The Virtual Revolution is a new TV series aired by the BBC and presented by Dr Aleks Krotoski which looks at how the web has changed our lives in the relatively short time it has been around. Each programme starts with the hashtag #bbcrevolution implying it’s use in social media; the first programme to take advantage of such a device?

Throughout the course of the programme tweets poured in using of the #bbcrevolution hashtag all relating to what was currently on screen. It was a really enlightening experience and a fantastic structured way of viewers discussing what they were seeing in real-time. The most surreal point of all however was the featuring of Austin Heap, the brains behind Haystack, which was developed to provide unfiltered Internet access to the people of Iran.

During Austin’s appearance #bbcrevolution tweets mentioned him and a short while later Aleks retweeted a tweet of his “yes… just finished! RT @AustinHeap: Omg did my part already air?!?! #bbcrevolution”. It was this immediacy of response whilst the programme was still being aired and the interaction with the presenter that I find so surreal.

Up until now I have largely seen TV programmes to be a one-way stream of information; pushed to the viewer. This has changed and for the better. Mal Fletcher posed an interesting question however, “When will TV bcasters allow us live interaction w/ doco broadcasts via #socntwkg, to provide a Forum?” Twitter is great for short responses and discussions, but the 140-character limit doesn’t allow for the opportunity to go into detail about specific points in the same way a forum would allow.

Flash! Argh!

Whilst many commented throughout and after Steve Jobs’ presentation that they were disappointed to see some features had been omitted such as a camera, true USB connectivity and a microphone, the lack of Flash support seems to have sparked the most debate.

Brendan Dawes, Creative Director at magneticNorth, quite eloquently put a case for why the web needs Flash and I agree with him. Whilst I generally loathe fully Flash websites there are on occassion inspirational websites that don’t break standard web conventions or jar usability but enhance them. Uniqlo are a good example of this.

Flash is like Comic Sans. Comic Sans is a fine font but it got overused and was used in inappropriate situations, much like Flash. This is a stigma that is hard to shake and I think Apple are leveraging this feeling as an excuse not to support it on their mobile devices, the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.

Rotten apples

I don’t think that the true reason behind Apple adding support for Flash is because of the bad feeling towards it and the concern of Flash websites dominating the mobile web. No. I think it’s largely a business move on Apple’s behalf.

The longer Apple hold out and don’t support Flash, whilst increasing their share of the mobile device market, it is inevitable that Flash will lose favour to pure HTML/CSS/JavaScript or Objective-C decreasing Adobe’s market share. As their market share declines as will their stock market value allowing Apple to buy out the company for a reduced price.

Of course this is all speculation. I’m not a lawyer nor a market analyst and so I don’t even know if it’s legal or possible for a company to have such an impact on another. You have to admit though, wouldn’t it be interesting if Apple did buy Adobe and what would happen to their respective products?

Not for me

Image courtesy of IvanGoneKrazy

Now if Apple were to announce a tablet device I won’t be the first in line wanting to buy one. Firstly, it will cost a significant amount of money, history dictates that (and the recession doesn’t seem to affect the sale of Apple products) and secondly I don’t have any use for a tablet device. I get by just fine with a desktop computer at home and a laptop at work. A tablet wouldn’t enable me to do anything I can’t already do.

I have discussed the fictional device with several people who all conclude that it wouldn’t be significantly different from an iPhone. A larger, less portable iPhone. It is expected that the device will have WiFi connectivity, a colour (multi-)touch screen, Safari, permanent storage, an accelerometer and some speakers. Other than utilising technology such as electronic paper I can’t see how Apple could possibly get around the rigid physical form that the device will take making it as cumbersome as a laptop to carry around albeit lighter.

What’s new?

What everybody seems to be overlooking is that tablet PC’s have been around for many years. I remember a fellow student using one to make lecture notes when I was at university, and that was four years ago – a lifetime in the technology industry. It was little more than a gimmick with poorly supported hardware (from the operating system point of view) and whilst it’s debatable that the operating system support more have improved over the years, I still think they’re gimmicks.

There are many devices that overlap into the market that tablets may occupy; one of the most recent and heavily publicised being the Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader. I have no intention on getting a Kindle; it’s an expensive gadget for which I have no need in my life. It does beg the question however, have Amazon prepared for the device Apple may be releasing and how are they going to react? Apple have a strong history of drumming up strong demand for their products and it’s more than likely that there’ll be a digital e-book distribution tie-in with iTunes, snatching the market from under Amazon’s feet.

My thoughts on the QUE proReader aren’t too dissimilar. Admittedly it looks slick, has a simple, intuitive interface with the ability to make your own notes on, but with prices starting from $649.00 it’s little more than a expensive boys’ toy – could you imagine your employer buying one for each and every employee? Whilst e-readers are another topic, don’t people remember the days of PDAs and using them to read e-books as well as managing your agenda?

What do you think? Do you think that Apple are set to revolutionise the world with their new technology, or is it set to become a flop?