Curtis Melvin, an enthusiastic amateur has used Google Earth to analyse the same site where the North Koreans detonated a nuclear device.
"Melvin’s satellite map of the country, collated from Google Earth, reveals palaces, labour camps, mass graves and the entrance to the subterranean test base in the remote northeast of the country.
He started collecting images of the world’s most isolated country for the drier purpose of analysing the economy.
Soon he realised that the regime could seal its borders but not the skies overhead."
This illustrates not just the frightening power of Google Earth, but that an amateur can use commonly available technology to observe and analyse one of the most secretive nations in the world.
It doesn't stop there, other ProAms collaborated with Melvin to create what must be the mother of all Google Mash Ups.
"Other enthusiasts, including some who had served in the US military in Korea, quickly began adding data, cross-checking facts and labelling locations.
The result is a portrait of a hidden country. It is so rich in raw intelligence that even the collators may not be aware of just how many state secrets are on their website."
This is a fascinating example of how organised collaboration by ProAms can produce results beyond the achievements of an ad hoc corporation/country using widely available & free tools!
This week has seen Microsoft confirm that it plans to
discontinue its Encarta Encyclopaedia product, acknowledging what everybody
else has known for years, Encarta couldn’t match the collaborative effort of
Wikipedia.
"Encarta has been a popular product around the world
for many years. However, the category of traditional encyclopaedias and
reference material has changed. People today seek and consume information in
considerably different ways than in years past. As part of Microsoft’s goal to
deliver the most effective and engaging resources for today’s consumer, it has
made the decision to exit the Encarta business."
Before we all rejoice with Microsoft bashing, let’s stop, and give
some credit to Microsoft Encarta. Encarta bettered the Encyclopaedia Britannica
and gave us the world’s first truly global encyclopaedia with consistent
entries with a high level of quality and accuracy across a broad range of
topics. Encarta pretty much killed off print encyclopaedias too - before
Wikipedia came along.
The internet has changed reference materials and the role of
encyclopaedias, with Wikipedia, our well loved collaborative tool, providing
and unrivalled depth and scope of coverage.
Wikipedia being a classic example of the strengths of open
versus closed systems and of course the "Long Tail.” In 2005 Wikipedia
offered more than 1 million articles in English - compared to Britannica’s
80,000 and Encarta’s 36,000 - Wikipedia has since experienced exponential
growth with 0.01% of Wikipedia users (75,000) contributing to and generating
over 10million articles.
One of my favourite Encarta v Wikipedia tales is written by
Clay Shirky in his 2008 book "Here comes everybody"...
"When the managers at Encarta, saw the excitement
around Wikipedia, they offered Encarta users the ability to perform a similar
service for Encarta. The resulting problem was neither the promise or the tool:
Wikipedia had shown that people are more than willing to contribute to online
reference works, and that the tools are available to do so at low cost and
large scale. What doomed the Encarta's effort to minor status was its bargain
with users: users had to grant Microsoft permission to "use, copy,
distribute, transmit, publically display, publically perform, reproduce, edit,
modify, translate, and reformat your submission" for a product Microsoft
was going to charge money for. This was hardly a bargain at all, as all the
power lay with Microsoft, a fact that made the option for user contribution
largely irrelevant. Encarta talked the same basic talk, but the details of the
bargain, including its tone, undermined the possibility of any large scale
recruitment.”
Encarta has had its day, and whilst it’s great to celebrate
the "Wisdom of Crowds" - I just hope that Microsoft releases its
reference and research for utilisation by Wikipedia (& Knol) and that we, as an
online community, can strive to make Wikipedia an even more accurate resource
tool.
"In the beginning there was nothing, only an idea"
A beautiful corporate video produced for Asics, wonderfully explaining the innovation behind their running shoes.
I can't imagine Nike ever producing a video like this, the Nike brand is about image, superstars, fashion, and lifestyle.
It's this style of approach from Asics which ensures that authentic running brands such as Brooks, Saucony, and Asics remain the athlete’s choice over fashion/lifestyle brands such as Nike and Adidas.
Amelia Torode rather nicely summed this up on her blog, "I love running, I love Nike's running comms so why will I still not buy Nike running shoes?"
It seems that whilst consumers (and bloggers) choose their lifestyle sports brands primarily based on street and fashion trends, the "ProAm" athletes select their footwear and apparel on comfort, innovation and functionality.
On the face of it, there is absolutely nothing remarkable
about 26 year old "girl next door" Lauren Luke. Growing up in the
North East, she had a tough time at school - became a mother at 16, and until
two years ago was a telephone operator at her local cab rank.
However, Lauren is without doubt truly remarkable - in fact
she is what Charles Leadbetter refers to as a "Pro Am,” an enthusiastic
amateur, who pursues activities to professional standards that has an
increasingly important role in our society and economy.
And, Charles is right...Lauren began selling makeup on eBay,
and uploading accompanying makeup tutorials to YouTube. It was these tutorials that
caught the online publics imagination. Lauren's YouTube channel, panacea81, has drawn more than
4.5 million viewers and is one of the UK's most watched YouTube channels.
Lauren is a classic example of a "bottom up hit", starting at the very end of Chris Anderson's "long tail", and rising through word of mouth and grass roots support, a marketplace of vast variety and increasing power.
For Lauren, make up is a passion; she is completely focused
and utterly dedicated towards her make up tutorials and has posted hundreds of
videos out of nothing more than love.
Charles Leadbetter describes pro-ams as, "amateurs who work
to professional standards. These are not the gentlemanly amateurs of old –
George Orwell’s blimpocracy, the men in blazers who sustained amateur cricket
and athletics clubs. The Pro-Ams are knowledgeable, educated, committed, and
networked, by new technology. The twentieth century was shaped by large
hierarchical organisations with professionals at the top. Pro-Ams are creating
new, distributed organisational models that will be innovative, adaptive, and
low-cost."
Lauren bridges the professional and amateur divide. She
isn't a professional make up artist, even though she spends all her time with
make up and earns her living selling makeup on eBay. She uploads and posts
YouTube videos because she loves it; not for the money. Yet Lauren is not an
amateur: she pursues her make up with professional dedication and
judges herself against professional standards.
Mac, No7 and many other make-up retailers could upload make
up tutorials, but as Clay Shirky quite rightly observes they "take on the
cost of an institution.” "First of all, when you form an institution, you
take on a management problem, right. No good just hiring employees. You also
have to hire other employees to manage those employees. Secondly, you have to
bring structure into place. You have to have economic structure. You have to
have legal structure. You have to have physical structure. And that creates
additional costs. Third, forming an institution is inherently
exclusionary."
Lauren, doesn't incur any of these costs, she just uploads her
videos, mistakes and all. Her tutorials cover all niches, all music tastes, all skin tones and are delivered with by an honest and genuine girl who just loves what she's doing. My wife and I have watched, in total admiration, a couple of
Laurens tutorials - her down to earth manner is very relaxing, and totally
believable.
Moving forward, Lauren has committed to becoming part of an institution - she has relinquished her 100% control for the opportunity of a greater gain.
As a fellow Geordie, I'll admit that I do have a soft spot - and I
hope that Lauren has the success that she deserves & that she is supported by honest individuals who don’t take advantage of her good
nature and naivety.
