A
Cambridge perspective
on the digital world
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You are in the View from the Fen archives. Scroll down the page for a selection of earlier articles
Transport is one of the key issues in the modern world, and one of the hardest
to tackle by conventional means. But technology is creating new ways to solve
a problem that otherwise threatens to spiral out of control.
Click to read article
August 2005
New forms of television are evolving, that place viewers in the director's
chair, change what broadcasters do, and provide new ways of delivering what
used to come over the air. The coverage of key events in the summer of 2005
gives a glimpse of the future, as TV responds to the challenge of the Web.
Click to read article
June 2005
A world in which a majority of the population - not just in developed countries,
but everywhere - has a mobile or portable electronic device now looks possible.
In fact, it is beginning to seem inevitable. The effect will be profound,
as mobiles - offering both phone calls, and data services such as text messaging
and the Internet - reach parts that wired phones and the wired Internet have
until now failed to penetrate. Click
to read article
March 2005
The humble telephone is re-emerging as a new kind of device that can perform
a bewildering range of digital tricks. Over the next decade, phones will change
more than they have for the past hundred years. Click
to read article
January 2005
Digital media, from the Internet and electronic news gathering to text messaging,
have been pressed into service to respond to the appalling tragedy of the
Asian tsunami. This has made possible an unprecedented response which has
brought together people from around the world - and demonstrated what converged
media and communications can do to change the way things are done. Click
to read article
December 2004
While the issue of 'security' has been dominating the news agenda, what else has been happening? 2004 saw some key developments whose impact will be felt for decades to come. So what's next for 2005?
October 2004
The heady dreams of the dot.com era have been replaced by a digital race
for survival, as more and more industries are caught up in the whirlpool of
new buying habits and new ways of doing things. The recent woes of organisations
including WHSmith, Marks & Spencer, Sainsburys and Boots illustrate the
problems facing all organisations, as digital technology is changing patterns
of behaviour that have been stable for decades, and on which entire businesses
have been based... Click to read article
August 2004
With the recent - and much anticipated - European launch of Apple's iTunes
Music Store, digital music has finally come of age. The Music Store sold some
450,000 downloads in its first week in the UK, after a hugely successful debut
in the US. Worldwide, the Music Store recently clocked up its 100,000,000th
download. Has Apple found the formula for success - and is this the shape
of things to come, not just in the music business?
Click for more
June 2004
April 2004
The idea that goods and services can be paid for by mobile is becoming a reality, with practical solutions emerging to deliver what was once a future fantasy.
March 2004
Interaction is fast becoming an accepted part of all media productions. How can you add 'instant' interactivity to productions - at minimal cost?
January 2004
Vote anyway you like...
...for Harry Potter, Delia — or Paul Burrell
Interactive voting makes everyone a judge for WHSmith Book Awards
Our unique interactive voting technology – combining text, online, libraries etc – means that everyone can vote for their favourite book of the past year...
War and politics have dominated the headlines in 2003. But away from the spotlight, other changes have been taking place that will continue to have a permanent effect on our daily lives, even when present conflicts are only remembered in the history books.
October 2003Credit cards have already replaced cheque books as the primary means of making non-cash payments. But a growing number of people see both plastic cards and cash being replaced, in time, by something else: the mobile phone.
September 2003
Radio, once thought to have been superseded by its more glamorous cousin TV, is undergoing a renaissance. Is this one of the more surprising results of digital technology, which is tearing up the media landscape and reinventing the rules of communication?
Click for more
August 2003
In its new Skills Strategy, the UK government has announced that 'ICT Literacy'
(expertise in information and communications technology) is a 'third basic
skill', as important as reading and writing and being able to add up, both
for work and for social life.
Click for more
July 2003
A report just issued by the Yankee Group estimates that subscriber revenues from wireless services will grow by 51% to $584 billion by 2007 - similar in value to worldwide crude oil production. If these figures are correct, before the end of the decade the mobile industry will overtake oil in its importance to the global economy
June 2003
O2 has slashed £6 billion from the estimated value of its 3G next-generation cellular licences. So was it all hype? But meanwhile text goes from strength to strength.
May 2003
With the launch of Apple's new music download service, are computer companies
becoming the new music publishers?
Is it all over for CDs?
March 2003
Digital technology was supposed to transform the world. What happened?
February 2003
How can text messaging allow thousands of ordinary people to have their say on war in Iraq?
January 2003
Action speaks louder than words. All the signs are that 2003 will be a year of action, following the 'wait and see' attitude of 2002...
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