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The iPhone will impact mobile journalism, news consumption

I broke down last weekend and bought an iPhone. I’ve been coveting it for months but I wanted to wait a few weeks after it went on sale to see if it could really live up to the hype. Since I couldn’t find any reviews that were seriously negative, and since Walt Mossberg gave it a thumbs up, I decide to take the plunge.

In a nutshell, it’s awesome.

And, despite its expense, it could potentially change the way mobile journalists operate. The Safari web browser absolutely rocks for everything from reading RSS feeds to general web browsing. It has its own version of tabbed browsing (which I love) and a slick interface for filling out forms on web pages and logging into web sites that require registration. That makes it easy to update a blog or send an email - perfect for filing bits of information quickly from wherever a reporter might happen to be.

When connected to a wifi network, the connection is about as fast as my laptop computer. When not connected to a wifi network, the Edge network connection that works on the cellular network is not as fast, but still fast enough.

The email synced nicely with my Gmail account. The video voicemail function allows you to scroll forward and back with a slide bar while playing your voice message, especially helpful for those fast talkers who blow through their phone number when leaving you a message. The screen is sparkling for display of everything from web pages, to photos and video, and readable even in direct sunlight. The battery life is solid – yesterday, after using it all day, I still had 75% remaining.

But the most amazing part is the overall user interface. It’s like nothing I’ve ever used, but it works seamlessly and is extremely intuitive. (My 6-year-old son has already mastered the parts of it I’ve let him play with.) What would be a lengthy scroll through dozens of songs or contacts becomes a moment of joy as you swipe your finger downward and watch the list roll like a slot machine.

I wish it would shoot video. I wish it would allow for document saving and transfer. And I wish it would allow for copy and paste of text, although that’s practically unnecessary because the interface makes most information clickable.

The current version’s emphasis on the iPod functionality doesn’t help a journalist. And news organizations aren’t likely to pay the extra dough for that feature, but the rest of it is incredible useful.

The iPhone changes the way you think about consuming information, too. So even if news organizations never buy the device for reporters to use to create information, they should be aware of what it can do for their audience.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Sunday, July 29, 2007
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Pew report: Video becoming more and more 'typical'

The folks at Pew released another report on Internet usage, this time focusing on video. Here’s the lead:

Fifty-seven percent of online adults have used the internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day.

Wow. Almost one in five web users dowload video on a typical day. I haven’t seen recent figures for RSS usage, but I would guess that twice as many people - if not more - download and watch video on a typical day as read an RSS feed.

All news sites have RSS feeds on a typical day (since they’re automatic). Does yours have a new video available for downloading and viewing on a typical day?

Posted by MarkBriggs on Thursday, July 26, 2007
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What news organizations are up against

In addition to the deep pockets and high-octane innovation from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL, news organizations hoping to compete for market share and readership online face the ever-swelling horde of Web 2.0 startups. What started with MySpace, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr is spreading like wildfire throughout Silicon Valley, Boston, Seattle and most other U.S. cities. Venture capital funding of new Internet startups is hitting levels last seen in 2000.

Here’s a look at the “roadmap" of web trends and the companies and individuals fueling the fire. You will find a few news companies (the biggies) along the green route, so there is at least some reason for optimism.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Tuesday, July 24, 2007
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It isn't always easy

Learning new technology can be frustrating. Even the most tech-savvy people run into problems with systems and web sites from time to time. Which makes this tidbit from The Week magazine even more delightful.

Good Week For: Justice, after police in Hanover, Germany, refused to press charges against a man who was struggling with a balky computer late at night and hurled it out the window, causing a loud crash that woke some of his neighbors. “Who hasn’t felt like doing that?” said a police spokesman.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Friday, July 20, 2007
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Do you really know how to use the Web?

Sure, you know how to launch a web browser and visit your favorite web sites. But are you doing it as efficiently as you could?

