Apple to the rescue

This may be a far-fetched sentence, but Apple may be –as a side effect of selling gazillions of their devices- saving the printed media industry, and with it, offering photographers a lifeline.

There is no doubt that the productized innovations Apple brings to life are of extreme quality. Most of them are sexy just by themselves however, the more lasting effects are the behavioral patterns that change in us and stay with us longer than the products themselves. The personal computer, the iPod, revolutionizing our music library, and have us rediscover portable music, iTunes and the App Store, making us think we can buy everything “by the song” and on-demand, and the time-bending Podcast anybody-can-broadcast radio shows. More recently, the swipe and pinch gestures present on the iPhone and then on tablets. I find it really amuzing when kids try these out at deceptively not touch-enabled big-screen TVs.

But the latest lasting contribution by Apple may come attached with the new iPad.

I am not an iPad user myself, mainly because I usually carry my laptop around and I have not found an excuse yet to get one of these, but I have started to see a trend in many iPad users to have paid subscriptions to magazines. The quality of the media is just amazing and the experience resembles more closely –and sometimes improves- that of a traditional magazine. Content is “curated”, carefully diagrammed and the quality of the photography is great.

The latest addition to the iPad family, the iPad III, has a Retina display.

More resolution, fine, everybody gets it. But here is the biggest impact of it: at 264 dots per inch, it is coming really, really close to the standard 300dpi resolution for most printed output!

The Retina display is not just a higher resolution screen, it is effectively replacing paper! Granted, the experience is that of a “backlit paper” and it does not have exactly the same quality of our traditional dead tree material, but in terms of resolution, it is very close.

So these three elements: the availability of quality content, the improvement of the reading experience, and a suitable physical media that effectively replaces paper, plus “always on” connectivity. This may be what a 2012 Guttenberg would have in mind!

I am a relentless optimist, and I think that this will manifest itself in the next couple of years as a renaissane of the printed media industry –or should I say “pay to read” industry?- and with it, more work for photographers for other three reasons: first, better content expectations can only be fulfilled RELIABLY by dedicated, proficient professional photographers; second, the revenue stream from paid subscriptions offers a sustainable model to pay for such talent; and, maybe not as important but still a factor, the higher resolution screens require better photo quality production from end-to-end, from capture to manipulation.

Huba Rostonics is a Weston, FL-based Photographer, Blogger and Photography instructor. He is constantly looking for new things to put a frame around. You can check his work at http://www.rostonics.com. He also publishes a free weekly photography podcast in Spanish on http://www.Phocaccia.com/podcasts.

Trying to sell a PC to a bonobo

Some of the stuff that happens around us in this, our time, is just plainly astonishing. I don't want to minimize the discoveries of those that came before us -and we DO stand on their shoulders- but with Open Source initiatives, the available technology used as an enabler and crowdsourcing, the degree of progress is accelerating in this age, sometimes to alarming points.

The Bonobo Great Ape Trust Sanctuary have been experimenting with making available to their primates large touch-screen computer keyboards with symbols that correspond to different words. They're also working on ways to make computers automatically translate a series of symbols into a coherent sentence.

Now they started a Kickstarter campaign to help provide their bonobos with personal interconnected keyboards they can use to chat with humans anytime, and almost anywhere. Apparently, in initial tests the primates can effectively communicate with the use of these tools. Read the article on the Huffington Post HERE.

I cannot stop to wonder about these incredible animals and play some of the "Planet of the Apes" scenes in the background of my brain, but what really caught my attention is how this experiment is the pinnacle of User Interface testing.

Old Computer + Bonobo = Banana on monitor
Tablet + Bonobo = Communication

Wow.

If you look at the basic functionality, the traditional computers are all capable devices to transmit communications. Capable of doing email, chat, even voice. But it happens to be that THE USER INTERFACE is the middleware that connects the species to the device and apparently tablets are best received by our primate cousins. The takeaway? The user interface can make or break your application, whatever it may be!

Of course, you could always argue that bonobos are just hardcore Appleheads and they just would not use anything different than an iPad! :-)

10 things you should think about when using Social Media in a corporate environment

It used to be that if you googled your name and would not show up on the first page you were nobody. Today, you have to be all over the place in the Social Media. Many companies or company officials refrain from going public on the social networks out of fear that something could go terribly wrong. The truth is that the rules are the same you first heard uttered by mom. Here are soem to think about:

1.- If you are just starting out, pick a name that represents the company and create an identity. Complete your profile, customize your landing page according to the company’s branding and build a stream of posts that other users may find credible before publicizing your handle.

2.- Who do you represent? – This is probably the first thing you have to think about when entering any social network. Are you the official spokesperson for the company you work for? Are you a highly visible official?
It may matter more in some instances than others, but as with any other social interaction, if you are at work, you are to some degree representing the company. Take this into account at all times.

3.- Act professionally at all times – Just as there are some inappropriate conduct at the company party, there are remarks, photographs, videos that should not be on your corporate social media account. If there is a chance that your supervisor may call you about the post you are about to post, you will probably going to get that call.

4.- Public? Think share value – With every post, think about what Wall Street may think. If there is any chance that a post may move the needle, do not post it.

5.- Absolutely no confidential information – This may sound pretty obvious, but the line between what is ok to be published and what is not may be a little gray sometimes. If there is anything that your worst enemy should not be reading, do not post it.

6.- Be on-topic – None of your corporate followers are interested in what you did during the weekend. They do want to know about the latest developments though, or where you see the market going, and maybe even take a peek at that last leadership retreat portrait (see 3, 4 and 5 above!).

7.- Be accurate – Provide links to content that supports your posts but never, ever regurgitate something without checking the facts. Follow links before you repost them. Check the authenticity of the source and make sure that any comments you are posting are supported by the facts.

8.- Be timely, be original – Social media content is always more attractive when it is newsworthy. Say things that nobody else is saying, before anybody else says them. This will make you more attractive for your followers. Tweet often, some experts place the ideal amount of tweets -depending on the industry- at anything between one and eight a day.

9.- Be responsive – Encourage comments from other members of the organization, even competitors. Respond to comments. Respond to all inquiries, negative or positive but mute the conversation on inappropriate comments. Have a zero-tolerance policy on these.

10.- Be honest and always take the higher ground – Disclose your relationship with the company, acknowledge errors, explain what happened. Respect your competitors and your audience, may the best man win.