Apple revealed its iPad last Wednesday. I took a couple of days to think it over before I shared what I think about this new device. I will probably get one! Let’s be clear, I do really need it but it’s cool and some features make the experience more enjoyable than using my 13-inch MacBook Pro.

The Apple marketing guys excel at making us wanting their products. They even used the soundtrack of my favorite The Cure’s song. Therefore, I watched over and over the feature video until I can get an objective feel of what the features are all about.

A Content Distribution Device

I see the iPad as a big version of the iPhone without the phone and a camera, but on which Apple added a more powerful CPU and a better resolution screen. You can also describe the iPad as a content distribution device or, as Josyan mentioned on her comment, a media consumption platform. New possibilities emerge from the bigger size and increased power. When you take into account all these, it makes the device appealing.

One element that iPad can deliver is adding comfort to our browsing experience. I dreamt for years of browsing with only a screen on my laps. Now, I will be able to do it. Showing your last vacation to your best friends will be easier since the iPad reproduced the way we are accustomed to do it. When traveling, I see us watching movies on the train or the plane with more ease than opening our laptop. For these reasons, I want one. Plus, I want someone to invent a waterproof case to use the iPad while I work on my tan sitting on my pool chair.

What About Women?

Have you noticed that we never see a woman holding the iPad? The question I have is “With my fingers that measure half the size of the long fingers of the guy on the video would it would be as comfortable for me to handle the device?” With all the funny jokes about the name of the device, I wonder if the guys at Apple has ever asked a woman to use their advice.

If you wish more details about the iPad, my husband wrote an excellent iPad review. He talked about other aspects of the device that you should know about. You should read it.

I am curious to know your intention.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

+ photo: iPad feature video by Apple

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Bloggers continue to grow their influence. More and more traditional print media recognized how the blogosphere and social media forced them to evolve. As an avid magazine lover, I am happy that they embrace the Web.

We can co-exist and support each others. Margaret Russell pointed out in her January/February 2010 Editor’s page the contributions of bloggers in providing insights about what people like:

And design bloggers have stimulated an animated and powerful dialogue based largely on images published in magazines. They are our treasured partners, and the conversation they engender and sense of community they encourage benefit us all.

At the end of the day, we all enjoy more great design ideas. I encourage you to read her editorial article.

+ photo: Elle Decor

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Over the last 9 months in the United States, the percentage of Twitter users doubled in every age group except the 25-34 group. Therefore, the media age of a Twitter user remains stable at 31 years old.

The Pew Internet Project’s September 2009 survey data shows that internet users who use social network sites are more likely to use Twitter or another status updating service. The more devices you own, the more likely you are to tweet.

More Interesting Data

More women (21%) than men (17%) tweet in the United States. Overall 19% of American adults tweet. One fact is is interesting is that household income is not a factor. You get 20-22% of participation in every income bracket.

+ Pew Internet Project’s September 2009 survey report

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If you follow the social media crowd, you probably have noticed the current campaign against the lack of women speakers and presenters at big Tech conferences. Allyson Kapin summed it up on Fast Company when she wrote Where are Women in Tech and Social Media? yesterday.

There was an improvised discussion on that topic at PodCamp Boston 4. There were good comments. I agree that we are missing the input of women at conferences. Now that women are very active on social media, it makes sense that things change. It is also up to us to take our place. The heart of the problem does not necessarily start at the big events.

Participation Outside the Usual Crowd

I always try to encourage women, for most part women bloggers that are not social media consultants, to attend tech and social media conferences and unconferences. Sadly, many women do not attend conferences that are work related. I guess it is either by lack of time or because they are unsure that they fit in.

Last year, I spoke at PodCamp Toronto and PodCamp Montreal about how women are shaping the Web. I felt it was important to show how the non-tech women blogging universe is diverse, creative and bring innovative ideas. At WordCamp Montreal last June, we were only three women speakers. I wonder why no more women – in fact, I could say the same about the design crowd – spoke at WordCamp Montreal.

