Introduction

There has been a bit of buzz in the tech community about the resurrection of the Pebble Smartwatch. Eric Migicovsky's post about bringing the watch back, and his postmortem on his previous experience with bringing the watch to market are quite compelling. I do believe he has accounted for the previous failure of the company, and set reasonable expectations for reviving the brand.

However, a few points in Eric's post gave me a bit of pause. For example, the statement “You’d imagine that smartwatches have evolved considerably since 2012.” Well, yes, in the 12 years since the original Pebble quite a few things have changed.

As I read further, I got the feeling that maybe this project hadn't really been thought out all that well. Maybe it was just an immediate reaction to Google making the PebbleOS code Open Source. That is a good place to start, but I think this project needs to be thought about in a different light.

The Smartwatch market is now largely a duopoly between Samsung and Apple, with everyone else (Garmin, Fitbit, Amazfit and a host of Chinese brands) sweeping up the crumbs behind them. So, what is it going to take for the new Pebble to not be sweeping alongside all the others, and instead find itself a solid place in the market?

I do not claim to be an expert in the field of smartwatches, watches or horology. However, over the past year I have learned quite a bit as I stumbled my way into collecting watches. So, I'd like to provide some opinions on what would really set the new Pebble apart from the competition.

My Journey Into Watch Collecting

As I stated in the introduction, I started collecting watches about a year ago. Most of my collection has focuses on Japanese watches: Casio, Seiko, Citizen, Kuoe, Orient, etc. But why watches? And why Japanese watches? The answer to that lays in the research I did before I started buying watches.

Initially I interested in hybrid watches. A hybrid watch was a typical quartz watch with the face replaced with an LCD panel that could display various information. This allowed the watch to be used for displaying notifications, health tracking, etc. while still having the appearance of a mechanical watch.

I quickly found that the hybrid watch market wasn't surviving the onslaught of Apple's and Samsung's Smartwatches. Most of the watch manufacturers were discontinuing their hybrid watches, and many were narrowing their smartwatch offerings.

So, I started looking at Smartwatches. But as I dug into them, I found most of them were using Google's WearOS. And while WearOS supports encrypting the communication between the watch and phone, I had every reason to believe there were API endpoints going to Google. And, since the device would be tethered to an Android phone, that meant my personal medical information could be used by Google for whatever purposes they see fit.

But still, I thought it might be worth the risk if I could mitigate the potential issue through other means. Then I started looking at the applications these watches supported. Many of them required a subscription to really have full functionality.

At this point, the little enthusiasm I had for smartwatches was quickly waning. Then the final nail in the coffin came when I started looking at the applications. So many of them literally state that they are sending your information to third parties for marketing and other purposes, even (especially?) after the user signs up for a subscription. This is insane in my opinion. It would be one thing if my information was being sent to my health provider, I would be okay with that. But to suggest that it is going to be sent to anyone else for any purpose is a non-starter.

The fact is that medical professionals have a set of laws known as HIPAA which they have to comply with. This limits the exposure of your personal and medical information. However, the companies providing these applications are not bound by these laws, so there is nothing to ensure your privacy when using them.

And, that was it, I mentally snapped a bit. I didn't want to wade any further into a minefield where my most personal information was going to be put at risk, all for the benefit of a bunch of corporations to do God knows what with the information.

Aside: A story from about 10 years ago has been stuck in my mind... A teenager found out she was pregnant and went to Target to buy prenatal vitamins. She used her mother's credit card to buy the vitamins. She didn't tell her parents that she was pregnant. Target used the information from the credit card to generate a list of pregnant women to send marketing to... Target sent a “Congratulations on your Pregnancy” flier addressed to the other to the teenager's house. This was how the parents found out that their teenage daughter was pregnant. A truly disgusting show of the invasion of privacy that companies will do if they think it will generate more revenue for them.

Watch Collecting: A Few Lessons

So, in rejecting the technology of the current smartwatch minefield, I still felt that I wanted something to differentiate myself. I wanted to wear something on my wrist to tell the time, if nothing else, so I didn't have to pull out my phone just to check the time.

I started with a nostalgia pick: the Casio AE1200, aka the Casio Royale after the watch that appeared in the James Bond film “Octopussy”. (The film watch was actually a Seiko G757, which is no longer in production.) But, I didn't want to wear a digital watch all the time — it just felt a bit too nerdy. So, I started buying other watches: other Casios, some Timex's, a Citizen and a Seiko.

I decided (somewhat mistakenly) to focus on collecting Casio watches. Why Casio? Well, I noticed something quirky and challenging about Casio. They tend to only partially release some of their watches in the North American market. For example, the AQ-230: there are four models released in North America, but on Casio's International website there are thirteen variants of this watch.

And that seemed like a fun challenge to me: find Casio watches that either (a) weren't available in the North American market, or (b) had limited releases in North America, and find ways to acquire the whole line. This was going to be the “fun” part of my collection.

But I was also going to have a more serious collection. Initially, I watched a lot of YouTube watch collecting videos. Many of the watches were impressive: the fit, finish and aesthetics of watches from Breguet, Audemars Piguet, Rolex, Cartier, Breitling, IWC, Omega, Patek Philippe, etc. were amazing. But the prices were outrageous. Entry level prices for many of them were $10,000, or something close to it. And, these were watches with automatic mechanical movements... Meaning that they need to be wound, either by wearing them, or using an external device to wind them for you. And because they were mechanical they would need routine servicing (just like a car), and from what I gathered the servicing was expensive.

