'2008/09'에 해당되는 글 8건
- 2008/09/30 My X Media Lab Keynote: what Korea can tell you about future of media
- 2008/09/29 IE: 98.66% Korean Browser Market Share (5)
- 2008/09/24 I'm speaking at X Media Lab Seoul tomorrow! (1)
- 2008/09/23 Power of tools. Does it apply to Asian work culture?
- 2008/09/19 Wikis in the Asian market? Check out Springnote.com!
- 2008/09/16 Thanks to technology, holiday highway traffic jams are gone! (3)
- 2008/09/12 Breaking News: Google buys TNC (and Tattertools/Textcube) (2)
- 2008/09/03 I'm sorry but Google Chrome doesn't mean jack in Korea. (10)
2008/09/30 17:36
My X Media Lab Keynote: what Korea can tell you about future of media
2008/09/30 17:36 in basic info
My keynote at X Media Lab received surprisingly good response from those at the conference. Many seemed to be deeply intrigued by my presentation -- not that I'm a great presenter, but rather that Korea does have many amazing things (at least on the surface.)
So here goes my presentation material. I did add quite a bit of stuff on the real/virtual worlds and online/offline connections to the topic as the theme of the conference was "virtual, visual, and social". I'm not sure how much you guys can get out of this. I faithfully tried to follow the Presentation Zen principles (though I have a long way to go) and that means your slides aren't about creating documents. But still, hopefully this will help :)
(Also as a disclaimer, I stayed up all night working on the slides and I took some images from either google image search or flickr and can't remember the sources to some of the images inside the slides. I'll update the source list as I find them again. For now, my sincere apology.)
And about the weird gap between the amazing Korea and the not-so-good Korea, I'm gonna keep exploring why we are where we are today. Many cultural, economic, technological, or even political issues are all present.
And here it is with a grandiose title: Future of Digital Media.
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Quite simple and clear as the title and the image above. Korea needs some serious work as I mentioned before. (Stats were taken from Logger.co.kr over last one month, which is one of the largest web traffic analytic tool providers in Korea.) Have you seen any other market like the Korean browser market?
Will it ever change? What if the Web does become the next OS, what does it mean for Korea? A lot to think and even possibly fight for.
(I'll soon write a post on my X Media Lab speech.)
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XML's 3D Internet Lab takes place in one of the world’s great centers of innovation in Digital Media – Seoul in Korea – to share, learn, and prosper together.
XML Seoul explores virtual worlds, the impact of 3D Internet, and the emerging entertainment, educational, enterpise and social possibilities.
Seoul is the perfect place to share innovations and success stories in these inter-related digital worlds: with Korean contemporary culture (“Hallyu”) still riding a crest of popularity, and world leadership in online worlds (“Cyworld”), as well as mobile services and applications.
-- from X Media Lab Seoul
Chang introduced X Media Lab (XML) on his blog few days ago. And recently, it's been determined that I actually give a keynote speech at the conference!
What will I be talking about? Obviously, I'll be talking about the Virtual/Visual/Social aspect of the 3D/Internet world in Korea! I'm still working on the presentation tomorrow, so if you guys want to come by, feel free to do so!
XML is an amazing conference that's been put together to explore the future directions of media. Where is it going? How is it going to affect culture, business, and the minds of the people? What does it mean to live online and offline?
Those questions will be asked and discussed and answered, starting from tomorrow. I'll follow up with updates on the conference.
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2008/09/23 16:09
Power of tools. Does it apply to Asian work culture?
2008/09/23 16:09 in basic info
How do I keep up with all the ever-changing information, news and knowledge, and tasks I need to finish? Most of them through online tools. I use a great number of web applications every day. Starting with Google products (gmail, calendar, reader, analytics, feedburner), I go into other amazing services like Springnote (which I mentioned in the last post) and RememberTheMilk. Tistory is a hosted blogging service which runs on top of Textcube (which I introduced here). TechnoKimchi blog itself runs on Tistory. Not to mention services like Meebo. My life often revolves around staying inside Firefox (sometimes inside Chrome and IE, too ^^) Of course, having ubiquitous networks in Korea is always a great help to me.
One interesting finding about the relationship between tools and productivity is that it doesn't seem to matter as much at workplaces in Asia. Productivity is always measured, but the measure doesn't necessarily mean we're really productive and efficient. They're just numbers. When I was working at Samsung, many of co-workers took 30-40 min long coffee or smoke breaks, not counting lunch breaks. This is a common scene around Korea and we're known to work more than anybody else!
