Ahora sí: Nace Chile 2.0

Mmmm... a ver. Aproximadamente desde 2002 que en Chile comenzó firme el desarrollo de los blogs. Pioneros destacables: el emprendedor Leo Prieto, el senador Fernando Flores, el publicista Roberto Arancibia y el periodista Christian Leal.

Sin embargo me permito -humildemente- afirmar que esta semana que pasó, realmente, nació el fenómeno 2.0 en Chile. Lo hizo con este post y a causa de este "acuerdo".

El 23 de julio de 2007 marcará un antes y un después en la historia tecnológica de este país. Es cierto, muchos podrán decir que los bloggers criollos se habían organizado antes... pero estoy seguro que nunca se había conseguido un efecto de esta magnitud e incluso con alcance internacional.

Además recientemente se están generando loables iniciativas de web 2.0 como Santiagorama, Livingsantiago o Blog Cocha Joven.

Chile (al fin) comienza a dar muestras de inserción en esta nueva forma de vida. Ahora, queda mucho por hacer y en eso me uno a las críticas que se han hecho a las políticas públicas de la autoridad tecnológica y a movimientos como el de Neutralidad SI.

Más...

• Las reacciones tras el 23/7: El Francotirador, El 5º poder.
• Medios Digitales.info: Red de bloggers pone en jaque acuerdo entre Microsoft y el Gobierno de Chile.
• Huasonic: Chile no se vende.
• El proyecto de ley de Neutralidad (.doc).

The World of the Internet

Access to the Internet is becoming more of a concern for me as my dependency upon it, perhaps hazardously, is growing. Of course, its hard to measure how much of this dependency stems from elements beyond my control (digital business in globalization), yet a substantial chunk of it is independent personal use.

The Business 2.0 section of CNN.com has come up with a map of internet saturation in every country of the world (though its a bit hard to navigate) - Percentage of People Online. It follows that the dependency of a population must have something to do with these statistics, and if you choose to make the inference, economic prosperity.

Another relatively obvious, but interesting consideration is that mobile phone saturation levels are much higher. Europe nearly has more cell phones than people. The significance of cell phone growth in Africa has been said to have been about as important "as a democratic change in leadership". And in India, the percentage doubled in 2006.

Meanwhile, Internet access on a mobile phone is becoming easier and more standardized by the day.

As using a mobile phone is apparently easier than using a computer (as the saturation levels point out), the future of internet access would seem to be even brighter. More people and more business will continue to "log on" (and by the way, does anyone say "log on" anymore?)

More...

• Sweden: the apparent leader in population online
  
• Are we too dependent? The latest power outage in California exposes some weaknesses. I even heard it called "a disturbance in the force".
• Earlier post on the mobile phone
  

A Certain Truth to This

My days as a student are largely over now for all social classification purposes. Now, I'll be entering the rest of my life, and I'll be trying to start it in another country...

But I'm still facing the same question, and its been one of the only true consistencies that follow us everywhere in life: what we'll do in the future.

Its a consideration that isn't exclusive to the "just out of grad school" crowd either. It affects Rupert Murdoch in much the same way as it affects his aspiring mail-room kids. And it doesn't distinguish between big-shot executives and interns when handing out vulnerabilities and insecurities.

We all will continue to work for our future, and always consider what lies ahead, and we can't control it... On happiness, Aristotle said that it is the only thing that humans desire for its own sake.

Some people have tried to order the institutions that provide the best mix of tangible and intangible securities [for Americans]... the 100 Best Companies to Work for of 2007. The top dog: Google, with an impressive list of perks.

I may not find myself working at an "Campus" or office park, but I recognize one thing; applying for jobs at many of these wonder companies confronts one with another truth in life: intense and jealous competition. The Damn Irony.

More...

• A Day in the Life of a Googler

Tabla periódica de la web

Vía Denken Über conocí esta curiosa tabla periódica de Internet elaborada por el inglés Wellington Grey.

Curiosa manera de organizar los "favoritos". Cuestionable el por qué aparecen algunos "elementos" y otros no (Techcrunch, Pownce, Twitter, Ning, Ziki, Cnet... etc).

iPhone ashes

Ya no quería hablar más del iPhone, pero este nuevo Will it blend? (that's the question) me obligó a hacerlo... porque es genial.

Por supuesto que no es genial destruir un aparato y botar cientos de dólares a la basura mientras mucha gente muere de hambre. Pero sí es genial que los tipos de Blendtec hayan continuado su campaña viral de videos por internet destruyendo nada más y nada menos que al rey de los nuevos tiempos.

Previamente ya "licuaron" un iPod, unas pelotas de golf, unas piedras parecidas al diamante, unos transformers, un set de maquillaje, un pollo con Coca-Cola... y cientos de cosas más.

La Total Blender más que una licuadora, parece ser un arma de destrucción masiva. La campaña ha sido efectiva, sin duda, pero aún me pregunto qué sabor tendrá el jugo de naranja después de licuar el iPhone...

I want, I got an iPhoneee

No, yo aún no lo tengo. Pero David Pogue, periodista de tecnología del New York Times sí.

Aparte de lo graciosa que pueda parecer esta transformación de My Way para ironizar la salida al mercado del iPhone, este video me parece muy curioso por la índole editorial que puede tomar la realización propia de videos por parte de los periódicos.

¿El humor como forma de transmitir un mensaje o el humor como forma de innovar y atraer audiencia?

Lo que ya está claro es que el NY Times está desarrollando su sección de videos y crece muy rápido. Ahora, ¿qué pasará(ía) cuándo los medios escritos tradicionales tengan sus canales de IP TV, al estilo de CNET TV?

Still Much to Learn...

Our academic adventures in Spain have come to an end but we still plan to press on with our project here. All of us don't exactly know whats in store for us, but we are all now a bit more comfortable in trying to confront it....

Listening to what my classmates had to say about their professional experiences in the field was a fascinating experience, considering I've had had the opportunity to see these people grow professionally, and know who they are personally. Suddenly, what they are presenting about has much more resonance.

And although I might try to forget about all of our school work just after graduating, there was one presentation I can't seem to get out of my head - that of Sebastian Garces, and his work with El Diario de Navarra.

It stood out for a number of reasons:

• It was about the only small town experience (Pamplona), when the rest of us left for the bigger cities and business in Europe

• It was about conventional media (newspaper) when the rest of us were exploring Web 2.0 options and mobile platforms

• It was about seemingly niche markets when other themes centered around impending competition or growth
  

• And, it was really the only profitable company talked about

It made me think about the the whole idea of Old vs. New, Traditional vs. Cutting Edge, as it clearly is manifested in our world of media and communications. And it also implies that nobody really has the secret to success in this ever changing world...

Una pausa...

El equipo del blog se gradúa y re acomoda de vuelta en sus países, por lo que nos ausentaremos un poco, aunque esperamos que sea lo menos posible.