1982
25 years ago, the last real proof of innovation coming from the recording industry:
In 1979 Philips and Sony decided to join forces, setting up a joint task force of engineers whose mission was to design the new digital audio disc. Prominent members of the task force were Kees Immink and Toshitada Doi. After a year of experimentation and discussion, the taskforce produced the “Red Book”, the Compact Disc standard. (…)
According to Philips, the Compact Disc was thus “invented collectively by a large group of people working as a team.”
from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_disc
Three years of constructive working and a new technology was developed that was revolutionary superior.
In August 1982 the real pressing was ready to begin in the new factory, not far from the place where Emil Berliner had produced his first gramophone record 93 years earlier. (Deutsche Grammophon, Berliner’s company, had by now become a part of PolyGram). The first CD that was pressed in Hanover was a recording of Herbert von Karajan conducting the Alpine Symphony by Richard Strauß. In January 1983, 500 working days after the start of production, half a million CDs had been made.
from research.philips.com
The CD was an instant hit and made a lot of companies a lot of money:
Continue reading ‘Invent, don’t inhibit’
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Using an iPod to see how fast one is running:
With the Nike+ footwear connected to iPod nano through the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, information on time, distance, calories burned and pace is stored on iPod and displayed on the screen; real-time audible feedback also is provided through headphones. The kit includes an in-shoe sensor and a receiver that attaches to iPod. A new Nike Sport Music section on the iTunes® Music Store and a new nikeplus.com personal service site help maximize the Nike+iPod experience.
from apple.com
Interesting move! If one needed to guess a while back the type of device Nike shoes would be connected to, the choice would have been between a PDA or a mobile phone. Just add Bluetooth to the shoe, connect both and off you go. The phone had the clear advantage, since it is something people take along all the time, even when running. A runner takes his MP3 player too, of course, but until recently that was more like a single purpose device. Now Apple is positioning it as a convenient storage and visualisation device you happen to carry on you all the time. Key advantage: ubiquitous!
It also shows why it’s going to be hard to displace the iPod from its dominant market position. Apple is capitalizing on the device’s ubiquity to link it to other products and services. And because it’s a proprietary system, every link-up is another lock-in. As your shoes and your car and your stereo and your clothes become iPod-enabled, it becomes ever more difficult to abandon the little sucker.
from roughtype.com
So now there’s an attack from a less obvious contender to that Holy Grail of Ultimate Mobile Device. Let’s take a look at that crowded space:
Continue reading ‘Convergence of the iPod’
And what a day it was! It went by in a rush, without any major mishaps and with lots of smiling people all around. Me, I just ran around on adrenaline and cafeine (probably equal parts), while catching only the occasional 5 minutes of a speech here and there. But at the end of the day: it was a great atmosphere with lots of interesting topics and charming people eager to learn and share. It was everything I hoped it would be, so I’m a happy man.
RESULTS
What do we have to show for it:
THANK YOU
As you can see, organizing this event was tremendous fun:
I have to thank Bart VH for co-organizing and helping us get that fancy location. I have to thank Ilse J, Simon M and Jo W for sponsoring food and drinks, and Bart B/Clo W for sponsoring even more (including the must-have T-shirts). Thanks to Clo and Ine for helping me welcome the attendees and making everyone feel at home. Thanks to Alice, Irene, Annita, Kora, Thomas, Maarten, Bert, Stephanie, Bart D, Tanguy for making special efforts and to every attendee for their good mood and open spirit. Bart D already pointed out some things we can improve the next time and we welcome all remarks.
So, after all that talking, let me remind you of the words of a former CEO of mine: “Don’t just dream about it, eh, just do it!“
Less than 24 hours to go and 55 people registered!
Some last instructions on how to get to the International Press Center (near Wetstraat/Rue de la Loi):
If you need to offer or use car pooling: check the CAR POOLING page on the wiki.
Directions can be found on HOW TO GET THERE!
from barcamp.forret.com
I was doing it anyway, but now Flickr is pissing me off:
Eventhough it is true:
The Flickr service makes it possible to post images hosted on Flickr to outside websites. This use is accepted (and even encouraged!). However, pages on other websites which display images hosted on flickr.com must provide a link back to Flickr from each photo to its photo page on Flickr.
from Flickr terms
isn’t it weird to give two options, and more or less say that the second one is illegal? “Good morning sir, you can park your car over there or right here. Unfortunately, in the second case I will have to give you a fine. Have a nice day!”
Maybe this would be a better user interface:
There will always be DJs that won’t play anything unless it’s vinyl, but for those who embrace the MP3 revolution (iPod, Traxsource, CD ripping, FinalScratch), there are some interesting hardware concepts being developed now, especially at Numark:
(because of Numark’s antiquated use of frames and bad redirects on their site, I can’t include deep links to individual products. Go to the homepage and click on ‘products’. Numark: get a real web designer!)
iPod DJ
Imagine two iPods: while the left one is playing, you prepare the next song on the right. At $200, the Numark iDJ is an affordable baby-step towards iPod DJ-ing. Since it does not have pitch control, it cannot be considered a real DJ tool, but it’s charming. When you throw a party, people can bring their own iPod and blast their Celine Dion collection through your 500 Watt speakers. This is the gizmo Bart Becks has got at home!
Numark also sells it under the “Ion” consumer brand for $170.
The iDJ2 is a bit more serious: it uses the iPod as an external disk, not as a (line-out) music device. This means that: yes, you have pitch control, yes, you can play and mix 2 songs from the same iPod and yes, you can add other external hard-disks with MP3 files. You can even record your DJ set onto the iPod (and ’scratch’, for those who are into that). Unsurprisingly, it is a bit more expensive: $600.
Continue reading ‘MP3s and DJing: Numark toys’
Those of you that will join us on Barcamp Brussels, these is what you need to do to prepare yourselves:
- your talk should be shorter than 30 minutes, aim for 15-25 minutes. So no reading 50 slides! It will take you maybe 5 minutes to explain your topic, which leaves you with 15 minutes of talking or conversation. If you finish early, no one will mind. In the other case, someone from the organisation will stop you just before the lynching starts.
- check what you need to bring: it might be just a Powerpoint on a USB stick, or your laptop with a preconfigured list of bookmarks (step 1, step 2, …) or just a blank piece of paper.
- your itinerary: if you’re driving, check How to get there, if you want to car-pool, check the Car pooling page.
- we would like you to arrive between 9h and 9h30, so you have time to fill in your slot and enjoy a coffee
Detailed schedule of the day here!
If you’re coming: is your name on the attendee list (if it’s not, there might not be enough food for you)? is your talk on the topic list?
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