me*dia*or

Audio podcast of Radio New Zealand interview with Futurist Gerd Leonhard: the opportunities and friction of ultra-fast broadband (and the future of paid content) | MediaFuturist

This short interview on my last trip to Auckland was fun - check it out. The interviewer is Kathryn Ryan (and she really knows her stuff!). Thanks for having me, Kathryn.

Ntn-Gerd Leonhard Interview Radio New Zealand

From Nine To Noon on Tuesday 21 February 2012

Gerd Leonhard has been dubbed “one of the leading Media Futurists in the World” by The Wall Street Journal. He is the co-author of the ‘The Future of Music Music2.0’ and ‘The End of Control’. He is the keynote speaker at the Commerce Commission conference The Future with High Speed Broadband: Opportunities for New Zealand. Play (Windows)  Play (Other)

Download: Ogg Vorbis  MP3

• “Facebook has a bright future,” as long as it can stay “human and open,” contends Gerd Leonhard,…” (futureof.biz)
• Gerd Leonhard : Magnets or Handcuffs (thefuturesagency.com)
• Gerd Leonhard: The Future of Business, shared by @gleonhard - Here’s a few screenshots from various… (mediafuturist.com)
• “A new type of capitalist activist, the Charles Dickens of futurism, Gerd Leonhard is a green…” (futureof.biz)
• This is a short but rather poignant video featuring some… (greenfuturist.com)
• TeleMedia Futures: Keynote Speaker and Futurist Gerd Leonhard… (thefuturesagency.com)
• New audio / video interview on the future of branding, business and the Internet (incl. some comments on SOPA), via TribeRadio (mediafuturist.com)

Must watch videos: System Failure: everything is a remix (via Neil Perkin) | MediaFuturist

Check out the videos Neil is mentioning below; all 4 of them are a must-watch if you are interested in the future of copyright.System Failure - Only Dead Fish

http://bit.ly/xbFJ97

Data is the new oil - and ‘publicy’ is the new default (my guest post) | MediaFuturist

From the Orange Rag, in prep for the upcoming LawTech Futures event in London, in March 2012

When observing the explosive growth of the mobile Internet, the ubiquitous availability of ever more powerful digital devices as well as the global boom in social networking, it becomes patently clear that there is a common economic force behind these trends, and that force is data.

In this hyper-networked society, everyone seems to want to know what we think, all the time, what we like, where we are and who we are connected to. Data (and metadata, i.e. data about data) is quickly becoming a primary force in our digital society, and since successful advertising is forever based on having good data on who is on the other end, the consumer is becoming more powerful than ever before – if he/she opts out of providing data it’s game-over. Never before did consumers wield this much power over marketers; never before could we trade our data for free goods and services in this way (eg Gmail, Skype, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook).  The quest for data has made us powerful but it has made us dependent on its benefits as well. The Faustian bargain is in full swing.

Some pundits even argue that the only reason advertising in its ‘traditional’ form (a global business worth approx. $550 billion per year) ever existed was simply because we were not yet truly connected, and had no real way to ignore it. Interruption was the game, and the loudest yelling was the best way to sell. Now, with digital technologies in the hand of billions of consumers, we are indeed ignoring what we have no use for, and from our media we expect a lot more than meaningless noise and interruptions. If we provide our cherished data we will expect perfect matches, i.e. a sprinkler system of truly good stuff not a fire-hose of noise.

Because we can now wield data as our currency, we will no longer tolerate interruptions, meaningless pitches, disruptive pop-ups or junk email. Very soon we will be open only for truly personalized offers, real meaning, solid relevance, timeliness, word-of-mouth, and yes, real transparency and truthfulness. It’s all about merit and values that are geared 100% towards us, not to everybody else, or someone else. Our data has become our weapon, and we will barter hard with it. Trillions of dollars of marketing, advertising and public relations budgets are at stake.

Clearly, going forward, if brands and their marketers, the media, and the ads and messages we see do not provide real value we will quickly lock them out of our lives. Useful, data-rich and properly permitted advertising is indeed becoming content itself, and the-people-formerly-known-as-consumers are getting better and better at creating meta-content as well. The power has shifted from the middle to the edges ie to the users, and to the creators (and this is, by the ay, why we have so much upheaval in the content business).

