Category: Columns & Opinion
Opinion: Mobile TV sucks (and it's not just Frank Lampard's fault)
Stuart Dredge writes…
I’m feeling a bit guilty today, after my blast at Frank Lampard yesterday. Maybe it was a bit harsh talking about his cat-bum mouth and Barcelona-wannabe status.
After all, it wouldn’t take much for him to get me back onside – start playing well for England and don’t release any more autobiographies until he’s won a World Cup, and we’d be sweet.
Opinion: Stamp out striking posties with email
Jonathan Weinberg writes…
For those outside the UK, the reason for this rant won’t mean much but the wider implications affect us all wherever we live. We’re currently in the grip of a nationwide wildcat postal strike in Britain and it’s started to get me more steamed up than that kettle you use to open your partner’s letters.
And it got me thinking, what’s the point of post anyway now we have email. I’ve had a pile of stamps sitting on my desk for months.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for workers rights, fair pay for a fair day and all that, and I love my new postie, he’s very friendly and helpful. But the sooner everyone switches over to electronic delivery and snail mail dies off, the better life will be…
The virtual worlds of the future will be built on LIES
Gary Cutlack writes…
There’s a particularly infuriating story up on The Register at the moment, in which virtual world ‘visionaries’ make things up about the future.
Some man reckons that within ten years, something a bit like Second Life will “dwarf the web” and offer an experience that requires “hundreds of millions” of computers to keep it running.
Opinion: Don't bring back Tomorrow's World – it was RUBBISH!
Stuart Dredge writes…
The BBC has moved quickly to deny rumours that it’s planning to revive Tomorrow’s World, its science show that ran for 38 years before being mercifully put out of its misery in 2003.
Opinion: What happens to broadcaster exclusives in the age of online TV?
Stuart Dredge writes…
Channel 4 has The Simpsons, Sky has 24, Channel Five has all 67 CSI spin-offs, and the BBC has Heroes. Imported comedy and drama has been a mainstay of the UK telly schedules for years now, right down to daytime soaps like Neighbours and Home & Away.
Opinion: Elton, how much digital music will you sell before you try to "shut down the whole Internet"?
Andy Merrett writes…
Despite his rants and raves, I’ve got a fair amount of time for Elton John, but his latest idea is just plain crazy.
According to an interview in The Sun, he’d “shut down the entire Internet for five years” in order to “see what sort of art is produced over that span”. He’s concerned that too many people are sitting at home using the Internet to blog rather than getting stuck in to good old-fashioned face-to-face communication.
That, apparently, has led to the death of long-term artistic vision.
Yours, perhaps, Elton, but c’mon – are you serious?
Opinion: Panorama fight video expose proves the web needs policing
Jonathan Weinberg writes…
It takes a lot to shock me and I thought – having worked on and with the internet for the past seven years – that I knew the majority of its positives and negatives. But I’m truly appalled by BBC1’s Panorama investigation into real-life violent videos uploaded onto the web.
Shown on the channel last night, reporters looked at the people who film the sickening scenes, those who have fallen prey to the stupidly named “happy-slapping” attacks (do you see the victims smiling?) and it also focused on the firms allowing such videos to be shown to millions of cyberspace viewers…
Opinion: Joost’s magic million heralds a bright future for online TV
Stuart Dredge writes… On British TV, a million viewers isn’t anything to shout about unless you’re a niche digital channel. But online, news that Telly 2.0 service Joost has signed up over a million users will be greeted by cheers….
Opinion: DAB radios are BAD radios
Gary Cutlack writes…
Today’s column is about DAB radios.
Specifically – what is the point of DAB radios? I know they’re supposed to be better in some way, but is it really necessary for radio to get any better?
Radio is for listening to in the background. Listening to while painting a wall, or plastering over a mouldy bit of wall, or doing the washing up you’ve been ignoring for a week…
Opinion: Free laptop deal looks good
Jonathan Weinberg writes…
Let’s face it, who among us is ever going to turn down a free gift – especially when it’s worth up to £500. Well, that’s the prospect facing techno shoppers at Carphone Warehouse, Currys and PC World this week.
You couldn’t have failed to see the ads in the newspapers over the weekend proclaiming the gratis machines in return for signing up to broadband with the likes of Orange and AOL. ‘So where’s the catch?’ I hear you ask. ‘There’s always a catch!’
Well, you’re right, to get the free laptop you are tied into a contract with the firms for two years and yes, the machines aren’t super-spec’d enough to suit most Tech Digest readers. But in terms of getting people interested in technology and onto the interweb superhighway, it has to be good news…
