What I wish I could see in Apple's future device.

In 2 days from now, Apple will held an event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. During this event, according to most tech people and bloggers, Apple will release a new product, or their latest creation as the invitation suggests. And this creation is supposed to be a tactile tablet. Whatever its name will be, islate, itablet, mactablet; here's some features I wish I could see:

-News center: allowing to download newspapers or magazines via a yearly subscription. So as soon as I'm out of bed I can read my freshly downloaded articles of the day, with real-time updates. It would be great to have the possibility to adapt the content I buy/read by skimming the different sections of a neswpaper according to my preferences (a sort of improved Genius). I don't see having real-time updates as a gadget but definitely as what is next for the web and compulsory for the survival of news-media. It's what facebook and twitter are providing right now. I also think that press-media will survive by providing online paying content, the NY Times is going to charge online readers next year.

-Social Media center: I obviously want to tweet, facebook, blog, skype from that Tablet! It would be great having a seesmic like application that I can launch on the tablet in addition to Safari. it implies having a Software development kit accessible for developpers who can provide designed applications. To skype and chat, it requires as well a built-in camera.

-A computer tool/accessory: I wish that tablet could be a complement to my computer. It would be great to be able to use it as a graphic tablet linked via WiFi or Bluetooth to my Mac. It would also be useful to be able to edit text using iWork, and to use it for a PowerPoint Presentation, just as the Keynote application for iPhone but in even better.

When Apple releases a new product, it generally implies changes in other Apple products, whether it's iTunes, iLife and so on. It would be good in addition to see monthly subscriptions appearing on the music store. Anyway answer on Wednesday at 7 P.M. C.E.T.

#Iranelection #Tehran

Jack Dorsey (co-founder of Twitter) was recently explaining (read my article) that Twitter could be a powerful tool for Democracy, helping rebuilding Iraq. His enthusiasm to use social networks to gather a People, is being picked up in a neighbour country, Iran.

Since Friday, and the controversial presidential elections held in Iran, opponents to re-elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have prostated in the streets of Tehran. Among those protestors undoubtedly stand some twitteres. Twitter is becoming inevitable to get information of what's going in Iran. The Iranian government filters websites, jams BBC satellite that broadcasts Persian TV and so on. As a consequence, journalists, and correspondents in Iran can't work, and transmit information (mainly to the western countries), fostering a flow of tweets coming from Iran. Journalists use those tweets, after confirmation they really come from Iran (with geolocalisation) to provide news in their countries. You can also find pictures from the events in Tehran on Flickr.

#Iranelection and #Tehran are among the most popular research and topics on Twitter. That also lead Twitter to postpone a maintenance operation scheduled June 15 at 9:45pm Pacific time, which would be the following day, 9:15am in Iran. Twitter in its Press Release, claimed the fact Twitter was used as an' important communication tool in Iran'.

Are those events the sneak peeks of what the web 3.0 could be? The integration of social networks in the political world? Or is just Twitter accentuating the buzz around its growing success and making a marketing 'coup'?

Is the British Press better than the American?

Everyone is claiming it is the end of Newspapers. Recently, the San Francisco Chronicle has laid off half of its staff. Two months ago, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last edition. The Philadelphia Daily News is becoming part of the Philadelphia Inquirer. But this is in the US. 

Indeed, in 10 days, the British newspapers, the Daily Telegraph has increased of 100,000 its number of readers. It is now printed at 900,000 copies. This is linked to the recent scoops dealing with the MPs’ expenses scandal.

But at the same time, as said before, the Health of the American press is fragile. 15,000 journalists have lost their jobs overseas. And according to French radio, Europe 1, American Newspapers are losing between 2 and 10% of their readers yearly. Most likely, American readers can reproach the propaganda published on the war in Iraq, the New-York Times reporting the use of WMDs in Iraq for instance. Similarly, a reporter of USA Today recognized making-up most of his scoops. Those stories have damaged the image and the credibility of the press, while the British press opens the debate, denounces, with proofs, and doesn't give any moral lesson.

The model of the Daily Telegraph is quiet similar to the one used by most newspapers now, journalists work for both the newspaper and the newspaper-website, one completing the other.

Or how an economically healthy press is linked to a valuable press.

Hoax on Prop 8?

Today a Tweet was posted, indicating that Prop 8 (which repeals same sex marriage in the State of California) was overturned. the Tweet was quickly RT (read ReTweeted) by others. Unfortunately for same sex marriage defenders, this is not the case yet. Indeed the 'patient zero' tweet was referring to a LA Times online article of May 16, 2008... A rumor that the rumor (about overturning Prop 8) was wrong started to spread, but the harm was done, and exacerbated by the LA Times itself, which had ReTweeted its own one year old article! 

Nevertheless, this hoax, or unfortunate mistake, no one knows, is a good warning against the excessive use of the Internet as a reliable source. We must be careful to what we read and never take what is written for granted. A good booster shot, all things considered.

Get check some more news about Prop 8: Stop8.org