iLiad rented out by library

The public library in my home town Almere offers her members a new service: iLiad. The handheld e-reader, which can hold the texts of 50 books, can be rented against a surity. The library advertises the eReader as a light weight screen of 400 grams, which prevents carrying heavy book loads. It is promoted as more than just a gadget as the gadget has a leafing mechanism and the screen can be manipulated with a stylus. Parts of the text can be underscored and enlarged. It is also possible to make annotations. The library itself does not have e-books, but they can be downloaded from internet sites such as the Dutch ebook.nl. In the future newspapers and magazines can be downloaded on the eReader.

The library has one copy for rent in order to test the market. However, if there is more interest than the library will order more copies. The library has a special instruction. People who want to rent the iLiad will pay 50 euro for surety.
It was funny to see that the library tries to promote the iLiad in the framework of books and specifically of text books. In the local newspaper article no mention is made of the graphic capabilities or the audio capabilities. (Come to think of it that it is a perfect electronic storytelling machine for the visually impaired). On the other hand, it is a library with books as main resource.

It is not a surprise that this library will test the iLiad. The library is rather progressive. In the past it was the first library to adopt the Moving Image Cyclopaedia of the Digital Film Center Europe in Nijmegen. Besides the library has fast links with the school libraries and documentation centres in Almere, offering pupils a wide range of resources such as books, but also digital resources such as movies, music and newspapers as well as magazines.

The announcement did remind me about my broken copy of the iLiad. I put it away in my display cupboard where I keep my copy of the first series of Sony’s e-Book and the Rocket Book from the second e-book wave. In principle I had the iLiad retired, pre-supposing that it could not be mended. But I found out that iRex Technologies has now a technical support service. So I gave them a phone call and told them about my broken iLiad. The technical desk operator told me that it could be fixed, if it was only the screen. A new screen would cost 250 euro. But of course, nothing of the print circuit should be damaged. I had to fill out a form and send it to the technical service department and I would hear about this. So this week I will start up the procedure and see whether we can give my iLiad a second lease of life.

Blog Posting Number: 725

Tags: iliad, eReader, electronic book, digital paper

Bahrain: GP and eContent

The GP Formula 1 race is on today in Bahrain. With sentiment I look back at my visit in 2005 to the race circuit where the Grand Jury of the World Summit Award (WSA) spent some time. We were allowed to cruise around the circuit with some Land Rovers at a speed of maximally 180 kilometres an hour. Of course this is a far cry of the speed of 300+ kilometres. But it was a great experience to be on the track. Now sitting in front of the television, I recognised the paddocks, the press centre, the control centre (see photograph with me in front of the screen tableau) and of course the royal tower.

Bahrain wanted to have this competition as a tourist attraction. The weather is nice at the moment and for the races people fly in and spend a few days on the island. This touristy attraction will have to compensate the loss of oil in the future. And the kingdom was anted this race by the F1 organisation above Libanon. They also were pushing to get the race to Libanon, but they lost. That is what my Lebanese friend Gaby Deek, one of the people involved in the competition to land the race, told me. So when he visited the circuit it was a homecoming, although he would have loved to have it in Lebanon.

But the Bahraini are also working on less tangable assets. In 2005 I was twice in Bahrain. In the spring I was there to help the local jury in the process of selecting the winners of the Bahrain eConent Award (BEA) and the entries for the WSA. The second time I was there for the Grand Jury of the WSA, which was sponsored by the Bahrain government. It is remarkable that such a small country with 600.000+ inhabitants can be so active in e-culture, e-government, e-business, e-health and e-inclusion. I personally think that the country is further in e-government and e-business than many a European country.

Again this year the ministry of Commerce and the local ISOC chapter are organising the BEA. And again the BEA jury will select the winners in eight categories and offer the winners as entries for the WSA to the organising committee. The jury BEA jury deliberations will held in Manama from April 29 till May 3, 2007.

