LagrangePoint - Brad Howarth

The Guardian - Getting over that flat feeling

Last week saw my first story appear in the London newspaper The Guardian. I've been chatting to the technology editor for some months now about making the occasional contribution from Australia, so it was great to be able to get this article on various efforts to bring a third dimension to the web up and into the newspaper. It was also a good chance to check in with some interesting emerging businesses such as ExitReality VastPark and SIMmersion. You can check out the full story by clicking here.

Australian Anthill magazine Smart 100

Australian Anthill magazine has launched its quest for the 100 most innovative Australian products. If you think your company has what it takes, then get your submission in by January 19. To learn more, click here.

AFR Boss - The sustainable enterprise: Copy that

My latest story on sustainable business practices can be found in the edition of the Australian Financial Review's Boss magazine which came out last Friday. It's about Fuji Xerox's eco-manufacturing facility in Sydney's south, where the company has proven that environmentally-friendly manufacturing processes can also be cost-effective. The story is locked inside the AFR pay-wall, but some of you may be able to acces it by clicking here.

Men's Style - Rest, play and work

The first edition of Men's Style Australia magazine to feature me as a contributor is now out. Page 44 of the summer edition (Cindy Crawford on the cover) features my story is on the trend of boutique getaways to offer all the convenience of the office, to appeal to the workaholics amongst us, or simply those who fancy a change of scenery during the week from the usual potted palms and motivational posters. There's also a small mention of an up-and-coming beer apprecaition society, The BeerMasons, wedged at the bottom of page 99. And of course a bunch of interesting featuers on fashion, the Mexican drug trade and Errol Flynn. I'm hoping to be doing a lot more for Men's Style next year - advertising recession willing ...

Digital Media edition 8 out now

The latest edition of Digital Media magazine has now hit the shelves. Amongst the various stories are three pieces from me. The first looks at Australia's online advertising networks and their struggle to emerge from the shadow of the big publishers, the second is on the ongoing evolution of IPTV in Australia, and the third looks at the evolution of mobile music services. The magazine is not yet available online, but I will endeavour to post a link as soon as it goes up. In the meantime, it is available from many good newsagents ...

A chat with Gary Kovacs, head of mobile for Adobe

About a month ago I took off to the US as a guest of the software maker Adobe to get an update on Flash and associated technologies. While there I spent some time talking to Gary Kovacs, who heads up the company's mobile and devices group. Gary was pretty open in talking about Adobe's plans desire to have Flash dominate the handset in the way that it dominates the desktop, even if that means finding a way to work with a little upstart company from Cupertino ... The interview was carried in the latest edition of the AIMIA Mobile Industry Group newsletter, and for the full transcript, you can click here.

The chill winds blow through the hallowed halls of journalism ...

Anyone who has followed my Twitter stream (@bhowarth) will know that I attended the Walkley Awards in Melbourne last week as a guest of the organisation's recently-appointed web developer, August. It's the second time that I've been to the Walkleys - the first time was earlier this decade when I was still working at BRW, and my colleague Nick Tabakoff took out an award for his expose that effectively destroyed the local career of former Solution 6 CEO Christie Tyler.

The thing I noticed this year most of all was the seige mentality that prevailed amongst the various speeches given through the evening. Surprising really when you consider that the one area that is showing signs of growth - online reporting - was not represented. The mood was best summed up in a piece on Crikey today, written by Margaret Simons, in this paragraph:

But amongst all the alcohol fueled bonhomie, back slapping and back stabbing, this year’s Walkley Awards were the first when you could really feel the chill of the winds sweeping through journalism.

You can read the full piece by clicking here.

As someone who makes a living as a journalist, it's not a pleasant sensation. As much as I've tried to adapt (and a good portion of my income comes from online sources), the big question for me personally is whether I am adapting quickly enough, and whether or not the dollars will be there to make my efforts worthwhile in the long run. For now I am convinved they are, but I'm not sure that the same can be said for all of my colleagues. I met a number who have been affected by recent retrenchments at Fairfax and PBL - there are only so many 'traditional' jobs to go around, and it seems that more chairs are being pulled away every time the music stops.

So it seems based on last Thursday's event that the higher echelons of journalism are aware of what's going on (and the old union has been active in running sessions discussing the future of journalism in the face of cost cutting and social media), but seem perplexed in terms of what to do about it. Considering that the Walkleys do not even acknowledge the existing of digital media, let alone reward its creators, it troubles me that the 'us versus the upstarts' mentality may prevail. Online journalism and social media need to be brought into the fold quickly so that both camps can learn from the other.  The alternative is that journalism evolves in the direction of ultra-fast reporting that has no time for the disciplines of investigation and analysis that have been the hallmarks of quality traditional media. At the same time, traditional media needs to accelerate its own adaptation lest it find it find itself tumbling away into obscurity (and yes, I accept that there are exceptions to this generalisation on both sides).

B&T - How online brands keep consumers onside

The adage that an online brand's competitors are just a click away is one that every online marketer is aware of - whether they believe it applies to them or not is a different story. But stripped of many of the geographical limitations that help them maintain an audience in the offline world, online marketers can find themselves caught in a downward spiral as they strive to deliver more and more value to customers in order to retain their loyalty. This story of mine that was recently published in the new fortnightly edition of B&T explores the topic in more detail. Although the published version is locked behind the pay-wall, you can catch the draft version by clicking here.