Springnote, for example, is an amazing service. The reason I'm doing global marketing for Springnote is quite simple: I fell in love with the product and decided to become a voice for it myself. It's got some cool edges over other products, like being the only application combining personal note-taking with wikis to full-extent and 2 GB of free file storage. If you're a college student, hey, this is the place to be, right?
But the scene in Korea is a little bit different. Despite the efficiency and productivity presented by Springnote, when college students have group projects, I've witnessed that they would sometimes create a Cyworld Club (a community site) and manually keep up with each other's contact info, manage schedules (just in pure text formats) and share files as attachments. Given Cyworld clubs allow you to attach files only up to 5 MB each, which is too small for many files you need to share, they sign up for other file-hosting services, actually paying real money. And everything I just mentioned can be done in Springnote so easily and for free. (Of course, Springnote has been doing exceptionally well in Korea!)
So in Korea, you can't find a single "tool" service that's done well beside Springnote. At the same time, when it comes down communities and content, it's gone crazy. The best part of Korean news articles and blogs? Comments. Comments are so important in Korean society now that those comments are changing the laws and the way TV programs are structured.
This is very important as many Web companies from the West are trying to move into the Asian market. It doesn't work the same way. Web 2.0 is about social, right? Remember that Asia has always been about social for centuries, or even millennia.
Next time you design a Web service for Asia, add even more "social" flavor to it. Let people talk, participate, contribute, and "be da man". If you still can't get it, come to the Open Web Asia conference; the topic of the conference is "Social Web in Asia" :)
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2008/09/19 03:04
Wikis in the Asian market? Check out Springnote.com!
2008/09/19 03:04 in basic info
Disclaimer: I've been involved with the global marketing project for Springnote (as I mentioned here), so this post has quite a bit of marketing message in it. :)
As much as blogs and SNSs have been considered the core of Web 2.0, we haven't been diligently discussing the importance and the impact of wikis on the Web world. Think about it. Which one do you think is bigger? Wordpress or Wikipedia? In fact, Wikipedia is now so big that Google decided to create its own in Knol. (Of course, blogging is big and Google wants to do better by buying TNC--or at least I hope so
) As you can see from the chart above, the need for wikis have gone way beyond that for blogs. Quite astonishing, isn't it?
Anyhow, the wiki market has been growing huge in the Asia-Pacific region. The chart tells us that the top queries for wiki are coming from none other than Japan, Singapore, and Australia. Quite astonishing, isn't it?
Springnote has been the lone Asian service in the wiki market, to my knowledge. It has positioned itself as a hybrid of a note-taking application and a wiki. The English version was launched less than a year ago, and it's already been covered by some major media entities, such as LifeHacker, ReadWriteWeb, and Mashable. In fact, I'm the one behind the official Springnote blog; you can probably tell how similar the tones of TechnoKimchi and the Springnote blog are to each other :)
Anyhow, (not because I'm the marketer but), Springnote really is an excellent service.
(click on the picture to see it full size)
As much as blogs and SNSs have been considered the core of Web 2.0, we haven't been diligently discussing the importance and the impact of wikis on the Web world. Think about it. Which one do you think is bigger? Wordpress or Wikipedia? In fact, Wikipedia is now so big that Google decided to create its own in Knol. (Of course, blogging is big and Google wants to do better by buying TNC--or at least I hope so
) As you can see from the chart above, the need for wikis have gone way beyond that for blogs. Quite astonishing, isn't it?Anyhow, the wiki market has been growing huge in the Asia-Pacific region. The chart tells us that the top queries for wiki are coming from none other than Japan, Singapore, and Australia. Quite astonishing, isn't it?
Anyhow, (not because I'm the marketer but), Springnote really is an excellent service.
- It's a FREE Web application, making it accessible from anywhere,
- comes with 2 GB of file storage and unlimited amount of texts
- provides collaborative features by giving edit/view rights to the selected only
- supports great tech stuff, like Open ID Authentication, Open APIs, and XHTML.
How "Excellent" is it? If you guys can remember for a moment that I'm the first known full-time blogger in Korea running a network of blogs, Springnote is basically my CMS (Content Management System). I host many of my attachments and images in Springnote and even write most of my blogs in Springnote and port them to each blog.
Springnote just went through a major upgrade few hours ago, making it even a better serivce. It now comes with a view mode, designed for better content consumption and a better collaborative environment. You can learn more about the upgrade here.
