Guardian news focus on point and click cameras

Print Guardian today reports that there is a new fashion for point and click cameras. A photo shows Megan Rapinoe at the Paris Olympics. Emily Dinsdale, Dazed magazine’s arts and photography editor, suggests this results from "a desire for authenticity in an era where deepfakes mean distrust for the visual image." Kodak has seen demand for film double in recent years.

But what interests me is the quick mention of the new Google phone camera as background. Other Guardian stories have reported on moves to ban phones in schools, moves to make social media illegal for people aged under 16, opinion about leaving phones at home when on holiday to encourage more reading from the printed page. Is it possible that print media face other issues? There may be nostalgia for newspapers and they survive on some scale but when will print journalists consider the proportions ?

The Guardian used to have specialised sections on Education and Technology during the week. There was usually some repoting on BETT, a tech show for schools. Recently the ExCEL event is mostly ignored by print reporting. There are no phones on display and Apple is not always there but Google and Microsoft show software that might appear on mobile devices. This year Adobe showed Adobe Express, online AI including images. Serif Affinity continued with classic desktop design tools. It is possible that phones will remain a mystery in schools but there are now Google adverts on UK television so the capability will become known. Apple may launch something before January but as always much is secret.

Somehow 18 year old students arrive at university with some knowledge of AI, even if phones ar illegal or confiscated in schools. BETT now has a section for HE called Ahead by BETT. Online search will find a basis for future discussion. The show will also be interesting. Expect a big stand for Kodak.

I  am finding that LinkedIn now can rewrite my text and also creates a header graphic.  

Guardian not reporting online education

 Another story about UK university finances. Front page of Guardian today. Not looking good. and again there is no mention of online , either as a marketing challenge given global trends or as a cost reduction option. There is reference to loans during the period of low interest rates. How much of this was for buildings? Was anything spent on platforms, digital innovation? Page 40 there is a full page ad for King's Inter High , online school. But Guardian editorial has decided to ignore online as part of education reporting. Will government eventually bail out HE and allow campus as normal indefinitely? During lockdown thee was an emergency move online. Changes in retail and office space have continued.

Making Time in Gardens

Hoping to get to Lancaster campus in September. But maybe not so memory / online links may work just as well. The Making Time Garden was outside the Northcott theatre for a year as an art project. Then just carried on for a while. Then demolished and replaced as part of a new design for the Spine. It is near the Education offices and towads the Art area at the Spine far end. In the other direction is the InfoLab. I used to think that digital innovation could follow a walk from the InfoLab towards the Arts with more resistance as it continued. Now it is possible the digital has gone so far the conversation is in the reverse direction. How can AI be prevented from stealing the basis of creativity ? There will be a Cyber Security Leadership event at the George Fox Building, almost the end of the Spine in the other direction. Conversation during a walk is one possibility. Also online video with still photos as backgrounds. Or video edits.

Week of Library lecture

This week main event is lecture at Exeter Cathedral about medieval library. Background is Jeff Jarvis book about journalism and the Gutenberg Parenthesis. Print was an interlude, we are going back online to voice memory and speculation. So knowing more about how the medieval library helps to understand this. Also I have found Storyteller video on a riddle from the Exeter book. In voice form on YouTube. Also short story intended for print was read outloud on drama show. More later in formats other than txt.

Newspapers, a new phase

 I think the UK newspapers may be due for a change. Some are now expensive so I guess circulation will decline further. Sometimes they are hard to find. Also the house is full of previous ones that i have not had time to read in detail.

Meanwhile Twitter is a bit strange since it became X. Tweets still in there hiding but too much pro Trump material. Seems to be what Musk is promoting and much else turns up with it.

So I am going to try YouTube Shorts based on photos of newspapers as a format. Starting with repors on UK university scene. Link in future post.