Serving up content for mobiles

[Tags: web design, new media]. If you're producing content for mobile consider using a mobile style sheet to present it. A comment by Staci Wolfe, however, says "it might not be as easy as it sounds...

http://www.htmldog.com/ptg/archives/000055.php
http://alistapart.com/articles/flexiblelayouts/
http://www.macedition.com/cb/resources/handheldbrowsercsssupport.html

12 Lessons for Those Afraid of CSS and Standards

[Tags: web design, css]. Excellent article about CSS from the reliable A List Apart - my favourite quote: "Perfection is not when there’s nothing to add, but when there’s nothing to take away"

The Future of the Internet II

[Tags: web design, new media]. From Poynter:

"the Pew Internet & American Life project released an intriguing new report, The Future of the Internet II, by Lee Rainie. A survey of 742 "internet leaders, activists, and analysts" from around the world yielded some consensus on several predictions. Here are a few of the things this report claims might come to pass by 2020:

• "A low-cost global network will be thriving and creating new opportunities in a 'flattening' world." (As long as net neutrality doesn't hit the skids, I guess.)
  
• "A significant 42% of survey respondents were pessimistic about humans’ ability to control the technology in the future. [They] agreed that dangers and dependencies will grow beyond our ability to stay in charge of technology. This was one of the major surprises in the survey."
  
• "Tech 'refuseniks' will emerge as a cultural group characterized by their choice to live off the network. Some will do this as a benign way to limit information overload, while others will commit acts of violence and terror against technology-inspired change."

The future ratings battle

[Tags: web design, new media]. Do you still watch television on your TV? How quaint.

Did you wait till 9pm on Thursday to watch Extras? How ‘2004’.

Television is changing, and it’s not just a matter of a different screen. Broadcasters, having been eyeing up the web with vague distrust for several years, are finally getting their head around this strange new beast, and the way that we are watching television is set to change radically as a result.

The BBC, as always, is one of the pioneers. New digital channels BBC3 and BBC4 in particular last year piloted the idea of screening full episodes of programmes such as The Mighty Boosh online before they even go to air. Not a massive risk, you might think, given the small audiences the channels were getting – but it paid off handsomely, tapping into the target audience’s preference for on demand media.

Channel 4 was not slow to catch on, giving fans of Lost access to every episode of Season One online, and allowing users to watch whole episodes of programmes ranging from Decoding Da Vinci to The Album Chart Show - mounting a significant battle with freelance producers for online rights in the process.

They were wise to do so.

A recent Ofcom report revealed “striking evidence that a new ‘networked generation’ is turning away from television, radio and newspapers in favour of online services, including downloadable content.” The 16-24 year old generation do not sit around the box.

Another report, from The Center for Media Research, this week released a list of the top ten online broadcast media destinations in America. What struck me most? The lack of broadcasters: only four of those listed – NBC Universal, Nickelodeon, CBS and Gannett Broadcasting – are traditional broadcasters. Of the others one was from outside the US – the BBC – and the other five were non-traditional broadcasters such as Yahoo! TV (at number one), AOL, MSN and TV.com.

This is the future ratings battle, and already big names are being left behind. It won’t be long before the battle stretches across the Atlantic. ITV and Channel 5 had better catch up soon.

Related links:
Breakfast launches video podcast (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast/5331500.stm)
C4 Agrees New Producer Rights Deal With Pact (http://www.netribution.co.uk/2/content/view/640/182/)
Ofcom Communications Market Report reveals new industry trends and changes in consumer behaviour (http://www.ofcom.org.uk/media/news/2006/08/nr_20060810)



Paul Bradshaw leads the degree in web and new media at UCE Birmingham’s media department (www.mediacourses.com). He also blogs on online journalism (http://ojournalism.blogspot.com), interactive pr (http://interactivepr.blogspot.com), and web and new media (http://webandnewmedia.blogspot.com).