The curse of late adopters

Some years ago there was a UK comedy sketch featuring a middle-aged father who enters the room as his children are watching Top of the Pops. "Hey what's this? It's got a good beat!" he says, and begins a dancing display akin to a moonwalking walrus.

And this is exactly what we see with the Internet. With every single advance, every single innovation, every single new trend. While most people quietly start using these services: communicating with friends, sharing videos, starting interest groups, there is a whole host of antiquated walruses who fling themselves loudly and obnoxiously at every new technology in some misguided attempt to be "down with the kidz".


Read more here

iPhone, iHype

Amongst all the frenzied speculation and rumour-mongering over Apple's predicted new tablet computer, there's been little comment on one key issue. Will the device function as a standalone computer or will it remain essentially a semi-parasitic pod?

Read more here

Six problem the Internet filter will create

The government has announced it will bring in its controversial internet filter. It's been reviled from everyone from IT industry groups to children's charities, with many parties pointing out why it won't even work.

But here are six reasons why it will actually make Australia's internet situation worse.

Read them here

Internet Pigeon Protocol

One of the quirkiest stories in Tech Report this week was a pigeon that flew faster than the internet.

An experiment was carried out in rural New South Wales where a car, a pigeon, and a Telstra ADSL 2 connection all raced to deliver a 700mb file. The pigeon won. The internet connection dropped out twice, and eventually failed to send it.

This kind of non-electronic data transfer is known as a "sneakernet". They're actually widely used today. Online DVD-rental services send digital media by post. Oil companies generate vast data files from seismic surveys, and have to take them back manually. If you've ever carried work files home on a USB because they were too big to email, you've used a sneakernet.

Read more here

Smart cities of the future

In September 2009, Cisco invited regional media to Incheon, South Korea, to see how next-generation networks can transform cities.

Interview: Michael Malone, CEO, iiNet

iiNet CEO Michael Malone speaks about why he thinks the Australian government's proposed mandatory internet filtering is inappropriate.

Internet of Things

Finland has just made it a legal right to have 1mbps broadband.

It's well below the fastest speeds available in most countries, though still better than many Australians enjoy. And by 2015, Finland will expand that legal right to 100-megabit broadband access.

More importantly it signifies that internet access is starting to be seen as a utility rather than a luxury.

As governments increasingly put services online, they have a duty to ensure that citizens can access them easily and for a fair price. But even more critically than this, connectivity is vital for the "Internet of Things".

Read more here