WEB DEVELOPMENT BLOG

April 10, 2007

My media consumption diet

Snow shoveling is easier with an
iPod. I shot this Sunday with my
phone, though I usually prefer
a Canon.

Sandy Piderit recently posted her media consumption diet in an effort to share ideas and propagate the meme initiated by Jeremiah Owyang. As part of this effort, she tagged me to contribute.

On first glance this seems more off-topic than my usual ramblings. But, as media producers, I think it serves us well to reflect on our own consumption habits. If we can achieve self-awareness regarding the ways we taste and digest information, we can be better prepared to serve information to others. With this in mind, I'll also tag Kevin Adams, Mano Singham, Jeremy Smith, Aaron Shaffer, Jason Stuart and anyone else who would like to perpetuate the meme.

Here goes:

E-mail

I've been using e-mail, when available, since 1983. I took to it immediately, because I could share my ideas when they came to me, and my friends could respond at their convenience. This was much easier than passing notes via friends or using the postal service. The same is true for work. If you have a Web-related question, I may be able to answer it off the top of my head, but in many cases I'll need to view your Web site, examine the code, or do some additional research. Your detailed e-mail message gives me the information I need to ponder the question, and my e-mail response allows me to include detailed instructions, examples of code and Web links—without making you take rushed notes while we're on the phone.

In terms of using e-mail to access media, I am subscribed to a few listservs, but they only generate 1-2 messages per week.

Web

The first time I saw the Web, it was through a text-only browser. Content ran along the lines of "These are my favorite Star Trek episodes." Now of course you can find just about anything. When I search on a topic and can't find something—not even in Wikipedia—that is when I'm surprised.

As a consumer, I usually use the Web to search out specific information via Google, though I will skim local sources such as Cleveland.com and CoolCleveland. For World News I like the BBC, but if I need to know more about a given topic I'll usually search out additional sources so I can get multiple viewpoints. For example, after 9/11 and in the time leading up to our invasion of Iraq, I collected a variety of sites relating to the Middle East. I also consume a lot of information via podcasts. While these are distributed on the Web, I'll discuss those separately.

• Firefox is my browser of choice, but I also use Mozilla, Opera, Safari, Camino, various versions of Explorer and sometimes Linx to check sites on PC and Mac.
• Bookmarks: Firefox and my own intranet pages. In the early days bookmarking tools were pretty weak so I started compiling my own pages of links that I could categorize for my own reference. I just never lost the habit.
• Aggregator/blog search: Bloglines, Technorati, Planet Case.
• Wiki: Wikipedia and Case Wiki. Every month or two I'll go through a phase where I add things to the Case Wiki. This phase usually ends, not because I'm finished, but because something else has taken a higher priority. Then more weeks pass until I get back to it. I'd like to spend more time with this and encourage all of you (Case Western Reserve folks) to do so as well. If we each feed it a little bit, eventually it will grow into a big healthy Wiki.
• Groups: I'm not really active in many online groups, though I skim the Case Forums at least once a week. I used to read Usenet quite a bit, but the Web development newsgroups are pretty bogged down with spammers, newbies and people who know much less about the topic than they think (though there are also some very knowledgeable posters). I still like to check in once in awhile to see what sorts of problems people encounter and how they solve them. It's a good way to learn about best (and worst) practices. Much of what was once discussed on Usenet is now discussed in Web based discussion boards and blogs, though active groups such as rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled and of course, cwru.net.outages, can provide some very useful information.
• Blog Platform: Blog@Case (MoveableType)
• IM - I don't use instant messaging either online or via phone. When I have to communicate in real time I prefer to do it in person.

Music

When I was a child, stations like WMMS and M105 used to play "Album Oriented Rock." This meant that they played songs other than the "hits" and introduced us to new bands. Later on, listening to a mix of commercial radio, WRUW, WCSB and having my own alternative show on WMHB gave me easy access to new music. Alas commercial radio doesn't work like that anymore and one needs to take a more proactive approach to finding new music. My taste leans to alternative ranging from Goth to Trip Hop, though sometimes my mood may lean towards lounge or Brazilian. I listen to college stations and Internet radio stations such as Soma FM's Indie Pop Rocks. I do Amazon and iTunes searches of bands that I like—so I can see what others are buying. In a similar vein I also like search engines such as LivePlasma (formerly Music Plasma, but now it will search movies too).

If I like a particular Indie band, I find I can sometimes find other good recommendations by visiting the site of their record label or distributor to see what other bands they carry. Or I'll read reviewers I trust. Finding music is like going on a scavenger hunt. My quest is to find the next album that I'll be compelled to play over and over again. Yet, until I find it, I don't know if I'll hear about it from a friend, track it down on the German alternative charts, hear it online or read about it on a blog.

TV

I don't have cable. I like CSI, Crossing Jordan (though it seems to be running out of steam) Grey's Anatomy, Scrubs, Law and Order, Numbers, House, Bones, This Old House, Nova and the other science shows on PBS (learned cool things about Cuttlefish this weekend), British sitcoms (49 WEAO Akron), some of the cooking shows, Globe Trekker and Ugly Betty. Some of these shows run at the same time, but I have 2 VCRs so I just tape whatever sounds interesting then watch later at my convenience.

