Over the last two years, much of the attention on convergence has traditionally focused on technological aspects namely, application,service, device and network. Media, through the accessibility and affordability of enabling technology, has changed through all recognisable appearances.

The previous one-way flow of content to consumers has morphed into a two-way connection of content and feedback. This has dynamically changed the very nature of media, shifting target audiences from the general to the niche, increasing the volume of content as well as changing the manner of consumption.

“The convergence between technology, media and telecommunications has been a fundamental factor in this development,” notes Frost & Sullivan’s Mobile and Wireless Industry Analyst Pete Nuthall (http://www.mobileandwireless.frost.com) “New technologies, first through the provision of broadband services and currently through increased functionality of mobile devices, as well as mobile operator strategies, have penetrated the mass market.” This has provided users with the opportunity to directly control timing, format and the actual content itself, either through increased interactivity or by providing the necessary tools, thus enabling them to become content producers themselves.

The result has seen the blurring between journalist reporting and opinions. Further, this has increased feedback channels and created greater transparency, as well as accountability for the industry in terms of measurement.

Moreover, the cost of technology is proving to be a declining barrier to mass market participation in media creation. Although authorities continue to regulate the media, the Internet has enabled greater freedom of information.

Accessibility to the Internet and the explosion of digital TV have dramatically expanded the range of content and its distribution. The primary catalyst for media liberalisation has been the access to high bandwidth broadband services, which spurred Web 2.0.

Mobile data services are set to extend this evolution further. The delivery of media has also changed, with less importance given to programming schedules. The emphasis is now on release dates and ‘on demand’ content.

“Awareness of Web 2.0, through social networking, podcasts and user-generated content has already crossed over into the mass market supplemented by camera phones, MP3 players and broadband technologies,” remarks Nuthall. “Mobile operators in particular have the power to accelerate this further, by removing the barriers that currently exist.”
Media convergence has created various potential revenue streams for the telecoms industry. The success of converged content and channels can be seen in instances such as the success of iTunes.

However, there are concerns over the exclusive nature of some of these agreements. Advertising based models appear promising but the purchasing power of the targeted user as well as their ‘affinity’ towards subsidised/value offerings are still in question.

The Convergence of Telecoms, Media and Technology: How Mobile Services will Accelerate Changing Media Consumption is part of the Mobile & Wireless Subscription. Access to this research is available at http://www.mobileandwireless.frost.com 

The travel industry and I have lost touch a bit ever since I began to understand I could earn more and potentially become a less stressed and a happier person doing something else than flogging hotel rooms and cheap flights to Malaga.
However that is not to say this is a love forlorn and I promised myself I would return to say a few words when something really groundbreaking would come along. The question is as always…is this really it?

More and more it seems to me that non-industry people are getting involved with the evolution of online travel services. People such as Andrew M. Lin, Founder and CEO of TripTie.com, a former interactive designer from New York City.

All these home grown projects basically start from a similar fundamental need and Andrew’s story is much like others I have heard.
I.e. Finding it difficult to book a trip, buying the rough guide, standing in line or waiting for brochures from the official tourist authorities, surfing around online and basically getting loaded down with so much information he and his girlfriend were incapable of making a discussion about anything anymore.

It was my understanding, from taking a few pioneering steps in the travel technology sector way back when I had the whole start up buzz going on that things were about to improve. OTA standards, XML and multiple GDS connections promised to greatly improve our holiday planning capabilities. Eventhough I do actually believe some of this has happened it seems to be taken quite entirely taken for granted by the consumer.

During the past few years we have seen the complete offline intermediary field (i.e. the former high street travel agent) entering the online market with white branded web sites, in addition white labels were being pawned off to companies and interactive agencies with little or no travel experience whatsoever. From a regulatory standpoint we are really way back to the Seventies.

Consumers are also gradually beginning to pull up their noses at this ugly cut throat business because I have to agree its not a pretty business (but people have a inherent tendency to over-glamorize it) I believe that one of the real threats for travel providers is competing for the customer whilst safeguarding the integrity of the brand, but I have said this before and many people agree with me now;-)
As an informed consumer I am weary of booking on sites where I think the tiers between me and the provider of the actual service has gotten too far. TravelSmarter is a good example if you realize that they boast about having 130 commercial partners including for example Kayak, Starwood, United, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Hilton and Enterprise, who they claim partner with them as an alternative to higher cost channels, so I guess its all back to a brand equity story which may I humbly state has nothing to do with my experience of the holiday as such.

