The Perfect Tablet for Me - An Obvious Idea in Tablet Innovation that Should Have Been on the Market Last Year

Tablets are excellent tools for content consumption, yet their OS's and overall design limit their ability to produce content. The Asus Transformer and Eeepad Slider were steps in the right direction as devices geared at both consuming and producing content, yet the Honeycomb OS still hampers the content creation process, even with the keyboard. I think a really simple idea would be to use honeycomb OS when the device is being used as a Tablet, yet when you dock it to the keyboard you should be able to choose to switch over to the Chrome OS or Win 7 OS. Apple could do the same thing with an ipad that when docked to a keyboard could switch to the Lion OS for the heavy lifting. Even though Apple doesn't care about Flash, this would enable the device to get the entire internet experience through Lion OS when docked as well. A really simple idea that would enable all the Netbook users of the world to make the switch over to the Tablet Hybrids. What do you think? Is there anything on the market that does this?

Google Vs. Apple - Who is better for the internet?

I was tweeting these thoughts but it's too complex for a series of tweets/sound bites so here is a blog post to elaborate. First the facts. Both Apple and Google are Corporations and therefore have the goal of making profit for their shareholders. Both are doing everything possible to make their shareholders money so there is no good guy/bad guy scenario, it's just economics. However, there is a distinct advantage for the consumer and the evolution of the internet regarding Google's business model vs. apple's business model. This is because of how these companies make their money. Google is, first and foremost, an advertising company and their mode of delivery is the interwebs. Their goal is to get as many people online as possible AND make the online experience as awesome and cheap as possible so they will stay online longer. period. The more people are online the more money they will get from Google Ads. This is how they make 97% of their money and since most people don't even know that fact, I think that just shows that their ads are not so annoying as to bother people surfing the interwebs. Google doesn't care if people are on a mac or pc or really what browser they are using as long as the browser displays ads. They don't make any money from selling Chrome or Android, etc. Those are actually free and open source tools that anyone can use. Motorola can thank Google for the free Android OS that they built their phone on. Yes, these tools serve google's money making purposes in the long run because the android OS makes the internet more accessible, and that's where they want people to be, but they are still free and open and high quality, which makes for a good competitive environment where consumers win. Companies that make money from selling proprietary tools at high cost don't like a company like google who pretty much gives them away in exchange for the hope that you will click on their ads some day. I personally think thats a fair exchange.

Apple is a different company with a completely different way of doing business. Apple makes money not from advertisements, but from selling cutting edge software, hardware, and media. They also sell a computing experience that they believe deserves a premium price tag. Unlike Google, whose main interest is getting people online to click ads, Apple wants people online to buy their media primarily through itunes (music, movies, books, computers, etc). So Apple has to be thinking, "how can we get the most amount of people to buy our media?" Solution = Iphone-like OS and App store. This allows them to control the entire experience from what apps go on the system to whether or not flash will work in the browser. Their method to get what they want means a closed system of control in which they call all the shots. The method for google to get what they want = an open and free internet. I think Apple makes some awesome products, but I still like choices. Though google and apple are very different companies, they both affect the evolution of the internet. Google's ad driven approach creates a much more open internet ecosystem. Apple's app store approach creates a user friendly experience, but a more closed-off internet, in which apple calls all the shots with their app approval system. Which company do you think is better for the internet?

Did You Know 4.0

This is another official update to the original "Shift Happens" video. This completely new Fall 2009 version includes facts and stats focusing on the changing media landscape, including convergence and technology, and was developed in partnership with The Economist. For more information, or to join the conversation, please visit http://mediaconvergence.economist.com and http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com.

