Okay, so I think I keep up with new technology pretty well.
I mean, I may still have a Nintendo 64, and my iPod is so old it doesn't work with Windows, but I read trendy sites like Slashdot.
That's why I was floored when our blog topic for the week featured a term I'd never heard outside of class: crowdsourcing.
Does this graphic help explain things clearer? Not really. From ark-web.jp.
Looks like Uncle Rick may be the first one on this bandwagon. The popular (and accurate) website Wikipedia said that the word was coined in June of 2006, just four months ago. It broke through into mainstream usage when the Gannett company, which owns many large newspapers, announced that crowdsourcing would be a big part of its future.
What's it all mean for newspapers? It means its time to quit forming exploratory committees to investigate new technologies, because the technology will be here and gone before you can find a date that works for everyone to meet.
Kudos to Gannett for taking a bold step into the future. I bet most newspaper bosses in America have never heard the term crowdsourcing, let alone considered implementing it in their newsroom. That kind of throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-if-it-sticks attitude is exactly what newspapers need to thrive in the digital world.
And perhaps someday I'll be able to keep up with developments in technology as well as my professor.
Cool graphic. I am not sure how this is all going to play out for Gannett; but, that many papers and the Gannettoid groupthink will force this into the lexicon and into the tool kit pretty quickly.