Speakers in the News »

6/02/06
ETHAN ZUCKERMAN

Ethan Zuckerman

One of the most exciting ongoing hardware developments is the "One Laptop Per Child" project, an effort led by Nicholas Negroponte to produce $100 computers that can be given to children in developing nations. For an extensive review of the triumphs and challenges of this initiative, read the recent blog entry of Ethan Zuckerman (pictured above). A fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, Zuckerman is very realistic about the potential successes and the many roadblocks this machine will likely face. He writes, "Hearing the ambitions for arming students with powerful, programmable learning devices, my skepticism comes to the surface. Not because I think the machine is not up to the task - instead, I suspect schools are likely to fall short. In much of the world - and, unfortunately, too often in the US as well - schools favor discipline, control and rote learning over creativity, self-directed learning and collaboration. No matter how you slice it, the laptop is a deeply subversive creature, likely to undercut the authority of teachers who don’t figure out how to master the device as quickly as their students. Like everyone else who’s worked in IT and international development, I’ve got nightmare stories about computers locked in rooms so no one will break them. It’s too easy for me to imagine teachers threatened by the laptop ordering students to put them away and watch the blackboard." Zuckerman was involved with the 2005 SXSW Interactive Festival, where he spoke on the "How to Think About Democracy and Technology" panel.

1:50pm CST | +

6/01/06
CHRIS NOLAN

Spot-On founder Chris Nolan writes about a chance encounter with Kimberly Dozier. Nolan says that, although their conversation was somewhat brief, she was very impressed with this CBS reporter who is now in critical condition due to wounds she received earlier this week from a car bomb in Iraq: "My pals on the right like to claim that Iraqi insurgents bomb U.S. targets so those of us here at home will fall for 'propaganda' or defeatist tales that give comfort to the enemy. Well, after a couple hours of talking with Kimberly Dozier, I'm not so sure about that. She was not someone anxious to become a martyr. She was savvy, tough and smart. She could sleep anywhere and she could step gracefully over sleeping travel companions - the sort of skills you develop out of habit and courtesy, not out of sloth and selfishness. She was also very clear. on a few things about her job and her role as an U.S. newsperson in the Middle East. Among them: the war wasn't going well and, for the most part, the stories Americans were getting via their TV news weren't the whole story. They were telling as simple, easy-to-understand story. And, even then, it wasn't an easy story to tell." Nolan moderated the "Video Blog Business Models" panel at the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival.

11:00am CST | +

5/31/06
CRAIG NEWMARK

Mike McCurry (the former Whilte House spokesperson who is now a telecom industry lobbyist) goes up against Craig Newmark (pictured above) in an online debate about net neutrality that is hosted by the Wall Street Journal. Says the founder of Craigslist: "What we're looking for is just fairness, a level playing field, no regulation or stuff like that. In America we believe that if you play fair and work hard, you get ahead. We don't want the government to give special privileges to the big guys, particularly not at the expense of small business and consumers. We don't want more regulation and we don't need lawyers involved where the free market functions well. I guess we're for capitalism. Current net neutrality (as currently conceived) functions well, allowing innovators to create wealth and help us all out. Why should the FCC or Congress fool with that? We've seen that the telecoms don't need more privileges, they need to get serious about using their existing resources. We're not talking about 'one size fits all,' since we need improvements to Internet tech for stuff like video. Please do note that the big guys don't innovate much, it's pretty much all from small business. I can't think of any innovation from them. They usually run infrastructure well, not much new. Even Mike's clients have confessed that they intend to discriminate. They consistently forget who owns the airwaves and public rights of way on which they've built their fortunes. They frequently break their commitments; take a look in the Journal at the Walt Mossberg piece I've cited. Net neutrality is the embodiment of American values of democracy and fairness. Let's keep it that way. I joined the SavetheInternet.com coalition coalition and signed a petition to Congress. Mike, you talk about preserving competition; when can we expect you to sign up?" At the 2006 SXSW Interactive Festival, Newmark was the focus of a keynote interview conducted by Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia.

11:47am CST | +

5/30/06
ELI PARISER

Eli Pariser of MoveOn pens an editorial in Yahoo! about the untruthful lobbying techniques of those who would overturn Net Neutrality: "Opponents of Internet freedom seem shocked that Google, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, and 700 other diverse organizations are fighting on the same side to preserve the Internet that has revolutionized democratic participation, economic innovation, and free speech. . . Telecom companies also like to paper Congress with propaganda implying that Internet freedom is somehow a left-wing issue. Tell that to the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Instapundit, the business executives and the many libertarians who are fighting right along with MoveOn, the inventors of the Internet, thousands of bloggers and the SavetheInternet.com Coalition in support of Net Neutrality. As Craig Fields of the Gun Owners says, when the left and right agree on an issue like Internet freedom, 'it's been my experience that what Congress is getting ready to do is basically un-American.' On the proposal to destroy Net Neutrality, most Americans would probably agree." Pariser delivered a keynote speech at the 2004 SXSW Interactive Festival.