But that wasn't the biggest issue I had while watching these videos. There was this sense of snobbery from both the video creators, and the viewers (commenters) on the videos. As I pieced things together, there was a whole historical context for this snobbery, and the growth of what I deemed to be an unhealthy community. (Something I will talk about in a separate piece.)

Now, this whole background has gotten a bit long, but bear with me for a couple of more paragraphs to get to a few points...

Photo of a Casio MTP-RS100D with a black face on a man's wrist. Photo by Unattributed. License: Creative Commons 4.0: BY-NC-SA.

One of my Casio MTP-RS100D watches. This is the black face version. There are four other variants.

While I was learning about other watches, my Casio collection started growing, and I came to a couple of fascinating models. The first was the MTP-RS100D. These are simple three hand watches, but they have a few interesting features. The first is watch face. It's completely unique, not imitating any other watches that I had (or have) seen. Second, it's a solar watch, with the ability to store enough energy to operate for four months between charges. (Typical automatic watches can only store enough energy for 40–70 hours of operation without winding.) And the price was under $100. Admittedly there are some not-so-positive aspects to the watch. For example the bracelet isn't all that high quality, and replacing it is difficult due to the way it integrates into the case. Also, I wish it had a date complication (or even more a day and date complication), but some see the lack of this kind of complication to be a positive. The clasp isn't all that good either. And it has a mineral glass crystal instead of sapphire. But, for under $100 it is above and beyond the value of many $500 and even $1000 watches.

Casio Lineage LCW-M100TS. The watch the stunned me.

Then came the absolute bombshell watch for me: the Casio Lineage LCW-M100TS. This is a hybrid “Ana-Digi” watch, meaning that it's face is that of an analog watch, but it incorporates a digital display. Honestly, I initially didn't like a lot of the “Ana-Digi” watches until I saw this one. This watch has a similar look to the MTP-RS100D, but the dial features a simple sunburst pattern, and the integrated LCD panel. But, that's not the impressive part of this watch...it's all the features that it has: world time, timer, full auto-calendar (up to 2099), backlight, solar (with an energy saving feature that allows it to operate for up to 22 months on a single charge), stopwatch, alarm(s), atomic clock synchronizing, automatic timezone adjustment. And then there is the case and bracelet: all titanium, with a sapphire crystal. The price? Depending on the variant $150-$200 USD. Lineage watches are a “JDM” (Japanese Domestic Market) line of watches. So, getting them imported and still being a fraction of the price of similar watches from Seiko, Citizen, and others is quite remarkable. Not to mention that they are fraction of the price of many Swiss and European watches, and are just generally a more solid value. (There are some other things that I will discuss in another article that put them above literally any other mechanical watch.)

Of course, these are not smartwatches. They don't have health tracking sensors, and they don't integrate with your phone for notifications, or media control, or anything like that. However, from my perspective it's important to actually place smartwatches in the context to the broader watch market, as will become clear throughout the remainder of this article.

Now, there is a Casio-shaped elephant that I am not covering here: the G-Shock line. They are really forerunner to the smartwatch, having many of the features that the Pebble is focused on bringing out. And, in fact, they also have models that incorporate some of the important features of the above watches. But, their Ana-Digi watches don't look as nice as the Lineage to me, and I personally didn't want to wear a digital watch all the time...so I haven't gone too far into them yet (although I do have an GBD-200).

Next we have to talk about the Apple-shaped elephant of the smartwatch world: the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch Is More Impressive Than You Know

Deutsches-uhrenmuseum, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The disruption to watchmaking caused by the Apple Watch was not a completely new event in the annals of watchmaking. The first such event was the Christmas Surprise of 1969 when Seiko released the Astron: the first mass market quartz watch. The Astron achieved a greater accuracy than the majority of mechanical watches, and was able to run for up to a year on a single battery. Something no mechanical watch could achieve.

This event sent shock waves through the Swiss and European watchmaking industries, but many watchmakers seemingly ignored the importance of the watch. Within a few years the mechanical watches had lost a large portion of their market share as quartz watches became easier to manufacture, were more readily available to the public, and were much less expensive than mechanical watches.

This caused a large scale reorganization, consolidation and refocusing of the mechanical watchmaking industry. Instead of being the ubiquitous objects that many people needed, they became niche objects and luxury items.

Apple Watch photo by Terminator216, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Then just 45 years after the release of the Astron, Apple released the first Apple Watch. In a few short years, the Apple Watch's market share grew to an astonishing level, taking the majority share of quartz watch market (both analog and digital watches), as well as many of the health tracking devices, and further eroding a portion of the luxury mechanical watchmaking industry. (Apple managed to out-sell all Swiss watchmakers combined in 2020.)

Many watchmakers and watch collectors and aficionados dismissed the Apple Watch as not being a real or serious watch. There are several reasons for this: (a) the device doesn't “feel” like a watch, (b) they don't see its primary use is as a timekeeping device, instead focusing on other functions like health monitoring, media control, and notification display, as well as a myriad of other applications the watches can run, and © the fact that it is tethered to a cell phone to provide much of this functionality.

And while certainly all of this is true, it is a way to dodge the fact that Apple went to great lengths to make the Apple Watch a timekeeping piece that exceeds COSC certification standards, and most of the quartz watches on the market. In an article in Mashable from 2015 (Here's how Apple synchronized all your Apple Watches), Apple's VP of Technology, Kevin Lynch, outlined a number of the features of the Apple Watch that are fairly impressive.

