Tech Tent Future farmers, Minecraft and Doom Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent @BBCRoryCJon Twitter
22 January 2016
Every Friday we go through the week's technology news on Tech Tent on the BBC World Service. This week's news looks like.
Big Data on the farm
It is the oldest business in the world, but it is one that you might not consider to be a forward-looking industry. However, farming is experiencing a revolution in data driven technology. Farmers are dealing with an ever-growing amount of information. From drones that provide aerial views of crops, to combine harvesters that measure the output of every square meter, to sensors that give minute-by-minute updates about the health of animals, there is an abundance of data. We'll hear from a chicken farmer who is adapting to this new method of working. 2C1C Our special guest is Rob Carter, the co-founder of Field Margin which aims to assist farmers in navigating their data through a smartphone app. In addition, our colleagues on BBC Radio 4's Farming Today have been covering farming and technology throughout the week and will have special coverage on Saturday's On Your Farm.
Minecraft in the classroom
Since Microsoft purchased Minecraft we've heard little about its plans for the hugely popular game of world building. However, this week the software giant has announced a major expansion into education by launching a classroom version of the game. Jane Wakefield, Jane's correspondent, went to BETT the UK's biggest educational technology event, in order to speak with Microsoft about the plan that will allow children to master Minecraft at school and later play it at home. Schools will need to have an Office 365 account to log in to the education edition - we'll be asking whether this is part of Microsoft's plan to battle Google as the prime software provider in the classroom.
Lessons from the experience of Kickstarter
Kickstarter received a lot criticism following the Zano mini-drone project went down to earth in November. The crowdfunding platform therefore appointed an investigative reporter discover what went wrong. This week Mark Harris published his 13,000 word report, which is both an excruciating report on how to not manage a business in the field of technology and a warning for anyone who does not understand the concept that backing a crowdfunded venture is not like ordering something from Amazon. We speak to Mark Harris about his thoughts about crowdfunding as a way to get tech ideas off the ground.
Doom is able to move up a level
Twenty-three years after the original game Doom was released, there's an active community of players. This week they have something to celebrate. John Romero, one of the original developers has released the first level since the mid-90s. He spoke with Zoe Kleinman, our reporter. He admitted that he was anxious about the reaction of the community but the majority of players have been very positive.
For all of this and much more, tune in to BBC World Service at 15:00 GMT or listen to the podcast later.