Originally posted May 20 2008 (postscript below)

There’s been a lot in the techie press lately about the death of “traditional media”, especially newspapers and magazines. Driving into the Leeds office this morning, I was listening to my favourite podcast This Week in Tech (TWiT as it’s known), when they began discussing the death of newspapers. A topic that, as a former journalist and self-styled “digital media guru”, I have some opinions on.

The thrust of the argument – by some people on TWiT and many others in the past – is that, as the Internet becomes increasingly ubiquitous, why would people bother with “dead wood and ink”when they can find all the news they want online?

Day to day, I find out most of the “stuff I want to know” through the Interweb so does that mean the “paper is dead” proclaimers are right?

Well, no, because what a lot of technology experts appear to forget is this: we’re geeks, the general public aren’t.

When you remain in your digital bubble, mixing with like-minded individuals, sharing the same daily experiences, then it’s sometimes easy to forget that not everybody thinks the same as you or, more accurately, does the same as you.

I spend at least 12 hours a day plugged into the Internet and I think nothing of firing-up a newsreader to get the latest updates on my 50 favourite feeds.

But that’s me. It’s an extension of my job. I’m expected to do this stuff. I enjoy it. I understand it.

My Mum? Wouldn’t know an RSS feed if it bit her on the bum. OK, so she’s 61 (sorry Mum) but how about my 34 year old brother? Doesn’t even own a computer. Well that’s not normal obviously but skipping over that…

My friends? The vast majority are 30-somethings and, excluding the ones who work in a similar “digital” field to myself, the vast majority get their news from the old-fashioned methods of TV, radio and newspaper; the “old media triumvirate” if you will. Yes they’ll maybe look at the BBC News web site or the forum for their favourite football team – but, when they want the “proper news” it’ll be the tele or the paper they’ll go to.

When you’re sat at the kitchen table on Sunday morning with the pot of fresh coffee and freshly-baked croissants, do you want to flick through The Observer, The Sunday Times or – heaven forbid – The Sunday Sport, or their corresponding web sites?

When I purchase a newspaper, I do so for a variety of reasons – the main one being the variety of news that it presents to me. The stories have been selected – let’s call it “edited” – for me; selected from all the possible news that happened the previous day. And I can scan an entire page to see a variety of stories I might be interested in.

I can view online newspapers on my computer or mobile phone – but it’s always headline story another headline etc. With a newspaper my eye can scan easily across entire stories.

Newspapers have scale that screens don’t have. And until either that problem is solved or our heads are re-wired to interact with information in a different way, we’ll keep using the dead trees.

postscript: even I couldn’t predict the iPad (other tablets are available but not as ubiquitous) and its effect on newspaper consumption. Is the paper dead? Not yet. But its demise is surely accelerated as a printed product. A lot can change in a few short years.

Originally posted November 15 2010

Reading The Guardian last week I came across this story, concerning the disappearance of the b-side in popular music. It’s a shame in many ways – some of my favourite lost songs were b sides of 7 inch singles or extra tracks on CDs that I’ve bought over the years (this song comes immediately to mind *) – but hardly a surprise. In The Guardian article, it uses the example of recent UK number 1 “Forget you **” by Cee Lo Green, which did have an attendant extra track (aka “a b-side”) released at the same time. According to figures the ‘paper got from last.fm, whilst “Forget you” received 437,240 plays, it’s b-side “Grand Canyon” had managed just 36. In short, the song might as well not exist. But, if you don’t need to buy the “extras”, then who can blame music buyers if nobody bothers? And, for music… read, well, absolutely anything. Old models of distribution, whilst still having their place, are being replaced with some shiny new ones. Not necessarily better, but shiny and new. In the pre-web world, retail hegemony was rife: if you wanted to buy product X, there was pretty much one price, one “offer”, one package – you bought the product or you didn’t. The digitisation of retail changed all this. And consumers now have access to a wealth of information they’ve never experienced before. The web brings every storefront into your lounge, making it possible to compare costs of identical products quickly and easily. Looking for a particular brand of washing machine? Honest product reviews from people who actually own the model are a Google search away. Good for consumers: they are better informed. Good for some retailers: competing with the big boys is much easier. Bad for others: your brand name doesn’t always help you carry a larger price tag. Too many retailers are still fighting the change, knowing that there are still some customers who will put their faith in a high street store over a web-only store. But their numbers are dwindling. And as the faster, leaner web-only stores increasingly put their faith in social media, they no longer even need to shout about how good they are: we’ll do it for them. There are some things that the Internet revolution hasn’t improved (I do miss the b-side!) but when it comes to information at your fingertips, whether it’s about washing machines, films or the town of Chetwynd, British Columbia (Wikipedia’s featured article at the time of writing), universal access has created temporary experts of us all.