Of course, the key question for marketers still is the same but has just become much more Darwinian: how can you cut the noise, how can you be relevant, be truly wanted (and possibly even loved, like Apple), make a better match, and benefit from meaningful connections? How can you turn the intent of selling into content, into engagement, into mutual appreciation? Is that even possible in the age of digital empowerment? Yelling is dead, and engagement needs permission - a tough but extremely rewarding challenge.

This is where we must consider the enormous value of data, and what it will mean to this new playing field.

Data is now generated at an exponential rate, every day, by billions of users forwarding a link, rating a site, commenting on a blog, tweeting, sharing bookmarks, allowing cookies on their devices, sharing their location, logging into websites, liking something on Facebook. Everywhere we go, everything we do, every move we make around the Net (and soon, elsewhere, as well) creates click-trails, leaves digital breadcrumbs, produces data exhaust, and creates what I like to call meta-content, ie content around content.

In our immediate future are faster mobile Internet access at a much lower cost and much cheaper, yet more powerful and smart, mobile devices, connected devices that are not phones or computers but things, objects and products; computing shifting from tethered computers and mouse clicking to tablets, touch-screens and finger-sweeping; and from downloading to cloud-tapping, which without a doubt will generate seriously more data than ever before, and at an increasing faster rate.

The mind boggles (or, as some would say, it recoils) over the possibilities as well as the challenges. data is the new oil and just like we fought over oil we will fight over data – however these fights will be visible to everyone, and will be fought in public.

Whoever gets to sift through this data, slice and dice it, move it around, make it useful, define its legal and fair use, and somehow make sense of it all, is probably going to be more powerful than Big Oil has ever been. Google, Facebook and yes, Twitter, come to mind immediately.

Something that we must certainly come to grips with is that privacy will almost certainly become something that we must act on to get back, rather than something we attain or retain by mere default. In a way, as Jeff Jarvis likes to put it ‘Publicy’ is now the default, and privacy is merely an option (and an action item!). Scary thought or huge opportunity? Either way, those powerful new tools of sharing and self-publishing will require that we learn to realize, accept and handle new responsibilities, as well – now that all of us can easily and constantly connect, we also need to learn new limits, new do’s and don’ts – and the purveyors of this new power need to help us rather than merely seduce us.

The data that all of us are increasingly generating and constantly spreading as most of us are switching to an always-on mode, will be at the core of all future success in marketing, branding and advertising – and for that alone it’s roughly worth $1 trillion already (counting advertising spend, marketing and communication budgets, data- mining etc).

If the future TV does not know who we are, where we are, what we have watched, for how long, who we have shared shows with, what we have commented on, how we rate things, then the marketers’ job will become a lot harder, if not impossible. Matches can’t be made, relationships can’t be forced, brands can’t be followed, connections are interrupted.

Getting too little or bad data – or not understanding it – will literally mean running out of gas in the middle of the desert. Therefore, the mission is to keep it all fuelled up. And just like oil, there will be a myriad of issues (hopefully, not wars) that will arise with the responsible and fair practices of drilling, pumping, shipping, refining and dispensing of data. But without a doubt these issues will be solved in due course because this Data-Oil is very potent and because the responsible use of it will light up so many households that a sufficient incentive for problem-solving exists. Telecom companies and mobile operators will want in on this game, as well – afterall, it’s their networks that make this all work (for now).

My prediction is that we will see a huge influx of companies dealing with the various aspects of data drilling, shipping, refining and remixing, and that the next Exxon or Mobil may well be a data-slicing company. Hopefully, they will be more ecology minded and sustainable, though. Agencies, marketers and brands need to embrace the challenges and stake out their roles in this new Data-Oil ecosystem.

• “As Twitter continues to thrive as the communications tool of choice amongst activists, dissenters…” (stoweboyd.com)
• “Welcome to the Age of Big Data. The new megarich of Silicon Valley, first at Google and now…” (futureof.biz)
• Gerd Leonhard: Read this: Big Data’s Impact in the World - NYTimes.com (mediafuturist.com)
• TeleMedia Futures: Keynote Speaker and Futurist Gerd Leonhard… (thefuturesagency.com)
• How to Capitalise On 21st Century Content Economics… (mediafuturist.com)
• Retail and the Long-Term Future (thefuturesagency.com)

Future of Broadband: TeleMedia Ecosystems (from the Auckland NZ conference) | MediaFuturist

