My mobile phone apps for iPhone and Android were just released a few weeks ago and over 1000 people are already using them - very cool. And they will remain 'free' as well - the only thing you'll have to pay is... attention. As promised, and in-line with my new "Mobile First" mantra, I have been busy (re)-creating and formating exclusive content that you can only get via the iPhone or Android apps, such as various new podcasts and audio-only versions of my presentations, audio/mp3 versions of select chapters of my books, previously unpublished pictures etc. Check out the Flickr screenshots below and go get your app, now. For mobile phones users that don't have an iPhone or Android device, check out my mobile lifestream page and the mobile version of my Music 2.0 book.
As Google's Eric Schmidt said at the Mobile World Congress a few days ago: from now on, it's MOBILE FIRST. Right he is! He probably didn't know this (or disguised it cleverly) but incidentally my iPhone app, powered by the very swift and happening MobileRoadie people in LA, was approved 2 days ago and is now live in the app store.
The app will provide you with a much simplified and quicker way to access pretty much everything that I publish (now that's a scary thought), including my videos, my podcasts, my blog, my tweets, my lifestream, my images and illustrations, and of course my slideshows - pretty much everything but my bank account;).
Talking about 'bank': I will be creating a lot of app-exclusive content in the next few weeks, and will really build up my mobile presence in order to be ready for the iPad and other tablet devices which I intend to use for 'futuristic' publishing purposes, i.e. for monetizing my work in new ways. Therefore - and in keeping with theFreemium theme - the first 1000 users will get this app for free, afterward my costs will go up a bit and the app will cost a whopping $1.99.
So hurry and get your free version now, while you still can (several hundred have already been downloaded in the past 24 hours). I would also be delighted if you could share this news with anyone that may be interested; it looks like lots of students and university folks are already downloading it and that sounds like a good fit, too. Please re-tweet and spread the word.
I will, of course, offer an Android app as soon as MobileRoadie comes up with the goodies, and the same goes for iPad-ready formats (I have some very special plans for that... too early to share but... it will be exciting). As to the Freemium: I will probably try to offer both a basic, free version as well as a paid version, in the future - it all depends on the demand. You tell me.
Lastly, if you like this app and want one, too (does anyone not?), I do have some discount codes for the MobileRoadie platform - ping me to find out more.
As previewed a few weeks ago, the new beta version of my crowd-sourced tweeple aggregator and tweet-reader "Futerati" is now online and open to all. Futerati is basically a curated site that displays my favorite Twitter people, presented in 20+ categories such as Futurists, Authors,Thought-Leaders, Bloggers, Visionaries etc. You can review all the latest tweets on one page, including the images and videos (much like the Power-Twitter plug-in for Firefox), and you can follow all of them with just a few clicks.
I quite like it - in fact, I am reading a lot of my Twitter updates via Futerati now, myself. Do let me know how you like it. I am still adding people all the time, btw, so... stay tuned!
You may have seen my first announcement on Futerati, back in July 2009. The idea was to list and display the latest updates from those Twitter friends that I like the most, thereby acknowledging how important they are to my work, and directing some attention back to them.
I have met some really great people through Twitter, and have already booked quite a few speaking gigs through Twitter as well - so the benefits cover the entire spectrum; and yes, they are monetizable (if you should care about that). Here is a screen-shot of the new Futerati:
After the initial launch of Futerati (see the old site, here), I was very fortunate to hook up with NZ programming wiz and Tangerine Works Founder Nick Taylor (via Twitter!) who offered to help us to make Futerati a lot more attractive by actually displaying the images and videos within each tweet, and by turning the whole project into a really fancy feed aggregator and powerful tweet-reader. Nick was joined by my designer and web-master Benjamin Blust (of B2Media) and a really nice, crowd-sourced effort was underway. Thanks, guys!
The new Futerati now features 20+ categories of personally selected futurists, visionaries, bloggers, journalists, authors, VCs, startups, entrepreneurs, thought-leaders, artists, film-makers, technology experts, social media gurus etc. Every single person that is listed here is included because I really value their contributions and because I read their tweets constantly, myself. You can ask to be included but there is no guarantee as to if and when I can add you; right now it's based solely on showing up on my own radar screen.
