Digital Church

(via ChurchCrunch.com)

Tonight on SBS (Australian TV) on the Insight program they ahd an interesting show on the ethics and otherwise of downloading music titled MiTunes.

It was a discussion about the evils and practicalities of the changing music industry.

You can watch it online at http://news.sbs.com.au/insight//mitunes_548047

Dean Kamen, the inventor of the Segway, has unveiled his newest invention, a box which takes anything liquid.

Watch the video:

Dean kamen\’s water purifier

This is something I think the church should get behind and support as it would assist many of our missionary efforts around the world.

I see that this was on SBS tonight here in .au, but as it is a PBS doco, it’s all available online anyway!

There is some interesting and revealing stuff in here, but really it all comes down to supervision and having a good relationship with your kids.

SMH had an article recently which gave some great background to the forthcoming phenomenon of watching small snack sized pieces of video on your phone. The basic premise being that people in this busy world may not have time to watch full movies or even TV episodes, but are able to watch for 5 minutes while waiting for the bus, sitting on the train etc.  The Aussie Telco’s are starting to commission series in this format which people can get as part of their contract.

This in conjunction with the new iPod Nano’s and the ease of creating and editing high quality video, these small episodic series will absolutely take off.

Personally with my recent busy schedule the only free-to-air TV (I don’t have payTV)  I have watched in the last few months has been the  news, most has been DVD’s or the occasional program I have recorded. Snacking will suit the Gen Y’s and the busy Gen X to time shift and place shift with confidence.

However the church has an opportunity to exploit this new format. Amongst us we have the ability, creativity and motive to create entertaining, informative and engaging snack sized vision for a range of formats, No longer is media controlled by the tycoons, we own the media and we can make a difference with quality material that doesn’t denegrate, promote ungodly lifestyles and habits, we have an opportunity to change the modern world and be missionaries, just like those we send off to South-East Asia and Africa, but amongst our own friends and colleagues, those we meet on the train and bus, those we know via the web…

the opportunity is in our hands

Following up on yesterdays post, I decided NOT to stay up to 2am local time to watch Steve Jobs Special announcement nor watch the Engadget live blogging…but waited until this morning to qucikly read up on what Steve had to say.

No big surprises really, however, what interests me is how is this going to change the face of media in the church? More people will now have access to portable media devices which are readily affordable (not by me yet!) and play video. Will the flow on effect mean that instead of just audio podcasting messages (which we have been doing for some time and even in our small church we have respectable download numbers),should we be moving to video podcasting our messages and more, so that people (and I think especially the commuters) can get quality things to watch in the down time of life. Being a regular commuter on both train and bus, I think the new nano will be a hit. The classics and touch will do well, but the price point and versitility of the nano will make it sell well, but the size will suit the commuter, it can sit in a pocket with no fuss and be available quickly. The touch does present an interesting issue for churches. with the inbuilt wi-fi, if we add wi-fi- access to our auditoriums, we could have sermon notes, etc available for download during the service, as well as the message available soon after. It’s a bit like to returning to the days of recording the message onto cassette and then rushing it to the duplicators to output the copies so people could purchase it immediately after the service, but this is even better. People can download it, almost immediately for no cost!

Yet again Apple has moved the playing field and we will see how it affects the Gen X’ers and Gen Y’s in our congregations.

A new magazine for Church Geeks is just around the corner with the first issue due out in September. COLLIDE magazine promises such gems as:

• Seeing God’s fingerprints in Media
• The role of Media and the Church in Culture
• Media resources that communicate truth
• the creative use of media and technology in ministry

with regular departments such as Visual, Music, Technology and the Web it should keep Digital Churcher’s satiated!

An e-version is promised as well (great for those of us outside the US) but it is not free (sigh) there will be an as yet undisclosed subscription fee.

Over the weekend the BBC’s flagship technology program Click examined Digital Rights Management (DRM). In the story ” Digital lock’s rights and wrongs” they provide a good overview of what DRM is and why it is a flawed system which actually doesn’t achieve what it sets out to do! In another article they discuss how broadcast vision and movies are involved in DRM. You can also stream the video of the show.

On 6 February this year Apple CEO Steve Jobs released a paper which basically called for the discarding of DRM.

