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On the Other Side

May 27, 2011

A few weeks ago I ended up on a panel giving advice to a group up and coming brilliant young minds from around the world at Google Zeitgeist.  Wait-a-minute...I thought I was still up and coming!

What this made me think about is that in my own mind, I've constructed a reality that while may very well be a scenario to me, it's not the scenario that other people see about me. Apparently I'm already the guy who as advice to offer others.  When did that happen? I imagine it's a bit like becoming a parent: one day you're your father's child and at some point you become a child's father (or mother).  You become the person who's been there, who's supposed to have all the answers, who's fearless in the face of danger.  The parent, the big brother, the advisor, the Senior Fellow.

The truth is, no one has ever had any answers.  They either have a whole lot more questions than you, or a whole lot more hubris than you. ;-) I've never really been that person for myself, but I find a great deal of enthusiasm for trying to be that person on behalf of others - if only to help them their own path in the world. 

About the panel - 60 percent of the world’s population is now aged under 30, making youth the world’s largest demographic. What impact is this having on society? In this session, young change-makers will converse with business leaders and opinion formers to share their experiences and discuss solutions to the challenges of tomorrow.

Filmed at Google Zeitgeist 2011 on May 17, 2011. Featuring: Sam Connif (host), Jon Gosier (Appfrica, Ushahidi), Jon Snow (Channel 4 News), Ludwick Marishane (DryBath), Sadiq Miah (Future Voices International), Orly Setton (Re.think Leadership), and Martha Lane Fox

Filed under  //   google   rosling   youth   zeitgeist  
Posted by Jon Gosier 

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Battle Between iPhone 4 and Google's Android Nexus One Cracks Me Up

June 24, 2010

Confession: I don't have an iPhone. This will come as a surprise to those who know me as an Apple nerd. But something really weird happened today. Something that makes me believe in the supernatural powers of Steve Jobs and his global marketing campaign.

Today, June 24th, 2010, saw the launch of iPhone 4 in the UK. You don't need me to say a word about the religious zeal with which us Mac geeks worship at the altar of Jobsfulness. Just see this great cartoon strip. And I wouldn't dream of attempting a review of iPhone 4 when the Maestro Chief of Geek Kingdom himself Stephen Fry has done it so well, calling it "an object of rare beauty".

I had seen enough iPhones in the hands of everyone cool around me to make me want one. But earlier this year, just as I was about to place an order, two things happened. Word gets out that there's soon to be an iPhone 4, and at TED2010 Google goes and surprises us all by giving away an Android Nexus One. See my dilemma? Why get an iPhone 3G when you can get a free Nexus One. 

So over the last few weeks I have been getting used to hanging out with the green Android - looks more like Kermit the Frog to me - and having people ask me "what's that?". Even though my filmmaker friendly network Orange offer the iPhone, I have resisted switching. So far.

Today I was cycling to a meeting in the London afternoon rush hour. I was also expecting a call back from a very important producer about my TED Senior Fellowship project. We've been playing phone tag for the last 4 weeks, and I was eager not to miss his call should it come through while I'm on the bike. So instead of putting the Nexus One in my jeans pocket where I wouldn't hear or feel it vibrate while pedaling, I put it in my shirt's breast pocket close to my heart. A symbol of how I feel about my film. The gridlock had left little room for maneuver. Running late, I did what any self respecting urban cyclist does; hop onto the pavement to bypass two double decker buses spewing their fumes at me.

I land onto the pavement but hear the unmistakable sound of metal hitting stone. Skid to a halt and look behind to see my Nexus One kissing the pavement. Its face cracked up, the Android looks back at me sorrowful scars all over.  I gently stroke it clean and turn it on. It still works. Looking at the date, 24th June, I realize it's no ordinary date. 24th June has been splashed all over the web, papers and billboards. Of all the dates in the calendar on which I could have cracked up my Nexus One, why should it happen on the day Apple launches its iPhone 4? What powers are at play here? Is this a sign? Drop me a line if something terrible happened to your Google phone today.

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Taghi Amirani

Amirani Films

@tagz23

 

 

Filed under  //   Amirani Films   Android   Apple   Nexus One   Orange   Stephen Fry   Steve Jobs   TED Senior Fellowship   TED2010   Taghi Amirani   google   iPhone4  
Posted by Taghi Amirani 

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People Want to Know

July 23, 2009

One of the the things the TED Fellows program is great at is that it allows us to be in the same place as people who have the will and interest to support our projects.  After my talk a few days ago at TEDGlobal, I was approached by someone from the Garudian.co.uk who wrote this article...

One of the features of TEDGlobal was two sessions called TED University where attendees could give short presentations on ideas or projects they were working on. The Grameen Foundation recently contacted African designer, entrepreneur and venture capitalist Jon Gosier of Appfrica.org because they wanted to know: What do people in Africa want to know?

They knew if they opened up a hotline and offered to answer anyone's question about what they wanted to know that they would quickly be overwhelmed. Working with 'community knowledge workers' who were usually retirees looking for a way to give back to their community, people in a village in Uganda could ask these workers questions. The workers then would relay those questions back to operators using an offline internet application to find the answer in real-time.

Passionate about data visualisations, Gosier also wanted to release the information in a way that easily showed where the questions were coming from and also the range of the topics. You can see the questions that are being asked in real time at the site, World Wants to Know. While the West and Gosier enjoys social networking tools like Facebook and many choices in terms of real-time communications, he was interested to offer something from "such a rural part of the world".

Filed under  //   Africa   TED Fellows   gaurdian   google   news   press   search   support   uganda  
Posted by Jon Gosier 

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