A new kind of computer - A new generation of computing - Google Chrome OS

The power of web apps has ushered in a new generation of computing. Web apps like gmail, youtube, lala, pandora, mint, blogger, wordpress, google maps, netflix, twitter, facebook etc have us all glued to the internet. This is good news for Google. Ever wonder why google gives away almost all of their web apps for free? Because they want you online! Personally, I consider that a fair trade. I get their free apps and in exchange I tolerate Google Ads and sometimes find them helpful unlike random commercials on TV, which DVR's are killing off. Anyway, Google wants everyone to be online all the time and they want that experience to be as awesome as possible because the longer people are online, the more they will see Google Ads, which is how they make 95% of their money. To be honest, google should just start giving everyone a computer on their 16th birthday, kind of like Gillette does with razors. All that to say, Google isn't giving away computers, but they do want to make them cheap and they want them to fly on the internet. Google is working on developing a new computer that runs Google Chrome OS that is soley designed for the internet. It will be centered around SPEED and SECURITY. They are doing this because 90% of the stuff we want to do on the computer is all done on the internet and they like it that way. Google also thinks storing data on your personal computer is old-school so these computers won't do that. Your thinking "HUH?" Google thinks it should all be done in the cloud on secure servers. I know what you are thinking "what about security?!" Well, the facts are that if you are on a PC and you are connected to the internet, chances are the data on your PC is actually less secure than it would be on server protected by million dollar security systems. What's more secure, your house or Fort Knox? Think of cold hard cash vs electronic funds. Some people love to pay with cash and will only feel secure doing so. They hate the idea of online banking because what if it gets hacked? In addition, this person will also feel the need to keep all their mp3's physically located on a personal computer along with all their secure financial information. If that is you, this whole idea will not interest you (at least for several more years). Also, the Google Chrome OS is not for everyone unless technology advances so quickly that it becomes possible to do real hardcore video and graphics editing on the internet with web apps. Seems like too much processing power would be needed at this point, but in the future who knows?

I think the idea is interesting and this is what I love about Google. They are always pushing the status quo and thinking outside of the box. I'm not sure how this will go, but they are challenging people and companies to truly think different and they are doing something about it with their actions. Check out this video on Chrome OS to learn more about it. What do you think about it? Do you think this is the future of desktop computing? Matthew Murray from PC Mag has an interesting article about that topic here. How do mobile apps fit into this equation? Are traditional desktops old school? Do you trust the cloud or do you need your personal hard drive? I think I would buy one if it were $99 or less and I would use it at first just to explore the possibilities. Then I would blog about it :-)

BLOGS.BGSU a Digital and Educational Revolution at Bowling Green State University

There is a lot more than meets the eye to BLOGS.BGSU.EDU, the homegrown blogging platform developed by Assistant Director of COBL, Terence Armentano. Blogs and microblogs such as Twitter have taken the world by storm. Why? Because they blast open the floodgates of communication. They give everyone a voice and anyone with an internet or even a mobile phone connection can listen in and talk back. Upon closer inspection of BLOGS.BGSU, one will notice it is not just about new technology, it's about a movement, a change in thinking, a paradigm shift, a leveling of the proverbial playing field. It's about what happens to a university when everyone has a voice. For the first time in history, we can leverage the collective intelligence of the university to potentially solve greater and more complex problems in the world. Think about the following scenario: Everyone at the university has unique life experiences and varying degrees of expertise in life. Some have much more life and work experience than others, but surely the sum is greater than its parts. For example, if we have around 20,000 faculty, staff, and students here at BGSU and the average age is 25 then we have 500,000 years of experience between us that we can learn from. BLOGS.BGSU is a great way to leverage such experiences as everyone can contribute. And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

BLOGS.BGSU is built upon the Wordpress platform, and everyone with a BGSU email account can login today and start blogging. However, upon closer investigation of the system, one will notice that it can be used to do more than blog. In fact, one will discover the nerve center of a web 2.0 revolution at BGSU in which students, faculty, and staff are creating, consuming, categorizing, and publishing content to the internet as well as networking, interacting, discussing, and critiquing each others posts. The system is so flexible it can be used to build everything from a simple news blog to a web 2.0 portal complete with static and dynamic web pages, blogs, podcasts, flickr integration, Google statistics tracking, and more. Depending on one's goals, the system can be leveraged to create websites, portfolios, tweets, podcasts, journals, news sites, and more. One of the best ways to understand this phenomenon is to view examples of how it is being used. The following are just a few of the creative ways in which people and departments at BGSU are using the system:

Center for Online and Blended Learning
Academic Technology
BGSU Strategic Planning Blog
Dr. Sue Mota - MBA 6070x
Brad's Art 101 Blog
Blackboard Video Tutorial Database Blog
MBA Blog
Jake Graving's Art 101 Blog
Music Library and Sound Recordings Archives News
Center for Teaching and Learning

News from the Curriculum Resource Center

The Rec Well Wire - Connecting Recreation and Wellness Enthusiasts
Dr. Natvig’s BGSU 1000 Blog -This blog is the main site for the music section of BGSU1000

SMC Blog - School of Media and Communication news/event blog
Second Life Virtual Campus
BGSU University Libraries News
Carolyn Kraut - Instructional Designer, COBL
Terence Armentano - Assistant Director, COBL

International Studies - The blog for International Studies majors at BGSU!
Dr. Gwen Evans - Companion site to Third Year Review
Language Learning

Interactive Communication Technologies Course Blog

Jordian Ross - Student Blog and Portfolio

Wolfram Alpha - Making the world's knowledge computable - Now What?