The Grand Prix of the Formula 1 race will have been handed out by that time. But the awards still have to be selected. Bahrain will be one of the 168+ countries having a pre-selection for the best content products. By September the entries will be judged by a WSA Grand Jury in Brijuni in Croatia.

Blog Posting Number: 724

Tags: World Summit Award, WSA, Bahrain eContent Award, BEA

Never a dull moment at PCM

It took a while, but now PCM knows the height of the claim by Mr Marcel Boekhoorn, the proprietor of free daily De Pers. Instead of 96 million euro, the claim has been lowered to 10 million euro. PCM disputes the claim and refuses to pay.

The claim is part of talks to collaborate in the free daily project. PCM’s CEO Ton aan de Stegge together with an Apex partner started these talks with Mr Boekhoorn. PCM would provide the printing and the distribution; Boekhoorn would provide the editorial staff. The PCM national newspapers were against the plan as they wanted to have their own free daily or protect their own baby like NRC.next. The Board of Directors/Shareholders stepped in and called off the talks.

Boekhoorn immediately let the company know that he was going to put down a claim and estimated the disaster on 96 million euro. In the meantime Apex and the Board of Directors/Shareholders were in talks for Apax stepping out. Besides the height of the transfer sum, the claim was hanging above the talks. Despite the fact that the Apax representative is said to have made promises to Boekhoorn, the Board of Directors/Shareholders took the claim, if it would come to a court case or a settlement. As the claim has been lowered from 96 million to 10 million, a settlement around 5 million euro will be most likely (and PCM has already 1 million for this claim as the CFO return his bonus of 1 million euro).

In the meantime the PCM project of a free daily DAG has started up. And the former CEO Ton aan de Stegge has been named a commissioner of the PCM love baby. No date for publication has been set yet.

De Pers has not failed one day of publication so far. As with every new paper advertisers still are hesitant. Distribution of De Pers is done at the railway stations. But now the management has also plans to have the free daily be delivered from door-to-door and eventually to convert to paid subscriptions. Eventually the distribution will consist of 30 percent through stations and buses, 30 percent in office blocks and through bookshops and 30 percent from door-to-door; the rest will handed out at gas stations. In the coming weeks De Pers will be distributed from door-to-door. The publisher Cornelius Van den Berg has 50 areas selected where De Pers will be delivered daily. The areas are mainly new developments and new towns. That is where the young families are; they are interesting for advertisers.

The publisher is very optimistic. Besides the mix of distribution channels, he wants to convert from a free daily to a paid subscription in a mid-term view. Having established one arm of the publishing empire, the publisher also announced that the company will be publishing books. Next month the first book will appear. You would think that a publisher would be able to tell the title, but he has not decided which book it will be.

By not getting involved in De Pers, PCM allows a competitor, not hindered by money, to grow.

Blog Posting Number: 723

Tags: newspapers

Never a dull moment at PCM

PCM is many illusions poorer as well as a lot money. Yet it improves its revenue flow due to a financial reconstruction and despite the hefty bonuses for the top management (of course the results could have been better if the bonuses had been added to the final results).

It is unbelievable that after so much mismanagement and turmoil there is still a reasonable financial result. The newspaper and book publishing company had a turn-over in 2006 of plus 3,4 percent from 653 to 675 million euro. The netto loss went down from 51 million euro in 2005 to 31 million euro in 2006.

The positive results were mainly made in the newspaper sector and the educational division. In the newspaper sector the job advertisements brought in more money as the Dutch economy is in full swing. And extra revenues at 50 million euro came from the sale of the book publisher Bohn Stafleu Van Loghum to Springer.

But what is the real status. The newspaper companies keep on working and still have to realise heavy cuts in their budgets. This while the managers of Apax leave with a fat profit and the top management cashes, while it is still possible. Two top managers have left in the meantime, each taking 2 million euro for less than two years of work. The CFO, who stays on, has returned his bonus of 1 million euro. Also two members of the shareholders’ board have left (of course without a bonus). So there is a CFO and a chairman of the shareholders’ board left.

