If you’ve been exploring the twitterverse or blogosphere recently, you may have noticed a large amount of posts and articles on net neutrality, Google + Verizon, and the future of the Internet. Well we at Leetzone have awoken from our Tumblr slumber to try to explain what the heck is going on, and give our own two cents on the issue as well. So let’s paint the big picture shall we?
The Internet. It’s huge, it’s filled with mind boggling amounts of data, users, sites etc. And it’s constantly evolving and transforming. And right now the issue over the future of the Internet is focused on “net neutrality”, with corporations like Google, Verizon, and Comcast right in the center of the argument. Net neutrality is the principle that says all information flowing across the Internet should be treated equally. Basically the issue comes down to keeping the web wide “open” or to have a more governed form of the web. And there are pros and cons going each way.
What happens if Internet providers have more power? The providers could create deals with whichever sites they chose to provide service for, in order to generate traffic for those sites and make it harder to go to the alternative competition sites. For example, a big influential blog like Mashable could set up a deal with providers like AT&T, Verizon, or Comcast in order to have preferred bandwidth for their site, and limited bandwidth for other similar blogs, effectively funneling traffic to their site. In time, they might even set up a deal to straight-up block other blogging sites. This is just a hypothetical example of how things could go. We have no founding for saying that would happen, but it could. (We love Mashable btw, they’re pretty cool)
But there are compelling reasons that have been argued for the opposite. Stronger Internet regulation could make the web a more secure place and help lesson the number of illegal activities occurring over the Internet. There are lots of horrible things that happen to ordinary people on the Internet. Financial frauds, phishing, identity thefts, credit card thefts and many other illegal activities occur every day, and curbing the high number of these events could only be a good thing. A more regulated Internet would no doubt help in this regard, but wouldn’t criminals just find another way around it?
So, our opinion. The reason you’re reading this post right? In our humble opinion, an unregulated Internet gives the ultimate power of what the web is made of the to users of the Internet, to the people. The Internet is a competitive free market, kept that way by allowing users to go where they want to go on the net. Regulation would curb the innovation that makes the Internet so great for everyone who uses it. Times may change and regulation may become necessary, but that isn’t the case right now. So for the time being, we would prefer to see net neutrality stand. Just our humble, unregulated opinion folks.
If you’ve got any questions at all, or just feel like sharing your opinion, don’t hesitate to contact us!
[video]
[video]
[video]
The internet is constantly changing. It could almost be considered a living, breathing entity. We can blame it on the fact that as humans discover what technology is capable of, they explore and expand on their ideas to build some amazing things. In this post, we’ll introduce you to some of the major modern players who are developing some great web applications. This shift of moving away from a computer-anchored programs to online accessible web app has been occurring for the past few years - you might hear it referred to as “the cloud”. We’ve put together a quick and dirty guide to some of the most popular apps. In this part, we’ll be discussing music and news!
If there’s one thing that the internet has evolved over the past few years, its multimedia - pictures, music, and videos. We’ll touch base on pictures and videos a little later. For now, lets talk about what’s new in the music world…. ok, maybe the fact that you can play whatever song you like, whenever you like, for free? Yeah, sounds awesome because it IS awesome. Music streaming sites are fantastic. Quite possibly the most popular online music apps are Last.fm and Pandora. These sites let you create custom “stations” based on an artist or song that you like. They will then take that music and use some crazy algorithms to see what else exists in the musical world that you might enjoy. This allows you to explore your musical tastes and discover artists that you would have never found through conventional methods.
Sure, there’s always iTunes, but iTunes can’t be accessed from any computer - nor can you stream it live from your mobile devices. Last.fm and Pandora both have apps for major mobile devices that allow live streaming. What iTunes DOES offer is a fantastic store / music search if you know what you want. But is there something else out there? Of course, check out Grooveshark, the online music search engine that allows you to listen to the songs and make your own playlists online!
Traditional television news programs are out. It’s just much simpler to get your news online these days, even from the modern counterparts to traditional media. Sites such as the New York Times, CNN, and BBC have done a significant amount of work to make sure their sites deliver content to modern viewers. But even these traditional-gone-digital outlets suffer from lack of relevance - filtering and finding stories you are interested in is too difficult. Enter social media sites. Most of these sites are unique in that they allow any user to submit any piece of content. Other users then vote on the news submission. A good article that is well written, relevant, and comes from a reliable source will be voted up. Breaking news items, popular trends, and random goofiness from ALL AROUND THE WORLD get voted on by people, like you, so quality control is practically guaranteed. One of the best features of social media (despite having a voting system or not) is the commenting ability. I usually learn more by reading the comments on certain articles than I do from the actual news piece. This is great because people discuss the news item, describing their perspectives. It’s definitely mind-opening and highly recommended.
Stay tuned for Part 2: Online Video and Photos, and Part 3: Online Productivity/Collaboration and Social Networking!
- leon m
“Teach and you’ll form a bond you just don’t get from traditional marketing tactics. Buying people’s attention with a magazine or online banner ad is one thing. Earning their loyalty by teaching them forms a whole different connection. They’ll trust you more. They’ll respect you more. Even if they don’t use your products, they’ll still be your fans.” — Jason Fried, founder of 37signals
“There’s nothing scripted about my blogs, and I always do only one take. No redos, no tweaks, nothing. People walk in and our of the office, I wave to folks passing in the hall - whatever happens during filming is what my audience will see. […] Sometimes the sound quality sucks. Sometimes the light is bad. As long as I get my point across and feel like I delivered the message in an authentic way, I don’t care.” — Gary Vaynerchuck