So I strongly urge you guys to check it out. For one, you guys will be supporting a Web 2.0 application from Asia, but for two, you'll probably just purely love the application. (and for three, help me be a better marketer as well. ;) )
As for Japan, Singapore, and Australia beating US, UK, Canada in their search for wikis, maybe some of you guys can give me feedback on how it's happening and if there's any internal market growing in your region.
Like an experienced marketer, I'm gonna wrap this post with this: "This is your Springnote day!". Ok, I admit that was weak, but you get the point. :)
Springnote just went through a major upgrade few hours ago, making it even a better serivce. It now comes with a view mode, designed for better content consumption and a better collaborative environment. You can learn more about the upgrade here.
So I strongly urge you guys to check it out. For one, you guys will be supporting a Web 2.0 application from Asia, but for two, you'll probably just purely love the application. (and for three, help me be a better marketer as well. ;) )
As for Japan, Singapore, and Australia beating US, UK, Canada in their search for wikis, maybe some of you guys can give me feedback on how it's happening and if there's any internal market growing in your region.
Like an experienced marketer, I'm gonna wrap this post with this: "This is your Springnote day!". Ok, I admit that was weak, but you get the point. :)
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2008/09/16 13:30
Thanks to technology, holiday highway traffic jams are gone!
2008/09/16 13:30 in basic info
As I mentioned in the last post, this past weekend was Chuseok, the biggest holiday season in Korea. It's kind of like Thanksgiving, where families traditionally gather together to celebrate the harvest and have a good time together.
But, every fall, people get really scared of one thing: the traffic jam during the holiday season. Nearly a quarter of the entire Korean population gets on the road to visit their (grand-)parents. Some people literally drive for 20 hours straight to get back to Seoul from Busan, which is only about 300 miles (or less than 500 km). You can probably tell how dreadful the holiday season can be for many drivers, who are mostly dads.
The situation was expected only to be worse this year. This Chuseok season was particularly short because it was set across a weekend. Chuseok is typically about 5 days long, but this year it was only 3 days long. Last year there were about 3.28 million cars on the road; this year 3.64 mil. Imagine 11% more cars on the road in 2 less days. That's some crazy concentrated traffic. (via mbn)
And the result? About 2-4 hours less spent on the road than last year. All the more, during the peak congestions, drivers ended up spending 5-6 hours less on the road. Basically, people are surprised that it didn't resemble anything that they were fearing.
How was this made possible? Are there some kind of telepathic activities among drivers to let them know when to leave and what routes to take and stuff?
It turns out the answer to this question is a yes. To be more precise, Korean drivers were just very adept at getting the right information at the right time. And they moved dynamically and flexibly in response to what other drivers were doing. This telepathy channel is called "communication technologies".
Drivers checked out a traffic portal named Road Plus, provided by Korea Highway Corportation. The number of visitors to the site jumped from 210,000 last year to 810,000 this year. This portal provides you with information on the real-time traffic condition, actual CCTV shots of highways, breaking news, expected arrival time, or even tips for finding your best routes. Remember, some 3G networks in Korea cover the entire nation. I'm sure this combined with many GPS services really brought "efficiency" into highway traffic management. (This feels like a very good research topic for those that are studying complex networks, network analysis, algorithms, etc. )
Mobile communication is also worth mentioning. Drivers used ARS services to check upon the current stauts of some roads. SMSs were also huge contributors. Younger drivers used mobile communication particularly well to find the right time to take off and to discover alternative routes when they faced traffic jams.
So after all, information does set you free. Transportation is no exception. As a computer science major, I'm wondering as more people find about these services, if there would be any "greedy algorithm" type of situation where people move too quickly and new traffic jams are dynamically created in different parts.
I'd also like to imagine what happens if you can bring in more collective intelligence and web 2.0-ish concept into traffic congestion management. For example, what if traffic-jam-stuck drivers can endlessly send SMSs to a central traffic system about the current condition and receive a coupon to an E-Mart coupon in return? I'm not sure if that'll ever work, but will be an interesting concept.
I'm just happy that technology is actually making people's lives better. I'll look more into different areas in Korea where technology is indeed bringing in efficiency.
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2008/09/12 15:01
Breaking News: Google buys TNC (and Tattertools/Textcube)
2008/09/12 15:01 in basic info
Two Google stories in a row on TechnoKimchi. This one is just as big as the Chrome news to me. And to Korean bloggers.
