phyllostachys 69: Minute Tech 54 Show Transcript

54 - Is Audio the Best Communications Medium?

Good morning, this is Alex Landefeld with episode 54 of the Minute Tech podcast -

coming to you for Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

On this tech podcast about the broader meanings of technology, we'll mention:

- The iPhone Tsunami;
- Is Audio the Best Communications Medium?
- Jon Morrow guest-writing on Penelope Trunk's Careerist.

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Minute Tech podcast is brought to you in part by:

Larry Tolbert's Sunday Morning Taiji - learning tai chi and qi gong 9:30 am every Sunday morning at the Dunamis Baptist Church, in Wilkinsburg, PA. "Move with the motion of the planet - move with Taiji" - e-mail leonardtolbert-[at]-hotmail-[dot]-com for more info.

And:

Ravelings, by Carol. Pittsburgh-region classes in needle-craft - encompassing crochet, embroidery, knitting, & tatting, as well as an associated lace collection. For more information, contact Carol at carolb207-[at]-alltel-[dot]-net.

Tech News:

So that's how we're gonna reach 10 million iPhones in '08! You didn't think, as I'm sure I did, that the prediction meant just US sales, did you???

Daniel Del'Re posts for the TheStreet.com that Apple is shooting for an iPhone launch in Japan as it's first stop in an Asian Apple tour. Being the world's third largest economy, Japan is already a very large consumer of Apple products, so the island nation makes for an ideal place to go. Coupled with the fact that Asians are far ahead of the rest of us in the use of wireless devices in lieu of desktop PC's, Japan could be a very good proving ground for the viability of the iPhone in a heavily saturated wireless market.

Stepping back to news from the backyard, Pittsburgh start-up Panasas, Inc. has announced that, along with the University of Nebraska's new Holland Computing Center upgrading it's 1150 node cluster computer from a top-500 supercomputer to a top-20 system containing 60 Teraflops of processing capacity, Panasas' ActiveStor Parallel Storage will be added to the cluster. Panasas' system, which eliminates network bottlenecks imposed on clusters by standard NAS and SAN storage arrays by allowing for parallel access to it's own storage, will work in conjunction with systems integration from Dell, Inc., Cisco and Force10 Networks.
Finally, this just in: Japan's Meteorological Agency has announced a Tsunami alert for Hawaii due to a 7.3-magnitude earthquake centered in Alaska's Aleutian islands. The JMA said that the quake's focus was some 40 km below the seabed, and occurred at 9:30 am GMT.

Tech Question: Is Audio the Best Communications Medium?

What do you think of when you hear the word "audio"? Do you think of that awful sound blasting from your kid's radio? Do you think of the mini-cassettes that you record on at the office? Do you think just of sound that can be heard?

When I think of audio, I think of the political loudspeakers on tops of cars, driving through the streets in Back to the Future, of Charles Winchester listening to opera phonographs in M*A*S*H, of 8-Track tapes sitting nestled under car seats, and of all the podcasts I listen to on my iPod Shuffle. In short, recorded sound.

Is recorded sound the best communications medium?

But of course, radio is audio - and radio is generally live audio being played out in thousands of radio stations world-wide. Television has an audio component, and television is being played live in thousands of broadcast stations worldwide...though increasingly, like podcasts, pre-recorded video is overtaking the airwaves, the cable, the internet.

But, remember, audio, unless it's music, is accessible only to those who know the language being spoken. Music, sans words, is accessible to all...who can hear...and music with words is accessible to all who can hear...and more accessible to those who understand the particular dialect.

Of what use is audio to the hearing-impaired. Do you have friends who're hearing impaired? What communications medium do they prefer?

Podcasting - Blogging News:

I'm working up a review of recent listening's to some of Anna Farmery's Engaging Brand podcasts. In the meantime, a blog link journey led me to Jon Morrow, a twenty-something guest-writing on Penelope Trunk's blog. In his laments about having worked too hard in college to get straight A's, he references Guy Kawasaki's blog post about Hindsight...in which GK suggests, among other things, that college kids oughta spend more time on their parents dime getting more out of the college experience than just hitting the books.

What is the right blend? As an adult who didn't apply himself hard enough in college, I think that as much schooling as soon as possible is the right choice...but here're folks who got lots of schooling and are lamenting the fact. What's the right mix?

Jon Morrow, guesting on Penelope Trunk's blog: http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/12/04/twentysomething-why-i-regret-getting-straight-as-in-college/

Guy Kawasaki's blog on Hindsight: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/01/hindsights.html

Jon Morrow, on his own blog: http://www.onmoneymaking.com/

Thats all for today on Minute Tech podcast.
you can reach me at minutetech@gmail.com -
and my blog is at minutetech.blogspot.com

"Move with the motion of the planet - move with Taiji"

- The iPhone Tsunami;
- Is Audio the Best Communications Medium?
- Jon Morrow guest-writing on Penelope Trunk's Careerist.

Go to the Minute Tech iWeb page to subscribe or listen to this podcast: Minute Tech.

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