Are smartphones killing digital cameras?

The accompanying chart published by Statista asks an interesting question.  To answer it, ask two other questions.  When was the iPhone introduced? Answer: 2007  When was were Android Phones introduced?  Answer 2008  Given a year or two for their penetration to take effect in relation to camera sales, this chart shows at least a likely correlation between increasing smart phone sales and declining camera sales.  (click on graphic for a full size version)

More on Korea's speedy digital networks

As a quick perusal of prior posts on this blog will show (you can read them at this link), I've long been concerned with the speed of digital networks in general and how fast Korea's networks are in comparison with other countries around the world.  Given the multiple organizations that measure internet speed and the many different methods they use, placing Korea in context compared with other countries can sometimes be very confusing.   The purpose of this post is not to solve that problem, but rather to call attention to OpenSignal,  a relatively new (founded in 2010) company that specializes in mapping wireless coverage and speeds.   One strength of their measure is that it comes from users of their app all around the world and therefore reflects internet download speeds in actual usage situations.

Open Signal as shown in the world map above and the bar chart at the left, measures "overall speed," which is a combined measure of speed versus availability of 3G and LTE mobile services. (click on the graphics to see a full size version.  Open Signal defines ".. overall speed as the average mobile data connection a user experiences based on both the speeds and availability of a country’s 3G and 4G networks. Overall speed measurements vary considerably from country to country depending on their particular stage of 3G and 4G development. For instance a country with fast LTE speeds but low 4G availability might have a much lower overall speed than a country with moderate LTE speeds but a very high level of 4G availability."  Obviously, South Korea's world leadership in LTE introduction and current penetration (availability) boosts its standing on this measure, relative to Singapore and a few other countries that have fast speeds, but lag behind Korea in availability.

Another was of effectively visualizing this is to see where Korea fits in the chart showing speed versus availability.  Click on the final graphic to see a full-size version of the screen capture.  Better yet, go to the online Open Signal report and see data for each of the countries in the chart by hovering over the dots.

The digital divide: "The not so World-Wide Web"

Interesting but powerful chart published by Statista based on ITU data. (click on the graphic to see a full size version)

The rise of digital media: Smartphones kill subway ads

The first picture to the left (click the image for a full size version) accompanied an article in The Korea Times entitled "Smartphones kill subway ads." According to the article, "Technological advances have changed many things from how people spend their time to where their attention wanders. This trend has pushed advertisers to move away from traditional forms of media toward digital forms. As a result, subway operators are increasingly struggling to sell ad space, which is one of their big revenue sources. According to Seoul Metro, the operator of lines 1 to 4, its ad revenue has dropped to 35 billion won ($31 million) last year from 42 billion won in 2012. It said only 36 percent of available ad space has been filled this year, down from 41.8 percent in 2014."

A more typical subway scene is shown in the second picture at left, published by the New York Times with an accompanying article in 2015.  The steady rise in use of digital rather than traditional media continues apace, and nowhere more rapidly than here in South Korea with its fast mobile broadband networks.

"Educating the world in Songdo" interview by the Korea IT Times

Earlier this summer I was interviewed at length by a writer for the Korea IT Times.  The interview took place in my office here at SUNY Korea, as pictured to the left (click to see a full-size version of the photo).   Read the full interview here.