In order to pimp up the picture of the company, PCM expects for the future:
• It has a fine starting position to profit from the economic upswing and new developments in newspaper and book publishing;
• The advertisement sector is picking up again, but the newspaper will have to look to get into the competitive game of television and internet (in The Netherlands newspaper publishers are not allowed yet to possess television stations);
• The company will invest in new products such as the free paper DAG; it aims to develop a cross-media news platform to reach younger target groups and invest in a multimedia strategy for the present quality titles (read established audience; mind you: cross-media for youngsters and multimedia for the elderly!)
• The newspaper and book divisions need to work on improving the results (of course after handing out bonuses so generously);
• The book publishing division will remain part of PCM and no longer be put up for sale.

So what is happening today?
- PCM is still negotiating in silence with the newspaper an book publishing company NDC/VBK. Mr Jan de Roos of NDC/VBK is rumoured to be the new CEO of the merger.
- Mr Marcel Boekhoorn, proprietor of the free paper De Pers has put a claim on the desk of PCM for 10 million euro. This claim represents the damage caused by PCM when the company was talking to Mr Boekhoorn about collaborating in De Pers project, but broke off talks and left promises unfulfilled..

Tomorrow there will be more on the 10 million euro claim and the project De Pers.

Blog Posting Number: 723

Tags: newspapers, cross-media, multimedia

Tracking eyes in print and in online (3)

The Eyetrack07 report throws up the question about the future of text online, at least to some degree. What is the future of text online? In an article, Guillermo E. Franco poses related questions to the usability guru Jakob Nielsen; but as he was probably too busy, he asked Chris Nodder of the Nielsen Norman Group to answer. And Chris Nodder still sees a bright future for text online. The lay-out of the article complies with the suggestions for journalists: the use of the Q&A form, which is stressed in the typography.

In the article there is a mix of questions about readability, writability, the eternal question of pixels and the improvement of usability in online newspapers. In the article there are a lot of observation and presuppositions. Together they are a mixed bag from which everyone can take what they like.

I might have missed something, but I did not understand the implicit relationship between tips for authors and the pixels in the fragment on screen readability. Of course the use of white spaces between paragraphs, the listings and the use of bullets make articles more attractive and makes reading from the screen more pleasant.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Just in case that you do not have time to read the full article, here are the suggestions for journalists, as spelled out in the article.

We suggest that writers:
· Use the inverted pyramid. Start with the conclusion.
· Write abstracts or summaries for longer content.
· Tell readers what questions they can expect an article to answer.
· Make small chunks of content with one or two ideas in each chunk.
· Group content that is similar.
· Write unique titles, headings and subheadings.
· Make lists, not paragraphs. Bulleted lists and white space can break up text.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Straight after these sensible, but not uncommon suggestions Nodder dives into the pixel issue:
Interestingly, although there are some very high-resolution displays commercially available (especially on Tablet PCs), the original prediction of 300 dpi being common by 2007 does not seem to have come about. The technology exists, but it just isn't being exploited yet. Additionally, until computers are produced in a form that makes them as suitable as paper for reading in multiple environments, paper will still be a major factor.

Of course there is a relationship between lay-out and displays, but it feels I like missed something in the argumentation. Besides I am wondering about the statement that only a 300 dpi technology will be the saving grace. Even the iLiad of iRex Technologies with 160 dpi makes reading from a screen a pleasure for the eyes. The difference is between the interlacing technology and the e-Ink technology used in the iLiad.