One Step at a Time

Before we get invited to speak at big events, we have to learn public speaking. More women should take the opportunity to be known and get public speaking experience by attending and presenting at smaller conferences. It is one simple way to invade the boys’ club.

Therefore, I invite women, and men, to come to the upcoming PodCamp Montreal on September 19-20, 2009. I already selected my topic. I will be sending my conference proposal shortly. If you want to, this is your chance to present. Take it!

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Newspapers are endangered species. Like many industries, it must adapt to its time. Although it is easier to read a print media, the hyperlinks, the velocity of the news and the multimedia power of the Internet clearly highlighted the weakness of the print media. Look at how this article I read on the San Francisco magazine is enriched by simply putting the hyperlinks.

Journalism is not dead but to survive these professionals must adapt. San Francisco is known for being a bed of fresh ideas. San Francisco magazine produced two excellent articles this July on how journalism could adapt to better serve their communities.

IDEO explores how we might someday experience the news

I particularly like the conclusions from an IDEO retreat on the future of journalism. If you do know them, IDEO is a consulting firm renowned for its creative problem solving. They take a design approach to create human-centered innovation and how to experience products and services.

The Power of Being Hyperlocal

People care about what happen in their communities. Readers said over and over that they want hyperlocal information and coverage on niche topics. They care about what affects their daily life. The Web enables anyone, including news media, to deliver specific choices to people. But the local newspapers cannot afford anymore to properly cover the news by neighborhoods. Many blogs have filled that gap and gained the trust of their readers.

Blogs are an affordable way to cater to a specific crowd. By establishing partnerships with residents, passionate bloggers and citizen journalists who concentrate on niches, local newspapers could aggregate these local stories. Then, the local newspapers could concentrate on more global stories. This is one way they can modernize their process.

Social media offers great ways to deliver the news. Anyone in the community could report and comments on facts and events. Non-profit news agency could provide fact-checking services that even citizen journalists could afford.

Multimedia Storytelling

Some journalism schools are starting to recognize the current challenge and the need to prepare their students for the new reality of journalism.

Berkeley provides a Digital News Project where 60 students participated so far. Thanks to a $500,000 grant from Ford Foundation, they produced 7 hyperlocal news Websites where they put in practice multimedia storytelling.

The content is excellent and well researched. In fact, Mission Local, on the most popular site, repeatedly scooped the San Francisco Chronicle on breaking news stories in 2008. There is a bright future for journalism.  And I wish that citizens and bloggers could collaborate in this adventure.

MORE:
+ Ignore the clutter by Caroline Lea
+ Newspapers are dead. Long live journalism! by Nina Martin
+ News Flash from the Future produced by IDEO
+ Credits: Shown Illustrations by Tom Manning for IDEO

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The 6th edition of Webcom Montreal is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13th, 2009. This is a bi-annual one-day conference. I am writing a quick note to tell you that I will be publishing posts live (assuming no technological problems) one week from now. Readers of On The Web will be lucky since you will get more than one post next week.

I am one of the 5 official bloggers of the conference. The other official bloggers are Bertrand Duperrin, Frédéric Harper, Philippe Bonneau and my husband Jérôme Paradis. Since Jerome is an extraordinary software developer, our coverage should be from a different angle. As you can see, I am the only woman in the group. Note that 6 speakers out of 32 are women.  I wish to concentrate my coverage on topics that will interest you as bloggers and participants in social media.

Being hosted in Montreal, Webcom Montreal has the particularity of having sessions in French and sessions in English. About 40% of the sessions are in English. The 32 speakers are from Canada (many from Quebec), the United States and France. All conferences from 3:30 pm to 6 pm are free. Places are limited.

If you wish to know more, visit the Webcom Montreal conference Web site. The event will take place at the head office of the ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization.

+ Webcom Montreal
+ Blog of Webcom Montreal – in French

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I attended the launching party of a special Webisode series last night. It is special for two reasons. First, this is the adaptation of a mom blog chronicles. Caroline Allard did not imagined when she started her first mom blog in 2006 that it will lead to an award-winning book and now a Webisode series. On top of that, her second book is fresh from the press.

