Wednesday, November 21, 2007

The Emergence of Internet Television in New Zealand: TVNZ ondemand


Earlier this year TVNZ released its latest strategy document entitled ¨Inspiring on Every Screen¨. Theres a funny section in there called “It's 2011”, which provides a gloriously utopian account of the TVNZ of the future where a range of delivery mechanisms and new media outlets, controlled by the State sponsored broadcaster of course, are set to capture the viewers who are slipping through the cracks of the more traditional core channels. The new digital, broadband and mobile platforms that will have been made available are said to engage people and communities in such as way as to enable TVNZ to “truly become one with the public”. On a similar high note the piece ends with the superlative soundbite: “We are TVNZ. We are New Zealand.”

Cool eh? Well, until you're forced to consider that there may be a few others waiting in the wings to upset this beautiful little media applecart... but they can dream I suppose

Anyways, this paper: The Emergence of Internet Television in New Zealand: TVNZ ondemand
I wrote for a Media Industries in NZ course that I was taking at the University of Auckland looks at the TVNZondemand web site that is pretty much the first real web offering out of the gate for the new TVNZ strategy, and also takes a look at one of the new entrants that are fragmenting the traditional TVNZ audience: YouTube.



Photo Credit: The TVNZ Television Centre by Robyn Gallagher (CC-By)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Ivan Illich: Deschooling Society


"The most radical alternative to school would be a network or service which gave each man the same opportunity to share his current concern with others motivated by the same concern." -- Ivan Illich.

I've started a reading group on the English Wikiversity for discussion of Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society; if you're interested in reading and discussing this work then please register an account on Wikiversity (or don't -- you can edit anonymously if you wish). The text is available online through a link from that page, but should also be readily available from most libraries. Each chapter is broken down on the wiki with a space for notes and space for discussions, but being a wiki you may edit and modify this structure as you see fit.

Photo Credits: Empty School by xaxl4