The question about the future of text online is IMHO more than a question of screens and writing methods. It is a generation problem in terms of media, but also in terms of users of the media. When I started out with digital media (yes I avoid new media) in 1980, there was only text. With ASCII symbols (128 symbols consisting of the undercast and capital alphabet, numerals and diacritical signs) you could make some rudimentary drawings (see the logo of the Fido network), but that was all. Also in videotext, drawings of cars had square wheels. By the end of the decade, it was possible to produce graphs, which was a great improvement for publishing. Digital music was around, but sending files online was still uncommon. But from 1995 onwards music came up, photographs could be transmitted and displayed and music still took a while, but eventually got into use.

But having all these media types available still does not mean that life changes immediately. A culture change is needed for this and these changes take time; in fact it might take more generations; these days I measure generations in completed academic cycles of four years. I am very text-oriented. Music is not an integral part of my communication pattern. Visually I use photographs, but that is what I did also when I was editing print. In order to use video I will have to learn some tricks still, let alone that I communicate in video.

Perhaps there is an immediate future for text online, perhaps even a bright one. However this future will be limited by the speed in which new generations pick up music, video and internet broadcast.

Blog Posting Number: 722

Tags: usability, newspapers, online newspapers

Tracking eyes in print and in online (2)

The Eyetrack07 report does not only tell something about the attention span of the reader when reading a newspaper online or print; eye tracking is also pointing to attention catchers. How can journalists catch and keep the attention of the reader. With almost 600 videotapes almost 600 videotapes of readers reading in print and online the researchers can look at headlines, composition of articles and the use of illustrations. The researchers can take a closer look to make articles more engaging.












The prototype portion of the study showed the value of alternative story forms as they related to comprehension and retention of information such as Questions and answers (Q&A), a timeline, a short sidebar or a list. The respondents were asked to read one of six different versions of a story about the spread of bird flu. Three versions were print (see illustration) and three were online. Each included identical information -- fact for fact -- but the story structure differed. At the end of the test, the respondents were quizzed about the story in an exit interview. In both the print and online, subjects who answered the most questions correctly had read the version of the story with the most alternative structure -- no traditional narrative. On average, we saw 15 percent more visual attention to alternative or "unconventional" text than to regular text. In broadsheet, this number rises to 30 percent.

This is really interesting for it means that the regular text with the lead and the conventional when, how, by who paragraphs, of which a story usually is made up does not draw a great deal amount of visual attention any longer. People want to be caught by alternative structures. It will mean that new narrative forms will have to be developed and taught.

In my mind the question comes up, whether the attention catcher by alternative narrative structures is the result of people being influenced by television and internet presentations of the news.

Photographs have been an attention getter for long. Printed newspaper need to have photographs on the front page these days. Logically eye tracking the photographs was part of the study. One close part of the study was to show the respondents 20 large photos available to be seen and 100 small photos. Proportionally large photos generated more attention, compared to small photos. As such there was no difference with the results in the first eye track study in 1991. Not only large photographs, but also large headlines got dramatically more attention than smaller headlines and photos. In fact, they were the first points of entry in print.
But there is more to photographs. Colour photos draw dramatic attention in broadsheet, compared to black and white photos. Live, documentary news photos -- photos of real people doing things in real time -- got more attention than staged photos. Studio or staged photos received little attention. And mug shots got relatively little attention in any format.From these first findings it looks like editorial staffs will have to develop a new way telling stories, structuring story material and presentation in print in order to keep the attention of their readers.

But the study showed also that reading online stories is a different game involving navigation bars, teasers and story lists that get primary attention. And then it is only the reader behind the screen. For there are still other points of research such as news delivery on large format screens, in high definition, on telephones and even smaller screens. Also elements of television news, like text that moves across the bottom of the screen, or animated graphics need close study. And searcheability online needs major attention (as I have indicated before we need better search engines than Google and Yahoo).

Blog Posting Number: 721

Tags: newspapers, online newspapers

Tracking eyes in print and in online (1)

When April started, a research study of the Poynter Institute, EyeTrack07, was published into the differences between online readers and the readers of printed media. It is a prelude to the Eyetrack07 conference which starts today in St Petersburg, Fla. Normally I am very weary of this kind of studies. I always wonder who was the contractor giving out the assignment for the study and what was compared.










