Tech Tent: Future Farmers, Minecraft And Doom

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 tech news on Tech Tent on the BBC World Service. Here's what we are looking at this week.

Big Data on the farm

It is the oldest industry in the world, but it is also one may not appear to be very forward-looking. But farming is now experiencing a revolution in data driven technology. Farmers are confronted by an ever-growing amount of data. From drones that offer aerial views of crops to combine harvesters that monitor the output of each square metre, to sensors that give minute-by-minute updates about the health of animals, there's a lot of information. We'll hear from a farmer who is adjusting to the new ways of working. Our special guest is Rob Carter, the co-founder of Field Margin which aims to aid farmers in managing their data via a smartphone app. Also our BBC colleagues on Radio 4's Farming Today have been covering technology and farming all week and will have special coverage on Saturday morning's On Your Farm.

Minecraft in the classroom

We've heard nothing about Microsoft's plans for Minecraft since it was acquired by Microsoft. Microsoft has announced a major move into education, launching a classroom edition of Minecraft. Our Jane Wakefield went along to BETT, the UK's giant educational technology event to talk to Microsoft about the plans that lets children learn through Minecraft in school and continue playing at home. To log in to the education edition, schools will require an Office 365 account. We'll be asking if this is part of Microsoft's plan to challenge Google as the most popular software provider in the classroom.

Lessons learned from an Kickstarter

Kickstarter received a lot criticism after the Zano mini-drone fell to earth last November. EXTREMECRAFT The crowdfunding platform therefore appointed an investigative reporter discover what went wrong. This week Mark Harris published his 13,000 word report, which is an in-depth report on how to not manage a business in the field of technology and a warning for anyone who isn't aware that funding a crowdfunded project is not the same as ordering something from Amazon. We speak to Mark Harris about his thoughts on crowdfunding as a method of bringing tech ideas to life.

Doom is able to move up a level

Twenty-three years after the original game Doom was released, there is still a dedicated community of players. This week they have something to celebrate. John Romero, one of the original developers has released the first game in the mid-90s. He spoke with Zoe Kleinman, our reporter. He admitted that he was anxious about the reaction of the public, however, the majority of fans have been positive.

For all of this and more watch the BBC World Service at 15:00 GMT or listen to the podcast later.