Digital Inclusion: How Do You Tell? — [N]either means nor skills are simple binary states. A while ago, I was talking to a young man looking for a job, and asked him why he didn’t look online. Because it’s two buses to get to the public library and you only get half an hour, was his reply. Or being in a library myself and watching an older man asking a bit tentatively if he could use one of the computers and being firmly told that he could book a slot for three days time. He turned away looking crestfallen and without making a booking. It didn’t look as though he would be back. Remote, uncertain, and limited access is better than none. But it is hardly inclusion.
The Participatory Museum Process — inside look at the writing of the book, and the surprises she received writing it. People preferred to comment on a finished draft rather than the work in progress. At the time, I thought people would be MORE excited to comment and help shape the book as I was first writing it than to comment on a complete draft. I was wrong. The second draft was offered to participants with a much more specific, time-limited ask, and it was much more successful than the open-ended “help me as I write it” approach to draft one. This makes sense – the second draft experience was much better-scaffolded – and it made me reconsider the extent to which participants want to be involved in the early development of other peoples’ projects.
Finding Pin 1 (Evil Mad Scientist) — some interesting knowledge about hardware that’ll make you more informed the next time you peer quizzically at a printed circuit board.
January 2010 US Mobile Subscriber Market Share (ComScore) — Android just overtook Palm, and is growing faster than the other smartphone platforms. And for a reality check, 28% of mobile customers used a browser on their phone. (via phandroid)
