David Pogue Declares 2008 the Year of the Cell Phone in Interview after NTC Plenary
Posted by:
Jordan Viator on
March 21, 2008 at
11:58AM EST
This year’s plenary speaker at NTC was none other than New York Times' technology blogger David Pogue. And in hopes of enlightening a ballroom full of nonprofit techs, he pointed out his picks for the top three technology trends to keep an eye on in 2008 which included:
1. The Phone and Internet (Voice over IP) - Key services David touched on were Grand Central, which allows you to connect every phone you use - home, cell, work, etc.- to a single line when receiving calls and connecting all messages to one voicemail box and Google's cellular service which provides voice and text information services for free, as opposed to other providers who charge up to $2.00 for 411 inquiries. (The demos he provided were remarkable and eye opening so I would encourage you to check them out in more detail.)
2. A la Carte Video - The next wave of TV and movies is heading in the direction of free, on-demand service like Hulu which has an extensive archive of television shows available to the public at no cost. Instead of waiting for the live air time or recording television shows on Tivo, TV is quickly moving to an on-demand style service with movies following the same model.
3. Web 2.0 - Unlike video and phone, this is an area where nonprofits can really see the obvious benefits right now. Services like Flickr, Facebook, YouTube and blogging are changing the past one-to-many model of the past and allowing for direct feedback and engagement on the Internet. Some useful and interesting sites discussed included Kiva, Goloco and the new British government e-petitions. Examples like these show that enhancements in technology and online strategy can truly help nonprofits and other organizations trying to make a difference in the lives’ of people around the world.
After he spoke (and sang, I might add!), David agreed to my request to sit down on camera and talk a bit further with Holly Ross, Executive Director of NTEN, about the trends he covered. Watch and see why David Pogue says 2008 is the year of the cell phone.
