[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
I've not talked about this a whole lot publicly yet, but the IMA has developed a mobile tour platform that we've used internally for exhibitions here at the museum. We are committed to releasing this platform as an open source option for museums to use in constructing their own mobile tours. The system, called TAP, consists of a Drupal-based Content Management System (CMS) that authors can use to construct and preview tours. The CMS will output a platform neutral metadata and content bundle which can be used to drive mobile experiences on a number of clients as well as traditional web platforms... We are also planning on releasing an iPod-Touch based app that interprets this middleware and produces a keypad-style multimedia tour. You can read more about TAP here: http://www.imamuseum.org/interact/tap and here: http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/projects/indianapolis-museum-of-art http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/projects/indianapolis-museum-of-artWe call the metadata spec - TourML - and have released it here: http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/products-services/tourml http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/products-services/tourmlOur overall software architecture is described here: http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/software-architecture-proposal http://wiki.museummobile.info/museums-to-go/software-architecture-proposalAnd a demonstration of the system will be given at this year's Museums and the Web conference in Denver. See http://archimuse.com/mw2010/abstracts/prg_335002400.html http://archimuse.com/mw2010/abstracts/prg_335002400.htmlIt's likely that an open-source release of TAP will occur in the next few weeks prior to the MW conference. There are several museums who have expressed interest in using this platform for their own development efforts, and our goal is to build up a community platform that can be built and contributed to over time. Please feel free to follow up w/me directly and ask questions if this seems interesting to you. Sincerely, Rob -- *Robert Stein* Chief Information Officer *Indianapolis Museum of Art* 4000 Michigan Road Indianapolis, IN 46208-3326 T 317-923-1331 x244 F 317-931-1978 rstein at imamuseum.org http://www.imamuseum.org On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 6:01 PM, Chad Petrovay chad.petrovay at themim.orgwrote: Museum's may be providing the content, but if you are creating the framework for the application, you are providing a valuable service. Consider that ArtStor collects content from museums, and charges a considerable sum for institutions to have access ( http://www.artstor.org/interested-in-participation/i-html/be-museum-fee.shtml), because they provide the framework and the support. Surely, there is no harm in charging users a nominal fee for the app. You may also want to look into the PhoneGap (http://phonegap.com/) development tool. Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard | Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main | 480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax | www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:09 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App I appreciate the stats and agree. To be honest this is a rather time consuming and costly venture for me and it is not a revenue stream at all. I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. My only other option is to charge museums a nominal fee to help with development costs for other apps at some point. I'm really surprised at the amount of museums that want to participate. Chad Petrovay wrote: According to Canalys, in 2009 iPhones only had a 15% market share of smartphones. I hope that your platform will expand to include additional mobile OS's like Sybian (47% m/s), RIM (21% m/s), or Android (5% m/s and growing). (Source of data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/02/apples-smart-phone-market-share-dips-despite-strong-sales.ars, http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/googles-android-is-quickly-gaining-smartphone-market-share/19353103/ ) Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard | Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main | 480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax | www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:48 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App Hello, I am looking for some museums interested in participating in a museum community based iPhone app. It will allow multiple museums to upload content from
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. Kurt -- I'd disagree with that statement. I don't think there's anything unethical to it, especially if what you're trying to do is recover the costs of the app development in the first place. Museums charge all the time for access to content; many museums have paid admission. All your doing is charging access to a portion of your digital content. Even further, museums that cover the cost of free admission many times also offer ancillary programs and events that are covered by a fee. That being said, I'm always in favor of free, but there's also nothing that prevents you from changing prices later in the app store (start at $1.99) until / if you recover costs, reduce to free. Or, flip it around and make the content separate from the distribution of the content. Your framework may/may not cost money (your app), but the content -- which can be provided by any museum -- is distributed for free within the app. With the current versions of the app store and iPhone OS, you have the capability to charge for in-app downloads of additional content. -bw. -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Bruce Wyman, Director of Technology Denver Art Museum / 100 W 14th Ave. Pkwy, Denver, CO 80204 office: 720.913.0159 / fax: 720.913.0002 bwyman at denverartmuseum.org
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
Those are some really interesting points. I never thought about it that way. Nice to hear from the museum perspective. Thanks Bruce. Bruce Wyman wrote: I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. Kurt -- I'd disagree with that statement. I don't think there's anything unethical to it, especially if what you're trying to do is recover the costs of the app development in the first place. Museums charge all the time for access to content; many museums have paid admission. All your doing is charging access to a portion of your digital content. Even further, museums that cover the cost of free admission many times also offer ancillary programs and events that are covered by a fee. That being said, I'm always in favor of free, but there's also nothing that prevents you from changing prices later in the app store (start at $1.99) until / if you recover costs, reduce to free. Or, flip it around and make the content separate from the distribution of the content. Your framework may/may not cost money (your app), but the content -- which can be provided by any museum -- is distributed for free within the app. With the current versions of the app store and iPhone OS, you have the capability to charge for in-app downloads of additional content. -bw.
