The On-Going Conversation

Detroit: The Dormant City?

The census revealed that Detroit's population fell 25% in ten years, equaling 250,000 and the equivalency of 1 person every 22 minutes. 

The mayor will challenge the recent numbers in light of it directly impacting the cities federal funding. This thriving metropolis was once the firth largest city in the United States, but has continued to dwindle in population as the manufacturing industry has declined.

With more and more people moving out of Detroit, the city is virtually abandoned in some areas. Is this a public relations nightmare or an opportunity to revitalize? We all realize how resilient the city is, although perpetual hard-ache can lead to discouragement and a lack of consolidated effort on a local governmental level.

However, I have noticed an increased number of advertisements showcasing The Motor City, but will it be enough to transform the distressed state of Detroit into an appealing place to call home?

Breaking News: AT&T and T-Mobile Unite

AT&T reached an agreement with Deutsche Telekom to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion. If approved, AT&T will become the largest wireless provider in the US.

Read the full article on Mashable

LinkedIn Wants Users to Visit Daily

LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, a social news tool for business users that encourages perpetual use, similar to Facebook and Twitter.

From a consistent use standpoint, LinkedIn has a hard time competing with Facebook and Twitter. Users seem to view LinkedIn as a professional portal that doesn't require continual monitoring. Facebook and Twitter on the other hand seem to have a connected mantra that requires daily attention, and users feel out of touch if they aren't constantly engaged and interconnected.

Obviously this isn't the case, but users feel a subconscious isolation if they aren't checking their digital lives on a daily basis. Most people view LinkedIn as an environment for career networking, which doesn't consist of frequent changes and status updates. Users even have their Twitter updates linked via an external platform that appears on the LinkedIn feed, which is included on the landing page.

As a result, LinkedIn is trying to capture a degree of success with this approach to social media. They want to encourage uses to visit on a daily basis, by providing more value and the ability to directly search news online. To a certain extent, they want to be a one-stop shop for online content absorption. This may be quite challenging, although it is a great place to commence in a difficult social space.

Read the full article via Fast Company

Flash-to-HTML5 Tool Via Adobe

Adobe released a Flash to HTML5 tool, allowing developers to bring their content onto iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.

Read the full article via Mashable

The Era of Tablets: Microsoft Strives to Compete with Apple and Google

Microsoft will strive to release a tablet-oriented version of Windows by 2012 to compete with Apple's iOS and Google's Honeycomb.

Read the full article via Mashable

Adobe and Apple : Tech Friends Again

Adobe has apparently resolved the apprehension with Apple over Flash and lends support to the iPad in a series of new advertisements.

Read the full article via Mashable

A Digital Educational Experience

Quick Cite, a 99-cent app for iPhones and Androids helps automate bibliographies, which is motivating me to consider college round two.  However this leads me to question if technology is making college too easy for those individuals that happen to be quite technologically savvy. It may also give students an advantage over opposing students who don't have access to iPhones and Android devices.

At the same time, I realize that students are required to complete a plethora of work and in the grand scheme of concurrent requirements, bibliographies aren't the most pertinent obligation. Students could be devoting their time and energy to other tasks that seem to be more important. If this particular application helps increase the percentage of students that get through college with stellar grades, then I am in full-support.

However, it might be difficult to decipher if this truly helps college students become more organized and proficient with their studies. It may come down to a personal preference and some students will always appreciate the tangible homework experience.

I also envision certain professors supporting the initiative and others feeling as though students are cutting corners. Regardless of your opinion on the technology, it is nearly impossible to not appreciate the advancement we are experiencing with smart phones and mobile devices. It will be interesting to see where mobile technology continues to go and time will be the only indication in the near term.

I am in full support of the incorporation of technology with education, but I also see the destruction of an even playing field. College students need to be taught the value of hard work, persistence and intellectual diligence. With tools to enable more productivity, are students truly experiencing the challenge of higher education?

Regardless, I am interested in trying out the application and seeing how helpful it can be for high school, college, graduate and PhD students alike. It may even motivate me to pursue a master's degree, which could provide lasting implications in a world of perpetually expanding technological capabilities. We live in a dynamic world and technology continues to advance. We can either choose to embrace it or be left behind in the traditional world.

What will you choose?

Read the full article via Fast Company

A Glimpse at Bonnaroo 2011

Bonnaroo 2011 Music: Arcade Fire. The Black Keys. Cold War Kids. Ray Lamontagne. My Morning Jacket. Mumford & Sons. Primus and Ratatat.

See the full line-up

The Mobile Business

Square, a plug-in works with iPhones, iPads and Android phones; it reads credit cards and allows merchants to accept mobile payments.

Read the full article on Mashable: 4 Small Business Mobile Predictions for 2011

The Mobile Brand Bowl

A Mobile Game: StumbleUpon set a record for mobile stumbles during the Super Bowl, which may have been due to a lack of access to personal computers. It could also correlate to an increasing move towards mobile expression and personal use in my opinion. 

People now have the ability to stay connected regardless of their location with mobile technology. This phenomenon is relatively new and wasn't even a possibility in years past. I don't envision it in changing in the near future either and am intrigued by the ever evolving mobile space.

Read more about StumbleUpon and the mobile impact on the Super Bowl via Mashable.