First, the Apple Watch does actually have a self-contained quartz movement. Next, in order to maintain that accuracy they curated their own global network of Stratum One NTP (Network Time Protocol) servers (these servers are only a single step away from an atomic clock). Third they implemented a temperature control crystal oscillator to compensate for changes in temperature. The end result is the Apple Watch is accurate within 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) of Universal Standard Time. While this might not sound impressive consider that typical quartz watches from Casio are accurate to approximately +/– 20 seconds per month (which is around 0.5 seconds a day), and COSC Certified mechanical watches average −4/+6 seconds per day. (Ed. Note: the article doesn't mention the quartz movement. However, the crystal oscillator temperature control is only necessary if there is a quartz movement.)

Certainly, there are quartz watches that rival the Apple Watch in terms of accuracy. In fact, there are some watches that actually have their own miniaturized atomic clocks built into them, which are considered to be the most accurate in the world, but they are also exceptionally expensive (the Hoptrof No. 16 was $24,000 in 2015).

Now with all this context, lets talk about the Pebble and some of the issues that it faces.

Reviving The Pebble Smartwatch

The Pebble smartwatch was definitely ahead of it's time in 2013 when it came to market (after doing a Kickstarter fundraising campaign in 2012). It actually hit the market two years before the Apple Watch, so it's only real competition were some of the wearable devices from the likes of IBM, Sony Ericson, and Fossil (amongst other early attempts at bringing smartwatches to market in the 1990s and 2000s).

Today, however, I think it is best to take a long look at both the Smartwatch and Wristwatch markets to identify the key items that a revived Pebble should try to achieve. Here is the list of things that I would want rePebble to consider as they work on reviving their Smartwatch:

• Power usage / recharging
• Privacy & App Issues
• Standalone usage Vs. Tethering
• Timekeeping Accuracy
• There is still a Pebble

Let's take a look at each of these topics.

There Is Still a Pebble Smartwatch

I hadn't mentioned this so far, but while researching and gathering materials for writing this piece, I came across a website for a company that still is selling watches under the Pebble brand. This doesn't appear to some fly-by-night operation either. My guess would be that through the long process of properties being split up and sold off this company somehow ended up with the right to use the Pebble name.

The company appears to be in Bengaluru, India. I don't personally know the status of India when it comes to copyright, trademarks, or other so-called “intellectual property” issues, it would seem to me that it would likely be best to avoid a situation where there could be a conflict. Don't really want to see lawyers having to get involved in some form of international trademark legal fight before you've even gotten your product to market.

Power Usage

The current state of cellphone and smartwatch power usage is absolute insanity to me. The fact that most of these devices need to be charged via a cable or “wireless” connection is utterly ridiculous. Solar wristwatches have existed since 1972 (The History of Solar Powered Watches). Over the past 50 years, the advancements in solar technology by Seiko, Casio and especially Citizen have made it to the point where there's no need to make adjustments to many of these watches for months at a time.

Now, I know you might be thinking “but the power requirements of a smartwatch are different from a wristwatch”, and I would partially agree with that. However, when we look at hybrid watches they have a fairly intense power usage to actually run a motor to move a second hand, which could deplete the battery. So, look at watches like the Casio Lineage watch mentioned above: it will sleep at night in order to preserve the power it would use to run the motor... But it still keeps the other internal functions operational so it is always in sync.

The advancements in microprocessor manufacturing (getting down to 4nm process nodes) along with the advancements SoC technology should enable the Pebble to go a lot further than it has in the past.

The lowered power consumption of embedded processors and SoC's, along with improvements in solar technology and energy storage should allow creating a device that can recharge itself from available light on a daily basis. And, given that most customers will likely wear these watches daily, there shouldn't be an issue.

I do understand that there will be technical challenges to this decision. But even those challenges likely have solutions. We have sleep modes, connections can be closed when not in use, etc. I don't think those challenges should prevent creating a smartwatch that is solar-powered.

Privacy Issues

As I noted above, one of the biggest issues I had with many of the Smartwatches on the market today were the fitness tracking applications. The amount of information that the user is having to give up in order to track their health information is insane.

If there is going to be a specific app for the new Pebble, please make it open source. Also, please contribute to the existing open source applications that are available (one of the best seems to be Gadgetbridge, which I'm guessing you are aware of since it has Pebble support).

I think the biggest thing to do in this area is: develop the new Pebble as a privacy respecting application. Do not place your customers in the position of having a recommended application that will sell their information. This is something that is worth emphasizing in announcements regarding the device. And, reaching out to privacy respecting open source applications as you work through the development process will help generate more good will.

Standalone Usage

While one of the more appealing aspects to smartwatch customers is the ability to tether their watch to their phone to enable some extended functionality, the new Pebble should make it a priority to be a “watch” at it's core before being “smart”.

Let me explain my thought process here. The wristwatch market has created devices that have stood the test of time, quite literally. There are watches from the 1500s that are still in existence today (although whether they are functional, or accurate is another matter). We regularly see watches that are 50–100 years old that are still functioning.

Today many smartwatches (and cellphones) are seen as disposable devices. Every few years people run out to buy the latest Samsung Galaxy watch or Apple Watch because of “cool new feature X”. And many of the old devices end up in landfills.

But, this doesn't need to be the case. Yes, adding new features and releasing new devices is part of the business cycle. But committing to a longer lifespan is something to aspire to.

