Here’s the link, if the video doesn’t show up:

http://www.smartplanet.com/video/kids-learn-to-make-their-own-mobile-apps-at-summer-camp/6278324?tag=nl.e099

An iPad/touch/phone tele-prompting set-up….verdict still out.

This would allow you to do your computing with your stuff, your desktop, your files where ever you wanted, on the go and always with you. Apps will become even more proficient and proactive and prolific giving users the ability to do more with less, and respond on an almost “as needed” basis.

The implications of this arrangement actually begins to take the thin client into whole new realms where we couldn’t before. Students could actually afford software/hardware. For instance, with my iPhone, I have a video (and still camera), a media management app (photos app built in that handles albums of stills and video clips) and for $7.99 I have an editing app that gives me almost the same capabilities as iMovie, plus with the 3Gs speed, I can upload my video to youtube in a few seconds. So for $199 for the phone, 7.99 for the editing app, and my monthly bill (that I already am stuck with anyway) that comes to, let’s say $960 for a year of service, and lets throw in the OWLE Bubo for another $130 bucks for a wide angle lens, mic, tripod mounts and awesome ergogrip- brings us to a grand total of $1296.99. If you take out the fact that everyone has a cell phone and already pays for service, subtract that $960 back out for a total of $336.99. That’s less than a meal plan, or a few text books, and certainly less than a new laptop. Not to mention you can call your child while at school, keep track of what they are doing via twitter/facebook, and even GPS track them (with permission of course).

Lets take the student thing one step further, download an e-book app like Stanza, including the classics for english class, subscribe to the courses through podcasts, and manage their registration through another app (all for free), share notes through BUMP, research topics through their built-in camera, manage their health with medication reminders and trackers, and you start to see the relevance of the mobile device – if you haven’t already.

The iPad is NOT a big iPod Touch -it’s so much more than that. A student brought in his iPad, and showed how he could demo his wedding videography and photography examples, draw upp an estimate in another app, and then have the client sign the contract right there on the spot proves the importance of this device. Think about the medical implications-Doctors reviewing the X-Rays with you minutes after you get zapped, reviewing medical history, updating your patient info, and then writing and signing the prescription all on the spot on his iPad – thats more than a big iPod Touch. It is the beginning of the end of computing as we think and live about it now. Try not to google for a day.

So that’s my prediction – we’ll be walking around with our mobile office, capable of working anywhere – downloading .99 to $10 apps for the work we need to do now, and not worried about the longevity of it – it did the job we needed at the time we needed. I could even see where the platform wars move from the desktop/laptop world to the mobile device world altogether. All this data would be backed up in the cloud of course – that damn bubble of an idea that won’t go away, or at least won’t get renamed. (tangent alert) The Cloud. It just sounds bad, like all my data is going to rain down upon the masses for all to steal. Or it’s going to rain on me at any minute. Or strike me with data lightning. Lets not call it the cloud anymore, how about the haven, or kingdom, or the man, something other than the nebulous mess of a cloud.

Maybe that’s why we’re all not walking around with netbooks and tablets that weighed more than a freshman-in-chess-club’s backpack. They didn’t allow us fun and enjoyment at doing what we needed to do, only disappointment and frustration at the simple reason that the device just didn’t mesh with the rest of the world. They didn’t give us the flexibility that Apple has provided with the app store, iTunes store and now iAd frameworks -contrary to the belief that its a closed system. That closed system works 99.9% of the time I need it to day in and day out. A student told me he downloaded the latest album from his favorite band on the way to school (at a stop light of course) and listened to it for the rest of the ride.

I really hope you people are ready for this – cause its going to rock!
Thanks for reading.

There is so much exciting developments happening that no one single person can pin-point, but yet I sit here and I’m watching it unfold in front of me wondering why no one else is excited!? Maybe it is just me? Maybe I am that crazy technology guy that no one really pays attention to anymore because, “He’s out there.” Maybe you’ve already said that about me?

iPad, Gaming, Augmented Reality, thin/cloud computing, Wi-Fi/3G/4G/etc. everywhere, all these pieces coming together slowly and surely to bring us into the next age of awareness. It’s not an information age anymore, it’s an awareness age. We are connected to more and more sources of quality than ever before. We filter the loads of data coming in through our social networks so we don’t get overloaded (We may still feel overloaded, but our filtering keeps getting better), we converse about more topics that affect everyone than ever before, we respond to tragedy faster than ever before (Haiti), and we are more aware of our surroundings than ever before. We are in an Age of Awareness. Of each other (social networks), of technology, and of the connections that we have to this life.

The old guard of media has been disbanded and obliterated, we own it, as Clay Shirky states, “The participants are the producers.” Paraphrasing of course. He says it’s like when you buy a book, you get the printing press free. I’ll continue this thought…..When you buy a movie, you get the production studio for free. Stick with me now, when you buy a computer, (the thing you participate in the social media, the internet, the network of individuals and organizations with) you get the social media, the networks for free. Think about it, you buy an apple computer and you get a photo editing and management app, a music production app, a video editing app, a dvd creation app, and a web site creation tool included with the computer! Not to mention the apps that we take for granted, like a web browser, email app, and multimedia playback apps.

My phone is an iPhone 3Gs, I have a video camera, video editing app, and network capability. I can shoot edit and upload complete with graphics, music, transitions, and credits. Huh, say what? Yeah, there’s an app for that. What do I need my Sony HDR-FX1 for? It takes 3 times as long (if not longer!) to get the material off the camera and onto the web, than it takes to do it on my phone – if the web is the place I’m sending it to. And that last part is the clincher, the web is the delivery system of choice. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that traditional media has long to live. DC is the place to be, with apps, video, news, books, movies, games, data, etc, etc, etc. What’s DC? Other than being a great skateboarding shoe company, and our nation’s capital, it stands for Downloadable Content. And we’ve been using it for years, whenever you check your bank statement online, rent netflix, steal music, check the news, it is what the internet is made of.

So, yes, the way we use computers and technology is in store for a big change, and it’s not just softkeyboards, touch screens and motion sensors, it’s in how we use the technology itself – increase, enhance, and experience awareness.

This has been a stream of consciousness, if this had been an actual option piece, my grammar and citations would have been included. Thanks for reading, and I would love it if you found me on facebook and twitter, and sent me a message

It’s kind of a tribute to iCarly, but not really since we don’t mention her show at all, but we’re totally trying to do the same thing.

Love that show.

Brady did all the filming himself except for the intro, and he plans to much more with the site. He wants to have voting and comments and “submit your own” videos, and much more. He’s probably going to convince his friends to come on the show with him, so stay tuned!

Just saw this while searching out some other Flash goodies

Adobe now makes it possible to create applications for the Apple iPhone using the Adobe Flash Platform. You heard right: We’re really excited to bring this new capability to Flash designers and developers—the ability to target the iPhone with ActionScript 3 projects. You will be able to test this functionality in the forthcoming beta release of Adobe Flash Professional CS5 on Adobe Labs.

I will be sharing an office with Geoffrey Olive, and be right around the corner from our new Dean Dr. Ed Guthrie, as well as Maria Bannon, and Adam Voyton. Susan Gregg will be right around the corner, as well as Stephanie Miller. I really can’t wait to start! Which is a good thing, since my start date is tomorrow (July 1).

I hope I can bring a lot to this area of interest and hope to continue to teach the fun and exciting courses that I have enjoyed presenting over the last few years.

See ya soon on campus!