See ya later great knowledge memorizers of the world, and hello great knowledge appliers of the world. Is it me or are the people inhabiting this third rock from the sun, connecting, computing, and collecting knowledge like nothing we've ever seen before. Well, except for maybe the time we humans tried building that Tower of Babel, which ended up not working out so well. Introducing.... Wolfram Alpha, a powerful computational knowledge engine that seeks to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable by ANYONE. Connect this to a mobile device and we become walking and talking systematic knowledge carriers. We've had access to knowledge via the internet for quite some time, but this immediate access to systematic knowledge is something a little newer and worth pondering. I wonder if teachers will FINALLY stop creating tests that assess our students ability to memorize facts and start testing the application of those facts to solve real world problems. I'm especially looking at Universities to take up this challenge. With tools like Wolfram Alpha and Google Squared available to us, educational institutions should start building curriculum with the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy in mind. Maybe instructional designers could start with the fact that humans have access to just about all the available knowledge in the world and build from there. It sounds kind of funny, but it's true. This doesn't mean everyone understands the knowledge, but for the first time in history we do have easy access to it. Therefore, it is crucial we teach students where to find the knowledge, and then help them develop the skills to apply, analyse, synthesize, and evaluate it. We need to re-think assessment and skill acquisition for this day and age in this Knowledge Economy. It's time for schools to build curriculum that challenge us to really engage in the application of knowledge and not the memorization of definitions, forumulas, and factoids. That's lazy instruction. Yes, there is a place for memorizing in education...It is a good idea for teachers to memorize their students' names and interests. Personally, I don't care how great of a memorizor my accountant is. I want to know if that person can think about whole systems and solve financial problems that can save me money. What does it mean for you to have access to the world's systematic knowledge? How will you apply it? What does it mean for schools? How can they apply tools like Wofram Alpha and Google Squared to their curriculum. What does it mean for businesses? What do you think?

Major flaw in Blackberry design - RIM needs to fix this yesterday

I actually think my Blackberry Storm is a really cool gadget and would recommend it to everyone I know, EXCEPT that there is a HUGE flaw in the way RIM designed the tool and I haven't seen too many people talk about this FLAW yet. Had I known about this flaw in the design of the Blackberry, I may not have bought one. The flaw is glaring. Are you ready for it? Here it is. The phone only has 128 MB of dedicated memory for Applications compared to the 8 GB and Iphone has. Yes, the Storm is equipped with an 8 GB SD card, which is awesome, but none of that great memory can be used to store applications. I only have about 20 applications on my STORM and I only downloaded about 10 custom apps and I am unable to upgrade the OS because I don't have enough memory! Not to mention it leaks memory, so I have to pull the battery every day to free up about 20 megs of space. Can you believe that?! The Storm is an awesome gadget and I actually think it's features are superior to the current competition of smart phones, however, this flaw is too great to overlook and they should not sell another Blackberry until they get this fixed. I want RIM to provide us a FIRMWARE update NOW that fixes this problem. What do you think?

Ohio med school prescribes iPods for students

Interesting announcement about how OSU Med students will be using the ipod as a learning tool. I think this is a great idea in that we have a pocket size device that enables doctors to reference videos, audio, text, research, and much more. This is just the beginning of the new American worker in an information age. Access to information is at our fingertips so the key is euqipping students to be problem solvers, disseminators of conent, quick learners, and unafraid to adapt to new ways of teaching and learning.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The iPod is going to medical school

Officials said Tuesday that an Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) portable media player will become standard equipment for Ohio State University med students.

They'll use the devices to view videos of medical treatments and review images of the human body and organs. Students with the handheld gadgets also will be able to show patients photographs to help identify medications they're already taking before any new drugs are given.

Third-year medical student Justin Harper is credited with recognizing the potential in the iPod "touch" model, equivalent to an Apple iPhone without the telephone features.

