About the broadcaster project

Is it possible that media and technology can be used to increase face to face communication and community bonding?

How do we imagine a device like a public telephone (cheap, ubiquitous, public, easy, many vendors) but instead of making a call to a specific person, it allows you to place a public photo or video online?

Goal: To develop an easily duplicable open platform internet media appliance. This appliance should be able to be run as a sustainable business on its own in some areas and in other areas, it should pay for itself by allowing small businesses to take care of their own media presence.

Some questions we ask ourselves when we are making these systems:

Everyone seems to be willing to invest time and energy into all kinds of social media profiles, etc. Can we divert this time and energy to investment into our shared physical spaces and local communities?

Can we redefine media to be truly distributed and based on open access to shared upload appliances rather than personal devices?

Can we bring value to community spaces by providing easier communication with the rest of the world? Communication that is as easy to use as a public telephone or a radio?

How do we increase the size of the public domain such that the private domain becomes a moot point? How do we increase the liquidity of our informational commons?
We have an informational cloud, but what about lakes and streams?

Can you give memory to our physical spaces the way our shared digital spaces have history files and changelogs?

Some broadcasters are currently live and some have run their course. See the Blogroll on the side for all of the broadcasters.
Live:
http://youtube.com/allasiatwvee (Timelapse from All Asia Cafe, Cambridge)

Archived:
Videobooths:
http://youtube.com/tcgottesmanfeedback (Teachers College Gottesman Libarry)
http://youtube.com/brooklynmobile (Downtown Brooklyn)
http://youtube.com/axiombroadcaster (Axiom Gallery, Boston)
Timelapse:
http://youtube.com/centralsqwallpdtv (Central Square Graffiti wall)
http://youtube.com/33flatbushave (33 flatbush ave 7th floor workspace)

Almost made it:
http://youtube.com/bplbroadcaster (Brooklyn Public Library)
http://youtube.com/macprbroadcaster (Museo de Art San Juan)

more notes on the project:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ARG7uR4_1QgeZGNwZnA0NmpfOTZoaHNwNG5ocA&hl=en

contact email:
broadcasterproject at plebiandesign dot com