The shadow of the Holy Book (III)

The documentary film Shadow of the Holy Book reveals the secretive and repressive dictatorship of Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenistan’s head of state from 1985 to 2006, and the Western companies who did business with him.

Listen to  the discussion about the film held at the OSI office New York in February.

Barcamper’s favourite tools

Last week I attended the Barcamp in Almaty.  Again it was a lively and informal gathering of enthusiastic digital natives from all over Central Asia.  On this videoclip (6.30 min.) some of them share the digital tools they use most and probable also love most.

New tools are not scary

Friday late afternoon I spent some time with friends at cafe Maxwell, one of the many nice pubs in my quarter. Winding down from a busy week and looking forward to  the long Easter weekend ahead. The sun was shining and the beer was tasty. The conversation took a spin after I mentioned a interesting experience with Twitter.  I am not twittering myself but I find it a fascinating phenomenon. I think Twitter and more of these digital tools are still very primitive and mainly appealing to playful and curious early adopters.

My friends reacted sceptically on Twitter. Their reaction was so full of mistrust that it took me aback. Their conservative views on new tools and media were annoying.  You should at least try them before you judge. Twitter is dead simple and after one hour playing you can find out for your self: this offers me opportunities and can be fun or this is too time consuming and not my cup of tea.  Instead of jumping to conclusions based on information you have read about-the-hype-that-is-called-twitter in the mainstream newspapers.

Digital technology is developing fast. Digital natives are born with their fingers glued to the keyboard and mobiles are growing out of their ears. This generation is not afraid of technology because they are growing up together. Meanwhile the majority of my generation – people in their forties and fifties – is not used to new technology. Most of them avoid it as much and as long as possible. Except the group of older early adopters. These people – amongst whom a lot of (former) hippies, squatters , scientists, artists and some journalists – are really putting in an effort to keep up.

We can not all be genius. Still, it is strange that most of my generation is not interested at all or even afraid of new technology. In the near future they will definitely benefit enormously from digital tools after these have matured in user friendliness and many other ways. In ten to twenty years time they will thank God on their bare knees for the advantages of digital technology.  There will be screens everywhere. Including many (wireless and mobile) possibilities to keep in touch with friends and to stay in business even when ones own mobility slows down.

I know digital technology – like everything and everyone else that is new – is looked upon with a certain waiting attitude and sometimes even distrust. Though it is much wiser to approach new tools with keen and critical curiosity. Please explore and enjoy them!

Head Wind

The Iranian documentary Head Wind about satellite television and internet access was shown at the Amnesty filmfestival Movies That Matter. Despite the fact free access is difficult – though not impossible – Head Wind is a lively film with lots of humour.

Interesting to do the Q&A with Kamran Ashtary.

You will get the media you deserve (Dutch)

Je kunt uitgaan van de vraag: hoe kunnen professionele media overleven in deze digitale tijden? Hoe moeten media – en kranten in het bijzonder – hun productiekosten en inkomstenstroom opnieuw vormgeven? Hoe kunnen bloggers en andere on line media inkomen genereren? Hoe een mediabedrijf te starten en financieren, gebaseerd op bijdragen van het publiek?

Van deze bekende vragen zijn zeker de eerste twee niet bijster nieuw zoals is te zien op de Amerikaanse nieuwsuitzending uit 1981 over de San Francisco Chronicle en Examiner en hun inspanningen hun krant online te zetten. Deze herkauwde vragen hebben vooralsnog weinig concrete antwoorden of bevredigende oplossingen opgeleverd. Deels omdat het de verkeerde vragen zijn, stellen Persephone Miel en Robert Faris van het Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Lees verder op Netkwesties