Because we are still testing quite a few features such as the automatic updates and the importing of images etc, we will provide the public URL on February 1, 2010; however, in the meantime you can request the beta-test link if you want to check it out right away.
A passion for music and obsessive guitar-playing (me, here... yes, that was some time ago, and Jonathan, here), passion and fire for public speaking (me, him), a deep curiosity about 'the future of ..............(fill-in blank here)', and a vast network of great connections to some very interesting people, around the world (see Jonathan + himself, me + myself)
So over a few beers i.e. 'Mass' and Brezels & Ente (aka duck) at the Oktoberfest, it transpired that we both also have a serious passion for entrepreneurship and startups, and both of us are constantly talking to interesting new companies, trying out new services and ideas. Post beer-guzzling, we met in London and decided to launch a new company together - and thanks to the likes of Wordpress, Twitter and Blip.tv, today we proudly present Indicatr.
Indicatr's mission is simple: it's a service for investors that highlights the most promising
opportunities, based on a deep understanding of the technology,
internet, media & entertainment. For our clients, we identify major trends and immediate
future scenarios, and then suggest startups that will do well, based on
these insights.
All our posts about new companies will be in video format; ranging from 2 to 5 minutes. We call this 'our hunches' and you can subscribe to all videos and thus our newest hunches (hopefully, at least one per week), over at our blip.tv channel. Our new Twitter channel, broadcasting our news and many more 'hunches', is here.
Robin Good is one of Italy's most prolific bloggers and digital media experts. We met in Rome a few weeks ago, after I did a speaking gig for Siemens Media division, and he recorded this video, below. You can read the entire column (featuring 2 other influencers) on Robin's site; but here is the bottom line:
"I think curation is key in aggregating people's voices, because most people have to go through 500 feeds of some sort of news event, and that would take them hours to go through the feeds and pick the right ones. A professional reporter can search the right feeds in five minutes,
because they have the skills to select photos and those kinds of
things; which is very valuable, but not if you put those feeds under a
wrapper..."
One of the most important realizations that has recently transpired via my Twitter pipeline is how much I am gaining from the ever increasing Sharism i.e. by what others are sharing with me. I am indeed very, very lucky to be connected to so many brilliant and like-minded people that are publishing their thoughts freely and openly, using platforms such as Twitter, Friendfeed, Facebook, Slideshare and of course, their blogs. All of you deserve a big THANK YOU.
So I figured it's time to give some more explicit credit to all those great people that have influenced me, and I maybe a good way to do that is to list them on a special, Twitter-API-based site such as Futerati; and maybe send some attention their way, in return. Futerati went online a few days ago, and much like Electric Artists' cool TrackingTwitter site (but a lot more personal) Futerati is presenting 6 constantly updated categories (Futurists, Thought Leaders Authors, Activists, StartUps and Others) with people that I follow, their latest tweets, the current number of followers, and with some brief comments on why I like them. With each featured twitter user, you can click straight through to their tweets or their profiles and easily connect with them, as well.
Please note that Futerati is a constant work in progress and therefore not complete at this time; I will be adding a lot more people as I dig through my 7400 network connections, during the next 4-6 weeks. So, if I should have listed you but have not done so yet please post something on Twitter (use @gleonhard) or use the hashtag #futerati or DM me via Twitter, or email, or comment on this blog. If we haven't 'met' yet but if you still want to be listed please ping me with your details so that I can take a look at you; in any case please note that every single connection I list on Futerati is personally selected by me. Enjoy - and RT!
As you may have guessed from my travel schedule (see sidebar) I get a constant stream of new people and companies, conference organizers, existing clients and all kinds of organizations that want me to go somewhere and make a presentation, hold a keynote speech or run a think-tank event; from all over the world, and on many different topics. If I actually accepted each invitation I am quite certain I could literally travel from one speaking engagement to the next, for pretty much the entire year. That would certainly get me Red Carpet status with most of the 8 airlines that I usually travel with, I guess.