There are two ways to do this: (1) develop the firmware and software in a manner that allows for older devices to be updated, and (2) design the hardware and software in a manner that it can have minimal functionality past it's EOL as a smart device.

In other words: focus on the watch functionality. Even when the device cannot support being tethered to a phone anymore, let it exist as a top-quality wristwatch. Have it use GPS and Atomic Clock radio signals to keep time in sync. Have built in timers, alarms, stop watch, perpetual calendar, etc. features.

I have this extreme scenario in the back of my head when it comes to wristwatches: how useful is a watch going to be if the national infrastructure were to disappear? What if I can't get batteries for my watches? What if there is no one to service a mechanical movement? How long could my watch last and be useful?

This is where I think design choices are important. Solar charging allows the use of a watch for probably a good ten to twenty years without batteries. Making a digital quartz movement removes the need for maintenance of the movement. Being able to sync to an atomic clock via radio signal (not over the internet) means I should have accuracy for a while (the military radios aren't likely to go offline immediately).

Even if that kind of scenario doesn't happen, a smartwatch that can function without a phone is still useful. It can be passed down to family members, especially children who don't need to have all the smartwatch functionality.

This is the kind of thought and design that will make for a device that will be able to last for a long time.

Timekeeping Accuracy

I mentioned this above, and these two points are actually interconnected. A smartwatch should be able to keep more accurate time than a cellphone. This should be somewhat obvious: runners and joggers will want to have accurate times for their activities. Anyone that needs to use a stopwatch will want it to be as accurate as possible.

It takes more than just a simple quartz movement to enable this functionality. Syncing the time to an atomic clock, accounting for drift and skew, using temperature, altitude, air pressure and other sensors to compensate for external environmental issues that can affect the accuracy of the movement / calibre is important.

As I mentioned above, Apple spent a lot of time developing a number of these items for their Watch. While it may (or may not) be as impressive ten years after the first Apple Watch hit the shelves, the fact is that timekeeping was a core focus when developing their watch. The new Pebble should take the same approach, leveraging as much watchmaking knowledge and technology as possible.

Conclusion

Thank you if you have read this far. I know that it was a lot to take in, and there were a lot of thoughts that I have put on the page in the hopes that it will help to guide the developers of the new Pebble. But, I think this article can go a lot further with how we think about both watches and connected devices.

The fact is that a lot of watches have a very long life cycle. Yes, they do need maintenance – whether it's the changing of a battery in a quartz watch, or re-calibration / maintenance of a mechanical movement.

It's my hope, however, that this article shows anyone who is interested in watches that there is a different way to go. There is a way to have modern features and longevity, instead of treating smartwatches as disposable tech. The concept that a watch should be treated in the same manner as a piece of a fast-fashion clothing is disturbing. We can do better. We need to do better.

The new Pebble offers that opportunity.

Categories: #Technology, #Features, #Opinion, #Editorial Tags: #atomic, #atomicclock, #business, #calendar, #calibre, #device, #devices, #digital, #movement, #pebble, #quartz, #repebble, #smartwatch, #smartwatches, #solar, #stopwatch, #time, #wristwatch

Introduction: The Story So Far…

NOTE: This article was started before NPR and PBS decided that it was time to leave Twitter.

I recently emailed NPR regarding the situation with their Twitter account being labeled as “state sponsored”. In said letter, I did bother going through and summarizing all the things that the media has put up with on Twitter in just the five months since Elon Musk’s takeover of the platform. So, here is a summary:

Since the original labeling of NPR as “state sponsored”, Twitter (really Elon Musk) has relented (somewhat) and changed the label to read “Government Funded”. This label has also been applied to PBS. (The Hill: Twitter drops ‘state-affiliated’ label from NPR after backlash) During this whole kerfuffle, one of the better known NPR stations, KCRW, decided to leave Twitter as they felt the platform was no longer a trustworthy.

At the same time, Twitter also started blocking replies, likes, and retweets to posts that contain links to Substack articles (Ars Technica: The dumb reason Twitter won’t allow retweeting tweets linking to Substack). The reason for this is a perceived challenge by a new Substack feature called “Notes” that is similar to Twitter in appearance, but is tied to Substack’s subscription model (The Verge: Substack is getting tweets — err, ‘Notes’).

Meanwhile, it is being reported that Twitter is no longer restricting the reach of Chinese and Russian state sponsored media outlets (Semafore: Twitter is no longer policing Russian and Chinese state-backed media).

And, of course, there is the pettiness of removing The New York Times’s verified check-mark, after the news organization stated they would not be paying Musk’s exorbitant extortion to keep the mark.

But, while the assault on media outlets that has occurred over the past few days should be seen as quite alarming to the media at large, it isn’t even the beginning. All the way back in November, Playbill left Twitter citing an expanded tolerance of hate and misinformation (The Hollywood Reporter: Playbill Leaves Twitter, Says Platform Now Blurs “Actual News and Insidious Rhetoric”). CBS News halted Tweeting for a day because of the “uncertainty” about the platform.

And, in mid-December, Elon banned the accounts of reporters from the New York Times, Washington Post, Voice of America, CNN, Mashable, The Intercept and several freelance journalists over their reporting on his banning of the ElonJet account a few days earlier (The Verge: Elon Musk starts banning critical journalists from Twitter).