Reposted from http://bit.ly/xqEV0v on February 19, 2012 at 09:15PM

I just finished my presentation at the Future of Broadband conference here in Auckland, New Zealand, and sure enough, someone from TechToday(NZ) has already reviewed and summarized some of it, see below.  I will make the video available as soon as I have it, on my Youtube channel. The slides I used (most of them, at least) are below, as well. Enjoy and share:)

• Gerd Leonhard: The Future of Business, shared by @gleonhard - Here’s a few screenshots from various… (mediafuturist.com)
• “Facebook has a bright future,” as long as it can stay “human and open,” contends Gerd Leonhard,…” (futureof.biz)
• New video: TeleMedia Futures presentation at Total Telecom 2011 (London) (mediafuturist.com)
• Gerd Leonhard: Mission 2012 are Green Futures. (thefuturesagency.com)
• TeleMedia Futures: Keynote Speaker and Futurist Gerd Leonhard… (thefuturesagency.com)
• “A new type of capitalist activist, the Charles Dickens of futurism, Gerd Leonhard is a green…” (futureof.biz)
• Gerd Leonhard : Magnets or Handcuffs (thefuturesagency.com)

Behind I.B.M.’s Big Predictions - NYTimes.com (automated mobile language translation) | MediaFuturist

Imagine what this will do to education, marketing and content / media… Eta: 3 years.Behind I.B.M.’s Big Predictions - NYTimes.com

http://nyti.ms/xkDT2q

Deloitte TMT predictions 2012 (nice resource, and video) | MediaFuturist

Reposted from http://bit.ly/xsVeXo on February 16, 2012 at 08:57AM

Just got this via Stowe Boyd, TFA’s new chief curator.  Deloitte: what makes TMT Predictions special and different than other predictions or trends reports? What is Deloitte predicting will be big trends in technology, media, and telecommunications for 2012? Download predictions, listen to podcasts, take a poll, watch videos, and join the conversation.  Good stuff; will digest and report in more detail soon.

• “Foresight is not about making predictions. Rather, it’s a tool for identifying dynamics of change,…” (greenfuturist.com)
• 10 Top Technology Trends for 2012 (futurist.com)
• Behind I.B.M.’s Big Predictions (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Predicting the Future of Computing (bits.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Top 5 Strangest Predictions of 2011 (futurist.com)

What Does Technology Look Like in an Age of Abundance? | Peter Diamantis | MediaFuturist

Some good thinking here, below. But still, I wonder if ‘exponential growth’ is really what we need, going forward, and this is precisely the kind of operating paradigm that worries me about the singularity movement. Any thoughts, anyone?What Does Technology Look Like in an Age of Abundance? | Endless Innovation | Big Think

http://bit.ly/AdAI3G

www.twitter.com/gleonhard 

Cool IT leader board. Google is the leader:) | MediaFuturist

Via Greenpeace Blogs - note: Google is the leader:)

www.twitter.com/gleonhard

i.mediafuturist.com for mobile updates

• (via MediaFuturist: Seth Godin on 2012: 2 must-watch videos. The… (futureof.biz)
• New Video: Zukunft der Medien / Future of Media (MediaFutureDay TPC Switzerland - in German) (mediafuturist.com)
• Gerd Leonhard: The Future of Business, shared by @gleonhard - Here’s a few screenshots from various… (mediafuturist.com)
• Japan considers green future after nuclear disaster: build back better (greenfuturist.com)
• Google wrests control of Cool IT climate Leaderboard (greenpeace.org)

The move to lateral power (Jeremy Rifkin) | MediaFuturist

Reposted from http://bit.ly/z1N1rn on February 16, 2012 at 07:21AM

Jeremy Rifkin talks about this important observation in his new book “The Third Industrial Revolution” and in this New Statesmen piece excerpted below. The meme of ‘lateral power’ is a key topic in my new, upcoming book (“From Ego to Eco” - still very much in-progress) and is an important piece of  t he puzzle, going forward. How can we truly change and address the issues that are crucial to our future success… or rather, survival:) ?

One answer will certainly include the switch to more lateral and side-by-side power as has been exemplified with the Internet: peer to peer, decentral, networked, real-time. More on this very soon. Comments would be very much appreciated.