After sitting down with a couple of sportswriters today to show them some advanced blogging skills (both have been blogging for more than a year), I discovered some basic tactics that help me streamline my forays onto the World Wide Web, getting the most information possible in the shortest amount of time, were new to them. As a result, I’m planning a training session and handout on the Basics for Best Practices on the Web. I’ll post it here when it’s finished.

Here are a few points I’ll include:

- Use Firefox as your browser, and use tabbed browsing. When you see a link you want to follow, use the Control key or Apple key when you click on a link to open them in a new tab. This allows you to finish reading, then go to the new web page later.
- Use an RSS reader. For RSS fans, this is old news, but surprisingly few people still take advantage of this time-saving and information organizing tactic.
- Learn how make screenshots. On a Mac, it’s Shift-Apple-3. On a PC, use the PrtScr button, then Control-V (paste) into an image editor.
- Learn how to use the keyboard shortcuts, especially cut, copy and paste. And know the quickest way to highlight a URL in a Web browser: click on the favicon (the little graphic on the left).
- Use Snipshot.com to edit your photos. It’s quick and easy and free. What more do you want?
- Use del.icio.us to file links to great articles or blog posts that you want to save. Stop killing trees by printing them out.
- Use TinyURL.com to turn super long and ugly URLs into nice, cute links to send people in email or IM.

I know I don’t have all the tricks of the trade. What are your favorite time-saving Web tactics?

Posted by MarkBriggs on Friday, July 20, 2007
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New mobile devices for reporters

You knew this was coming: A company called OQO is selling a full-featured laptop that weighs about a pound. It can run a full Windows environment is smaller than most paperback books. Reporters could run spreadsheets, full email applications and even log into their organization’s content management system with one of these (and a wifi connection). A friend at work just bought one and brought it in today. It’s pretty impressive.

Still, given the fact that it costs $1,400-2,000, I’d rather buy three reporters an iPhone than purchase one of these. You?

So far, we’ve been pleased with the LG EnV, which is now available at Amazon for $30. Budgets are tight, after all.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Thursday, July 19, 2007
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The book is now available as a PDF

The book, Journalism 2.0, in being printed and will be available in August. You can order advance copies (only $10!) on the Knight Center web site, where you can also download the PDF version.

I would like to personally thank Jan Schaffer and the staff at J-Lab for all their hard work in making this happen. I know the project required the efforts of team of people, many of whom I’ve never even met.

Hopefully it will help introduce the concepts and skills in use today by dozens of journalists who are leading the way in this digital evolution to those who are seeking more help in this area.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Wednesday, July 18, 2007
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Video now a common practice for newspapers

It’s probably not news to you, but video has now become commonplace for most newspapers. An email listserv that I subscribe to became an informal poll last week with the question of “how many videos does your staff produce each week?” Six months ago, the question would have been “does your staff shoot video?”

Another question included in this informal email poll was who shoots and edits the video? Most newspapers are still relying on online staffs for this duty, while a couple have photographers handling their share and there is now evidence that reporters are getting in the game.

It will be interesting to see where this stands in 12 months, then 24 (I hesitate to look any further out than that). At this pace, almost all newspapers will have reporters shooting and editing their own video (not all of them, of course) in addition to several proficient photographers doing video (maybe even the entire staff at some shops).

A new blog on learning multimedia also surfaced in this email train, from a journalist in Kansas City who was described as a “reporter who has become a video guru.” Check it out.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Saturday, July 14, 2007
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Time to start asking for lat/long on maps

Unfortunately, we had to cover one of those news stories that turns your stomach this week. In the process, I was making a Google map to illustrate where a 12-year-old girl’s body had been found.

Since it wasn’t at an exact address, the map couldn’t be as precise as we wanted. So I asked the police PIO for the latitude and longitude of the location. They weren’t able to provide it this time, but you can imagine that this will become a standard operating procedure in the future. With more and more cars equipped with navigation systems, and more and more people using online mapping tools, lat/long will become as common as street addresses and zip codes are today.

Posted by MarkBriggs on Saturday, July 14, 2007
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