Notes taken at the RSA event "Mobile technology and culture change: how mociology is changing the way we live"
Jim Griffin
personalisation gives much more choice, but fragments community. If we
don't like the news that is offered by one station, we switch to another
which more reflects our views. This may not be the best
thing for the community at large,
Martin Higginson
1.6 billion phones vs 16 million ipods. People want on device.
Music will change.
lots of videos - little discussion or content
Joe trippi
Mobile comms offers a shift in power of goverence.
Information wants to be used
If you can get info when and where you need it at any time, power moves
towards the bottom - down from the people who have traditionally held it
No structure is immune - music is the foreteller as it is the most popular
and relatively small, connectable, contained of info (songs).
Journalism is already affected - camera phone photojournalists (SS: e.g.
snoopt.com in this month's Wired)
This is a good thing for building communities and empowerment. Different to
one way communication media which focuses a single community.
Wireless media currently at same stage as TV in early 50s US. Nixon TV
speech to American people - he talked about the puppy, "Just like that,
Bullshit had it's own medium".
Tech changes lead to let us talk back and talk to each other. People want
to make things better. With that power comes responsibility and
accountability.
Global warming ringtone - have a tune which says "I care about global
warming". How many ringtonea do you hear in a day which mean nothing. (SS:
What about this idea for Children In Need or similar other broadcast event?)
Discussion after talks
432 people were supporting Dean - they are different to the rest of the
world. If everyone asks one additilonal person got another person, they
affected the campaign.... Trippi gives an example with the
Signs for Dean story.
How are we exposed to new stuff? Sites, music, etc. What happens when there
is no shared understanding of concepts, when not everyone saw the same news
programme and can talk about it? (Griffin)
Even if 80% don't agreed with a minority opinion (e.g. Iraq war) it's
impprtant that that opinion can be beard. What happens if there's no
replacement for John Peel? (example added by me to clarify)
Do we need X,000 Joe Trippi's to make sure this goes right?
If a friend recommends something, then you listen. Whatever the thing being
recommended is.
What happens when tech is used for bad purposes? No tech is unique in this
respect.
Getting checks and balances right is not easy
Disinformation can be a problem, but has been a problem forever. Iess can
spread faster, truth can move at the same speed. Which is the best you can
hope for.
What happens to traditions and Reputations and (how) are they replaced?
Answer: who is na journalist and hopw did they get the rights and
priviledges to do that? (Griffin). It's no different from now (trippi)It's
not an eitgher or situation.
Creativity is happening at the edge of the network - group think can lead
to mediocrity.
What happens when your friends all discuss a restaurant to go to and
everyone gts an opinion? The food isn't that great, no one hates it, but no
one loves it either.
My Comments
Mociology, which was part of the event, is a made up word with seemingly no
use outside the event. It is simply a snazzy buzzword for the "stuff
happening with mobile communications". It's shorter at least. While the
three speakers agreed that things were changing, there was disagreement
over how much.
While Jim and Joe spoke well on their areas, much of Martin's time
was voxpops from people on the street in Manchester answering "what would
you like to do with your mobile phone besides talk and text". While the
revelation that people wouldn't pay much for music on their phones was
surpring from someone involved in a company selling ringtones, it seemed
out of place against the substantive comments of the other two.
While the chair was insightful in some comments relating to
his area of expertise, there was an intake of breath from
some of the techies in the room when he asked Joe "how did
you set up a blog?".
Update: having heard from the chair by email, it appears
that the question was intended to ask how the blog was set up in a social
sense - how people got started talking about it and using it
- rather than the mechanics of the technical operations.
Overall, the event was worth the 6+ hours on a train that it
took to get there and back. While it was patchy in places,
it was worth attending.