“We take internet technology and transform the power grid of the world into an
energy internet. So when millions of us are producing our own green energy on site, storing it in hydrogen, our energy internet will allow us to sell and share any extra. We become our own energy producers. We then collaborate and share that energy in the same way as we share information on social media spaces on the internet.

Do you see this vision becoming a reality?
Young people now favour lateral and side-by-side power. That’s the new politics, and it’s favourable to a third industrial revolution. [They] grew up empowered on the internet to create its own information and share it freely. They now need to create their own green energy that they share in vast continental spaces…”

• Jeremy Rifkin videos: the empathic civilization, and the third industrial revolution. Must watch! (thefuturesagency.com)
• Jeremy Rifkin videos: the empathic civilization, and the third industrial revolution. Must watch! (mediafuturist.com)
• “To appreciate how economically disruptive the TIR is, consider the changes over the past 20 years….” (greenfuturist.com)
• Q&A with Jeremy Rifkin (newstatesman.com)
• This is a short but rather poignant video featuring some… (greenfuturist.com)
• “How would that translate into wider change? We take internet technology and transform the power grid…” (greenfuturist.com)

Nice illustration: the Facebook version of you, versus… | MediaFuturist

Read this: Big Data’s Impact in the World - NYTimes.com | MediaFuturist

Like I said: Data is the new Oil. This is huge, and potentially quite scary, too. And lucrative …?!Big Data’s Impact in the World - NYTimes.com

http://nyti.ms/z1uy0p

www.twitter.com/gleonhard 

Good read: LukeW | Josh Clark: Busting Mobile Myths | MediaFuturist

A lot of good bottom lines in this piece, below. I caught myself thinking about mobile in many of the ways Luke describes. Time to change that.

LukeW | Josh Clark: Busting Mobile Myths

Myth: Mobile Users are Rushed & Distracted

We started with an over-simplified almost condescending view of mobile users. But there’s lots of different modes of mobile use. Fast, distracted use is a big part of mobile but it’s not the only use. For example 40% of people use in the bathroom. The assumption everyone is hurried leads us to strip out important features. Example: Alibris is differentiated by selling out-of-print & rare books but they stripped this feature out of the mobile experience. Intentionally. Because they assumed people would not make commitments to pricey books online. At the same time, eBay mobile sells thousands of cars on mobile. 25% of adult mobile users in the US rarely ever use the desktop to get online. That’s 8% of US adults that exclusively use the mobile Web. They need access to your core functionality.

Good read: Brands Want Content Curator Jobs | Digiday | MediaFuturist

Brands are publishers, the people formerly known as consumers can go direct. Welcome to the networked society;)

Brands Want Content Curator Jobs | Digiday

“There’s little doubt that brands can amass sizable audiences of their own nowadays. Show me a chief marketing officer who isn’t interested in an owned, earned, paid media model — often in that order — and I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. It’s been four and a half years since Nike marketing chief Trevor Edwards plaintively said, “We’re not in the business of keeping media companies alive.” Translation: We can build direct connections with audiences, thank you very much.

The devil is in the details. Brands aren’t set up to be publishers. They don’t necessarily understand the editorial process or have the stomach for the length of time it takes to build an audience. Take AmEx’s OpenForum, for instance. It took four years to get 1 million people aboard, and now it gets about 150,000 unique visitors per month. They have the resources to build and cultivate an audience others may not. Additionally, OpenForum was put on the shoulders of the end-user: small-business owners. These business owners are able to communicate and share ideas with one another, but they must be American Express Cardmembers. AmEx recognized the need to provide small-business owners with a connection platform and information that will help their business succeed…”

• The 3 Pillars of Content Curation (thefuturesagency.com)
• Stowe Boyd appointed as Chief Curator at The Futures Agency (futureof.biz)
• Brands Want Content Curator Jobs - Josh Sternberg via Digiday (stoweboyd.com)

Google Pays Users for Browsing Data | Digiday | MediaFuturist

Well, I have said it a few times before, and this is just another verification .. Data is the new Oil.Google Pays Users for Browsing Data | Digiday

http://bit.ly/zgL3TW

www.twitter.com/gleonhard 

40 things the hippies were right about | ThirdCoast Digest | MediaFuturist

So here, in honor of 40 years of a hippie-dreamt business that continues to serve its community and live up to its stated mission, is our list of 40 things the hippies were right about

via thirdcoastdigest.com

Good read:)