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
National Public Radio has a great app called Public Radio Tuner: a geolocated directory of audio streams from all the NPR stations. It's a great model for how disparate organizations can come together to put out a unified application. Granted, Public Radio is more unified by the national office than the museum community, but I think the idea is similar. A museum tours app that Walker, SFMoMA, IMA, etc, all used, would be killer. -- Justin Heideman / New Media Designer / Walker Art Center justin.heideman at walkerart.org / 612.375.7545 On Mar 9, 2010, at 9:09 AM, Bruce Wyman wrote: Or, flip it around and make the content separate from the distribution of the content. Your framework may/may not cost money (your app), but the content -- which can be provided by any museum -- is distributed for free within the app. With the current versions of the app store and iPhone OS, you have the capability to charge for in-app downloads of additional content.
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
let's say I started making big profits from the apps --don't you think museums might get upset? I think there are two fundamental questions here: 1) what are you charging for the distribution platform, 2) what are you doing with any profits you acquire? Are you reinvesting by expanding the app to other platforms (Android, for instance - hint, hint), or deepening the interaction the end-user has with museum's content - doesn't that justify the distribution fee? Are you using profits to help additional museum's develop content for your system (thus growing their catchment population, while adding value to your app)? Or are you saving up to buy an island in the Cayman's? Museum's understand that services, like the one you are providing, have overhead costs. Developers cannot be expected to eat the cost of RD, and institutions are equally aware of the development costs of trying to have a go at it themselves. There shouldn't be a problem if you are upfront with them about the benefits of your service, and how you are using the monies collected from the distribution. Chad Petrovay ?| ?Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard ?| Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main ?| ?480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax ?| www.themim.org Blog: www.petrovay.com/tmsblog -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 6:13 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App An excellent point again Chad and I agree. However, I think this is a very important topic museums should consider and worthy of discussion. On my site and biz, museums and non museum people have been uploading museum media content since 2005, see link: http://bit.ly/museumpods and is one of the largest aggregate repositories of museum media in the world, and I would guess at least 95% of all the media is not Copyrighted or Creative Commons licensed. An interesting hypothetical situation is if started making mobile apps using all the content and charging for them while museum servers are streaming the media, and let's say I started making big profits from the apps --don't you think museums might get upset? I realize today I asked for participants and is a different situation but do I need to ask if app distribution platforms, framework, and service is enough of a 'valuable add' to museums to let me use the free media content as I choose? I don't think some museums would be very pleased with the hypothetical scenario. ...and probably justifiably or maybe not? Is providing the distribution platform enough?
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
National Public Radio has a great app called Public Radio Tuner: a geolocated directory of audio streams from all the NPR stations. It's a great model for how disparate organizations can come together to put out a unified application. Granted, Public Radio is more unified by the national office than the museum community, but I think the idea is similar. A museum tours app that Walker, SFMoMA, IMA, etc, all used, would be killer. -- Justin Heideman / New Media Designer / Walker Art Center justin.heideman at walkerart.org / 612.375.7545 On Mar 9, 2010, at 9:09 AM, Bruce Wyman wrote: Or, flip it around and make the content separate from the distribution of the content. Your framework may/may not cost money (your app), but the content -- which can be provided by any museum -- is distributed for free within the app. With the current versions of the app store and iPhone OS, you have the capability to charge for in-app downloads of additional content.
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
Kurt, Another option would be to offer a free lite version of your program and then offer more robust versions at .99 or 1.99, etc. As an iPhone and app costumer, I appreciate when a free version is available so I can try it out and often times I will upgrade to a paid version depending on the features offered. Having a few friends (and my husband) who have apps in the store, I can tell you that probably only 5% of the apps are making big money and no one is quitting their day jobs to be iPhone developers (although that has the potential to change). Also most of the money is being made from the in-app ads and not from selling the actually apps themselves. HM Heather Marie Wells Collections Assistant/Technology Coordinator Shiloh Museum of Ozark History Springdale, AR 72764 Phone: (479) 750-8165 Website: http://www.springdalear.gov/shiloh/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/ShilohMuseum Podcast blog: http://www.shilohcast.blogspot.com/ iTunes U: http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/shiloh.org -Original Message- From: MuseumPods [mailto:i...@museumpods.com] Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 2010 10:54 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App Those are some really interesting points. I never thought about it that way. Nice to hear from the museum perspective. Thanks Bruce. Bruce Wyman wrote: I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. Kurt -- I'd disagree with that statement. I don't think there's anything unethical to it, especially if what you're trying to do is recover the costs of the app development in the first place. Museums charge all the time for access to content; many museums have paid admission. All your doing is charging access to a portion of your digital content. Even further, museums that cover the cost of free admission many times also offer ancillary programs and events that are covered by a fee. That being said, I'm always in favor of free, but there's also nothing that prevents you from changing prices later in the app store (start at $1.99) until / if you recover costs, reduce to free. Or, flip it around and make the content separate from the distribution of the content. Your framework may/may not cost money (your app), but the content -- which can be provided by any museum -- is distributed for free within the app. With the current versions of the app store and iPhone OS, you have the capability to charge for in-app downloads of additional content. -bw. ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
