Author: @jmproffitt

tech nerd, media critic, snarkmaster my hat tips and finger wags are my own

WiMAX vs. Cable Modem in Anchorage

Right now I spend about $150/month for high speed Internet service combined with cable TV, phone, long distance and so on. I’m not happy about this, partially due to the price, partially because I don’t want all those extra services. So I’ve started looking for “pure Internet” alternatives, and given the choices in my area, it appears the best option is a relatively new wireless Internet service available from AT&T Alascom (sort of related to AT&T) in Anchorage, Alaska.

AT&T’s offering is a WiMAX service, the new long-range wireless Internet infrastructure touted as the Next Big Thing by several players, including Sprint / Clearwire / Xohm, Intel, AT&T (at least the Alascom part of it) and other smaller developers, especially those serving rural and smaller markets.

If WiMAX works well, I can dump my cable modem service, save money and cut my copper ties at home. But any way you slice it, the service will be slower. Can I accept slower service to get just the features I want and save money — or will the siren song of copper speed keep me from straying?

Below, I share my findings — so far — in a video presentation. If you’re considering a switch like this, you might be interested. The video runs about 16 minutes — or you can download the presentation slides via PDF (link below).

[flashvideo image=video/pres-cover.jpg height=380 width=480 filename=video/wimax-cable-modem-pres.flv /]

Got comments or questions? Share them below. I’d be curious to hear about other WiMAX experiences out there.

The New New Advertising

If you want to get your product noticed going forward, you may just have to do something bold, original and — surprise! — long-form. No 30-second TV ads here.

The gift is predictable. Even mundane. But the delivery of the message is innovative, entertaining and hilarious.

Going viral is hard. But when people have the power to banish ads from their content, it may be the only solution.

Huge citizen journalism win in Detroit

Man, I wish I was in the Detroit area now, despite the auto manufacturing disaster. This looks promising.

By the way, don’t dismiss The Oakland Press as some tiny suburban paper. It’s a pretty big paper, given the size of the communities they cover. Detroit is “big,” but the areas north and northwest of the city proper are huge.

Don’t miss it. Thanks to Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) for the find.

PBS Pledge, Simpsons-style

Our station in Anchorage is currently in the traditional December PBS pledge drive and now that I’ve seen the Simpsons clip below, we’re looking to hire actress Betty White to help us on the air. And we want some of those umbrellas, too.

[flashvideo filename=video/simpsons-pbs-pledge.flv /]

Celebrity “cameos” include…

  • Betty White (yes, it’s her)
  • Fred Rogers
  • Yo-Yo Ma
  • Garrison Keillor
  • the Teletubbies
  • Big Bird
  • Oscar the Grouch
  • Elmo

As the male pledge break host says, “Outstanding.”

IntenseDebate commenting system installed

Hey, if it’s good enough for Change.gov, it’s good enough for me. Very slick setup and operation.

And I consider this a bit of a test ahead of installing it at APRN, KSKA, KAKM and other sites I manage at work. I definitely would like a superior commenting/discussion system there.

Learn more at intensedebate.com.

Recent presentations

Well, the week of presentations is now over. Here are both of them, for reference. They may not make sense out of context, but there were definitely some links in the Twitter presentation particularly that may be of use to the APRN journalists that attended my presentation last Friday.

APRN Chaordic Organization Option

This presentation was made to several managers of public radio stations in Alaska and then again to the Board of APTI a couple days later. It concerns the future of collaborative public media efforts in Alaska. Developed in cooperation with the unequaled Robert Paterson, and using ideas pioneers 40 years ago with Visa International, it’s a proposal for starting conversations statewide about finding a new way for us to collaborate and compete in a more natural way than we’re organized today. It’s kind of hard to follow without the narration/explanation, but I wanted to share it anyway. I’m happy to answer questions.

APRN Chaordic Optionhttp://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=aprn-chaordic-option-1226904844826648-9&rel=0&stripped_title=aprn-chaordic-option-presentation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: radio public)

Twitter for Stations, Programs, Journalists and Fun

This presentation was made to a group of Alaska public radio journalists in Anchorage during an annual conference. The idea was to expose them to the Twitter service and suggest they try it out and see what others around the country — especially NPR — are doing with it. The reaction was… tepid. I think Alaska pubradio journalists are really saddled with a lot of responsibilities that just aren’t present in the rest of the country, and taking on new forms of media is just so hard for them. And then journalists also tend to be a skeptical lot — as they should be, of course. Again, narration helps, but there’s lots of links in it for reference.

Twitter for Alaska Public Radiohttp://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=twitter-presentation-1226905804295276-8&rel=0&stripped_title=twitter-for-alaska-public-radio-presentation

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: radio public)

2 Fox and NBC Stations to Pool Video News Gathering

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/14/business/media/14news.html

Good for them. Too bad it’s still terrible local TV news. What they should do is blend in a VJ process and stop doing ambulance-chasing and I’m-standing-outside-a-building-where-something-happened-6-hours-ago “live” reports.

The answer definitely lies in sharing news. News is a commodity. Content is worthless. Context and community are where new value will be found.

How to tell if you have NOT arrived

If you have to write your own bio, because no one knows you, that’s when you know you have not arrived. That’s what I had to do Sunday night for a conference in Alaska coming up in a couple weeks. I guess I’m presenting — though I don’t yet know about what. I’ll just make it up. Anybody got a name for a hypothetical web 2.0 social network I can fake on the spot?

Anyway, I also had to pick out a photo to put out there so people can point, giggle, and say, “Aren’t you a little short to be a new media douchebag?”

Luckily, we just hosted a “Listening Room” for Down To The Wire on Sunday at the station, and we had a great photographer there, Brian Adams, who took this shot of me actually doing the new media deed for all to see (eeew!). Not too bad. And by the way, ladies, you can’t see my ring hand in the photo, but I’m taken. I know you’re disappointed.

Anyhoo… Check out this lame-o bi-o that will probably accompany the photo:

John Proffitt has immersed himself in new technologies and media since first working as a teaching assistant for a personal computing class 25 years ago — while still in middle school. Since then he’s earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in English and education, later entering the fast-paced world of IT consulting and digital media. He’s worked in healthcare, manufacturing, banking and government contracting, developed content and software for a monthly CD-ROM magazine, built web sites and managed secure online transaction systems with support staffs as large as 21 and annual budgets of nearly $3 million. Raised on Sesame Street and enlightened by Morning Edition, he joined the public media ranks in 2004 at APTI in Anchorage. Today, he manages all radio, TV and web “streams” for KSKA-FM, KAKM-TV and APRN and explores new media methods as they intersects with the traditional missions of public broadcasting. He blogs and “tweets” with a network of contacts from NPR, PBS and major stations nationwide. Join him online at twitter.com/jmproffitt

Oh, yeah, I wanna hear this guy talk. Yeesh.

The worst part of the bio? It’s all true.