And, just a few weeks ago, Twitter permanently banned the 165-year-old Globe Gazette newspaper from Mason City, Iowa without giving any reason. The account was restored a day later, but they lost all of their 6K followers, and were never given a reason as to why they were banned in the first place (Des Moines Register: 165-year-old Iowa newspaper’s Twitter account restored. Why it was banned remains a mystery).

And, even more recently, Twitter blocked 122 accounts at the request of the Indian government. Those accounts included several journalists: Pieter Friedrich, Sandeep Singh, Kamaldeep Singh Brar, and Gagandeep Singh. (rest of world: Twitter blocked 122 accounts in India at the government’s request).

And finally, in the most hilarious turn of them all… The Musk-hired “journalists” Matt Taibbi and Barry Weiss have been either fired or shadow-banned on Twitter. (TechDirt: After Matt Taibbi Leaves Twitter, Elon Musk ‘Shadow Bans’ All Of Taibbi’s Tweets, Including The Twitter Files).

Re-Interpreting The Substack Story

While I initially interpreted the Substack story as just another of Elon’s odd little petty tantrums against a company offering a new feature to compete with Twitter, I’ve re-evaluated that perspective. The fact is, his tantrum was about more than just the Notes feature. The new offering from Substack served to directly undermine Elon’s plans for his “Twitter 2.0”.

It has been widely reported that Musk is seeking to turn Twitter into his vision of an “Everything” app. This has been something of an idea that goes back to his early days when developing what later became PayPal. And recently, he has signed an agreement with eToro to expand Twitter’s offerings in financial areas, like stock quotes, crypto market tracking, etc.

But what does this have to do with Substack? While not as apparent at first, Notes cuts deeper than it first appears. Elon wants Twitter to do everything: that includes publishing, and he has been taking steps to make this a reality.

First, sometime back, he announced that there was going to be a system for creators to get payouts. Then he expanded the size of Tweets and Videos for Twitter Blue subscribers. And, just in the last week, he announced large Tweets with a 10,000-character limit, and support for italics and underlining.

When you put all of these things together, it looks more and more like part of the system he was building was going to try to compete with Substack. And that lead him to make retaliatory moves against Substack when they added Notes: he saw that as an attempt to draw potential users of his publishing platform away.

Inflection Point

That was just an introduction to what Twitter has become where news media is concerned, since Elon Musk’s takeover. It’s a long way from the platform that was once described as the “public square” or the “town hall of the internet”. In fact, it appears that in his ideal world the journalists and reporters will turn to him to publish their work, instead of just using the platform to circulate works that are created on other (competing) platforms.

Elon’s Twitter is about controlling communication. Gaining Elon’s favor is the way to give your message a chance to be heard. And the best way to gain his favor is to (a) pay for the privilege, (b) not be critical of his statements and actions, and © make certain there isn’t someone else he favors more than you.

This is the absolute antithesis of the foundations of the free press. Elon is acting in a manner that is completely contrary to the foundation of American values. America was founded on the premise that we could have a self-governing country that wasn’t afraid of critical voices, and rejected dictatorial leadership.

Throughout the world, most countries have news media that are respected. It’s true that censorship laws, hate speech laws, and other legal barriers to completely independent news media do exist. However, for countries where the government does not directly interfere or direct the media, the threat of the current state of Twitter management should be seen as clear and imminent.

It is time for American media companies at a minimum, and global media companies to realize that they cannot and should not rely on the whims of social media companies. We are now at an inflection point. The current social media industry is turning it’s back on the forms of content and communication that the people want and need.

There have already been battles with Alphabet (Google) and Meta (Facebook) over the syndication of their content. YouTube is widely known for taking down content without reason. Instagram, TikTok, and other media companies have numerous issues that make them unreliable sources for independent news media.

Instead of focusing on communication, these companies are becoming obsessed with Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality (aka the Metaverse). Neither of these are technologies that are wanted or needed by the public at large. In fact, the utility of these technologies remains dubious at best. About the only real interest in them that the media should have is in reporting on them.

So, with this inflection point what should media companies be doing?

Leaving Twitter Is The First Step

As I sit here writing this, NPR and PBS have left Twitter. Several NPR member stations have also left Twitter. This is a start, and the best first step to take. It is time to start showing the social media companies that they aren’t needed.

But, just leaving Twitter isn’t enough. It’s time to think in a way that will allow you to be more independent and will allow you to build a presence beyond what you currently have.

What if you could have your own Twitter? Your own Instagram? Your own YouTube? And, how about the ability to have people that are on a Twitter-like platform be able to see the content posted on your website? Or what if these “Twitter-like” users could see your YouTube content?

In other words: what if there were little or no barriers between the platforms? You could publish to as many platforms as you wanted, and your audience could choose how they wanted to consume and interact with your content?

That’s where the next step comes in.

The Fediverse Is The Next Step

You have probably already heard of Mastodon and the Fediverse. You know that Mastodon is a Twitter-like platform that millions of former Twitter users fled to after Elon Musk’s takeover. But Mastodon is only one piece of the Fediverse.

The Fediverse is actually made up of many different platforms… In fact, more platforms than the current commercial social media websites offer. There are currently over thirty platforms available as part of the Fediverse.

And, the Fediverse has been steadily growing over the past 4–5 years. Here’s a graph of the growth in the user base of the Fediverse since 2019:

Fediverse User Growth from 2019 to 2023

As you can see, just since Nov. 2022 the number of users has nearly doubled in size. And it does not show signs of stopping, with literally thousands of new accounts created every hour.

