The iPhone effect

by blakespot
Changing habits with technology:
[Via business|bytes|genes|molecules]

Lots to blog about, so I will just put up something that came to me in the flight from LA to SEA that I took earlier today. First time this sort of occurred to me was a couple of weeks ago at work.

Like many geeks, I carry a moleskine notebook around with me (a small one in my travel bag, a bigger one at work) to scribble down notes just in case, especially in situations where a laptop might be inappropriate or inconvenient. With the iPhone and Evernote, I seem to have stopped doing that. On the plane today, I was writing down all kinds of ideas, except that I wasn’t writing, but typing and this time, the notes would actually be legible afterwards.

Just an example of how our devices and web services are changing our habits, especially as we get better at the interface of online and offline, of syncing across devices, etc. Just the other day, I saw someone launch a big compute job in the cloud using the iPhone as the launch interface. Fascinating times.

Access to really smart phones, like the iPhone, are rapidly changing a lot of personal habits. I’ve done the same thing, only with steno pads. But accessing them months later, and reading my handwriting, is really problematic. Using the iPhone to enter the notes changes everything. Not only are they legible but I can access them from anywhere I have internet access.

The iPhone really is the handheld computer envisioned by so many science fiction authors.

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0

Change for education

Educational rantings:
[Via business|bytes|genes|molecules]
Image by mndoci via Flickr

I should start with a disclaimer. My studies in the US have been limited to graduate school, so a lot is hearsay and gut feeling.

Fred Wilson writes about hacking education. First, he echoes something I believe in strongly education is possibly the most important thing we can do for our world and our children.

Education is the ultimate equalizer, at least a good one, and more importantly, the right now. The one that is composed for formal school education, informal/extracurricular education, and what we learn from our parents. Fred believes this is something children in this country are not getting from a badly broken public education system. Being from India, I can’t really say much about that. Myself and most of my peers are a product of India’s private school system (which we actually call public schools), since our government run schools range from pathetic to passable, with some notable exceptions that are really good.

He seems frustrated with educators in the US telling kids Wikipedia is not reliable. He is probably most frustrated with the uneven quality of teachers, something we really can’t avoid, since unevenness is not something limited to the education profession. He wants to figure out a way to use the net to give more power to kids and parents to take control of who educates them.

[More]

Our education system will have to undergo some real changes to accommodate what technology is bringing. People in other parts of the world are using these technologies because they have little choice (i.e. it is often easier to access the Internet than access good teaching tools). What happens when students can access the BEST teachers online, where class size is not a problem? What happens when teachers as authorities become coaches and facilitators?

Finding information used to be hard, so having experts teach us made sense. Now finding information is easy. The students need teachers that can provide context and understanding, not rote memorization.

If schools can not make the transition, I can see more and more people home schooling, not for religious reasons, but for technical reasons. They could just learn better because the overall structure is more conducive learning than sitting in a chair in a class being lectured at.

Technorati Tags: Education, Social media, Web 2.0

Coworkin’

Introducing Whitespace:
[Via Blue Flavor]

On Monday, November 10th, Blue Flavor will open up its doors to freelancers and other independent, community-minded creative and technical people, with the grand opening of Whitespace.

Co-working, Blue Flavor Style

Whitespace is a coworking arrangement for professionals who are passionate about their work, but tired of working alone at home or in noisy coffee shops. Think of it as a co-op, artist and tech space. It’s also a great environment for relaxing and collaborating with like-minded people.

We offer three coworking packages: a daily membership, a part-time (four days/month), and a full-time (monthly) membership. Each membership comes with high-speed wi-fi, access to the space (which has a kitchen, dining room, conference rooms, and more) during normal business hours, and free admission to Whitespace events.

You are invited to our grand opening event on Friday, November 14th at the Blue Flavor offices. Please RSVP via Upcoming or Facebook. Hope to see you here!

For more info on packages, pricing, scheduling, etc., visit rentwhitespace.com

Coworking has some real possibilities and they are in Seattle. I may drop by just to get an idea of what it’s like. I know my wife would like me out of the house more.

Technorati Tags: Open Access, Social media, Web 2.0