XplanaZine

Here’s our take on news that matters for Monday, January 9. Today’s theme is discovery and here are a some links to headlines about technology that is changing the way we live and learn.

• Gaming –According to a Forrester report, video games market will experience nice growth but it’s still a man’s world. Ars Technica assesses the same report thusly:

“Forrester’s research shows that gaming is still the province of young men. A truly astonishing 94% of American young men between the ages of 12 and 17 regularly play video games, but when the age range is raised to men between 16 and 25, that number falls to 77% and and it drops quickly at higher ages. And when it comes to women of comparable ages, the numbers are far lower. Women also tend to feel
href=”http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2005/11/8/1765″ target=”_blank”>less welcome at the console. These figures suggest that gaming, though popular, still has a long way to go before it can be called a truly inclusive activity.”

A report for Research and Markets found that video game consoles and handheld game consoles are greatly expanding the market for online gaming. Worldwide console and handheld online gaming subscribers numbered 3.4 million in 2004, and could exceed 30 million by 2009. Whether Sony continues to offer free online console subscriptions or goes to a paid subscription service when it releases the PlayStation 3 in 2006 will have a big impact on subscriber growth and revenues over the next few years.

• Blogging, Podcasting, and Vodcasting — Well, now I know we’re in trouble. Media Firms have discovered the blogosphere. According to the article, the win for these companies is customer feedback and dialogue. I was thinking it might be about brand name distribution. Shows what I know.
• Handhelds – This has been a story/prediction buzzing around for a couple of weeks, but the word is that 2006 is the year retail shopping via cell phone will be a hit in the U.S. Okay, so why shouldn’t we get this at least a year late just like all the other good stuff? Seriously, retail shopping means secure services over the phone and a greater degree of interactivity. E-commerce and increased interactivity are two key ingredients for the success of mobile learning and training.
• Social Networks –
  Meanwhile networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are so popular that they are spawning conspiracy theories. The reality here is that the interface between free sites and the corporate entities that buy them for their communities is an uneasy one.

Now, here’s a recap of our favorite posts from the edublogging community from the past 48 hours.

• From D’Arcy Norman : Post on learning objects and their viability both past and present.
• From Graham Attwell : Post reacting to blogging and communities.
• From Godfrey Parkin : Post on predictions for six emerging corporate pandemics that trainers will have to deal
  with in 2006.
• From FLOSSE Posse : Posts on the virtue of thriftiness in learning and education.
• From Ben Vershbow : Post on Internet TV and new paradigms of distributed media.
• From Stephen Downes : Post on the education dilemmas associated with the rapid increase in significant information.