Google Korea announced just hours ago that it acquired TNC(short for "Tatter and Company"). TNC is the company behind the blogging platform Textcube, formerly known as Tattertools. Basically Textcube is the Korean version of Wordpress. The most popular blogging platform. It also recently launched a hosting service named Textcube Dot Com, which combines the best of blogging and SNS.
Google's acquisition of TNC has lots of implications. This one not only marks the very first acquisition of any company by Google Korea but also implies its strong will for playing with Naver and Daum in the Korean market despite Google Korea's official title "R&D Center."
But here's the reason why this is so important: Korean Web 2.0 startup market has been dead for a while. There's simply no "exit". Startup Web companies can't generate revenues, can't go IPO, can't be sold. No exit. Period. Thus, no innovation.
TNC has been one of the most famous Web 2.0 startups in Korea. And it was finally sold to none other than Google!!! Bloggers are going quite nuts, obviously.
Chang Kim mentioned once on his blog the lack of innovation in Korea. Saddened by the current state of (lack of) innovation in the Korean Web industry, he's been working hard on Open Web Asia and other things, hoping Korea would be a better place for Web innovations.
And guess what? He's the star today! Chang is actually one of the co-CEOs of TNC and soon, he'll be working as a Google employee, probably in charge of Textcube. Congratulations, chang!!!
Starting from tomorrow, we're going to the biggest holiday season of the year: Chuseok. And this is perfect (and good) news to know as we go into holidays. Of course, there's much to be discussed about the deal and I'm not sure how active Google has been in terms of acquiring local startups in different parts of Asia. But for now, I'm just happy that a great startup company has found a great acquirer.
What do you guys think of the acquisition?
More: Chang Kim himself wrote a post on the deal. Go check it out. You can tell how excited he is :)
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2008/09/03 03:28
I'm sorry but Google Chrome doesn't mean jack in Korea.
2008/09/03 03:28 in basic info
Exactly! The Web is now about web applications, right?
Not in Korea. Not in another 5, or maybe even 10 years. Not the way Google envisions it. Web applications are everywhere in Korea because they're mostly written based on Active X! Wait a minute. Did I just mention the unmentionable? Yeah, you heard me right. Active X is what we have in Korea, the "digital capital of the world."
What's even more shameful is this: it's the law that says I MUST have Windows to be able to make any kind of banking transactions, credit card based purchases, or even to get authorization for e-gov't stuff. Well, the law doesn't exactly say it; but most of the actions are made based on Active X applications, which can be run on Windows only. And that is required by law.
Many Korean web sites, ranging from internet banking sites to TV livecasting sites, mandate users to install Active X components (a small bit of extension program used by Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser) to use the service. Which means if you are a Firefox user in Korea, there are many websites that are quite integral to your life that you simply can't use.Just imagine not being able to purchase anything on Amazon or Ebay, or to use Paypal unless you have Windows running on your machine. Yes, I'm talking to you, Mac and Linux users. Actually, all of non-IE browser users. Korean government is basically telling me that unless I'm rich enough AND willing to pay another $100 for Windows, I don't deserve to do anything on the Web. That's the most disgusting thing I've seen since the birth of the Web. And I live here :(
For example, you cannot print public documents by accessing government websites on Firefox. Or, for that matter, you cannot even buy a Mac on a Mac - as the credit card transaction requires the installation of a security program that only exists as an Active X control for Internet Explorer. Want to buy a Mac from their online store? Get a PC.
-- Are you a Korean web user? You might have 100+ Active X's installed, Web 2.0 Asia
I'm not an emotional blogger, but the Google Chrome news basically pissed me off and even saddended me because it looks like an awesome application, but won't mean anything in the Korean market. It's just not usable because it only supports Google Gears, not Active X.
As much as I've been bragging about the digital culture and the Internet environment in Korea on TechnoKimchi, I'm more than willing to "tell the world" about the unacceptable things that are happening in Korea: I've already criticized President's Lee's policies on the Internet and I'm so ready to go further.
Why am I crying out like this? Because I want Korea to have a better Web environment! If TechnoKimchi can take even the littlest and tiniest part in achieving that goal, hey, I'll gladly take the "cry baby" nickname.
Anyhow, come, come, Chrome. I want to see you soon. You seem to be a marvellous engineering feat. Google, make more money and share that with Mozilla foundation.
A happy and a sad day for me.
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