An excellent point again Chad and I agree. However, I think this is a very important topic museums should consider and worthy of discussion. On my site and biz, museums and non museum people have been uploading museum media content since 2005, see link: http://bit.ly/museumpods and is one of the largest aggregate repositories of museum media in the world, and I would guess at least 95% of all the media is not Copyrighted or Creative Commons licensed. An interesting hypothetical situation is if started making mobile apps using all the content and charging for them while museum servers are streaming the media, and let's say I started making big profits from the apps --don't you think museums might get upset? I realize today I asked for participants and is a different situation but do I need to ask if app distribution platforms, framework, and service is enough of a 'valuable add' to museums to let me use the free media content as I choose? I don't think some museums would be very pleased with the hypothetical scenario. ...and probably justifiably or maybe not? Is providing the distribution platform enough? Chad Petrovay wrote: Museum's may be providing the content, but if you are creating the framework for the application, you are providing a valuable service. Consider that ArtStor collects content from museums, and charges a considerable sum for institutions to have access (http://www.artstor.org/interested-in-participation/i-html/be-museum-fee.shtml), because they provide the framework and the support. Surely, there is no harm in charging users a nominal fee for the app. You may also want to look into the PhoneGap (http://phonegap.com/) development tool. Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard | Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main | 480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax | www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:09 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App I appreciate the stats and agree. To be honest this is a rather time consuming and costly venture for me and it is not a revenue stream at all. I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. My only other option is to charge museums a nominal fee to help with development costs for other apps at some point. I'm really surprised at the amount of museums that want to participate. Chad Petrovay wrote: According to Canalys, in 2009 iPhones only had a 15% market share of smartphones. I hope that your platform will expand to include additional mobile OS's like Sybian (47% m/s), RIM (21% m/s), or Android (5% m/s and growing). (Source of data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/02/apples-smart-phone-market-share-dips-despite-strong-sales.ars, http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/googles-android-is-quickly-gaining-smartphone-market-share/19353103/) Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard | Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main | 480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax | www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:48 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App Hello, I am looking for some museums interested in participating in a museum community based iPhone app. It will allow multiple museums to upload content from a variety of social platforms. The app will be a free download application for iPhone users in the iTunes app store. Please complete this short form if you might be interested in participating at: http://bit.ly/iphone-app-museums Thanks, Kurt Stuchell MuseumPods ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
Museum's may be providing the content, but if you are creating the framework for the application, you are providing a valuable service. Consider that ArtStor collects content from museums, and charges a considerable sum for institutions to have access (http://www.artstor.org/interested-in-participation/i-html/be-museum-fee.shtml), because they provide the framework and the support. Surely, there is no harm in charging users a nominal fee for the app. You may also want to look into the PhoneGap (http://phonegap.com/) development tool. Chad Petrovay ?| ?Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard ?| Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main ?| ?480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax ?| www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 11:09 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App I appreciate the stats and agree. To be honest this is a rather time consuming and costly venture for me and it is not a revenue stream at all. I don't think it is ethical for me to $ charge for apps on iTunes considering museums are providing free content for subscribers. My only other option is to charge museums a nominal fee to help with development costs for other apps at some point. I'm really surprised at the amount of museums that want to participate. Chad Petrovay wrote: According to Canalys, in 2009 iPhones only had a 15% market share of smartphones. I hope that your platform will expand to include additional mobile OS's like Sybian (47% m/s), RIM (21% m/s), or Android (5% m/s and growing). (Source of data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/02/apples-smart-phone-market-share-dips-despite-strong-sales.ars, http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/googles-android-is-quickly-gaining-smartphone-market-share/19353103/) Chad Petrovay | Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard | Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main | 480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax | www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:48 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App Hello, I am looking for some museums interested in participating in a museum community based iPhone app. It will allow multiple museums to upload content from a variety of social platforms. The app will be a free download application for iPhone users in the iTunes app store. Please complete this short form if you might be interested in participating at: http://bit.ly/iphone-app-museums Thanks, Kurt Stuchell MuseumPods ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
[MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App
According to Canalys, in 2009 iPhones only had a 15% market share of smartphones. I hope that your platform will expand to include additional mobile OS's like Sybian (47% m/s), RIM (21% m/s), or Android (5% m/s and growing). (Source of data http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone, http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/02/apples-smart-phone-market-share-dips-despite-strong-sales.ars, http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/googles-android-is-quickly-gaining-smartphone-market-share/19353103/) Chad Petrovay ?| ?Collections Database Administrator MIM-Musical Instrument Museum | 4725 E. Mayo Boulevard ?| Phoenix, AZ 85050 480.478.6000 main ?| ?480.478.6058 direct | 480.471.8690 fax ?| www.themim.org -Original Message- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of MuseumPods Sent: Monday, March 08, 2010 8:48 AM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: [MCN-L] Museum Community iPhone App Hello, I am looking for some museums interested in participating in a museum community based iPhone app. It will allow multiple museums to upload content from a variety of social platforms. The app will be a free download application for iPhone users in the iTunes app store. Please complete this short form if you might be interested in participating at: http://bit.ly/iphone-app-museums Thanks, Kurt Stuchell MuseumPods ___ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
