart results.
The surest way to smartness is through massive dumbness.
The aim of swarm power is superior performance in a turbulent environment.
Complete surrender to the bottom is not what embracing swarm power is about.
Without some element of governance from the top, bottom-up control will freeze when options are many. Without some element of leadership, the many at the bottom will be paralysed with choices.
At present there is far more to be gained by pushing the boundaries of what can be done by the bottom than by focusing on what can be done at the top.
The great benefits reaped by the new economy in the coming decades will be due in large part to exploring and exploiting the power of decentralised and autonomous networks.
Excerpt from The Atlantic, Feb 24, 2012:
"It is probable Kickstarter will distribute more money this year than the NEA," said [Kickstarter co-founder Yancey] Stricker in an exclusive phone interview with TPM. "We view that number and our relationship to it in both a good and bad way."
As Strickler explained, the milestone is "good" in the sense that it means that Kickstarter may now reach a point where it will funnel as much money to the arts as the federal agency primarily responsible for supporting them, effectively doubling the amount of art that can get funded in the country.
"But maybe it shouldn't be that way," Strickler said, "Maybe there's a reason for the state to strongly support the arts."
At the Web 2.0 Expo & Conference in San Francisco, Kevin Kelly, co-founder and Editor-At-Large for Wired Magazine, delivered a brilliant keynote outlining his vision for the future of the web. I was impressed by his clarity and by how simply and succinctly he was able to simplify complex concepts to share his vision.
Kelly described six broad trends for what lies ahead at a 5 to 10 years horizon. What he envisions can be summarized in six words: screening, interacting, sharing, flowing, accessing, and generating. I’ll do my best to convey what he said.
6 Directions for the Future Web
Original Post by:
Jean-Marie Bonthous, PhD, is Principal of Seamless Social.
Grazie for capturing this talk for those not there!
The trend that interests me most.
"Generating
The web is the largest copy machine. Anyone can make copies of anything, which makes copies less valuable. What becomes more valuable, however, is what cannot be copied easily. What is hard to copy and easy to pay for is what has a future.
Trust and reputation cannot be copied easily. They have to be generated inside the context of each exchange with the customer. They are generatives. There are 6 generatives, or areas where it is not possible to copy and where value will be created: immediacy, personalization, authenticity, attention, and interpretation.
Attention is the ability to capture people’s attention. Whoever can get people’s attention can get paid for it. According to Om Malik from GigaOm, the economics of attention are much more unforgiving than the real economic underpinning of a product. You can find money for your company from an investor, but it wouldn’t really matter if you don’t have users’ attention. Attentionomics is a hard reality especially in highly competitive and somewhat subjective marketplaces like Hollywood movies, music and even fashion are markets where “attention” determines the outcome.
Immediacy is a reason to pay. If I can get a free copy of an article right now, without having to wait, I am ready to pay for it rather than wait one hour for it. I am not paying for the article but for the immediacy.
Personalization is another thing worth paying for. Maybe it will be a custom version of a symphony tuned specifically for the acoustics of your home. You will be glad to pay for this customization of a symphony otherwise available for free on the web.
Access to software may be free, but you will be ready to pay for authentication.
You will pay Amazon not for books but for recommendations, findability, and reviews. And if you want music, it will be free but you will be ready to pay for embodiment–to see the musicians in person.
In the upcoming web, we will also be ready to pay for interpretation. Maybe software will be free, but the manual explaining how to use it or how to customize it for your specific needs will be something you are ready to pay for. Accessibility will be where there is a frictionless charge, 24/7.
Where will the money flow?..."
Read the full post here:
http://seamlesssocial.com/material-type/articlesposts/the-web-in-2020-kevin-k...
Excerpt:
"WoooooooooOOOOoooOoOoooOOooo!
UPDATE: We did it! 100% funded in just over eight hours. You people are amazing! But it's not over yet. The number keeps going up and now the question is just how much news do we want to make with this? We're getting a lot of attention already and it seems like this little project could have an impact beyond itself.
All money raised will go to make the game and documentary better. Additional money means it can appear on more platforms, be translated into more languages, have more music and voice, and an original soundtrack for the documentary, and more! We're still working to figure out exactly what we can offer, but we'll post more information as soon as possible.
Your backing and comments have been truly inspiring to me and the team, so on behalf of Double Fine and 2 Player Productions I want to say THANK YOU!!!
I can't wait to see where this thing can go!
Welcome to the Adventure..."
"...Google, which owns YouTube, is paying an array of producers, from seasoned pros like Mr. Robbins to self-made Web stars, to create 100 new video "channels." Google is giving each channel up to $5 million in funding, according to people familiar with the deals. The first channels began launching last month, and more will continue rolling out through the summer.
Hulu this week premiered its first scripted series, "Battleground," about staffers backing an uphill Senate campaign in Wisconsin; it will be followed by an off-kilter travel show from "Dazed and Confused" director Richard Linklater. For the spring, Yahoo is developing "Electric City," an animated series about a dystopian society of the future, co-produced by Mr. Hanks, who will also voice a character. Yahoo is already rolling out about 20 original shows each month, mostly short-form reality shows...."
read the full post here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204883304577223630028525366.htm...