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Way back in 1979, before YouTube’s three founders could either walk or talk, The Buggles claimed that “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Queen countered in 1984 with Radio Ga Ga, in which Freddie Mercury sang (of radio);

We watch the shows, we watch the stars
On videos for hours and hours
We hardly need to use our ears
How music changes through the years.

Let’s hope you never leave old friend
Like all good things on you we depend
So stick around cause we might miss you
When we grow tired of all this visual
You had your time you had the power
You’ve yet to have your finest hour

As many of you know, I’ve been running a poll over the past week, to understand whether my future podcasts should remain audio-only (my not-very-well-disguised preference), or start to include more video. And, at least for the type of content I create, it would appear that the lyrics by Queen’s Roger Taylor are spot on; audio wins.

There’s some more detail to tease out of the results, after the break…

Seventeen individuals completed the survey over a period of seven days. Asked “Which type of podcast would you like me to produce?” (the only mandatory question), 15 selected ‘Audio only,’ 2 selected ‘Both audio and video,’ and none selected ‘Video only.’ Amongst the (optional) comments, there was a recognition that video would have value if there were more to watch than just two talking heads. I don’t see any point peppering a video with screenshots of a web page that the viewer could just visit for themselves, but there is certainly value in showing people how to complete some task or process. Luckily ( ) my podcasts don’t involve that degree of minutiae…

“A video version would be a little more trouble for us, a lot more for you, and for what? To watch badly-lit panelists stare into their webcams? Stick with what you have. It’s great.”

The remaining questions were optional, but most respondents chose to answer them.

Asked ‘How often do you listen to my podcasts,” 50% reported listening to “all” or “most of them,” 30% had heard “one or two,” and 18% had not listened to any.

Most of my podcasts tend to run for between 40 minutes and an hour. Asked about their preferences for length, 70% of respondents stated a preference for the current length. There were, of course, a number of caveats in the comments. These broadly suggested that a podcast should be as long as it needed to be, rather than padding a conversation in order to reach some arbitrary length. That’s pretty much what I do just now, so that’s good.

When I started podcasting, I used to slave over the audio for hours. I edited out every ‘um,’ every ‘ah,’ every plosive, and every pause for reflection. Now I don’t bother. Instead, I add a short intro and edit out the worst of the howlers (coughing fits, retracted statements that might make lawyers twitch, etc). From my perspective, that gives the best balance between editing time and listening quality, and the survey’s respondents agreed. One respondent said I shouldn’t bother doing anything at all to the audio file, 12 said “do what you do just now,” 2 asked that I “do more to edit the ums and ahs,” and one opted for “edit to the max – give me the sound bites, and voice overs and summaries.” I think I’ll quietly ignore that last one, and keep going as I am.

So… keep doing audio, keep them about the current length, and stick with the current level of editing. Isn’t it great when a survey tells you what you want to hear?

That said, there may be scope for doing some talking heads-type video at events. That sort of video is about capturing atmosphere as well as getting the interview… and would probably be much shorter. 5-10 minutes, maybe. We’ll see…

Disclaimer: lots of wordy verbiage, crammed full of caveats, hedges, and warnings about sample size, survey methodology, and bias.

And as for the songs? Well, judge for yourself. The Buggles video off YouTube doesn’t appear to want to embed (who knew that WordPress had a taste filter?), but here’s Queen…

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• A conversation with Richard Wallis, an experiment, and a survey (cloudofdata.com)

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The more I learn about BuzzData, the less sure I am that it belongs in the Data Market club. That doesn’t mean that the site isn’t useful, or valuable, or relevant to lots of different people. Far from it. But it seems clear that BuzzData’s current focus is upon doing something very different to the other companies I’ve spoken to during this series.

Described by Nick Edouard, BuzzData’s EVP Business Development & Marketing, as a “GitHub for data,” BuzzData concerns itself with providing a place in which groups can collaborate around a set of data. This data might be a public resource that they’ve found for free on BuzzData itself, or it might be a corporate database or spreadsheet that has been uploaded to a private area of BuzzData to be worked on collaboratively. More like Huddle or Box than Infochimps or Factual, BuzzData seems primarily interested in delivering a data-centric perspective on the increasingly important task of collaboration. Whether the company can make that particular niche big enough for themselves and (if successful) the inevitable flurry of copycat competitors remains to be seen, but they’re off to a good start.

Following up on a blog post that I wrote at the start of 2012, this is the fifth in an ongoing series of podcasts with key stakeholders in the emerging category of Data Markets.

Like most of my podcasts, this one is audio-only. I am conducting a short survey this week (only one question is mandatory) to gauge interest in alternative forms of podcast, and would be grateful if you could take a moment to record your view. I shall summarise the findings on Friday.