The university says within two years every Ohio State medical student will be issued an iPod touch loaded with special medical software.

Unleashing The Tribe: small passionate communities

"Here's where we are now" on what makes communities tick online,
on mobile, in face-to-face settings, and why understanding this is so
important for learning"

edublogs: Unleashing The Tribe: small passionate communities

| View | Upload your own

launch of app store for iPhone could revolutionize the mobile world

Jobs: App Store launching with 500 iPhone applications, 25% free - Engadget

Tim Bajarin at Creative Strategies said, "When IBM introduced the PC, it was good, but it didn't take off until people started discovering the software." It's these apps then, he adds, that will "dramatically differentiates the iPhone" from Treos and BlackBerrys. Indeed, while consumers are focused on the launch of the iPhone 3G device, it's the App Store which has analysts in such a tizzy.

Imagine your computer with only an operating system and a couple software programs. You wouldn't think it is all that great. That situation is somewhat analogous to the mobile phone world in many respects until now. With the introduction of an application store for the iphone, mobile technology should dramataically enhance. Though 33% of the apps will be games, the development of apps for the phone will revolutionize the mobile lifestyle. It will be interesting to see how Google's pet project, Android, will compare. Android is an open source application that will run on many different cell phone brands and they have opened the code up for people to develop apps for Android. In fact, google is giving away 10 million dollars to the top 50 developers of apps for Android. Who do you think will be a bigger player in the mobile technology world? I typically lean toward open source solutions whenever practical for educational reasons.



[iphone apps store]

Why google and educators are excited about Android - the first complete, open, and free mobile platform

The Open Handset Alliance, a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies, is developing Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. To help developers get started developing new applications, Google is offering an early look at the Android Software Development Kit.

So what makes Android so special? Why not just get an iphone?

It is Open - Android allows you to access core mobile device functionality through standard API calls.
It is Breaking down boundaries - Combine information from the web with data on the phone -- such as contacts or geographic location -- to create new user experiences.
All applications are equal - Android does not differentiate between the phone's basic and third-party applications -- even the dialer or home screen can be replaced.
Fast & easy development - The SDK contains what you need to build and run Android applications, including a true device emulator and advanced debugging tools.



Google is giving away $10,000,000 to developers that come up with the coolest applications for the mobile phone technology. This is a great way to spur on innovation and get some really cool apps developed for the phone. Here is a video from one of the winners of round 1 in the development contest. This application does some pretty amazing things with bar code information.



There is no Google phone, however, Android is an open platform that will be able to run on many mobile phones similarly to how an operating system can be installed on many different kinds of computers.

This technology could make some really significant advances in providing education to people worldwide. In a blog post I wrote back in 2006, I posted some research from MIT, which indicated that "cellphone usage in Africa is growing almost twice as fast as any other region and jumped from 63 million users two years ago to 152 million today. According to the the MIT website, "Africa is well-suited as a testbed for the development of a mobile phone programming curriculum. Given their massive adoption and widespread use, as well as the recent technological advances in their computational power, mobile phones are ideal substitutes for the personal computer throughout the continent."

OLN Expo, resource of the day, and ipods

It has been about a month since my last posting so I plan on getting back into the swing of things. It has been a busy month! I was recently honored that the Ohio Learning Network chose to highlight the BGSU Weblog and Podcast Solution as their resource of the day on April 22nd. They started doing the resource of the day back in march 2007 and they actually highlighted a web 2.0 wiki I put together back then as well. I'm glad to be able to contribute to their mission as they do a great job aggregating "services and resources so Ohioans can meet their learning potential, Ohio’s economy can grow, and Ohio colleges and universities can continue to be knowledge leaders. "

They also invited me to do a break out session about the development, implementation, and administration of the system at the OLN Teaching and Learning Expo 2008 on May 19th in Columbus, OH. Every educator in Ohio should check it out if they can go that day.

In keeping with the theme of weblogs and podcasts, I thought this article was pretty cool. It lists 10 ways you can turn your ipod into your own portable personal learning environment.

One Laptop Per Child - Give One Get One Opportunity

Masi Oka speaks on behalf of the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Foundation regarding the Give One Get One opportunity.

Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child will be offering a Give One Get One Program for a brief window of time in North America. For $399, you will be purchasing two XO laptops—one that will be sent to empower a child to learn in a developing nation, and one that will be sent to your child at home.

