So Amazon enters the ebook fray with its new paperback sized Kindle ebook device. There’s plenty of media coverage on this with arguably the best of these being the Guardian’s Paperback to the Future (Guardian 22 Nov 2007). But despite some interesting features its the same old “lock em in” model at work here with the unique twist that the content will be updated using embedded mobile phone technology to update the proprietary format data. The business model here is that users pay, not for the data transfer, but for a ‘reasonable’ subscription for whatever digital book, magazine or newspaper feeds that are participating in Amazon’s scheme.
A walk in the software patent forest – Part 4
July 21st, 2007
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Originally posted by: Derek Morrison on Feb 02, 07 | 6:55 am |
The story continues. Yesterday (1 Februrary 2007), Blackboard issued a press release which announced their Patent Pledge in which they undertake not to assert their patents against open source or ‘home grown’ systems just as long as they are not bundled with ‘proprietary’ software. It’s necessary to read the small print. The company has undoubtedly been feeling the heat and equally undoubtedly they hope this pledge will take some of that heat off. Perhaps not. Although the Blackboard site suggests an endorsement of the company’s new position by The Sakai Foundation and Educause, a visit to the actual joint statement (PDF) by Sakai and Educause is advised. It is far from a wholehearted endorsement.
A walk in the software patent forest – Part 3
July 21st, 2007
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Originally posted by: Derek Morrison on Jan 17, 07 | 7:24 am |
In my two previous postings I attempted to make some sense of the trend towards patenting software of relevance to learning and teaching. As is now well known, commercial entities are attempting to claim intellectual ownership of apparently prosaic (and certainly now ubiquitous) functionality. But what about the role of Higher Education in invention? David Edgerton’s new book Shock of the Old: Technology and Global History since 1900 offers a revisionist polemic. Edgerton adds another dimension to our consideration of issues relating to attempts to exploit IPR. He asserts that durability and cost-benefit for the majority is what matters rather than a constant stream of technical innovation which promise much, but in the end delivers little in the long term.
A walk in the software patent forest – Part 2
January 3rd, 2007
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Yesterday’s part 1 of the sofware patent topic took a fairly conventional quasi essay format. Today, however, I’m offering a concept map visualisation of the topic.
A walk in the software patent forest – Part 1
January 2nd, 2007
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I haven’t being paying as much attention to Auricle as I would like to. My excuse is I’m contributing to and managing a series of other blogs and wikis for my work with the Higher Education Academy, e.g. the Benchmarking of e-Learning Exercise, and the Pathfinder Programme. Today, however, I thought that I would stand on the shoulders of some giants and feed Auricle with my perspective on what was a major e-learning issue in 2006 and could well turn out to be the e-learning issue of 2007, i.e. the advent of software patents in Europe. I’m offering the posting in two, hopefully complementary, forms and parts. Today’s posting is Part 1 and is delivered in my usual quasi essay format below. In tomorrow’s part 2, however, the ‘posting’ will take the form of a ‘repackaging’ of what can be a pretty tortous topic as an active concept map and graphics downloads.
Further reflections on the Personal Learning Environment
July 3rd, 2006
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I’m authoring this short article from a small town in Malaysia which is many miles from many of the main cities and which doesn’t enjoy, currently, the level of broadband connectivity many of us in large parts of the West have come to consider normal. It has been back to using a modem from a relative’s house for me and that has been a salutary experience and reminder about what it is like when there is no ‘always-on’ network and why the design of robust and flexible technology-enhanced-learning environments really needs to transcend the permanently attached ‘umbilical cord’ reference designs we have allowed to dominate this space to date.
e-Learning: Opportunities and Threats in the 21st Century
June 16th, 2006
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I’m playing catch-up here but I did promise the University of Chester that I would add some further narrative to my image rich (but text poor) slides supporting the keynote ‘e-Learning: Opportunities and Threats in the 21st Century’ I gave at their recent annual staff conference (25 May 2006). Here, therefore, is my ‘value added’.
Whose PLE is it anyway?
June 2nd, 2006
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I assume it’s because I’ve waxed lyrical about related matters in Auricle and various conference presentations that I’ve been asked by the CETIS Personal Learning Environment Experts Group to contribute my ‘position’ on Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). Although I’m wary of accepting the mantle of ‘expert’ – there are none in this area – I am more than happy to share my current thinking, subject to the caveat that the other contributors to this group will undoubtedly have positions of their own which may well be different to mine. Auricle readers are welcome to extract, or savage, whatever personal positions you can find herein. All of my positions are interdependent.
The weblog as a project dissemination and reflection tool?
June 2nd, 2006
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As some Auricle readers will know I’m seconded to the Higher Education Academy where, among other things, I’m helping get the national HE e-learning benchmarking exercise (e-benchmarking) underway. We’ve got twelve UK HEIs taking part in the pilot phase of e-benchmarking and three consultancies supporting the initiative. We are using some interesting, and for some participants, novel, approaches to project communications which Auricle readers may find of interest.
Moodling around Higher Education podcasting
June 2nd, 2006
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A colleague pointed me in the direction of the audio podcasts on the Learn 4 Life site. They should make interesting listening. Of particular note is the recent interview with Jason Cole about Moodle use at the UK Open University (mp3). But then I got to thinking rather more broadly about the way we are approaching the gathering of material which reflects the opinions and experiences of those involved in actually making things happen. Such material could be as much part of our cultural heritage as the artefacts produced by the big media organisations.