This study is part of a long-term study by the renowned Poynter Institute, a newspaper research instate, which collaborates with its counterpart IFRA in Germany. The long-term study is to find out the differences between print and online and how newspaper editors can improve their print editions and get their online issues more pregnant.

In this case, some 600 testers of various US newspapers co-operated. They were asked to read newspapers for 30 days as well as the related news site. But there was more: two small cameras placed to the right-hand eye of the tester followed what the people read and for how long.

From the test results it became clear that once an online reader had selected a text to read, 77 percent did read it. But readers of a printed quality newspaper read significantly less than online readers: 62 percent. Only 57 percent of tabloid readers read the selected article.
The results are interesting. In general everyone in the newspaper industry believes that short articles are more read than longer articles. Tabloids consist of short articles and are popular with commuters. Yet 57 percent only read an article once they have selected it.

Yet the study also yields questions. With paper a certain selection is made by the editorial staff; in online this is less forceful. Also, online texts are usually shorter than newspaper articles. In Europe we have the phenomenon of teletext, textual news items on television. This service has been one of the longest running digital media in many countries in Europe. In The Netherlands the teletext service started on April 1, 1980 after a test period of almost two years. And it is still popular for news and airport departure and arrival times. The service is now also available on internet in the same text format.

Another question the study throws up is the attitude of the readers: between methodicals en scanners. Methodicals like a medium they can feel. Scanners like to hunt for the headlines. In the end 75 percent of the print readers have a methodical behaviour, while 50 percent of the online readers show methodical behaviour, leaving the other 50 percent to a scanning behaviour. Thus scanners and methodicals read as much text online. So the debate is not over yet.

BTW Did you get this far in the article? Okay, tomorrow I will go into the improvement editors can make in their print and online versions.

Blog Posting Number: 720

Tags: newspapers, online news

Cross country for cross-media (14)

While the CMID07 was going on on Hemavan (Sweden), my Italian friend Max Giovagnoli organised the cross-media conference Cross-Media #2 in Rome. Max is professor cross-media at the Link campus of the University of Malta in Rome; in fact he will manage there the new Cross-media Communication and Management Master of Arts next academic year!. In his former life Max was involved in entertainment and especially in crossmedia and broadcasting, amongst other as a director of the Italian version of Big Brother. He is the author of a book about cross-media; however the book is in the Italian language (see cover). He has organised the cross-media conference for the second time as you can see from the announcement. Having returned from Hemavan, I asked him how the conference went.

How succesful was the conference and how many people were present)?
Between the 100 and 120 people attended the conference. Cross-media # 2 had a great result on Italian media. No less than 5 dailies, 2 weekly newspaper, 2 television stations and 3 radio carried items about the conference.

What was the most talke about question. Was there a discussion on the term cross-media?
I openend the conference with a speech and focused on new trends in the cross-media communication and management market. I stressed the importance of videogames, virtual worlds online, mobile contents and new media narratives as the most powerful battlefields of the present and future.

What was the most convincing cross-media case brought forward in the conference?
It was not just one. In fact we had three cases:
- Second Life;
- Spiderman;
- Final Fantasy.

I also asked him a question about the Italian broadcast company Mediaset of the former prime minister Berlusconi. Mediaset and John de Mol team up in a consortium to acquire Endemol. John de Mol wants to get back Endemol, while Mediaset wants to learn how to make international deals. Being a big player or even bigger soon, it is important to see whether Mediaset would become a driving force.

What direction will cross-media in Italy take? Will broadcast be the main drive or film? And what would be the influence of Mediaset, if it acquires Endemol together with John de Mol; will that give a special drive?
It depends on what Mediaset will bring to the partnership, and on what it wants to achieve from Endemol. In general, I never had partnership or contact with Mediaset for cross-media initiatives and projects, and I believe it could be a significant happening, since there's still a terrible confusion in Italian television concerning convergence, multiplatform distribution and cross-media. But I could be wrong (I hope)...

