Media Can Recover from its Missteps posted: 20/04/2019
by Andy Marken
Howw nice of you to join us tonight and add COLOR to these monochromatic proceedings! - Dr. Arliss Loveless, Wild Wild West, Peters Entertainment, 1999
Gawed, they were naive.
It seems like eons ago that we consulted with a bunch of equally young idealists in San Diego who were going to build the western U.S. part of the intergalactic network. The goal was to let people - initially just scientists, engineers, big thinkers - exchange data, information and share computer resources to streamline advances and produce a better world.
Couldnt remember our login with so many numbers and letters that we didnt need a password because no one could remember it. Even had it written on a piece of paper in our billfold.
First, it was Arpanet (Advanced Research Agency Network), then the DOD wanted to oversee it to save information flow from them and then simply Internet.
The San Diego arm was dubbed the California Educational Research Federation Network. They shortened it to CERFNET; but before it became official, Vint Cerf, recognized as one of the fathers of the Internet, was asked if it was okay with him.
The infrastructure was robust, he liked what he saw and BAM! CERFnet it was.
Two of the key people at CERFnet, Pushpendra Mohta and Manny Robles, drove around the states educational institutions and military/industrial complexes in a beat-up VW with tons of cable connecting computers and minds to pool ideas, speed discussions and make the world a better place.
Back in the late 60s,Vint Cerf and the folks I worked with for 10 years at CERFnet had no freakin idea how awesome the internet would be.
Two of the key people at CERFnet, Pushpendra Mohta and Manny Robles, drove around the states educational institutions and military/industrial complexes in a beat-up VW with tons of cable connecting computers and minds to pool ideas, speed discussions and make the world a better place.
Back in the late 60s,Vint Cerf and the folks I worked with for 10 years at CERFnet had no freakin idea how awesome the internet would be.
Okay, it has become immensely popular, but things havent worked out exactly as planned.
Who knew folks - especially kids - would be telling the world their deepest secrets, where theyre at, what theyre doing, who their doing it with and documenting it all with photos on top of photos on top of ...
No one could imagine that wed be plugging everything into the internet - smartphones, microwaves, refrigerators, cars/trains/planes, power grids, screens of every shape/size and yes; computers for hackers, digital criminals, countries looking for ways to exploit, expose, eradicate each other with it.
Instead of a free and open exchange of information, the internet and its siblings on the Web where data collection, use and sale became the central focus.
Half Way There - About half of the worlds population is now connected to and active on the internet. Of course, there are some who will never get online and others who wish they could get off.
Chinas population is big-1.4B big. And with 30M new internet users in the first half of the year, the total number of internet users has hit 800M.
While Chinese tech firms used to copy Silicon Valley, organizations have taken off in a number of ways with short videos, podcasts, blogs, streaming TV--all on the social media players who know how to play.
Watched over by tens of thousands of censors and without the concerns of Europes GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation); Tencent, Alibaba, Baidu, ByteDance and others have clear guidelines how data is collected, stored and shared.
Money Makers - If youre one of the recognized social media stopping points it can almost be like printing money as long as you abide by governmental rules of the road.
Creatvity is in full swing. The one simple rule they have is dont undermine the State!
Stuff people might post that is even tinged as anti-government disappears.
Everything else is fair game, including making money. That includes taking on the old, arthritic state-run businesses - media, finance and healthcare.
Okay, its true; they do expect a piece-of-the-action and a little oversight of management; but its mostly hands off if content isnt creepy, kinky or weird.
It could be worse.
According to Freedom House, the international watchdog organization, internet freedom has declined around the globe for the 7th year in a row.
Internet Freedom Defined - While the internet was initially developed to ensure free, open and fast exchange of information and ideas; freedom has become a relative term. There were always commonly accepted rules of acceptable and unacceptable traffic
Thats idealistic perhaps, but they feel everyone should have access to the same online experience, including free/open internet access.
The biggest abusers include Russia, Syria, Cuba, Iran, Vietnam , Egypt and China.
Even free nations like the U.S. saw a decline in their internet freedoms as governments balked at things like encryption security, VPNs (virtual private networks), manipulation of online posts, service disruptions, etc.
Governments are all for freedom of speech, assembly, etc.
Funny, they dont really like unbreakable encryption, and the inability to increase data surveillance/retention and checking folks/stuff out for citizens protection.
Person of Interest - Initially, it was a fictional TV show; but increasingly, tracking; facial recognition and surveillance services are gaining popularity with a number of governmental agencies around the globe
It is estimated that Brits have their photos taken an average of 300 times a day - not including GPS identified selfies - with cameras installed ... everywhere.
The great thing is that you can quit taking all the selfies they do it for you!
While the internet was developed and
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
Media Can Recover from its Missteps posted: 20/04/2019 