For more information, please call 1-877-70-LAPTOP or visit http://www.laptopgiving.org/

WiMAX - Unlocking the next stage of the Internet?

I was reading an article about a new piece of technology called WiMAX that may fit nicely into the puzzle for bringing internet access to new parts of the world. The article states that "the primary benefit of WiMAX is to fill in the gaps of the Internet — the gaps of coverage in rural and remote areas and developing countries where it has been economically unfeasible to bring inexpensive broadband, and the gaps in coverage that mobile users have to deal with when they are away from their office, home, or Wi-Fi hotspot. The gaps won’t all be filled in 2008. It will take years for this build-out to happen, but we’ll start to see some of the gaps closing next year." Whenever I think of the $100 laptop program, I first think about Internet access and how that will be achieved in remote areas of the world. But it looks like this kind of technology may be part of the answer to that question. It's fast, there is no need to lay wires, it's much cheaper to deploy, so in 2008 we may get to see some interesting new things in technology and education around the world.

Mobile Learning with BareSite

For those of you that do not yet own an incredibly expensive iphone, but still want to view websites on a mobile device fairly easily, you can try using a free web-based solution at www.baresite.com. BareSite converts any website to a layout suitable to be viewed on a mobile device. "The goal of BareSite.com is to make mobile browsing easy and cheap. While an increasing amount of publishers make their content available for mobile devices, over 98% of websites still are not ready for mobile browsing. With BareSite.com, we intend to change that. We strip all unneeded content from normal websites, and make them mobile-friendly. Browsing is easier, and costs are lower due to lower bandwith usage."

Here is what Bowling Green State University's homepage looks like using baresite -
If you use baresite let us know what you think.

A 7 Inch PC for $199

A seven-inch PC from Asus Eee that only cost $199. Pretty cool.

Jott: Phone-Message-Transcribed-Emailed-Free

I know it has been a while since my last blog so I hope your RSS reader is still plugged in to TerenceOnline because I have a really neat piece of technology to share with you today. Jott is a fairly new free innovative service on the internet that enables people to dial a phone number (on a phone they registered with Jott for free), record a message, and then Jott will record and transcribe the message for you and email it to you, another person, or a group. For example, students could use the service to remind them of a test that is coming up or homework that is due. In addition this service could enhance group collaboration. Teachers could use the service in a variety of ways such as for personal organization as well as integrating the technology into class assignments. My main reservation about the service is that if I am constantly using my cell phone to Jott my thoughts down, will my Verizon phone bill be really expensive? Jott uses a toll free number, but I don't think my cell phone company cares about that. I'm not positive though.

The Jott website states "At Jott, we're simply trying to give you more access: to your ideas, to people, and more. We do it using things you trust that are already in your life: an ordinary cell phone and your voice. To Jott, just make a phone call. The way we figure it, if Jott gives you time back, let's you connect or get more done, we've done our job."

It is a pretty cool and an extremely easy to use service. Check it out at http://www.jott.com and create your first Jott today.

MIT research scientist goes to Africa to study mobile technology

MIT Research Scientist, Dr. Nathan Eagle, goes to Kenya to research and study the future of mobile technology (i.e. cell phones). Why Africa you might ask? According the the MIT website, "Africa is well-suited as a testbed for the development of a mobile phone programming curriculum. Given their massive adoption and widespread use, as well as the recent technological advances in their computational power, mobile phones are ideal substitutes for the personal computer throughout the continent." Here are some more statistics about Africa and mobile technology from the MIT site:

• Worldwide, there are more than 2.4 billion cellphone users, with more than 1,000 new customers added every minute.
• 59 percent of these 2.4 billion people live in developing countries, making cellphones the first telecommunications technology in history to have more users there than in the developed world.
• Mobile phone shipments grew 19 percent to 810 million units in 2005 and are expected to rise by 15 percent to 930 million units in 2006
• Cellphone usage in Africa is growing almost twice as fast as any other region and jumped from 63 million users two years ago to 152 million today.

This is very interesting research for those of us that are interested in working to enable Africa with greater access to university education via online technologies. Dr. Bruce Edwards, Associate Dean of Distance Learning at BGSU, has traveled extensively to East Africa and is dedicated to bringing more education to the developing regions. I may also be traveling to Tanzania in the next year or so to explore the logistics of setting up a distance learning center on behalf of BGSU.