And, these users are active too, as witnessed by the growth in posts since 2019, and especially since November 2022:

Fediverse Posts growth from 2019 to 2023

Now, this is not the biggest growth that any social network has experienced. However, it is very consistent growth. This consistent growth is what should make it an appealing proposition for news organizations to get in on. This is a place where you can start finding your audience now, build and define your presence on your terms.

Defining Your Presence

As mentioned, the Fediverse has many platforms available for any news / media organization to adopt in defining their presence. Here’s a non-exhaustive list of platforms:

• Microblogging (Twitter-like): Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey, GotoSocial.
• Macro blogging (Facebook-like): Firendica, Hubzilla
• Video Hosting (YouTube-Like): PeerTube
• Image Sharing (Instagram/TikTok-like): Pixelfed
• Audio / Podcasting (SoundCloud-like): FunkWhale
• Video Streaming (Twitch/YouTube-Like): OwnCast
• News Aggregation (Reddit-like): Lemmy
• Books/Reading: Bookwyrm

And more. Note that the comparisons to other social media platforms are just for reference. Each platform has its own unique flavor and objectives, they aren’t attempts at cloning the commercial products.

There are more options available as well. For example, websites that are built on WordPress or Drupal have plugins available that allow content to be published directly to the Fediverse, and can (optionally) allow responses to that content to be imported as comments on your website.

The really nice thing about all of these platforms: there are existing instances (servers) available that you can use to test out the services. You don’t have to go into Fediverse blind, you can take some time and develop a plan to bring your presence to this much more open, transparent platform.

Developing A Fediverse Adoption Plan

My recent email to NPR contained a brief overview of a plan that could be taken for building a presence on the Fediverse. The point of the plan was to make it a no-pressure situation. Small steps can be taken, and the platforms evaluated in order to make informed decisions that will make for a more successful transition and adoption of the Fediverse.

Let’s take a look at a plan that should help with a successful adoption. Note, however, there is one caveat to any planned migration: don’t compare Fediverse platforms to their commercial brethren. The reason that comparison aren’t useful is they tend to either (a) be skin-deep, and (b) they miss the real depth and usefulness of the Fediverse.

So, with that being said, here are four steps that will help make for a successful transition.

One: Join Some Existing Platforms

Your organization can start making itself known on the Fediverse by using the platforms that are already available. In particular, there are two that are dedicated to journalists and reporters:

• Journa.Host
• Newsie Social

These two platforms offer a nice starting environment for Journalists to start interacting with the Fediverse. It might seem to be slow-going at first, but with a nice introduction post, and a few posts about articles they are writing or researching, they are sure to start building a following. Many reporters / journalists from ProPublica are members of Newsie, and they have built followings in the thousands already – even the ones that haven’t posted more than one or two posts.

But, that’s an important point: they need to be active and interact on the Fediverse. There is no algorithm to recommend their accounts to anyone. Making certain they have hashtags relevant to their work in the profile and introduction post will help people find them. But, interaction is the key: being a genuine person and talking to people is the way to get a lot of value from spending time here.

Now, I mentioned Journa.host and Newsie Social for reporters and journalists. But your organization will likely want to have non-journalists join the Fediverse as well. In the “Defining Your Presence” section, I listed off over half a dozen other platforms that some will want to consider joining. I’d recommend sticking to the Microblogging and Macro blogging platforms, although something like PixelFed might be of interest too.

And, a key point to remember: you can always follow people on platforms that aren’t the one you are on. So, if you create an account on GotoSocial, you can still follow people on Journa.Host and Newsie Social, or any other instance.

There will definitely be some learning curve. But, post frequently, read through some posts under various hashtags, and interact with people, and there will be a tipping point where it all becomes a lot easier, and rewarding.

Two: Distribute Content

There are many ways to go about distributing the content you create on the Fediverse. The easy, less permanent way is to use a bot to read content from RSS feeds and post them to the Fediverse.

There are instances available specifically for this purpose, one such instance is Bots In Space. You can create accounts on this instance for each of your feeds, and set up a key to allow your RSS feeder script to publish new articles to the account. (Setting up these feeds is not something that I can explain easily in this article. However, Mastodon has excellent documentation, and there are numerous articles and examples of publishing from RSS feeds to Mastodon.)

Another way to handle this without having to set up anything is to have someone do it manually. In many cases, this is likely to not be a viable option. However, it could be a viable experiment. Say you chose to have someone post a few articles a day to an “official” account to see what kind of following and feedback they receive.

The final option is to add ActivityPub into your publishing system. Two of the more popular content management systems (WordPress and Drupal) have support for ActivityPub via plugins that are readily available. Automattic, the company behind WordPress, has hired the developer of the ActivityPub plugin and is working to implement direct support into their products.

Three: Setting Up A Fediverse Native Presence

While the first step of having some of an organization's staff use the current instances offered on the Fediverse is good, extending your organization to the Fediverse itself will have a number of long-term benefits.

For example, starting your own instance of Mastodon or another microblogging platform will allow people from your organization to have a presence that identifies them immediately with your organization. And, that instance allows you to set the standards for communication in the social world (something that is very likely already in place for your organization).

There are more benefits: you will be able to get feedback from your audience. If you choose to, you can have a customer service department as part of your presence. There are a nearly infinite number of options in this area.

