March 15, 2010

Welcome to the new home of Media and Entertainment Technologies, MandETech.com. We are attempting to perform the job of "hashi", the Japanese word for chopsticks, and also the word for bridge. We plan to post articles that bridge the hardware and software worlds; the needs of content creation affecting hardware development, and the limitations of software driving higher performance hardware.

By picking up information in one domain—the tools and uses of those tools in creating the new media—and moving those data back and forth to the hardware area—the whole set of dimensions of hardware from components through systems—we will facilitate cross-domain creativity. Our content will also span the data flow in the reverse direction, to show where changes in hardware and technology can affect the technologies and workflows in the creative areas.

Unlike our "old school" media predecessors we will not be involved in the quixotic efforts to maintain strict taxonomies in our content coverage. The broadcast model of print and e-paper do not allow for the rich interactions possible when those arbitrary barriers are broken down.

Today, technology makes people simultaneously more and less connected. Search identifies more of what is missing or to be missed than what may be applicable. Everyone knows about Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other social networking sites. Now people routinely share intimate details of their lives with their 800 closest friends. At the same time, we all have seen postings from uninformed or mistaken people that wreak havoc on the relationship between verifiability and ease of access. These sites are a practical demonstration of Metcalfe's law, that states the usefulness of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of its users. At the same time, they demonstrate the need for trusted and credible sources of information.

Therefore, we are currently in the process of recruiting technical commentators—Techtators—to perform independent review of technologies, identify important and relevant trends, and provide insight and analysis of those changes in the technologies in their relevant domains. These commentaries will be the starting point for other interactions spanning individuals and groups. We look forward to seeing you in this space soon.

Tets Maniwa
Editor in Chief, MandETech