Blog Posting Number: 719

Tags: cross-media

Cross country for cross-media (13)

After two weeks of chewing on the presentations at CMID07, I am about to close the mini-series. I might to some of some of the presenters and their subjects later, but that depends on some of the e-mail correspondence going on. In this posting I look back at the conference Cross-media Interaction Design 2007, CMID07 for short.

The conference was being held in Hemavan, in the North of Sweden. It is a ski resort for Swedes. As far as I could see, it was not exactly a mundane tourist spot. But the nature is beautiful; I will not say anything about the snow. Still it is not exactly a venue where delegates flock to like the Milia or MIPTV in the Mediterranean city of Cannes in France.

Besides it was the first time that CMID07 was held. With the assistance of the EU regional fund, the organisation Akademi Norr in co-operation with the University of Umea, a programme was set up and experts invited. There were 40 people during the conference with the majority from Sweden. It was an intimate atmosphere and offered a lot of room for discussion. The conference itself was rather academic and focussed on interaction design in cross-media.

Will there be a second edition and would it be worthwhile to go there? The first edition was well organised. Yet, the continuation will partly be depended on the financial support, that the conference organisation will able to get. Not many paying delegates will head up North on their own accord and cost, I presume. Besides one would have to decide whether this conference will remain an academic exercise or an exchange between academia and business. In the latter case, people from the broadcast industry, gaming and advertising industry should be invited to spice up the conference with business cases of e.g. the Pirates of the Caribbean, Spiderman or Second Life.

Personally I liked the conference. I met new people, I had good discussions and I learned some new perspectives. My definition of cross-media is practical, but does not take the full value chain of cross-media in mind. Especially the role of the cross-media consumer has been underexposed. Still I believe that term cross-media will not be sustainable as cross-media is an integral part of the communication process. I also think that the discipline of interaction design should have a close look at the term in relation to cross-media. By using cross-media in the communication process the designer should not only put the action in the cross-media, but also activate the cross-media consumer. And I am still chewing on the liquid media.

Blog Posting Number: 618

Tags: cross-media

Cross country for cross-media (12)

In one the last presentations at CMID07, I felt uneasy. Mikael Wiberg, associate professor at the CMID research Group of the Department of Informatics at University of Umea, sprang a surprise at me. He started to comment on the axiom of media as separated form and content and work towards integrated media.

Mikael writes in his lecture Midgets: Exploring the Design Space for Truly Liquid Media: In the early 90’s the slogan Information wants to be free” was a popular, and important phrase that described and guided much of the development of the Internet infrastructure. Similarly the phrase “The medium is the message” has made a great impact on how we think about media as a design material, i.e. we have had a tradition of looking at media as content separated from its form and we have thus made a distinction between media objects as content and media players as form. Thus an alternative interpretation of the famous slogan “The media is the message” might be that media is only about content, whereas it s form is left out to a dedicated media player which typically only supports a limited number of formats, or forms. Today, we can see this problem growing fast due to the development of new media formats and adoption of new media standards, and as a result of this people end up with media converters of various kinds for dealing with the current gap between media objects and media containers, e.g. media players.

He proposes to look towards integrated media. He compares the concept of integrated media to the sign in the language theory: a sign is composed of 1) a signifier (significant) – the form which the sign takes; and 2) the signified (signifié) – the concept which its represent. Analogue to this concept he presents a similar two-part model of integrated media. In this two-part model of a media object no separation exists between form and content; instead form and content are fully integrated in the same container, i.e. the media object. The interface, or “the bar” is thus between a certain media content and its corresponding media form.