But it doesn’t end there. You can add more platforms for other types of content. For example, if you have podcasts, you might want to add a FunkWhale instance. If you have video content, you might want to set up an instance of PeerTube (which would also allow you to import videos that you have already made available on YouTube). If you have a lot of photographic content, you might want to set up a Pixelfed instance.

The options are wide open. You can set up as many platforms as you want, or just have a single platform for social interaction, and use your preferred content management platform to publish your media to the Fediverse.

Conclusion

This has been a roller-coaster of an article. From taking a brief look at all the media related events that have occurred since Elon Musk took over Twitter just six months ago, to diving deeper into the Substack story and understanding where Twitter is going under Elon Musk.

The most logical conclusion is somewhat challenging. Elon is trying to make his “everything” platform, which includes trying to attract amateur writers to publish alongside well respected news and media organizations. And, in the event that a media company isn’t willing to pay the fees that Elon wants for Twitter Blue verification, then those posts are deprioritized

(As an aside, something that we didn’t cover in this story is the changes to the API’s. They affect the media too, as many of the tools that are being used likely rely on those APIs for publishing stories. So, in the case of most media organizations, this is an additional cost beyond Twitter Blue.)

This kind of “pay for play” combined with the elevation of many writers that are anywhere from amateur to potentially incompetent is something that news media organizations should not continue to endorse. And sticking with Twitter is endorsing this new “pay for play” model.

What is even worse about this model is that it allows for the elevation of messages that are reflective of the worst parts of society. And, in fact, Elon has shown himself to be perfectly willing to align himself with people that support these kinds of messages. Bringing well respected news media outlets in line with many racists, antisemitic, sexist, and other types of speech.

So, this is the inflection point for Twitter 2.0. Elon's changes are making it more obvious that there is going to be a very different structure to Twitter – it's no longer going to be a platform where all voices are equal. It's no longer where the voices that are elevated are those that the masses deem should be elevated. It's a place where you can pay to have your voice elevated.

If this is the kind of environment that well respected news and media outlets want to be a part of, so be it. For those that don't, the Fediverse is waiting. The Fediverse offers the opportunity to engage with an audience that is open and receptive to respectful reporting. It's also self-moderating, keeping the worst messaging from being on equal footing with the worst messaging out there. And, it's a place where you can choose how your organization is represented. There are plenty of opportunities in the continuously growing Fediverse.

Categories: #Technology, #Opinion #Editorial Tags: #fediverse, #mastodon, #media, #news, #socialmedia, #twitter

Introduction

I don't think I've really spent any time in the past writing personal “year in review” articles on my sites. Yes, I might have done year-end looks at things like the best or most popular reviews I had written, or written about things that I felt were overlooked. But, those were on sites that had specific themes so it was appropriate, at least to the way I felt at the time.

However, a generalized look back is not something that I tend to do. But I think given the nature of Unattributed, it seems more important now. However, I don't want it to just be a listing of a bunch of news stories, or a list of things that happened during the year. I am choosing instead to write about things that felt more personal to me, for whatever reason.

Remembrances

I think the place to start is with those who are no longer with us. In particle a couple of musicians I don't feel were honored as much in life or death as they should have been.

The first was the passing of Klaus Schulze, the electronic musician who was one of the founders of what would become known as the Berlin School of electronic music. He was a pioneer, starting before synthesizers and electronic instruments were even widely available to musicians, and even if they had been, they were the subject of much ridicule amongst “serious” musicians. He got his start as the drummer in one of the early lineups of Tangerine Dream, but parted ways with them when Edgar Froese rejected the idea of introducing tape loops into their sound (which Schulze had advocated). While the two parted ways, they remained friends, and Schulze would even joke about their friendship at times. For example, Schulze once said in an interview that he and Froese had conspired to divide their world conquests by Froese touring in the West, while Schulze toured mostly in the East.

Some of the recordings that have meant the most to over the years are Audentity, Beyond Recall, Timewind and Trancefer. These were all recordings that I found at just the right times in my life where I needed the calming, minimalist effect of Klaus's compositions. In addition to these recordings I've loved The Dresden Performance, and The Dome Event since I first heard them. In reviewing his releases to write a larger piece that remains incomplete (and will likely be completely re-written before it is released) I found two more that have taken on a special place in my listening, those are In Blue and Eternal – The 70th Birthday Edition.

Anyone who loves electronic music should really listen to Klaus Schulze if they aren't already familiar with his work. A career that spanned over six decades, and has been the inspired many contemporary electronic artists deserves to be elevated by all listeners.

Another musician, and an electronic musician to boot, that passed in 2022 was Vangelis. He was probably most known for the soundtracks to Blade Runner and Chariots of Fire. However, I knew of his works since my college days, especially Albedo 0.39, China, and Opera Sauvage. But, that was just the beginning for me with his works, because I later found that he had collaborated with Jon Anderson of Yes, and had produced several albums under the name Jon and Vangelis, a partnership which saw the unlikely duo produce a hit song: “I'll Find My Way Home”, and would take a rather amusing turn as Vangelis attempted to become a member of Yes.

In picking up some of his later releases, I have found an album called The City to be absolutely spellbinding. It is such a cinematic work that I initially mistook it for a movie soundtrack. And, I really wanted to see that movie, so much so that I went looking for it on IMDB, only to later find out that The City was actually a standalone work by Vangelis.

