The Refinement Club

We were so lucky as to have Anders Holm join us for our last refinement, and we talked about a subject we have discussed before: news. The three of us agree that even though we are good at keeping ourself updated on news that have to do with our work and interests, we are not so good at keeping up with what happens in the world outside of that realm. We want to, but it’s not always that easy, and we actually think we have to limit our choice in the matter to be able to do so.

So we want a solution that will make us more well-informed on current affairs, and make us be up to date on news that we’re not too good on keeping ourselves updated about.

So we’re thinking it’s a news curator, that handpicks news for you based on who you are and what you know/ are interested in, and makes sure you become a well-rounded, well-informed person instead of just an expert in certain areas.

In the old days you got your news-fix by tuning into your preferred channel on radio or television and listening/watching the news. There wasn’t much choice regarding topics, you were served the news that the channel found most interesting and breaking. Even today you can get your news-fix this way, but what we want is to personalize this experience with a service that knows your interests, your areas of knowledge, and most importantly what and where you lack interest and knowledge in. We’ve all been to a party with total strangers, everybody works in a different field, they watch other movies, listen to crap music, wear strange clothes, reads the wrong books.. You are totally different and you have nothing to talk about. The news curator have prepared you for this disaster by giving you insights and knowledge within a huge range of current affairs, different topics and curiosa.

Okay, so how does it work? It should be dead simple, and available where you want it, web, mobile/tablet application.. Add your social network accounts so the news curator can learn more about your interests by analyzing what you share on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader or what not. Let it access your current location and it will include local news as well. Or add favorite locations if you like. Then you are good to go.

How much spare time do you have at this moment? 2 min, 5 min, 10 min, 15 min or 30 min? So choose the timeframe you have available and be informed. Whether it’s while you’re preparing and eating breakfast, or on your way to work, you will get your news by audio alone, or accompanied by articles, photos and/or video. You can always give your news curator feedback by marking each news story with a tag, e.g “I knew that already”, “Interesting”, “Informative” etc.so that it can learn to feed you with more relevant content. Your news curator will nudge you if you’re behind on your current affairs and even give you push notifications when breaking news stories are available.

What do you think, we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Don’t forget that you can always submit your ideas and be featured in Feature Friday.

Next Pitch Night is Tuesday, May 24th - join us!