Ask SmarterLiving.com’s Krista Pappa (above Booking buddy.com and TravelSmarter.com) on what his greatest concerns are at the moment and it all sort of brings it home ie. CLICKFRAUD and you probably thought they were concerned about improving your holiday experience, think again.

So here comes Web 2.0 and with it a couple of practices which are reminiscent of the days that Thomas Cook was still pawning steam train tickets from a soap box cart: word of mouth. The consumer retaliates, and so they should, how dare the travel industry get their minds in a muddle, inspire stress, emotional turmoil and moody girlfriends. If you have visited a high street travel agent recently with a feeling of pure relief you know what I am talking about.
Online travel is not about who has the best sales pitch anymore, as the online travel conglomerates are well aware, its about community and social interaction The Go See Tell NetworkTripwiser.com, Tripup.com and afore mentioned Triptie.com are good examples of consumer generated and perhaps more importantly consumer inspired initiatives.

Online travel marketing has been, to put it lightly, uninspiring and a slightly boring space, not bringing the consumer much more than the equivalent of highway billboards and Google ads claiming Last minute, cheap flights and travel discounts. I hope thisis about to change.

I have RSS overload, I have plenty of favourite Web 2.0 applications (in fact I have more of them than Amelda Marcos had unworn pairs of shoes) I have a Mom (huh?), I have two of my own community sites: http://www.dolcevia.com and http://www.thewestconnection.com besides several others I just belong too and yes I basically have quite a few competitors. If you are wondering where I am going, it may be a good idea to check out Particls.com right now alternatively save time and read on.

Particls was delivered to us by TouchstoneLive and it is like the mama of all widgets, the filter allmighty. What Particls does is pretty easy to explain to just about anyone and that is in itself really beautiful. In fact it simply helps you track your favourites sites and applications by displaying desktop alerts for important changes. Not rocket science at first glance, I agree. However..

I first came into aqaintence with Touchstone whilst researching the true ideas and believers behind the Semantic Web and you cannot indeed help on passing, to bump into another bunch of strong believers: namely the APML people. These are the same who claim high stakes on the Attention Economy, the Semantics however believe we are going to be tagging our way to ultimate wisdom and riches. To explain with slight depth. APML people are focussed on turning the web around you, making it deliver its resources to you in a very personalized fashion, which is how it should be. They use terms such as Attention Profiling and Personal Relevancy, comparing information against your profile to measure its relevancy to you.

Generally I believe Semantics will lend you a pair of wellingtons and a flashlight and tell you to follow the Tags, more commonly known as yellow arrows.

Both parties are actually working from the same foundation: the Web is just getting too big for a normal sized brain to comprehend. If you take the universe as the metaphore for the WWW we are all still very much in the exploration phase. In fact most of us havnt even ventured beyond the moon and the further we go it just keeps on getting bigger. God is never going to give you that inifinit amount of time to follow all the sites, conversations and newsfeeds you believe you have a right too know about.

So here comes Particls, the first of the APML offspring, it allows you to subscribe to sites and feeds and get notified when they change but that doesnt even skim the surface of what it actually does. Particls is intelligent because it can work out how important that news is to you and displays that on a ‘porportional alert’.

From the Touchstone manifesto a very bold statement, which I think sounds pretty emcompassing, I imagine it is referring to Particls: “An Attention Management Engine is an engine that proposes to solve the latest Attention Deficit Problem by calculating the Personal Relevancy of content and using a set of presentation rules in order to manage and filter the flow of information into your consciousness.”

Back to basic English and to show some Touchstone examples of alerts :
“For example, general information can be displayed on a news ticker, important stuff might appear on a popup alert and urgent information could be SMS’d to your phone.”

I really like the idea and I have good faith in Touchstone that it will work. I recommend you try it out or at least watch the demo-casts. If you want to know how it works: http://www.particls.com/about/technology/

If you would like to try a beta, I think I should have a few invitations if its not available on the website: http://www.particls.com

The United Artists for Advertising ‘UBFA’ is a non-profit art project on the subject of Advertising. The idea is you click on the eye and you will be forwarded to one of their life-like creations.

They live in a weird self-inflicted vicious circular world. “UBFA is there to promote UBFA. Money made will be reinvested in promoting UBFA. UBFA will be eating itself in an absurd loop. We make a commercial for a commercial. “
Read more in their statement..

I only just had the opportunity to watch the movie Children of Men, out on DVD since last week in Belgium.

I’d been totally oblivious to all the fuss around the movie but dropping me in cold had a rather sobering effect on me. Prior to this my idea of future advertising ran along the lines of Mission Impossible, here is a slightly different take: Children of Men