bradKELLETT

I have been in online journalism for several years now, surely not that long compared to a lot of the veterans I know, but enough to realize a few observations about the industry. I love journalism, and can’t imagine doing much else anymore, and I solidly believe that the place to be is not in print, but online.

By no means am I saying that there isn’t a place in the future for print media, but I believe that its place in the world will change. No longer will print media be where people turn for news, instead I believe that more and more people will look to the internet – we are seeing this already, is isn’t a new thing. Print media will transform into a place for feature articles and longer pieces, mainly due to the major advantage that online journalism has over print: speed. Print media still has the advantage of portability currently, which is why it still has a place with feature articles and the like, but even that content is available online and will be made more accessible with the advent of e-readers, UMPCs, and other fun gadgets.

I can think of many times I have been up in the wee hours of the morning preparing an article on a piece of news that has just dropped. I can write a story and publish it online before most print media outlets are even aware of it. Take the announcement of the iPhone for example: I was preparing an article during Steve Jobs’ keynote, with the article live on MobileBurn not 30 seconds after the facts were revealed. Tech magazines would have had to wait until the following month at least to report on the news, and even newspapers would have had to have held off for an afternoon edition, if not the next day. It just makes sense for people to turn to the most recently updated news source, which will almost always be the internet.

Online media also has the ability to be very specialized. At MobileBurn, we do better reviews of handsets than almost any print publication out there. We know phones, it’s what we do. Most magazines have to cover a broader range of subject matter, and as such do not have the same depth of knowledge on all topics. The perfect publication would be made up of specialists reporting on what they know best, and this is far easier online. It does happen in print, but through RSS feeds and other syndication technology readers now have the ability to view exactly the content they like, rather than one publication choosing who is the best in a field.

I have no problem writing feature articles for print media, I quite enjoy it, but I really do believe in online media.

I recently rediscovered a tool that has been around longer than any piece of technology that I own, but that I completely forgot about. I am normally the early adopter, the person pushing for new gadgets that change your life, but this is something decidedly low-tech. Despite this, using it has changed my life. The tool: the simple notebook.

That’s right, I went to the shops and purchased a nice suede covered notebook, and have been using it for everything. Jotting down small to-do lists, ideas for different projects, notes on the day’s meetings, directions on how to get to places I need to be, everything. This notebook has now become an integral part of the way I work, and I take it everywhere. I don’t think any other purchase of something to help organize my life has had this kind of impact on me in some time.

All this is not to say that I will be forgoing Microsoft Outlook and the smartphones I use every day though, for the simple notebook is still inferior for time management applications like Outlook’s calendar and such. I still make use of digital to-do lists as well, as so far I am yet to find a way to synchronize my notebook with my work’s groupware. The to-do lists on my PC/smartphone are more longer-term lists though, with the notebook being utilized for things I am doing right at that moment.

I implore everyone to reassess his or her use of technology for this kind of thing and see whether it is actually helping or hindering you. There is still a place for applications like OneNote in my life, but for the simpler things, I am in love with my notebook.

[Update: Thanks Kent and Richard. Keep it coming!]

[Update 2: Jenith (a former MobileBurn employee and fellow Australian) weighs in, as does James Kendrick.]

Today is a travel day, as Ze Frank would say, and while packing up for the impending journey I am faced with the decision of what gadgets to take with me. It’s only the essentials that are coming this time, so the list includes:

1. HP dv2040XT notebook computer
2. Nokia N73 smartphone
3. Motorola MOTOKRZR K1
4. Sandisk Cruzer Titanium thumb drive
5. HP iPAQ h1940 PDA in a GPS car holder for directions
6. Sony CyberShot DSC-W7 digital camera
7. mVox MV900 Bluetooth speakerphone for in the car
8. Assorted memory cards, cables, and chargers for the above

Sitting the trip out that would otherwise be coming is the iMate JAQ I will be reviewing, for the simple reason that it hasn’t arrived yet.