There have always been a good many logistical challenges in organizing think-tanks and other events; however, the current financial crisis has definitely resulted in much tighter budgets, pretty much everywhere. Increasing concerns for the environment are also palpable - making countless long-distance trips for the sole purpose of a 90-minute speech and subsequent panel discussion is probably not the best example for the efficient use of energy.
Therefore I have been busy exploring new ways how I can present to - and have real conversations with - interested clients from anywhere on the globe without continuously enriching the likes of Lufthansa, Swiss and Singapore Airlines. Again, I do believe that nothing beats the live performance, the face-to-face meetings and the actual experience in what people have started to call the 'meat-space' (as opposed to cyber-space I guess), but maybe some new ways can be explored that offer a similar, and less costly experience.
I recently found a very interesting platform in the new Present.io offering (a new service by Drop.io), which (for anyone with a browser and good Internet access, no additional software is needed) allows for remote presenting, commenting and chats, as well as sporting integrated conference calling, too; all in-one place, and for free. Well, at least for the basic version - they are banking on the Feels-Like-Free / Freemiummodel, too, and it's working with me already. Good stuff.
The combination of services like Present.io with a live phone call, or Skype / iChat Video, has worked out really well, already, and so going forward, I will start to accept more requests for virtual / remote presentations (some people use the term 'webinars' btw).
I look forward to experimenting with you on what the best formats for this may be; if you have any other ideas for better technical solutions please use the comment box or below or contact me via Twitter or eMail; the same goes for anyone interested in booking a virtual presentation.
Lastly, here is an example of the Present.io / Drop.io widgets:
I recently started a brand-new project with my friend and fellow futurist Glen Hiemstra, entitled Where Is It Going (WiiG). The concept is simple: we are taking questions from anyone, via Twitter, on any future-related topic, and we will record 5-8 minute long videos of Glen and myself attempting to answer as many questions as we can, on a weekly basis. We will also add a few other futurists from our network once we have solved a few technical issues. We have also started discussions with a potential partner that will help us with producing better videos -stay tuned.
This is how you can participate in WhereIsItGoing (WiiG):
Tweet your futuristic questions to us, anytime, but be sure to use the hashtag #wiig (this way we can find your questions via Twitter Search, no matter if you addressed them to us or not)
If you want your tweets to be included on the live video of the twitter stream (#wiig) please be sure to tweet at 9 am PST / 12 noon EST / 6pm CET /12 midnight Singapore, and follow the live tweets via twitter search; we will publish the finished video on WhereIsItGoing.com soon afterwards. We will be on the tweet streams for at least 20 minutes.
If you live in Singapore or happen to be there June 18-21 2009 please come by CommunicAsia for my speeches: June 18 speech & presentation on Mobile Marketing http://ow.ly/9iZo; June 19 Talk on Mobile Content http://tinyurl.com/qnetx8
Keynote Address June 19, 10 am The Future of Mobile Content, TV & Entertainment: The content industries are seriously challenged by the Internet's
disruptive forces - it may have taken longer but is really hitting home
now. Many trusted business models are no longer working, copyright and
value traditions are being challenged, and content consumption is
drastically changing, everywhere. Now that Internet access is becoming
a default part of just about every mobile phone, even more drastic
changes are on the horizon. Who will pay for what kind of content on
mobile phones, when, why, where and how? Will mobile TV and mobile
music finally take off, and what will be the future business models?
Where the opportunities are and where are the minefields and myths that
need to be discarded? Gerd will present the most crucial trends,
examples and future scenarios and preview some of the findings from his
upcoming book 'Broadband Culture'
I just started this exciting new Video Show with my friend and fellow Futurist Glen Hiemstra (Futurist.com), in Seattle, Washington. We will be recording a new episode every week, on a current topic. The shows will be between 5 and 10 minutes long, and we will try to get to the bottom lines as quickly as possible, giving each topic a quick futuristic angle (whatever that means;)
Glen and me have collaborated many times before, including the Futuretalk podcast & video series, and DVD (feel free to download the whole thing via Mininova, if you're interested). We also do think-tanks together - feel free to ping us if you're interested.
