Tagged: bbc

BBC News Don't Get Responsive Design

In October, I was interviewed in Econsultancy about the BBC's new "responsive" website.

I said:

The BBC's mobile site is fairly responsive. If you view it on different sized phones and tablets it adapts quite well. But it is an entirely separate site from the main BBC news site.

The BBC are doing device detection and redirecting mobile users. It's not a bad strategy per se - but it is not best practice

Clicking on a link on the BBC's front page today, lead to this "responsive" experience.

image

A completely blank page. The full-fat site contains a clever chart.

Ideally, your mobile site should contain the same content as your main site. It's not a huge sin if it can't (for technical reasons) but you need to ensure that your CMS detects pages which are unsuitable for mobile and ensures that links towards them are removed.

Otherwise, you end up in this silly situation where mobile users are served content which you simply can't show them.

Of course, the reverse can be just as bad.
BBC Responsive Fail

Come on BBC, sort it out!

iToldYouSo

Two years ago, a bunch of smart people told the BBC that its plans to build iPlayer for Android on Adobe Flash was nuts.

We argued loudly, passionately, deployed logic and reason, and provided specific technical details.

Naturally, we were ignored.

Sure, Flash was only on a few high end devices now, but the BBC were confident that Flash would be soon be available on all Android devices and our perceived problems would evaporate.

Naturally, reality decided to ignore their wishful thinking.

Two years and one week after the BBC announced its Flash for Android strategy, Adobe announced it was killing Flash for Android.

High end Android devices like the Nexus - and any device running Android 4.1 would be incapable of running Flash. So there was no way to use iPlayer.


For those asking about Nexus 7 / Jelly Bean 4.1 - we are testing the app and will be releasing an update soon. Thanks for your patience.
13/08/2012 19:41 via Tweetbot for iOSReplyRetweetFavorite
@BBCiPlayer
BBC iPlayer

This failure is exactly what happens when you choose vendor driven proprietary "solutions" rather than established and open standards.

This embarrassing turn of events is exactly what happens when you refuse to listen to the geeks making logical arguments.

This monumental cock-up over the Olympics is exactly what happens when you refuse to engage with reality and let prejudice drive your decision making process.

Here are the facts:

  • Most Android devices cannot use the Flash based iPlayer app.
  • Mobile Flash is now dead for future phones and tablets.
  • Android devices can play exactly the same files as those served to the iPhone via iPlayer
    .

So why not just serve up the iPhone's MP4 files to any device which can play them? The BBC refuse to answer that simple question.

Want to know something funny? I was blogging about how to deliver iPlayer's iPhone streams to other models of mobile in March 2008!

Plus ça change.

We can only guess what shenanigans were involved with the BBC's original decision to bet the Android farm on Flash.

Perhaps now our BBC will pay more attention to the geeks who care so much about it.

Stephen Fry Ringtone

Stephen Fry has recently recorded a BBC podcast about the history of the mobile phone.

It's a really great series, and I encourage you to listen to it.

At one point in episode 4, Stephen sings the Nokia ringtone.

So, here it is for your edification, and delight.

Feel free to set it as your iPhone's ringtone :-)

All together now, "Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Derr-nerr-nerr-nerr Nerr!"

Does Your Employer Own Your Twitter Account?

What happens to your social media profile when you change jobs? Recently, the BBC's Laura Kunessberg announced she was heading off to ITV.

As you've discovered I will become @ in September! Thanks for all the lovely tweets - Back in Westminster tomorrow
22/06/2011 14:31 via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@BBCLauraK
Laura Kuenssberg

Which got me wondering.

Why doesn't @ simply rename her account to @ in September? Or are her followers the BBC's property?
22/06/2011 14:48 via Shkspr's SSL DabrReplyRetweetFavorite
@edent
Terence Eden

Twitter allows any user to change their name and keep all their followers. All of Laura's followers, friends, favourites, tweets, retweets, and lists will dissapear when she swaps to a new account.

Or will they? Is @BBCLauraK the twitter account for the BBC's Chief Political Correspondent? Or is it Laura's account?
If the former, I'd expect it to be taken over by her successor and renamed @BBCgordonGopher (or whoever).
If the latter, it makes sense for her to rename the account to @ITVlauraK (or whatever).

Looking at her feed, it's broadcast only with almost no "personal" tweets. Certainly no "Urgh, hungover" or "Trains late again!" tweets.

So, it probably makes sense for Laura to hand over control of the account when she leaves.

Impact On You

How much work tweeting do you do from your Twitter account? If you left your job, would your bosses be able to demand you surrender the account to them?

Sure, if you're tweeting from @NameOfYourCompany - it's their account. But if you're @CompanyName_Bob - do you get to keep it when you go? What if you're just @You - and you tweet about the company you work for - what happens to all that good-will when you go?

Work Phone vs Work Email

When I first joined Vodafone nearly a decade ago, I was given a mobile phone number. Our office was quite revolutionary because there we no desk phones! Of course not; we were in the mobile phone business.

This confused some people greatly. I'd give them my number and they'd say "yes, but how can I reach you at your desk?"
And I'd say "Errrr.... I always have my mobile with me. Assuming it's me you want to reach, ring that number. Why would you want to talk to someone who happened to be sitting near where I work?"

Since then, I've kept the same mobile number. If you want to reach me - that's the number you call. No matter who I end up working for, that's my number. When I move roles, I take my number with me. When I leave a job, I take my number with me.

Yet I don't take my email address with me. Mails to [email protected] will go unanswered - I hope!
I can understand that - I don't want confidential documents forwarded to me. The domain name would make it look like I was still affiliated with an old employer.

But my phone number comes to me, Terence Eden. Wherever I am. Whoever I work for.

My Twitter account - @edent - is personal. It's mine. No boss can take it away from me.

What about yours?

Derby Silk Mill Interview

Silk Mill Heritage Sign
It's always a delight to be interviewed by the BBC - even if it is on a subject I know very little about!

As part of the Wikimedia Derby Backstage Pass a group of participants were invited around the mothballed Silk Mill Museum.

You can hear the full interview on the BBC iPlayer

As the iPlayer removes shows after a week, I've liberated the clip of me chatting away.


Thanks to Mark Ansell for performing the interview.

A couple of pictures of odd signs hidden away in the museum.
Grinding StoneRailway Sign
More photos available on Richard Mackney's blog.