* I know it was released eventually as a single in its own right to promote a best of collection… but it *was* a b-side originally

** That title is the polite version… the link is the, er, rude one

Photo: I Put A Record On by kadluba, from Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

It’s a trick that bands have pulled for decades: we’ve not got around to doing anything new for a while, so it must be time for a greatest hits album…

There’s years of content on this site, the majority of which new “readers” will never have seen. So, to cover up for my recent tardiness, I’m going to repost some of my favourite blog posts of in an attempt to keep the site fresh.

And no obscure b sides to pad out the end of side 2 either.

Apologies for the lack of updates over the past few months; it’s been a busy time recently and blogging has, unfortunately, not been even close to the top of the ‘to do’ list.

I’m working on some updates at the moment, both to keep the content fresh and make it easier for me to add thoughts and musings whilst on the go.

Thanks for your patience.

I like to think I’ve never been a quitter. But in one part of my life I remain hopeful that could change. Cigarettes will likely shorten my lifespan – not to mention the insane cost of my daily fix – so the idea of giving up the habit is appealing.

When the opportunity arose to test the Sunrise Pro electronic cigarettes courtesy of the nice people at Paramount Zone, I jumped at the chance. And for the past couple of weeks have been trying them out.

When the pack arrived in the post  it contained the two part electronic ‘cigarette’, a pack of nicotine capsules and a USB charger. Yes, the e-ciggie is charged by your laptop. Just like your iPod. But without the white headphones.

Putting the two parts of the e-ciggie together brought to mind the Man with the Golden Gun and the product itself feels well-built to a high standard. After the swift process of construction, you simply pop one of the nicotine capsules on to the end where your mouth goes and, well, that’s it.

Pick it up, stick it in your mouth and suck. There’s even a reassuring glow at the ‘lit’ end of the cigarette to let you know it’s working. The smoke fills your lungs, without all those nasty chemicals that come with your more traditional tobacco-based ciggies.

A nicotine molecule, yesterday

But it’s not smoking. It’s not a cigarette. And, for me, the feeling was quite peculiar.

Yes, I was receiving the kick of nicotine my sadly-addicted body craved but the process left me initially feeling extremely light-headed. Too much of a nicotine kick perhaps? I’m not what you’d call a ‘light smoker’, often running through a cigarette in a matter of four or five puffs, so I was surprised at the internal reaction my electronic ciggie generated.

Eventually, I learnt to regulate my intake; similar to forgetting how to play an actual guitar when indulging in ‘Guitar Hero’, I had to accommodate the different style of ‘smoking’ to get the best out of the product.

But “the best” wasn’t for me. I’m sure that for lots of people, the nicotine rush from an electronic cigarette will be enough to sate their hunger, allowing them to step away from the demon weed. But I don’t think I’m one of them.

I’ll still use the electronic cigarette, indeed it’s become my first port of call when I realise in the morning that I smoked my last fag the night before (when previously a quick visit to the corner shop might have been in order). And, increasingly, I’m integrating it into my ‘smoking regime’, alternating tobacco with electronics. But a complete replacement? Not yet.

Not quite yet.

Maybe I’m not a quitter after all?

Many thanks to Fuel My Blog for arranging for me to receive the Sunrise electronic cigarettes.

I’m not obsessed with visitor numbers and the like for this site but I do occasionally take a look at the Google Analytics to see what people have been reading or using to find the site.

When I stumbled across this little nugget – a search term someone used to visit my web site – I happily admit to being a little confused.

On one level, I’m left wondering what the result was that Google found (it was this story if you’re interested) and – much more importantly – is the question of “why?!?!”

Is Canon working on something new? A hybrid of inkjet printer and TARDIS perhaps? Or has HP stumbled across some previously-unknown use for all those empty ink cartridges?

I think we should be told.

I’m a social leper. Constantly reducing my life expectancy and clogging my arteries with poison. I’ve tried to stop, I’ve attempted cold turkey, I’ve been hypnotised, even attended clinics and taken pills.

But I remain a smoker. Why?

I’m an intelligent fella. I know the damage it’s doing to me. So why don’t I stop?

I spent most of my pre-teen years trying to convince my Dad to give up. People of a certain age may remember Nick O’Teen, a villain and Superman’s nemesis created especially for a series of adverts in print and on TV. I wore my badge constantly, proclaiming my hatred of the evil weed.

Yet, somehow, at the age of 19 I became a smoker. There was no peer pressure. I just started. And I’ve still no idea why. So now I’ve been smoking for more of my life than not. Which is a sobering through.

Is it addiction? Definitely. Habit? Undoubtedly.

So I’m trying something new that will hopefully ease both symptoms, whilst allowing me to live a long and healthier life.

I’d heard about electronic cigarettes before, so when the opportunity to try them out – for free – came up, I jumped at the chance.

Sunrise Pro Electronic Cigarettes, provided courtesy of the nice people at Fuel My Blog, are going to be “road tested” by me over the next week or so. And then I’ll report back. Wish me luck.