We are currently using Skype video recording and it works ok, but there is apparently no way to get better backgrounds integrated into the actual recording, quite yet - so if you have any better idea, please let us know. We are both Mac users, so we tried iChat which was cool - clouds and orbits in the background - but we could not get the audio to sync reasonably well with the video once we started recording (using Screenflow or Screentoaster) - not so good!
Visit the WhereIsItGoing website for more details or subscribe to the iTunes video-podcast feed here on Blip.tv (great for offline use). Hope you like it!
If you happen to be in London on April 8, 2009 (6pm), please join me and my fellow speakers for a talk and presentation at the Royal Society of the Arts. The evening is entitled: New Media Futures - what next for content and creativity? and promises to be quite entertaining;) Thanks to the RSA, this event is free of charge and seating is limited so be sure to register early. A few more details about this event:
"The internet is radically disrupting most of the traditional content
distribution and selling models, starting with music and games,
followed by TV, film, books and print publishing. Once everyone
is always-on, mobile and hyper-connected, and everything is available
everywhere, how will content be created, distributed, marketed,
consumed, and paid for? Who will do what, for whom, and how will the
traditional players such as broadcasters, record labels, publishers and
distributors adapt? If new players, starting with telecoms, device
makers, advertisers and brands, indeed move into the content business,
what will be their challenges and opportunities.
Given the challenging financial climate, how do we reconcile the need
to reward enterprise and secure sustainable revenue streams, with the
expectations and demands of the “freeconomics” generation? What kind of
legal, regulatory and cultural framework do we need to ensure that this
new eco-system of creators, consumers and intermediaries generates more
benefits for all involved? A panel of media visionaries convene
at the RSA to predict the innovations in technology, business models
and user behavior that will shape the media landscape in the coming
decade.
Speakers: Gerd Leonhard, media futurist, author and blogger; Richard Titus, Controller of Future Media, Audio, Music & Mobile, BBC; David A. Smith, chief executive of Global Futures and Foresight (GFF). Chair: Ralph Simon, CEO, The Mobilium Advisory Group and Chairman Emeritus & Founder, Mobile Entertainment Forum - Americas.
A lot of people have asked me to post my Christmas gift message (LinkedIn, Facebook etc) to my blog, as well, so... here it is. Share!
Here is my humble Christmas gift to my readers, followers, digital & real-life friends, feed-receivers, LinkedIn peers, and connected fellow travelers: Free Premium Content. Loads of it.
Enough to keep you reading, listening and watching for most of your Christmas holidays, and then some...
28 free slideshows on the future of media, content, advertising, telecom, marketing, copyright...(via Slideshare)
Many other PDFs, including all of the 2007 End of Control preview chapters
29 videos on the same topics (stream or download via iTunes), on Blip.TV, streaming-only via Youtube
My entire Futuretalks DVD (late 2007), with fellow futurist Glen Hiemstra, moderated by Ralph Simon, 222 minutes, for download or streaming, via my Drop.io sharing account (please use the guest password: future), for more details and free audio podcast versions of the DVD please go to IT/Media Conversations / Futuretalks.com
Approx. 500 photos and illustrations via my Flickr page
All content is free and Creative Commons Non-Commercial & Attribution licensed. Please feel free to re-use, with reference to Gerd Leonhard and link to www.mediafuturist.com
Enjoy!
Please note: if you feel like spending $2.50 on the PDFs - just for the sake of showing that some content is worth a few $ - please feel free to go to my Lulu.com page and order the PDF from there (they take Paypal, too). Lulu also offers the actual dead-tree books for less than $10, nicely printed on-demand and send anywhere in the world. For the Best of 08 book please be sure to select the correct version (not the letter size). The Music2.0 book at Lulu is $17.75
Keynote Speaker, Think-Tank Leader, Futurist, Author & Strategist, Idea Curator, some say Iconoclast | Heretic, CEO TheFuturesAgency, Visiting Prof FDC Brazil, Green Futurist
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