Tuesday, July 3, 2007

iPhone

When I moved from Wappingers Falls, NY to Austin, TX in 1980, I was moving from one IBM location to another. I was supposed to have the position of Technology Manager for the IBM Austin site. I didn't find out until I got there, that the position was filled. So, I had some time to get acquainted with the technology important to the site. Austin had been a second source manufacturing facility for typewriters and was transitioning into electronic hardware software systems, then in the form of word processors.

I did a research project on the key technologies important to the future of systems similar to word processors and concluded that they were all going to merge - audio, visual, text, electronic communications, and all digital. When I tried to communicate that to Austin IBM executives, I was met with blank stares. I might as well have been from Mars.

The iPhone has finally done just that. And, there's still more to come. Watch what happens when TV goes all digital.

Crowd Gaming

MSNBC.com has come up with a new way to entertain yourself before the movie begins. They have developed motion sensors that are placed throughout the theater that can tell which way the crowd is moving. What’s the fun in that? The crowd controls a ball and paddle like the ancient video game “Breakout.” The goal is to break the wall of news on the screen provided by MSNBC.com.

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/crowd-gaming-what-to-do-before-the-movie-starts/

I've been looking for a demonstration of crowd gaming for awhile. This is a visual demonstration of collaboration.