Related articles

• Data Market Chat: Tyler Bell discusses Factual (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: Chris Hathaway discusses AggData (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: Hjálmar Gíslason discusses DataMarket.com (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: Flip Kromer discusses Infochimps (cloudofdata.com)

Richard Wallis

Our conversation is also an excuse for an experiment. I have been producing audio-only podcasts here and elsewhere for a number of years, but have always tended to avoid producing video. It’s more effort, it requires more bandwidth at both ends of the conversation, and I’ve never really been convinced that it adds very much to a conversation between two people. Anecdotal evidence would also suggest that my current podcasts are consumed in environments where video would not work; washing dishes, walking dogs, and sitting on buses.

However, rather than just continue to presume that my biases are correct, I’ve decided to give video a try. Richard kindly agreed to participate, and the result is available on YouTube and embedded here.

An audio-only version is also available for download if you prefer. The introductory remarks in this version are slightly different to those on the video, as they come straight from the original conversation.

It’s perhaps unfair to draw too many conclusions from this first attempt, but a few things are immediately apparent. The whole process takes an awful lot longer. The files are larger, so processing and uploading times increase 2-3 fold. Uploading a separate audio file also takes a bit of time. Simply dumping the Skype recording into iMovie worked just fine… but I’ve (so far) not managed to find any way to balance the audio levels. Garageband lets me do this with my audio-only podcasts, but iMovie doesn’t seem to, so Richard’s side of the conversation comes across as quite a bit louder than mine.

Having done one, I’m still not convinced that the video adds anything to the conversation. But what do you think? If you’ve listened to any of my podcasts, please take a moment to complete the short survey over at SurveyMonkey. Your responses will help me to decide where to go next.

Many thanks.

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It was all going so well. The first three podcasts in the Data Market Chat series got scheduled painlessly, recorded without technical hiccups, and published on time. Several others were also scheduled, and more were in negotiation. Everything appeared to be proceeding far more smoothly than similar projects have in the past.

Then I got ahead of myself. I got over-confident. I trailed the guest and release date for podcast number four… before it was actually recorded. I should have known better. Suddenly, and oh-so-predictably, the wheels fell off. First, one guest got a migraine. Then another lost power in a series of snow storms. Then a third had his travel plans upended, putting him on a plane when he was meant to be talking to me. And so it continued. These bumps hit every activity, and we’ve all learned to expect them and to work around them. But to go from no problems at all to nothing but problems was unexpected.

So, podcast 4 was not published earlier this week as I said it would be. Some of you, I know, noticed.

But… Flip Kromer of InfoChimps was successfully recorded this evening, and will go online next Tuesday.

And it looks as if the others are falling back into line again.

With any luck, things should now be back to normal. But I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not going to announce a guest and publication date for a podcast until the audio file is safely on my computer… and safely backed up.

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• Data Market Chat: the podcasts are a-coming… (cloudofdata.com)

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With Iceland’s DataMarket.com, Founder Hjálmar Gíslason is on his fourth startup, and ready to expand overseas. Focused upon becoming “Google for datanumbers,” DataMarket concerns itself with collecting and providing access to quantitative data; numbers from governments, international agencies, and commercial providers around the world.

Alongside the business of collecting data and making it available for download, DataMarket has invested in providing tools with which users can visualize data (typically in the form of a graph) and even compare results from diverse sources. Hjálmar sees these tools as part of a strategy to ensure that it is

“more desirable to use data on DataMarket than at the source.”

Hjálmar also discusses his view that four characteristics of data make it profitably sellable; proprietariness, timeliness, analysis, and curation.

Have a listen to learn more about DataMarket, and to hear Hjálmar’s thoughts on an industry segment that his company has done much to shape. And check back on Tuesday for the next podcast in the series; Ian Davis of Kasabi.

Following up on a blog post that I wrote at the start of 2012, this is the third in a series of podcasts with key stakeholders in the emerging category of Data Markets. Other conversations, all of which will be published here, have been scheduled with AggData, BuzzData, Factual, Infochimps, Kasabi, and Microsoft. I am still adding conversations to the series, and intend to talk with more companies and with analysts and investors with insight to share. 

Related articles

• Nurturing the market for Data Markets (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: the podcasts are a-coming… (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: Tyler Bell discusses Factual (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: Chris Hathaway discusses AggData (cloudofdata.com)

Focussed — for now — upon aggregating location data, Factual provides access by API or download to a pool of over 55 million places in the US and other territories. A key differentiator for the company is their investment in cleaning and harmonising information drawn from multiple sources. API-based services such as Crosswalk and Resolve enable developers to cope with the very different ways in which third party services like Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla reference a single restaurant or coffee shop.

