Because the world is getting smaller ...

Ok, I have now been overseas for three months, and I feel that I am still in close contact with all my friends, family in Australia (as well as being v.busy making new friends in Zurich, Switzerland). Why is this? well, it is amazing how easy it is to communicate with anyone (who wants to be communicated with!). I find out what my friends, family are doing pretty much at the same time as I did back in Melbourne, Australia (Mum has just bought another BMW!!??). And I think we will all become a lot more accessible as time goes on (e.g. 24/7 email, video conferencing, blogs from mobiles, personal GPRS Google Maps synchronisation). But in the present, these are all the forms of communication tools, I have used, and am currently using, no relying on:

1. Chat; unfortunately, my friends, family have been divided by those who have Google chat (e.g. Kate, Simon, Sarah etc.) and those who do not (Georgia, Pete, Tim, Karl, etc.); I intermittently catch friends online - with the always on Google chat - especially on Sunday afternoon (when it is Sunday night) Australian time. It is quick, efficient, and robust - I wish all my friends could use gmail (after all it is the best web email tool!) - and thank goodness most of my friends have listened to my advice and swapped over.
2. Email; effective, especially with the difference in timezones and the mandatory group OS email - slowly being surpassed by other forms of communication.
   
3. Telephony; ridiculously cheap (but still not free, unlike the other communication methods above); and in Zurich, Switzerland phone booths are in abundance still. Indeed, a v.futuristic glass telephone dome is 20m outside my apartment - ideal for the weekly Saturday morning phonecall home to Mum!
4. Blogs / Forums; through my own blog and others who have started to write to the Internet about what they are doing (well done Bec, Simon!) - this is an invaluable insight into what people are thinking. Alongside this are forums where like-minded people communicate online on various (same-interest) topics; the English Forum (just click the Forums link) in Switzerland has been an invaluable resource since coming over here - and a good outlet for a night or two out ;)
5. Mail; still required and v.ingratiating when one receives mail overseas! (so thanks Soz for sending over the bond form) and I have even sent the odd postcard - old school!
6. Photos; establish contacts with FlickR (with your friends) and suddenly - wherever in the world your friends may be as soon as they take a photo and put it to the Internet you see it! The slide night is officially dead!
   
7. Internet Telephony; yes I have skyped - twice; both times somewhat disappointing as there is lag, the audio quality is somewhat poor, and it is dependent on each of the persons broadband connection (e.g. too many variables); something to try again in 6 months.
8. Video Conferencing; ok - haven't tried this as I need someone else to own an Apple and have MAC OS X iChat! when I fire it up on my side the Internet camera embedded in my laptop seems to produce high quality video images - now when is anyone buying an Apple?

Looking forward to communicating soon ;)

Are you interested enough in the world?

Ok, so I just thought I would reiterate how in recent years technology has revolutionised the way people find out about the world (i.e. mass media).

And a related question how are you tapping into this to fuel your interests, expand your thoughts, and find out more about the world you live in.

So this is how I consume information at the moment (ranked in importance):

1. news print Internet-sites; with access to the world's newspapers (e.g. NY Times, the Guardian, the Age, etc.), I start my day by finding out what is happening in it - it is a cursory glance, 10-15 minutes at most, but provides me with an update of all news, special articles (to be read later via a del.icio.us tag), sports and weather.

2. blogs; unbelieveable, but blogs really provide a specific, finite focus to most individual's interests (e.g. whether it is software engineering, the environment, travel, friends, etc.). I don't believe it will be too long before RSS aggregators like Bloglines (yes it is excellent!) and blog profiles will be mainstream (maybe with the advent of Internet Explorer 7 - shudder ...)

3. email; yes still useful, but in terms of providing informational content; often too static, and more importantly I receive email involuntarily at the time the sender chooses to include me. Unlike a blog (which is read on demand, or subscription and organised implicitly), email requires some significant self-discipline / self-organisation to retain, read-at-a-later-date and process.

4. podcasts; phenomenally interesting . I am only a recent subscriber, but podcasts follow a similar paradigm to blogs: that is, an individual subscribes to informational content that he/she is interested in and then this is updated at regular intervals. Unlike blogs which are read, podcasts are listened to. So it is like choosing the favourite audio snippets of a day's tv / radio show (currently listening to 'the Economist' editor comments - v.good on the train in the morning).

5. news video Internet-sites; sometimes, it is necessary to see what is happening. And yes, most important information can now be streamed via the internet (e.g. watching last year's Melbourne Cup win ner Maykbe Diva, AFL, etc.).

So yes, I too will join the chorus to in saying that the trend for use of traditional media in the form of TV, magazines, and even newspapers (in hard-copy form) will be downwards. A recent 'The Economist' podcast likened the new media to the advent of the Gutenberg's printing press in the late 15th century. At that time, this led to significant social improvement (e.g. everyone being able to read literature) and upheaval (e.g. reformation). Unlike then, I believe the paradigm shift to new media (e.g. internet, blogs, wikis, etc.) will be rapid - by definition the Internet allows for distributed, rapid, mass-contributed, and concentric uptake of information (e.g. Google, Wikipedia).

And this raises a number of questions to me about new accessing media:

• what can I learn from others? and other's interests? (looking at other's Bloglines, FlickR profiles are a fascinating view on a person's interests) what am I missing that other people are using? (yes I know, I should have a myspace ...)
  
• what are companies doing to target individuals accessing this media (e.g. could there by product archetypes that are ordinary people rather than athletes, movie stars)? currently, most of the media I access is free, when will they start charging me to for all this information?
• and finally, when are my friends / family going to join (as 'The Economist' says) this participatory media?!
  

So stop watching TV, and get out there and comment on the world ... there is enough to talk about thats for sure ;)