He continues to argue that we now have technology to move away from traditionally separated media towards new digital and integrated media. By doing so a next step in the development can be taken: the fluid or liquid character of new media can be explored. He envisions that in the nearby future we can assume that media will move freely across different technological platforms, across different media formats and across different networks. Media will appear more as liquids than as solids. So liquid media are a next point of departure for exploring the design space of media.

Based on the conceptual exploration of integrated media objects and the liquid concept and based on research in focus groups, he has formulated a vision of “midget” design, i.e. a design of small, lightweight, interactive and integrated media objects that can live across heterogeneous media platforms. A midget is similar to the small widgets that integrate information (content) and form (executable application), that offer small programs. Likewise midgets could be thought of as small self-contained, remixable and executable media object, that can move freely across heterogeneous interaction landscapes.

Mikael can imagine several activities arising around midgets such as social sharing of midgets, co-viewing of midgets, midget mixing, and midget post-productions. Following this idea he sees a new media ecology arising that adopts a new life cycle model of media. While the traditional media cycle has consisted of a flow from media production, editing, and distribution to media consumption, with free moving midgets we can start to imagine a cycle of media creation, sharing, re-production, re-mixing, re-distribution, together with new forms of social interaction arising around these activities. As such these midgets would incorporate the liquid or elastic aspects of digital media.

This presentation is worthwhile to chew on, at least for me. I thought in the eighties that the separation of content and form was the best thing possible to move in digital media. In this way we could move texts and photographic images from print to CD-ROMs and online. But it is worthwhile to start thinking about the consequences of liquid media.

Blog Posting Number: 717

Tags: cross-media, liquid media, widgets, midgetscross-media, liquid media, widgets, midgets

Cross country for cross-media (11)

At CMID07 there were some four presentations about games. I will only treat one, the one about the game developed for the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, presented by Karin Danielsson Department of Informatics of Umea University in the North of Sweden. Besides its official duties maintaining laws, taxes and budget, this government body has taken on the task to inform people about the way democracy and the parliament works. Swedish schools visit the parliament and can learn about the parliament in books, comics, slideshows as well as other information materials, prepared by the parliament, such as the website. Also the sessions of the Riksdag are broadcasted now and again on television. There is now a range of media about the parliament available. But to catch the interest of teenagers the parliament had a game developed Rixdax (only in the Swedish language).

The game educates teenagers about the work carried out by the Swedish government. It is laid out as a brick game, whereby the player advances five levels. Random generated questions in each level are connected to a specific theme. Each correct answer yields a point, while for each wrong answer points are deducted from the score. After each question the player not only sees his/her score, but also how many of the online players have scored the correct answer. After a level is completed, an illustration of one of the parliament buildings emerges on the virtual game board.

The game was developed during the winter of 2004 and 2005. The assignment had been awarded to the media design company Alpha. In the design process 24 teenagers between the ages of 16-18 years old were included on different levels of the design. The decision had already been made that it would be a virtual brick game; besides the parliament had delivered the game questions. In the first session with the teenagers a Power Point presentation of the game was made; they could also play the first module individually on the computer. Afterwards remarks of the teenagers were collected, discussed and there was an agreement on the changes to be made. In the second session the teenagers were divided in pairs and could play the game, which took about 25 minutes.; again the remarks were collected and agreement on the most crucial changes was reached. It was interesting to hear, the researcher told, that the teenagers told her that they would play the regardless whether they were told by the teacher to play it or not , because the experience of the game itself and its content was considered motivating enough for them.

The game is up now on the internet and can be played by anyone (... who speaks Swedish). As you can see I tried the introduction, but did not get more than 100 points to start with (at least some instant gratification).

Blog Posting Number: 716

Tags: cross-media, games

Flash: CEO PCM leaves per direct

In my last posting about PCM, I forecasted that the CEO of PCM Mr Ton aan de Stegge would leave within have a year. Well he did within a few weeks after the exit of the equity company Apax and the re-installation of the former shareholders, three foundations.

