Hello all,
I received many great comments about workflow on my post First Forays so I decided to start up a new conversation on efficiency and research workflow. I'll start with a little profile on the type of researcher I am and the kinds of research I do and then I'll go into my current workflow and finally what works and what doesn't. I would love to hear from you on tools you've used or are currently using that have made a difference (great or small) in your research process.
Working in a collective with my colleagues, Shift-Space are very excited to be a part of the futureeverything festival taking place in Manchester in May. Natalie aka, the shrieking violet has invited us to run some workshops as part of the fanzine convention taking place on the Saturday and we also plan to have our own display of zines and other printed ephemera.
‘Alice in apps land: explore your smart phone and your environment’, presented by Visual Think Map in collaboration with Shift Space.
During this workshop you will discover the local landscape through digital stories and learn more about apps and the functionality of how your phone can enliven the world around you. Through an interactive and engaging tour of the area near Victoria Baths you will discover and digitally collate, using your phone, a variety of people’s memories and your own as we introduce you to new apps and narratives, including old photos and memorabilia of the area. We’ll finish by making an interactive map where everyone can share what they’ve made and then print a map. DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR PHONE AND WE’LL SEE YOU THERE!
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After escaping the pirates who took over my session in the morning and finding coffee, I went to the session on mobile computing led by two people from the University of Zurich. The session began with a demonstration of a new course developed there. This particular course is targeted primarily at students to teach them techniques of working with sources in archives.
The version I was able to access didn’t seem to have the full functionality being shown on the screen in the room, but it is clearly a nice tool for students to use as they begin to poke around in digital collections in archives. Given my limited German these days, I may have missed some of the most important points, so when I have more time, I’ll poke around the project some more to see what it can do.
Among the questions that came up in the session were: What are your experiences with apps; what specific comments do you have on the app demonstrated; what needs should an app fulfill; what are the key technical questions; how do we take into account the fact that not everyone will have a smartphone/mobile device?
One of the questions discussed was the degree to which mobile computing has penetrated the student population. I know in the case of George Mason, it seems that maybe only half of our students still have easy access to mobile computing. But how much longer will this be true?
Another important question on the technical side is the difficulty in making sure your app will work on multiple platforms? Keeping up with the constant changes/needs to support different devices seemed to some in the room as more than academics can afford to do such sork.
The app I want is one where I can go into an archive with my mobile device, work in Zotero, take pictures of the documents I’m working with, and have them uploaded in a frictionless way to my Zotero database. Right now, I have to take the pictures with my camera, download them, resize/rename them, then upload them, which will take me days. If you are an app developer and create such an app, please email me right away!
My request led to a wide-ranging discussion of the cloud, user interfaces, “creeping featurism” (a term I like a lot), and how many devices will we be using when doing our research? Some argued that one day in the near future we will have only two — a phone and a tablet. Microsoft seems to be betting on this kind of a shift with Windows 8.
At least one university (Washington State) is offering a course in summer 2012 for mobile apps in the humanities. Perhaps we should all plan on spending a week in Vancouver this June? More on their summer Digital Humanities Institute is available here.
Most of the conversation was about apps related to archives and research. A couple of the public history apps that came up were Romerstrasse and Biblion.
Another interesting conversation revolved around what is “the toolbox” the historian or the history student needs as she walks around? Which of these should be mobile?
In the Youth APPLab, middle and high school students in the District of Columbia design software and mobile apps in an after-school program that supplements their formal learning in computer science. They conceive, develop and co-create their own Android Apps. Ultimately, students and their apps will compete for internships with technology-based startup companies in and around the DC area.
“Smartphones are the new platform, and apps are the core,” says Douglas Dixon, an independent technology consultant, author, and speaker specializing in digital media. “In just a year and a half, the Apple App Store for iPhone users has surpassed 140,000 applications, and users have downloaded more than 3 billion apps. — Not bad for a new market that was created only a year and a half earlier.”
At the February 24 Lunch ‘n Learn seminar, Dixon explored the range of apps being developed for these new platforms. Beyond rude sound effects and popping bubbles, developers are leveraging both the intelligence of handsets and the power of back-end cloud computing to provide new kinds of timely services.
He began by demonstrating how easy it is to search and locate apps at Apple’s App Store from the device or computer, and to synchronize the iPhone with one’s collection of music on iTunes. The App Store listings include screen shots, user ratings, and easy access to dedicated web pages about each app. Many of the popular apps are games and silly diversions. Based on your apps, the Genus feature also will recommend other apps that you are likely to enjoy.
In comparison, the Motorola Droid from Verizon is based on the Google Android platform. The Android Market also has lots of games and other apps, some free and some for fee. It’s easy to find popular apps including Facebook, Twitter, Pandora, and Google Earth, and the listings kindly show the apps that you have already installed. Unlike Apple, Google does not manually review apps for inclusion in its app market. Users have the primary role in ranking, rating, and tagging apps. And Google automatically notifies users about updates to their apps.
Dixon also demonstrated the Microsoft Zune wireless player, which has a nice interface that automatically organizes your apps, recent updates, and your music and personal information. The new Microsoft Phone platform, due at the end of this year, will discard the old Windows Mobile interface for this Zune style. Microsoft Phone also goes beyond individual apps to feature “hubs” for games, people, photos, and music that combine relevant information. No longer would you have a need to go to a variety of separate apps like mail, Flikr, and Facebook. All of the relevant data will be in a single place.
Says Dixon, these devices combine three really interesting and powerful characteristics. First, they are impressive little computers with a decent processor, gigabytes of memory, and a readable screen. Second, they have sensors in them aware of their orientation and their GPS position. Some also have built in cameras and microphones. And they are connected to the cloud. As a result, we can begin to rethink how to do things.
Then there are location-based services that now go beyond displaying maps and finding a near-by Starbucks to reporting the lowest local prices for gas, and providing the pulse of the neighborhood from real-time Twitter feeds.
And new “augmented reality” services can use the smartphone’s camera to provide information on what’s around you — to look up a product bar code, or an interesting building or painting, or to identify the buildings that you see in front of you. Point at a record album and get all of the product information. Soon you can point at a person and view their Facebook page.
It’s an amazing new world, placing the power of cloud computing in your back pocket, all at a store near you.
Douglas Dixon is an independent technology consultant, author, and speaker specializing in digital media. A graduate of Brown University, and previously a product manager and software developer at Intel and Sarnoff, he is the author of four books, has published hundreds of feature articles over the past decade, has presented over a hundred seminars and talks, and provides expert witness services. Doug makes his articles and technical references freely available on his Manifest Technology blog and website.
The podcast is available.
One of the things we are doing to help promote our apps is to make “lite” versions available for free, so readers can try before they buy. Much like you can in a bookshop. But we also want to include enhancements in the “lite” version, something you can’t do in the bookshop, so here’s what we’re doing.
In the case of Bunny Munro we will be making the first 3 chapters available in the sampler. The app isn’t crippled in terms of features – you can still tilt-scroll, subscribe to the news feed, change font and so on. But the content is limited.
The first three chapters of Bunny set the scene and also – luckily for us – provide a natural cliff hanger of sorts. Furthermore Chapter 3 is the first chapter with a video in it, so readers can not only get a sense of the full audio sync / audiobook of chapters 1-3, but watch Nick reading a brilliant part of the book.
The app has been submitted to Apple for review and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s live. Make sure you’re subscribed in email and/or RSS for news updates!