A shot in the arm
I just wanted to thank you for your piece on the-bullet www.the-bullet.com. I thought I was alone without venture capital was getting mightily ****ed off with endless stories about teenagers with contacts getting millions.
There must be a whole army of us bedroom entrepreneurs and I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been encouraged to hang on by your feature. Up the revolution!
Trevor McPartlin
Fighting talk
Jane Evans (Feedback, February 17) raised the question of why males play computer games more than females. There are three possible reasons.
1: Design of games: On the whole, computer game software is designed by males for other males. Videogames have the capability to bypass the problems of gender identification - yet most manufacturers choose not to. Early attempts to introduce female-orientated hardware (Nintendo Game Girl) and software (Ms. PacMan) were unsuccessful.
2: Socialisation factors: Videogame playing (like, say, football and cricket) are perceived to be male activities. This does not preclude females from engaging in these activities but there are few social rewards for doing so. It could be that male domination of videogames is due more to social rules and socialisation factors than the games themselves.
3: Innate gender differences: On average, males perform better in visual and spatial skills - particularly depth perception and image solving. These skills are essential in good game playing since good hand-eye co-ordination is needed in addition to the quick judgments of spatial relationships.
Since males would tend to score higher than females due to the differences in visual and spatial skills, the females' average lower scores could be considered a discouraging factor in their reluctance to play video games.
Dr. Mark Griffiths
Head of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University
Netfilms
I am writing in response to Jack Schofield's article (Try a hard drive-in movie, February 17) in which he quotes Christine Atha of the ICA's education department saying she couldn't think of anyone who'd put a film online.
Well there may not be many of us but we are there! It's a bit of a "chicken and egg" situation: while people assume that all of this is only happening in the US, it is a self fulfilling prophecy. I have spent the last six months or so setting up my site but have received most of my information from newsgroups based in New York.
If the government and other relevant funding bodies are serious about investing in current technology, they could start by providing funding and support for such initiatives. We are there, we are doing it, and with a little help we could be providing a viable presence to rival those of Spielberg in an area where nobody has, as yet, established a strong identity.
While Schofield was quite right when he pointed out the technological constraints that exist in terms of putting traditional films on-line, the technology is changing daily, and as many of the film sites mentioned pointed out - this is the start of a development that could change the industry.
This is why companies like Dreamworks or Disney are working so hard now to establish their presence as a deliverer of web movies. It is also true that the technology involved in delivering films via the internet is still in its early stages and involves quite a degree of computer based skills.
Consequently, many of the short films - and especially flash animations that have been designed for the web - have been made by teenage "lads". However, this is not the only presence of "made for web" films.
I have set up a site called plugincinema that is currently in its beta [test]stages but has been designed specifically for people who are interested in on-line filmmaking, with technical information on the equipment that is involved as well film schools and discussion boards.
It was designed to act as a focus for independent British filmmakers who are interested in the aesthetic that may exist with the advent of films designed specifically for delivery on the internet.
Check out our web site at www.plugincinema.com and join us in our attempt to establish Britain as the centre for web based films!
Ana Kronschnabl
See here
I'm pleased to see Guardian Unlimited is going to be available on interactive TV and would like to point out that this service is also in operation in the Manchester area in addition to the London areas mentioned in Read It Here First (Online, February 17).
Bill Beard
Self help
I read with interest David Birch's article (Why content isn't king), and Paul Hartman's comments (Feedback, February 3).
With regard to having some space in Online to observe less commercial sites, surely this is one of the purposes of the feedback page, where readers can alert fellow readers and editors alike to their newly created web gems.
By now it is perhaps clear that this letter has that intent! Visit www.concise.org.uk , the innovative home of my band, designed to promote ourselves and help other bands.
Jonathon Buck
