2. a new Nokia N800 Internet Tablet… pocket sized, blazingly fast at connecting to WiFi networks and bluetooth devices, a fine podcatcher and Internet Radio – with a linux terminal interface where I can enter most of the same shell commands I once used to manage big UNIX boxes.

3. a new unlocked Nokia 6300 GSM cell phone… a phone not only capable of going “native” in most countries of the world with local SIM cards, but also the miniature camera I’ve always needed to get those unexpected photos at unexpected times in unexpected places.

The whole, however, is greater than the sum of the parts. Together these devices enhance the capabilities of each other in ways I’m only beginning to appreciate.

I’ll be writing more about how these devices play together in the near future.

Cheers,
-pmh

One of the issues I had with the system that was implemented was that it attempted to separate audio cassettes from photographic slides – they were stored in different physical locations due to their different size & shape (cassettes did not fit well into Kodak Carrousel tray boxes).

Another issue seemed to be that there was no satisfactory way to classify a slide/tape presentation or a 16mm. film that had been transferred to video… and what of a copy of the same content in a different format? Should they have the same library code and be shelved together?

I don’t have the background in library science to know whether these issues were specific to that one library’s implementation or whether they have been addressed since then, but a little library science would help in the brave new world of audio & video podcasting.

an iPod is not an iPod…
I would suggest there are two broad classes of iPod (or other portable media device): those that play video and those that do not. I still enjoy my 4th Gen. iPod with it’s 20MB disk. When I do go to video it may be on another platform, but for now my use of an iPod is strictly for audio. (I watch video online in iTunes or on the source website).

More importantly, my choice of audio or video has to do with when and where I choose to listen or watch the show. I will never watch a video podcast while driving my car, but that’s where I have been enjoying most audio podcasts.

My point, and I know you’ve been wondering if I have one, is that podcasters – audio or video – need to realize the difference between these media at the consumption level as well as the similarities and differences at the technical level. For example, the renowned technical trend tracker Chris Pirillo has recently begun using his original audio podcast feed at the URL

“http://www.thechrispirilloshow.com/subscriptions/mp3.xml”

for his new video podcasts. Note that the URL itself implies audio by referring to the “mp3″ format. Technically, an enclosure is an enclosure and RSS doesn’t care if it’s an audio or video file.

That’s a good thing, but it’s up to humans to bring order to the podosphere!

the proper “shelving” of different media…
In order to separate my mp3 podcast downloads from my video I choose to use the Juice “podcast receiver” for audio while subscribing to video podcasts (which I do not load onto my iPod) in iTunes.

Chris’ feed was one of the first I subscribed to in the early days. His shows became less frequent, at least on his original feed, and I rather missed his “Bickersons” like conversations with his lady, Ponzi. I’m glad to see him back in a new format, but I would have preferred to hear an audio announcement of a new URL for the video podcasts.

Should Chris decide to release the audio portion of his video podcasts as an mp3 I would be happy to download it to my iPod via Juice. Video, however – like those A/V slide trays of long ago – does not fit well well in the audio “container” on my virtual media “shelves.”

This is not the only issue that brave new media have to deal with: don’t get me started on podcasters’ erratic use of mp3 ID3 tag metadata! That is probably more of a long-term problem than the overloading of my audio iPod with Chris’ video files.

Cheers,
-pmh

Certainly it will take time, but when a major force like Apple iTunes’ boss suggests that the world would be better off without DRM you can be sure they are also working behind the scenes to promote this vision.

The statistics on the percent of DRM protected content found on the average iPod are a strong argument for the futility of the DRM approach. Apple iTunes has done everything by the book, as the media industry demanded, and DRM has been a spectacular failure, to judge from the figures Jobs quotes.

Jobs musings are entitled Thoughts on Music, but with a video iPod and videos available through the iTunes store it seems clear that the lessons learned about music DRM will also carry over to video DRM; same lessons, but I would guess it will take longer for the MPAA and similar industry groups to learn them.

The features incorporated in Microsoft’s Vista to protect so-called “premium content” have been said to threaten the new OS’s stability – and they certainly will raise the cost of many computer components, according to Peter Gutmann’s Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection.

Gradually the industry will realise that there is no ROI to justify these measures.

-pmh

Now I am standing outside Austin Hall again. It is sunny and I’m wearing a Podcast Network T-shirt with “Stick it in your ear” on the back. The Beyond Broadcasting conference was held here last weekend.

I picked up the T-shirt from Adam Curry, aka The Podfather (because of his contribution to podcasting). The shirt was a free gift that I found when I jumped off a Sikorsky helicopter hovering nearby and flew over to the rooftop lounge of Curry Castle, a gathering place for podcasters and listeners in the virtual world of Second Life.

Yes, it’s actually my avatar wearing the shirt and it’s a virtual construction of Austin Hall that exists in a world where I can fly, chat with people from around the world, and even attend conferences like Beyond Broadcasting… with a virtual presence, anyway.

When Adam Curry started telling podcast listeners about how he was building a castle and encouraging a virtual podcast community within an online virtual reality “game” I thought it might be interesting.

But when I caught a presentation by Ed Castronova on IT Conversations with an economist was specializing in the virtual economy there (and the real life economy that is linked to it) I knew there was more going on here than an online diversion and I was complelled to visit the place.
I had a great time creating my avatar in an idealized version of my real self and when I found I could fly I was virtually blown away!

The concept of people meeting and creating & promoting virtual businesses in a virtual environment makes my “somethin’s happening in here” sense tingle in much the same way that it did when I first started downloading and listening to podcasts.

In a way I had been waiting to hear about something like Second Life since my daughter started playing in the virtual world of Disney’s Toontown (her big green bunny persona is great at defeating “lawbots” and “headhunters” by throwing pie in their faces!).

I missed Beyond Broadcasting, by the way… got there too late. But I’m sure at least a few of the presentations made the point that a virtual world like Second Life is part of the future of the entertainment industry…

Why watch actors on a screen when you can be one?

Last night I visited a club and caught the tail end of a set by a singer-songwriter. The music was streamed to my computer and I used a new “gesture” I had scripted to clap and shout “Whoo Hoo!”

I’d love to tell you more about it, but there’s a class on building castles that I don’t want to miss… gotta fly!!

HiHo!
-pmh

This used to be my world, oh, before I crossed over from non-broadcast video production (from ad agency animatics for O&M to nuclear power plant training for Ontario Hydro, if you really want to know) to the dark side of computer science to eventually become – The Portable Consultant

My point, if I have one, is that I was pleased to see that not only is video tape dead but I was informed by a knowledgeable professional, David Tames, that HDTV is also dead and has been for years! Unbeknownst to the telcos and big media, convergence is indeed real and has really happened. Briefly, as others have been saying, your PC is your TV.

I want my MTV
Thank goodness. I wanted to build my own MythTV anyway (after watching Revision3′s DIY video, here). But I had better hurry up before Big Media leads the US government to inflict all digital systems with DRM and plug Analog Holes (A-holes!).

…sigh…

-pmh

ps: how about that “4-card RAID array” that fits in the palm of your hand instead of a DV tape! How my own digital lives have now converged.