Tyler suggests, though, that location data may just be the start;

“Factual doesn’t necessarily want to be a location-only company. Really what we’re doing is we’re cutting our teeth on location now, and places… It’s just a wonderful way to learn how to refine your business and of course how to refine your technology stack… But for the immediate future, you’ll see us focus primarily on places.”

Have a listen to learn more about Factual, and to hear some of Tyler’s perspectives on the utility of good, comprehensive data. And check back on Tuesday for the next podcast in the series; Chris Hathaway of AggData.

Following up on a blog post that I wrote at the start of 2012, this is the first in a series of podcasts with key stakeholders in the emerging category of Data Markets. Future conversations, all of which will be published here, have been scheduled with AggData, BuzzData, Datamarket.com, Infochimps, Kasabi, and Microsoft. I am still adding conversations to the series, and intend to talk with more companies and with analysts and investors with insight to share. 

Related articles

• Nurturing the market for Data Markets (cloudofdata.com)
• Data Market Chat: the podcasts are a-coming… (cloudofdata.com)
• With Factual, 1 API now unlocks data for 55 million places (gigaom.com)
• New Factual Resolve API Will Help Clean Up, Complete Location Databases (techcrunch.com)
• SimpleGeo APIs Closed, But Places Data is Open (programmableweb.com)
• Quick Walk Through the World of Location & Places APIs (apievangelist.wordpress.com)
• Mobile Crunch: Urban Airship To Shutter SimpleGeo Services In March, With Factual Picking Up The Slack (techcrunch.com)

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To follow up on my Data Markets post earlier this week, I’m now scheduling a series of podcasts in which the conversation can — and will — delve an awful lot deeper.

I’ve contacted representatives from most of the obvious data markets, some startups working in closely related areas, and several of the key analysts watching the space. So far, the response has been great. Three — Factual, DataMarket and AggData — are definitely scheduled for recording next week, and I’m waiting for firm dates from most of the others.

Through these conversations, I hope to hear more about the different ways in which the various stakeholders view this emerging market. How big is it? How valuable is it? What is their role within it? What do today’s customers look like? How do they reach and attract tomorrow’s customers? What is the mix between free and commercial data? Where are the sustainable business opportunities? What are the barriers to adoption? What is the mix between providing data, providing tools, and providing insight?

If there are other questions that you would like answered, or interesting companies you’re worried I’ve missed, either let me know in the comments or get in touch directly.

The first podcast will be published next week, and I currently aim to release one a week after that until they’re all out. I’m looking forward to these conversations, and hope that you’ll find them useful.

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Image via CrunchBase

I am in Madrid this week, as a guest of Hewlett Packard. The company’s European roadshow, Technology@Work, is in town for two days, showing existing and prospective customers some of the ways in which HP’s Converged Infrastructure can help them meet the growing challenge of continuing to grow IT capacity as data centres fill, power grids reach capacity, and budgets fall.

A few of us took the opportunity to sit down with Iain Stephen (VP Enterprise Storage and Servers, UK & Ireland) and Martin Riley (Programme Manager for Technology@Work) from HP yesterday evening, and the result is now available as a podcast. Also participating in the conversation were HP’s Becca Taylor,  Martin Macleod, Massimiliano Galeazzi, Patrick Husband, and Hans Vredevoort.

The conversation was recorded on a shiny new Ivy Worldwide Blue Snowball microphone that none of us had ever used before, in a room that was a little bigger than we’d have liked. All in all, though, I’m pleasantly surprised by the result. Have a listen, and see what you think.

Disclosure: our expenses were covered by Ivy Worldwide, on behalf of HP.

Krista Thomas was responsible for marketing at Thomson Reuters‘ semantic technology success story, Open Calais, and is now VP Marketing at Los Angeles startup Ad.ly.

Scott Brinker is President & CTO at ion interactive, and writes the ChiefMarTec blog.

During the conversation, regulars and guests discuss the way in which ‘semantic technology’ solutions are being successfully marketed to potential beneficiaries.

Have a listen, and learn that pitches to non-semantic technology enthusiasts beginning “We’ll convert all your data to RDF, leverage the Semantic Web, and construct an OWL-based ontology” are probably doomed to failure.

The whole team is present once more, and we start the show discussing the implications of Drupal 7 and its newly formalised RDFa-publishing capabilities. Unlike regular semantic technology solutions, which someone has to consciously procure as a Semantic Technology solution, Drupal is first and foremost a (popular, free) Content Management System; the semantic smarts come for free, and therefore reach a massive new audience.

From there, we move into a broader discussion of the ways in which semantic projects take root within organisations.

Have a listen, and let us know what you think. As ever, suggestions for future topics or guests are always welcome.

@theSemanticLink is the show’s Twitter id, which we will use to invite questions ahead of shows on particular topics. If you’d like to ask questions, comment on shows, hear about new episodes as they’re released, etc, please do sign up to follow.

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