The second reason is that the Webisodes are presented via the Web site of a major TV channel in Canada, Radio-Canada. It is really an accomplishment that the traditional media does an adaptation from the content of a blog. The Webisodes are played by professional actors.

The Webisode series is called Les Chroniques d’une Mère Indigne. Caroline Allard uses humor to talk about her ups and downs of motherhood. Caroline started her blog because she had enough of the perfect mother image that the society seems to impose these days.

The launch was a success. We watched 3 episodes. The series contains 9 episodes of 3 minutes each. The Web series is well-done. If you understand French, I strongly suggest that you go check Les Chroniques d’une
Mère Indigne on Radio-Canada. You do not have to be a parent to laugh or enjoy the depicted situations.

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New devices and natural user interfaces will be invented to make our life easier. Just things of all the progress we did over the last 40 years where we passed from a typewriter to digital cameras, MacBook Air and the iPhone. Using everyday objects like our key chains to carry and update information will simplify our life.

The biggest advantage will be than we will enjoy true mobile technology. By truly mobile technology, I mean equipments that are small, weightless and are powerful to have everything we need at our fingertips. No more needs for laptops to carry around.

iPhone users already have a taste of it. So imagine if that freedom extent to our entire computer needs both at home and at the office. I cannot wait for the next 10 years. We live in exciting time.

Take for example, the interactive electronic newspaper. Imagine all the carbon emission we will save in distribution, not counting the trees. For comfort, we need bigger screen than the iPhone and more mobility than the laptop. Electronic paper will become a reality at some point. Many attempts of inventing the electronic paper have already been tried.

Watch a short version here. You can watch the 5-minute video (the second one) at I started something by Long Zheng, a 21 years old Chinese-born who now lives in Australia. The 5 -minute video put things into context. A Powerpoint presentation by Stephen Elop, President of Microsoft Business Division, covers the technology showcased in the video.

It is not just the devices but mostly the ease of use that is impressive. From an interior design viewpoint, we will recover at some point the sleek look of our house as the devices will be less intrusive and will serve multi-purpose. The flat screen TV will be our computer screen and computer.

User interface based on natural movements will revolution the use of computer. The best application today is the iPhone (I know I love my iPhone). From a transparent wall screen between two classrooms miles away to animated drawings, surface displays a la Minority Report, digital wallets, electronic flight boarding cards, way way smarter phones, and mini projectors to guide you in the airport.

The future looks bright.

+ Via I started something

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GeekBrief.TV celebrated their third anniversary on December 23rd, 2008. Impressive! I purposely selected an episode where Cali talked about how they started. It is inspiring. She founded the show with her husband.

On a lighter note, they have been married now for 10 years. Like my husband, her husband Neil’s favorite drink is a Bombay Gin Martini. Except that my husband prefers his martini shaken with olives although he does not mind the lemon twist.

If you are a Mac fan, check out Geek Brief’s Macworld 2009 coverage of cool new products. Cali makes it fun. Remember that you can subscribe to their podcast on iTunes. Download the shows on your iPhone or iPod and watch the episodes whenever you have a few minutes of leisure.

Going back to our story, watch the episode where Cali Lewis explained how they got the idea to start a video PodCast at a time when it was not popular.

Then, watch the two following shows to get the full story.
GBTV #483 | GeekBrief.TV talks until the first 5 months after the launch
GBTV #484 | GeekBrief.TV tells what happened after they quit their day job

An Uncharted Territory for Us

There are only a handful of video podcasters in the women and moms blog community. Video is suited for many topics we covered. You do not have to start as sophisticated as this. But whatever you do, all podcasters will tell you to invest in a microphone as the micro on the digital video camera is not enough. If you wish to learn more, read their podcasting tips.

I will like to host my own video podcast show someday. The first step to be ready is to own your own .tv domain because this becomes your television channel. My answer to Gary Vaynerchuk’s Own your Television podcast is: I do!

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