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Why me? Tame geek
Recovered programmer Trainer and course developer
New media pioneer PIPEX ‘Internet ambassador’ Guardian website, 1994
Commentator, critic, broadcaster BBC News online, World Service, New Statesman
Online marketer Arts Council England, ArtsProfessional,
openDemocracy.net
The big question Does email have a future?
The answer is ‘yes’ - so please stay…
What should you be doing? If you use email to reach customers or
subscribers, how will it affect you?
What might email look like? Some speculation and extrapolations
Forget the old models… Building a new information ecology
Old niches are vanishing New conditions prevail A time for adaptation
Email can survive Find a new niche as the environment shifts Offer continuing value to users
That begs the question…
What is email? We think we know
The assumptions we have may be wrong We may want to rethink email
Defining electronic mail Message exchange To named recipient(s) With persistent storage of received items
Protocols and techniques don’t matter Which means we can change them Which also means we can dispense with them
The Information Ecology Email does not stand alone
Part of a set of communications services Different characteristics Different uses Overlapping audiences
Email not for everyone Children and the US prefer IM
Instant gratification? Sense of presence?
Where does email fit? Solid. Stable. Reliable. Boring?
A future for email? Let’s consider tomorrow
How will the network change Which tools will emerge What place could email have?
Extrapolation is not good enough The trends are not linear Disruptive technologies erupt like volcanoes Sometimes the unexpected happens
Storing traffic records may deter email use IM interoperability is finally happening.
Need to use our imaginations And have ‘informed courage’
A possible (likely) tomorrow Fast free wireless in the West
Free at the point of use
Pervasive network, portable devices Access to information whenever you want it
Flexible portable screen technology Sony’s reader is just the start
Not a perfect world: A digital divide as severe as today Millennium development goals still far off
Google Video Store What happens when this is how we get
programmes?
QuickTimeª and aTIFF (LZW) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Wind up and go… How will the world be different when a
billion children have a $100 laptop? Wireless Ebook reader Open source
* Neal Stephenson, http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/spew.html
Welcome to the Spew* The Internet provides all data
One data pipe Multiple meanings
Screens still dominate Flexible, portable, projecting Some use of VR, retinal lasers, neural links
Email is part of the infosphere
The media landscape alters Doing it ourselves
Blogging Podcasting YouTube and MySpace
Getting what we want Music downloads Video distribution Pirated software/games
Looking for immediacy Instant messaging; blog comments
More than just words Broadband supports multimedia
Photo-sharing on Flickr Video uploads to YouTube
A new new media landscape… What place do existing players occupy? Who will make money? Who will tell the truth?
How will we reach people? Lots of choices Lots of ways of getting it wrong
Where does email fit in? The e-environment is changing
New content New tools New services New modes of interaction
Can email find a niche? It faces big issues Reliability Trust Effectiveness
‘Every man’s spam diminishes me’
(apologies to John Donne)
What are we going to do about unwanted emails, spoofed addresses and clogged up mailboxes?
Differential diagnosis Shows that existing standards are perceived
to be failing Is this an accurate perception?
Shows that email is poorly controlled Can we put new systems in place?
Shows that people still value email But they are not sure it can deliver
Trust and control
Trusted computing architectures Built into current generation PCs - Lenovo Accessed through next gen OS - Vista, Mac OS Provide low-level validation of executables Provide low-level authentication of services
Who trusts whom? Trusted systems used to control content playback Restrict user freedoms to serve rights holders May be resisted by consumers
Authentication and identity Next generation network coming soon
Based around IPV6 Authentication and encryption built in
A tool for evil? Monitor all traffic Better filters No anonymity Preferential routing
A tool for good? Spoofing much harder
Giving email space to breathe Many of the problems go away
Regulated networks, trusted PCs Authenticated users, validated servers
Replace quickfix solutions Sender Policy Framework, Sender ID and
Goodmail certificates all go away Integrated into applications and servers
Legitimate use of email communications will be simpler in a trusted world
Reaching customers What is email good for?
Asynchronous - read when you want Personal and personalised Permanent - can be filed
Need to build on these strengths Don’t use email when other tools will do Let your users choose
Email newsletter vs RSS feed Text only or HTML email Message granularity
Too easy to lose people’s trust
The future is well-fed Already see moves to feed-based services Still waiting for the right technology
RSS is a broken protocol Cannot scale to meet our real needs Does not respect network model
The next stage will work Feed-based publishing from CMS Content delivered in format of choice
Newsletters, websites, blogs, email All different views of the same information
One CMS to rule them all Content belongs in databases
Structured Managed Controlled Full range of reports
Provide content through a range of services Web, print, streamed, downloaded Email becomes one of the options
Email becomes part of the hypertext
The user experience For those who want it, it’s the same
Outlook or other client Send and receive ‘messages’
For those who want more, it’s there New email notification to any device Send once, read anywhere services Full sender authentication at host server
Email marketing must adapt Need a more sophisticated view Need to understand what technology offers
Where next? Two-pronged strategy
Maintain the status quo Plan for the disrupted future
Make the best of today’s email Proper list management Effective list software Proper marketing input where needed
Be there when tomorrow arrives Observe the trends Design new systems around new capabilities
How do we cope? Look to the wired world
Most of the time network is ‘just there’ Bits are as boring as electrons and water Everyone online
Except for the poorest 4 billion
Accept what is going on Engage Embrace Extend
Work with the grain of the system Email has a future - you just have to create it