And the final one that I wanted to mention, mostly because it wouldn't get a notice in the United States, was the passing of English actor and comedian Peter Bowles. For those who watched a lot of British TV in the 80s and 90s Bowles would be known for his roles in shows like To The Manner Born, I, Claudius, Rumpole of The Bailey, and Executive Stress. Surprisingly (to me at least) the only reason I found out of this actors passing is because of an appearance he made on The Sarah Jane Adventures, which brought him into the Doctor Who universe.

While there were many others who passed in 2022 (like Barbara Walters, Pele, Irene Cara, Christine McVie, Taylor Hawkins and Kirstie Alley, just to name a few), I feel that the above are ones that will not get nearly the attention that they should, and are worth memorializing.

My Personal Goals

So, how did I do on my goals for this past year? Honestly, not all that well. Even the smaller things that I should have been able to accomplish, like reading a reasonable number of books, or writing a lot in a journal. It just didn't happen. Then there are the bigger things: like overhauling and re-modelling this house, or getting back to the gym and working on my health in general.

Now, I won't say that all of this was an absolute failure. For example, I did actually write more in my journal last year than I had in the previous four years combined. And I can say, that there were other things that I managed to accomplish — things that I won't really talk about here. However, they were things that were related to the estates of my parents, and now that they are settled all of that can be placed in my past.

And, I realized that there is something else going on with me. There is something keeping me from getting to the bigger projects that I want, and even need, to tackle. So, this is something that I am seeking help with in the new year (I actually started a couple of months back — but I'll keep that as a goal for this year).

One of the things that I think I have recently realized is that I abandoned something that I need. I need something to keep my life in a sense of structure. I need to have something that will keep me going from day to day, keep me motivated and focused. That's what I have lost, and something that I need to find again.

Okay, enough of the personal dribble from me.

What Did I Do?

So, what things did I accomplish? Well, I managed to get most of these websites reorganized — except for a couple of them. This means that I was able to launch this site and I wrote some articles on it. Not as much as I want to write, but I did manage to publish a few pieces.

And, I got lost in messing with mechanical keyboards, and launched a site for that as well. However, I drifted away from mechanical keyboards as another of my older hobbies / interests took over: music and stereo equipment. I started writing a bit about that on here, and it's a topic that I will be returning to this year.

And, keep in mind, that most of this happened while I had other things going on in the background — so I don't blame myself for getting too distracted. :)

News Stories That Capture My Attention

So this is the last thing that I wanted to write about in here: a few of the new stories / issues that have managed to grab my attention.

The most obvious only is Elon Musk's Acquisition of Twitter, and the Ensuing Disaster. I don't know why, but there is something about a train wreck that just can grab your attention. In this case, it was the combination of not only the hilarity of some of Elon's truly disastrous decisions, but the positive effect that it has had for Mastodon specifically, and the Fediverse in general.

The January 6th Committee Hearings. I watched all of them as they were broadcast. And it was a roller-coaster. The Committee managed to pull together things that were surprising and even shocking. For example, getting documentary footage of one of the militant groups actively canvassing the capitol before the rally had even started. Seeing Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony live on camera for citizens of this country to have a real inside look at how the White House and the staff were reacting to the events as they unfolded. Having several poll workers who had been threatened for no legitimate reason to testify. Getting several State representatives to testify to the pressure campaign that Donald Trump and his agents put on them to over-turn the election results in his favor. And so much more information.

I haven't read the final report yet. That's on my list for reading soon (Like probably just after I finish the current book I started.)

Oh, and we can't forget about the further Absurdities of Donald Trump this year. First for getting raided because he took classified documents from the White House when he left. Then he started a court battle to slow down the investigation into those documents. Then, when things started heating up with the January 6th Committee, he decided it was time to announce that he was running for office again — seemingly betting that would get the Justice Department and Federal Investigators to back off. And, if all of that were absurd enough he announced his own line of NFTs...which leads us into....

The Collapse of Cryptocurrency including FTX. Boy this wasn't the year for Cryptocurrency. There have been a number of scammers and grifters all over those markets. And, one and another, they kept blowing up and failing over and over. And all of this during one of the biggest down turns in the market. Not to mention the Instability of the Stock Market which has had major effects on the whole economy, not just the United States, but all over the world.

The Resignation of Boris Johnson who was then replaced by Liz Truss as Prime Minister, who then resigned after 45 days in office. And all of this happening during the period of the Death of Queen Elizabeth II. To say that it was a politically tumultuous summer / fall in England would be the understatement of the year.

Oh, and all of this taking place while Russia invaded Ukraine and started a War. Which, despite the loss of life and the sheer tragedy the Ukrainian people are going through, might also be seen as one of the most inspiring stories of the year. At the outset of the conflict no one believed that Ukraine could sustain a fight with Russia. But, Ukraine has proven time and time again how resilient they are. Not just holding back Russian troops, but actually getting them to withdraw from several positions. And, even providing a bit of humor at times, like when a small coastal island off the Ukraine mainland told a Russian Warship to “Go fuck yourself” over an open radio broadcast.

The End...of 2022

And that's where I am going to leave it for now. Overall it seems like 2022 wasn't all that great of a year. But there are things, like the resilience of Ukraine that should give us all hope for 2023. For me personally, I hope that I have hit a turning point with the realization that I needed to start doing something different. That I needed to get some kind of help. And, hopefully, now that all the things that kept popping up and disrupting my life are out of the way I can move forward.

Categories: #Features, #Opinion, #Editorial Tags: #2022, #mastodon, #news, #remmbrance #inmemoriam