Through these articles and news stories  you will  come to the conclusion that DRM is fundamentally flawed because most music is still sold on CD’s which are DRM free. DVD’s can also be ripped with a little knowledge.

What should the local church’s position be on DRM? Well first and foremost, despite what we may think about it’s moral correctness, DRM exists for the same reason that we have locks on our doors. To protect legal ownership. We need to ensure that we are absolutely legal at all times. If we need to use some music and video in a service we need to legally purchase it and have the appropriate APRA/AMCOS & CCLI licence to publicly play it. It really is that simple, there is no place for pirated music etc in a service, it simply goes against God’s commandments.

But what about original content (music, video etc) that the church develops and produces for it own use and then passes onto others, should it include DRM? Should the message podcast include DRM? Should we charge for others to use these resources? There are a few notable churches whose music publishing and video business would rival some large dedicated music companies and consequentially generates considerable income. However in this age of open source software, big fat internet pipes and Creative Commons licences we have a situation where content which we develop can be shared easily whilst ensuring that it doesn’t get used inappropriately.

The first church I have seen using this model is LifeChurch.tv and their Open model which offers free creative content for churches. Could their content be distributed via traditional media formats and sold in stores? Certainly. Would people buy it? Absolutely. Would they make money which could be put into developing more resources? Of course. However this model allows churches freedom to use and easy access which is often so lacking.

I have spent many years in small (read tiny) churches in remote areas of Western Australia. Often no paid staff, and if you are fortunate enough to have a pastor they are usually part time. Small facilities, and an equally small budget. These sorts of resources allow little churches to punch above their weight and make a greater impact in their community and after all that is what we are here for.

DRM is here is some form for the long haul, we MUST comply in our personal, professional and church lives (are they any different?) but if you and your church develop content, actively consider no DRM, Open Source distribution and helping the body of Christ in places and ways you never thought possible.

Good news is filtering through that Terry Storch, co-author of The Blogging Church is back blogging at www.terrystorch.com

There are 2 conferences happening in the next couple of days and weeks which I wish I could attend, but unfortunately they are both in the US, and that is just too far away!

Virtual Worlds Conference 2007

Virtual Worlds Conference 2007 is the leading event for Fortune 500 businesses seeking to understand and maximize marketing and business strategies within virtual worlds. VW07 gives you an inside look at the Virtual Worlds activities of MTV, Disney, AOL, Pontiac, Nickelodeon, Leo Burnett, Sundance Channel, GSD&M, IBM and other major brands.  In addition you’ll gain exclusive insight into a variety of Virtual Worlds platforms including Second Life, There.com, Multiverse, Forterra Systems, Whyville, ProtonMedia, Entropia Universe, Habbo, Areae and more. Virtual Worlds 2007 shows you how to succeed as a marketer in this rapidly growing segment of marketing, media, entertainment and commerce.  Separate buzz from success; hear from companies who’ve made the journey and learn from their experiments and activities; learn more about this technology trend and the consumers who inhabit virtual worlds.

I would like to go on 2 levels.
Firstly as a professional educator, we are moving more and more into on-line environments to assist learners, especially those in remote areas. Virtual worlds allow a greater level of interaction and engagement that the traditional correspondence, distance learning or flexible learning pedagogies (oops…bit too much eduspeak) basically it may well be reflective of the way we are working in coming years.
Secondly, the local church is about building community in Christ. Here are large communities that need the influence of Christ in their lives. The ultimate goal would be to bring those people out of the virtual worlds in which they exist and into a real relationship with physical people from their local church, however you could be witnessing to someone literally on the other side of the world from your desk! These technologies are no longer emerging and I believe need committed, strong Christians to take the message to these new untouched mission fields.

South by Southwest Festival

Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the SXSW Interactive Festival enables you to connect, discover and inspire your link to the cutting edge.

Lots of people I read are going including the Scobleizer  and the Swerve boys, so I will read their posts with interest.
Why would I like to go? it just seems to be bringing together a heap of people who I would like to talk to, listen to and develop ideas with. Pretty simple really!

If you are lucky enough to be going, drop us a line or comment here at Digital Church on how either of these went!