Before I finish this list, a few more overview notes on the presentation as a whole.
You’ll probably see that while most of these trends are exciting in some/most ways, some are kind of worrisome/unnerving, and a couple relate to things Webb is concerned about – particularly around ethics., and the importance of “reading outside your beat.”
#6: Digital Notetaking …will change your normal workflow.
Livescribe demo – wasn’t ready when she first saw it four years ago…but it is now.. It’s a pen that records all being said . (Have to use their notebooks, though, at least at this point),.
Scanning hard copy to convert to digital: Abbyy .
Inkling is crazy cool (and around $200). It’s a lamp-looking thing that records what you sketch on any kind of paper and converts it to digital. Not around until November.
Reporters: digital notetaking tools arefinally ready for us – use them (though at least one – my notes aren’t clear here doesn’t like Mac OS X Lion and crashes it).
Managers – more tools like these on horizon. Wise managers will budget for a gadget lab in the newsroom and let everyone play.
# 7 Quick and long reads The good news: people still want to read
Byliner , Longreads among those that curate longer form (see more on this in earlier post). They help you get to stories regardless of platform. One of the best things about Longreads, Webb says, is that it tells you how long it will take you to read the piece – “we don’t do enough guideposting.”
Kindle singles , of course… Float is a reader/app produced by scribd
Instapaper – Webb “can’t say enough great things about Instapaper.”
booklamp.org – “is the Pandora of the reading world…If you say, ‘I like this John Grisham (novel)’ – it doesn’t assume you like all legal thrillers.”
Reporters: read outside your beat every day. Use these tools to help foster your curiosity.
Managers: tell readers how long it will take to read a la Longreads; borrow from Instapaper and let them time shift, move to mobile devices.
#8 Gestural Interfaces I’m not very conversant in this stuff, so my notes are a bit sketchy:
NY Times R&D department working on the ‘magic mirror’:
G-speak (demo) is a “spatial operating environment” from Oblong Industries. Oblong made stuff for the film, Minority Report. (Sue note: one of the people in the later session on augmented reality – notes to come – demonstrated a gesture-driven software that doesn’t require gloves. It was wickedly interesting).
Takeaway for reporters, managers, everyone: Look at Android @ home , follow what’s happening with Microsoft’s Kinect , pay attention to Primesense 3D and of course general developments at Apple and Microsoft. They’re all doing stuff in this area. “and they really are reinventing our future”
#9 Precognition Reporting Again: I’m not very conversant in this stuff, so my notes are a bit sketchy:
Gathers info on events before they happen, and the best have a very low failure rate:
Example: Recorded Future’s temporal analytics: You fill in three boxes: what; who/where; and when, and it searches news sources and comes up with a visual representation of results, called “recorded future”
Reporters – these will help you keep track of trends, and spot emerging stories.
Managers: competitive intelligence!
and last, but far from least:
#10 Ethics in Digital Journalism
Webb says she’s “not happy about the lack of discussion” around stories such as the parting of Ariana Huffington and Mike Arrington; Shera Lazar’s tweet on Whatstrending that ever-so-incorrectly reported the death of Steve Jobs; Tumblr at NY Fashion Week
“We’re not having enough of these discussions in newsrooms.” And there’s a lot to talk about (Sue’s head is bobbing up and down here – I felt like a dashboard ornament):
-Is transparnecy the new objectivity?
-Is it possible to be ‘objective’anymore?
Webb says she’s not trying to answer these questions, but urged everyone to talk about them.
Takeaways: every newsroom and all developers should pay attention to these stories and start internal discussions about what’s appropriate and why. “Don’t just rely on your dusty old rules. Things are more complicated than they used to be.”
No kidding.
Random notes: ONA conferences and more 
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