So, if you’re reading this, I would be very interested to hear what gadgets you take with you on a trip. Let’s try and start a meme: post your travel gadgets list to your blog, and be sure to ping me so I can find you. Kent Newsome, Robert Scoble, Richard Querin – I’m looking at you!

Following the break-in of my house on Saturday night, I went out yesterday and purchased a new notebook computer. I am now the proud owner of an HP dv2040XT – Intel Core Duo 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 14.1″ widescreen display, nVidia GeForce Go 7700, and an 80GB SATA hard drive. The hard drive is a little on the small side, but everything else is top notch – I think it is actually as fast as my old Pentium D 3.0GHz desktop that was stolen, plus it is small and has pretty good battery life.

Also, another new addition that I forgot to mention is the Motorola MOTOKRZR K1 that arrived for review the other day. I have mixed emotions about the device, as the build and feel is excellent, but it still runs only a slightly updated version of Motorola’s classic UI, rather than the funky new Java Linux UI that is on the ROKR E2. I will try to do a short video overview of the device today and post it up here.

Edit: I should mention that I’m not getting a kick-back from Orb or affiliated with them in any way, this is just personal experience.

After we did the video demo of the Sling Media mobile beta running on a Motorola Q for MobileBurn, it got me thinking about place shifting. Things like the SlingBox aren’t available in Australia at the moment, so I didn’t really give it much more thought. Until I was contacted by the PR guy for Orb, that is.

Orb is a free (!) application for Windows boxes that will stream media over the Internet to pretty much any device you can think of. It supports WMV, Real, WinAmp, and 3GP formats, and runs though a personalized web page that works great even on small (read: mobile device) screens.

Having just received the Nokia E61, I thought I would check all this out. I loaded Orb onto my Windows Media Center box, and after a few configuration jitters, I was streaming both live TV and recorded TV to my Nokia. Orb plugs into Media Center perfectly, showing guide listings, program descriptions, everything. It also handles music and photos just as well.

If you are into place shifting, check it out, and kudos to Orb for making such a cool free application.

Every day I hear something about gadgets (and generally mobile phones, more than anything else) being bad for my health. You want to know what I have decided? I don’t care anymore.

I look around my house and see so many things that are probably hurting me: the cordless phone, WLAN, microwave, cell phone, Bluetooth connections, and that’s just electro-magnetic type stuff.

Do I worry? Not anymore. Should I? Probably.

The truth is, I probably could not live without these kinds of things. It’s terrible, I know, but that’s just the way it is. We are all part of generations that are testing whether things like this can hurt us – as the only way we can be sure is through long-term exposure.

I’m betting on the fact that they won’t cause any harm in the long run – I’m screwed if they do.

MobileMag is reporting on an update to the Sony PSP, the PSP2 as it is calling it, which adds some tasty features while leaving the core system without change.

Probably the most interesting feature that the update is rumored to have is 4GB of NAND flash memory, but in addition to this, the PSP2 may have an internal digital camera – though there is no word on resolution. The PSP2 is rumored to also come in at a quarter-inch thinner than its predecessor.

[Read] – via MobileMag

Sandisk has today busted out the first 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo card into its Ultra II range. The 4GB Ultra II is designed for photographers mainly, with 9MB per second minimum write and 10MB per second minimum read rates.

The card will be in shops during March, and retail for US$293.99.

Scoble has been talking about websites rendering on a cellphone screen lately (here and here), but has been looking at it a bit one sided. It isn’t always the website designers fault that a site looks terrible on the small screen (though admittedly, most of the time it is).

I would suggest to Scoble, and indeed everyone using a small screen to surf, either the Opera Mobile browser for smartphones/PDAs, or the Opera Mini browser for standard handsets. My site looks great on Opera Mobile/Mini.

P.S. Yes, I am back blogging again, I promise!

Kevin, a MobileBurn reader, sent this in to me the other day, and I thought I might share it around (with his permission of course).

I was playing around on the internet and noticed Motorola has created the product page for the V3x. I was also wondering what you thought of the phone if you have had the chance to use it. The phone book in the original RAZR is awful in my opinion. I was hoping they have made some improvements in this department.

Read on for my reply. Continue Reading