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Clip: "Japan, on the other hand, joined the digital revolution from a position very different from the rest of the world, generally by-passing the PC and embracing a mobile culture that is just beginning to evolve elsewhere. Devices are becoming more functional, computers are getting smaller and the mobile has outgrown its telephone origins by a long way. While the West rooted itself in the internet from the PC side, for most Japanese the mobile handset was the original gateway to the web, a mindset that generated the most unique, mobile-crazy culture in the world. Since voice functions are among the least utilized by the mobile generation, to call a mobile handset a 'phone' is a tremendous understatement. Most prefer to communicate through mobile email and make their first email addresses not with Yahoo or Gmail, but through mobile carriers.
Both psychologically and physically, young Japanese are never too far from their handsets and the connections to the world that come with the d
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Clip: "In 2009 we're seeing more products based on open, structured data e.g. Wolfram Alpha. We're seeing more real-time apps e.g. Twitter, OneRiot. And we're seeing better filters e.g. FriendFeed (and Facebook, which copies FriendFeed – er, I mean is inspired by).
In a nutshell here are some of the new or noticeable trends that we're seeing on the 2009 Web:
* Open data
* Structured data -> smarter
* Filtering content
* Real-time
* Personalization
* Mobile (location-based, so you could say that's smarter use of data too)
* Internet of Things (the Web in real-world objects)" -
I believe technology will become effective as a campaign and outreach tool when it comes from the masses, and not a top-down initiative. People should have a stake in the tools, they should be engaged with it for them to succeed. At IFTF we have researched the engagement economy, and we believe that the holy grail is harnessing the power of engagement. Thousands of people spend hours contributing to Wikipedia or writing reviews for Yelp. What everyone needs to understand is why people are ready to spend hours working for free? Every politician and every organization needs to tap into these driving forces of engagement to have effective online campaign.