Crikey. I didn’t see that coming. Just this evening, Disney has announced it’s agreed to buy Lucasfilm for $4bn plus change. And, at the same time, announced plans for “Star Wars 7″ – due in 2015.

“I can’t believe I’ve convinced Disney to pay so much money for Jah-Jah Binks,” wasn’t said by George Lucas. But it may have been.

No what he said was: “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next.”

Far be it for me to suggest he didn’t have to re-edit the films every time they were passed.

My only hope, as a member of the original Star Wars generation is that, well, Disney doesn’t give us anything as awful as “The Phantom Menace”.

Goodbye old friend. You’re the one who told me about the news. The sports results. And what was on TV later. Looking back now you seem so old-fashioned. And maybe you were. I had to sit and wait whilst you cycled through various pages, waiting for the one I wanted to see.

Your blocky text. Your peculiar sub-editing. Your gaudy colours. All of these things make you seem very 80s.

We lost touch over the years. I’ll be honest, someone new came into my life and I briefly forgot about you. But when I heard the news of your inevitable demise I paused for a second to think about the good times we’d spent together. And I smiled.

38 years old is no age to pass on. But your time had obviously come.

Goodbye Ceefax. Thanks for the memories.

Regular readers will have noticed a few changes ’round here. I’ve spent some time re-formatting pages and re-designing the site. And I think it looks very nice indeed (let me know what you think, input and opinion always gratefully-received).

As with anything like this, the problems only start to surface once you start digging around a bit. Seeing how things work in context, as opposed to on a scrap of paper.

Being a devil may care kind of chap, I’ve done some of the final tweaks live, as opposed to on a copy of my site running locally.

(I would *never* suggest doing anything so foolish on a ‘proper’ web site but I like the rush of adrenalin when I realise a minor tweak has taken my entire site down, and it needs to be fixed quickly).

During this process, one thing has become blindingly obvious to me: I wish I’d planned the original site better.

When I first began building my web site, back in 1876*, I did everything by hand. Every last line of code was written by me. And a great experience it was too. But times change, and – as you get older! – you realise that there are better things to spend your time on; so I converted the site to run on top of WordPress. That meant that after building the templates (essentially, home page, blog post, other page, search results, archive results and an error page), everything else was handled through the content management system.

That’s just as it should be. Concentrate on the content, without worrying about the layout (it’s already taken care of).

Having a content management system means that all the content – words, images, videos, links etc – is stored in a database, allowing me to easily change the design without having to worry about putting the ‘stuff’ back in.

Which is fine if you put the stuff in in the first place.

Would you believe how many of my blog posts didn’t have a single image within them? No, me neither until I designed a new site which requires an image to be associated with every single story.

I could have taken the easy road and only worried about new content but I’m a sad and lonely perfectionist at times. So I went back through every single post over the past five years and added a relevant image if none were there before.

The system I settled upon is – to misquote Blackadder – so clever you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel.

When the content management system goes to show the story snippet (as you’ll see on the home page and various other ‘overview’ pages), there’s a simple instruction that says – right, is there a ‘featured image’ for this story? No, right, in that case grab the first image you find within the story itself. Got one? Ok, whether it’s a featured image or ‘grabbed’ automatically resize it to be no more than 250 pixels wide? Done? Finally, crop it to be no more 100 pixels high. Now show it to the nice lady or gentleman viewing the page.

All this is done in the space of time it takes for an ‘overview’ page to appear in your web browser. Clever, huh?

I’ve also put categories and tags front and centre (a glaring omission from earlier versions of this blog). And, again, you wouldn’t believe how many posts had neither.

I think I’ve found them all.

The point of all this rambling and showing off is that there is no substitute for planning. Not just for the site you plan to launch but anything you can possibly perceive being required in the future. Planning a web site isn’t for the back of a fag packet. Every minute spent planning saves – in my experience – 2 minutes when you come to build the thing. A well-constructed content management system (whether completely bespoke or built upon a platform such as WordPress) should ask for more information than you think you’re going to need.

Who is the author of each story? You might not need it now (I probably never will) but you may in the future. Need to show information about that person? Ask for it now, it doesn’t need to be shown on site – but if it’s stored in the database, then it’s there for if you ever choose to use it. Product information? Schematics? Links to relevant 3rd party sites?

If there’s a chance you could *ever* decide to show some information to the viewing public, stick it in your database. Plan for the future. Plan for possibilities (no matter how slim you may think they are now). For me, adding pictures and tags etc to a few dozen blog posts was, at worst, a pain and a mild diversion. Imagine if your blog has grown to 10k posts, or your product catalogue contains millions of entries? Yes, there are ways to tie multiple databases together (and often it’s a preference for reasons I won’t bore you with) but isn’t it better if that decision is made for reasons other than “we never thought we’d need that” ?

And now to create the smartphone-friendly version.

* Or thereabouts.