Mr Aan de Stegge’s threw up a lot of dust in his short reign. In a few weeks after his appointment, he promised that the Dutch newspaper world would never be the same again. He did this at a conference of the broadcast industry. A free broadsheet was a pet project. He negotiated a deal with the financer of De Pers, but was called back by the shareholders. At his exit a new free broadsheet is on the drawing board. The new owners have asked him to be a project consultant.

Two years have passed at PCM without decent management and strategy. Mr Theo Bouwman, who invited Apax to step in, was pensioned off, saying that his period at PCM was not his finest hour (which is the understatement of this century). Mr Philip Alberdingk Thijm had to leave last month and took after 1 year of service two million euro along. Now Mr Aan de Stegge leaves as he has a predictable conflict with the new shareholders. He will also leave and take along a nice sum. So PCM has lost a lot of money to managers that leave after a short while.

Now the new shareholders have their hands free to put their own management in place and develop their strategy. Whether they will succeed is still questionable as they were not the brightest strategists and not the sharpest accountants before Apax stepped in.

But as I said before: Never a dull moment at PCM.

Cross country for cross-media (10)

I had not expected anyone busy with print in cross-media. Coming from print publishing, I was eager to hear what could be said about print and digital media. At CMID07 Mikael Malanin of the Helsinki University of Technology presented a paper named New paradigms of print.

In his paper Mikael observes that traditionally digital media have been associated with print media. A new reverse paradigm is to associate print media to digital. Another paradigm in media products is the community generated content.

The paradigms are not really new. In the nineties we have particularly seen the publishers coming up with extensions of their existing print products such newspapers and magazines. It was basically for marketing purposes that publishers went into internet. Usually they saw internet as a potential cannibalism mechanism for their print title. By now publishers have changed this narrow view and exploring editorial concepts as well as marketing concepts. Not all concepts are successful; for example, internet is not becoming the newspaper boy who delivers the pdf newspaper file in great numbers. But most newspapers and magazine publishers have digital extensions to their print product.

So far one cannot speak either of a replacement of the print product by a digital product. Only in a few cases magazine publishers had to change from print into digital edition; the Dutch publisher of Elle magazine changed over from a print to a digital product. So far the great revolution from print to digital has not come around. And given cross-media, analogue products like newspapers and magazines might stay in place until digital paper can compete with analogue paper.

Print products in association with digital products or services have been around since the end of the nineties. I saw as a Europrix2001 jury member one of the Finnish entries of 2001, www.sooda.com, which was definitely a cross-media product. Sooda is a dynamic and innovative online community for young people about 12 to 19 years old. Sooda is full of interactive services, new visual experiences and unconventional content. In summer 2000 Sooda grew into a cross-media product, when a printed school diary was published and turned out to be a hit. The other Finnish hit Habbo Hotel publishes in Finland a diary. In the meantime is it not uncommon that internet sites get printed products. Books are produced from blogs. Magazines are created around a website like recently the magazine RTL GP was created for the fans of Formula 1 in The Netherlands, who follow closely the race website of the broadcasting station RTL.

While the digital counterparts of printed products can usually be categorised as extensions, the printed products yielded from digital sites are often serving a community. This can be Grand Prix Formula 1 lovers (like me), but also a community of bird watchers. Internet, Mikael remarks, has proved to be an effective medium for creating and maintaining of online communities, which operate in the virtual space and are not dependent on geographical boundaries.

These virtual communities are often the proper environment to start new services with community generated content. In an enthusiastic community there are always community members to generate content, given that they have proper online facilities. The mechanics of such a community are most likely that there are 100 percent unique visitors of which 10 percent regular lurkers and 1 percent participating members, who will be part of a community generating content such as blog contributions and video and articles for the printed edition.

The conclusion can be that print is not yet dead.

Blog Posting Number: 715

Tags: cross-media, print, digital paper, community generated content