Communication Tools

At work I use a Mac and a Windows PC on our high speed network with voip phone. At home I have a 1999 G3 Powerbook that connects via 56k modem on a land line I use only for local calls. It seems like shockingly slow access, but I'm online all day and do my Web surfing at lunch, so when I get home I mostly use the computer to write. Once I get a newer MacBook, I'll probably upgrade my internet access.

As far as I'm concerned cell phones are most useful for meeting people in airports. I just don't use mine that often (much to the annoyance of some of my friends). And yet, my phone is pretty cool. The last one (bought in 1999) was fading fast, so I replaced it with the LG VX8600. It is much easier to use than was the old phone and with the USB cable and BitPim, I can upload my own ringtones, images and calendar entries. The first ringtone I uploaded was the sound of an old fashioned phone ringing. I don't know why that isn't included as part of the standard set. It will also play music and videos and take photos, but as far as I'm concerned that's what my iPod and camera are for.

Movies

I buy DVD's when they're on sale. I like going to the discount Monday movies at the Cedar Lee, but haven't been getting there as often as I once did. I think the last movie I saw, other than at home, was Night at the Museum. It was playing on the plane coming back from Phoenix a few weeks ago. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't have to pay for headphones .

Newspapers

Usually I'll just read selected bits online—unless I'm having breakfast in some foreign locale and an English paper is in easy reach. I used to buy the Sunday Plain Dealer for the T.V. Guide but I didn't like the last format change, and it seemed wasteful to buy a three inch stack of paper when I would only pick through and read selected bits. Now I just go to T.V. Guide's online listings and write down the shows I want to watch that week.

Magazines

Years ago I worked for a start-up business magazine. In trying to learn the trade, I became addicted to magazines, reading everything from consumer schlock to trade magazines. I did things like compare the editorial and design styles of Cosmopolitan versus Esquire (the latter usually had more depth and far cleaner layouts—one could write a dissertation on the differences between men's magazines and women's magazines). Now I hardly read them at all, except to skim Crain's Cleveland Business or Ad Age, Scene and the Free Times chuckle at the Weekly World News and tabloid headlines at the grocery store, or read National Geographic while waiting for friends at the Spider. I also will read at least some of the newspaper or magazine stories featured in the "In the News" section of Case Daily.

Books

I am addicted to books. They're portable, don't require batteries and share the imaginations of countless minds. You may think me crazy, but I think books may even be more important than chocolate. I read (on average) somewhere between 2-5 books per week, though this varies depending on the weather and what not. My reading taste is omnivorous and includes Nobel prize winning authors, contemporary literature, vampire novels, mysteries, sci-fi, cereal boxes and stray flyers found stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I mostly read fiction, but dig the occasional biography as well. Favorite authors include: Jorge Luis Borges, Franz Fuhmann, Herman Hesse, Tom Robbins, F. Paul Wilson, Haruki Murakami, Connie Willis, Christopher Moore, Chuck Palahniuk, Carl Hiaasen, Bill Fitzhugh, Neil Gaiman, Christa Wolf, and many others.

Podcasts - iPod

My iPod completes me. Well maybe not, but I sure do like this thing. Aside from being a cool music player and photo album, it is a great tool for gathering and ingesting knowledge. I use it to listen to podcasts from the BBC, NPR, universities and various people with more spare time than me. Sunday afternoon as I was shoveling snow (in 3 - 40 minute sessions) I learned about the history of anaesthetics on "In Our Time," and listened to a discussion of aesthetics and "The many worlds of David Lewis" on the Philosopher's Zone. Snow shoveling is far more pleasant when accompanied by an interesting lecture or radio show. Later that evening I listened to a podcast from my alma mater which featured a speaker from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. No one radio station would have packaged this content together in one day, but with podcasts I can program my own content based on my current mood and interests.

It used to be that if you wanted to listen to a lecture or watch a video published online you were tethered to your computer. I can't listen to or watch these while I'm working because I can't concentrate on both. I don't listen/watch on my home computer because I have slow internet access and I still don't want to be tied to the computer to listen to a lecture whether it be on Socrates or the top 12 uses for persimmons. Podcasts changed all of that. While you can still use the computer to listen and watch, you can also transfer the content to your iPod or other portable device. Now I can listen to the news while buying groceries, lectures while snow shoveling, and "This American Life" just before going to sleep. I consume much more of this content now that I can schedule it at my convenience and carry it with me anywhere I go.

Heidi's media trend

In reviewing my media diet, I've noticed a consistent trend towards time-shifting. This is seen not only in my T.V. habits, but also in my preference for e-mail, books and podcasts. I tend to consume more information when I can control the time and place. Not everyone is like this, it varies by personality, but knowing such trends can help us determine what kind of content we produce on our own sites.

If you are producing a site for people like me, you'll want video and audio content to be in portable rather than streaming formats. Knowing I like to read, you needn't fear long amounts of text (so long as they are relevant). Of course, in the real world your target audience will be broader than "people like Heidi." Some of your visitors will be time-shifters, some will adjust their schedules to watch the live Webcast at noon and others will have a penchant for .pdf's that they can print and take with them. If we keep in mind the different ways that people interact with our content we give ourselves the opportunity to produce it in the most usable formats.

Stumble It!

Posted by: Heidi Cool April 10, 2007 02:40 PM | Category: Heidi's Entries , Podcast Recommendations , Recommendations

Posted by: hac4 (Heidi Cool) April 10, 2007 02:40 PM | Comments (8) | Trackback

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