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 Mobile - Web - Media  Tuesday, Sep 27, 2005 10:21:03 AM
Answering Web 2.0 Questions Today's blog post, is a response to a series of questions posted on Joshua Porter's Blog, entitled: BokardoJoshua's blog is generally focused on "Web 2.0" - which is the 'next wave' of the Internet. While Web 2.0 is a silly term, the reality of it is quite refreshing. Did the Web evolve? Did the number of users online reach a special threshold point? Did we as developers see the light? What is happening right now? Did you even know that something is happening? Indeed, something is happening. You could call it an evolution for the Web, the numbers of online users is massive, we the developers are seeing the light, and suddenly... people are excited about the Internet again. Ok - onto the questions! ===================================================== How do you build an architecture of participation? 1. Easy integration - users need to be able to get started and succeed within a short time frame - the same concept is heavily applied to game development - you want the user to obtain a sense of success within a short time frame in order for the majority to continue on. 2. Provide a platform for exchange - this can be content, like music, or it can be topic driven where the context of participation is the content. 3. Provide a two way street around the focus - establish pathways through your content - make it easy to navigate, consume, process, deliver and share. Once this is in place, your two way streets can be established. Here, one may need to 'seed' the concept to get it started. 4. Feedback - it's important to have proper feedback in any complex system - be sure to work in a means to send feedback directly to users. Even better, give them an option to turn off feedback notification. Take it even further, give the user an option to be notified by email or SMS - the idea here, is to be flexible - but don't go overboard on options. There's definately a lot more you can do and consider - the key is to enable and empower people. Is collaborative filtering only possible on large data stores? I think it's a correlational curve. As the volume of data increases, the opportunities in collaborative flittering will also increase. This isn't a given though. You still need to have a solid means to conduct filtering. What is the difference between Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web? This one is a bit difficult to answer, because there's a whole camp of people who feel that "Web 2.0" is just a silly term used by people attempting to pump up a new bubble. Honestly, it is a horrible term. I think the best way to ask this question, would be to split it into two groups. The users, and the architects. Those of us who build the Web have a different take on it - we use it differently - we think about it differently. Ultimately, I think it's the user's perspective that we need to attend to. With that stated, The question now becomes... Do the users notice a difference, if so, what is it? Is Ajax a Web 2.0 technology? Does the distinction matter? What Ajax does, has been around for awhile. You can find some pre-Ajax examples on the Web that came out years ago. Here is a site which has a javascript gateway API from back in July 2003: http://www.pengoworks.com/workshop/js/gateway/ If you look at the examples - it's pulling off the same thing as Ajax. It's not as new as people think. I find all the hype quite funny actually. Ajax isn't the cure. It's a solution to a few Web UI problems - it works well in some situations - but it isn't the catalyst for Web 2.0. Although, it definitely wins the award for generating the most hype around developers. Now even clients are asking, "So, you do Ajax?" Do they know what it is... usually not... it's a buzzword to them. Is Ajax a Web 2.0 technology? Yes - it is now. Although, I would say that XML, RSS, and Web Services are much more important - not as 'sexy' - but your Web 2.0 house can't be build on Ajax alone. One thing to consider about Ajax, is how it creates a problem with traditional banner ad and Google Adsense systems. Will the serving of ads move to a 'push' method for sites who rely heavily on Ajax? And if so, at what rate? Here's a good blog posting on "What's Wrong With Ajax" from "A Venture Forth." Is there a future for a web-based Office suite? Yes. Word processing has become the worst function of the computing experience. Starting over, pulling away all the bulk and useless options is the only way to salvage such a wreck. How long will the distinction between a search engine and a blog search engine last? The two may need to remain separate. Or - people need to be given a way to distinguish between the two. I search in both realms - and do so with specific goals. Sure, a meta search of some type might be good, but checking multiple locations helps ensure you are getting a better sampling from the Web when you search. Will RSS or Atom supercede XHTML as the display format of choice? Developers will move to support development trends - and general users will adopt what is free, the easiest, or what is pushed upon them. For power users, bypassing the site and consuming the content via feeds is the way to go. Ask anyone who is hooked on feeds, they'll state that they can monitor more sites than ever before by using RSS feeds. There's no way I could start my mornings off by browsing to 50 different sites. Let's consider the next version of Windows. What if they nail RSS feeds in such a way that general users will be comfortable with it? If enough people upgrade to the next Windows, and successfully adopt Feed use, we very well could see a massive movement towards feed technology across most organizations. Would it replace the Web Browser, no way. Who controls content? The gatekeepers used to control the content, but as we the people became empowered through technology, we are now taking complete control over our content. I myself was an artist back on the original mp3.com. There was a lot to love about the scene around the site, but the company as a gatekeeper kept letting all of us down. My solution, was to build a service for independent artists which kept the artist in control and as the focus. Granted, I'm referring to unsigned, non-commercial content, but, we can also point to the facts that more artists are going independent these days, which means more people will control their own content as time progresses. What’s the difference between an application, a platform, an API, and an interface? Ok, now I feel like I'm taking a test! Let's give it a spin. An application can provide a platform for content and data delivery and/or processing. That application would most likely have an interface for users to directly interact with the platform through the application. The interface is usually graphically designed in a way to organize or process content and data . An API is a collection of doorways into the application, providing access to the platform utilizing exposed processes. Although, you could also go with the platform as the user's platform - or you could call the Web the platform. It's a bit fractal - all self-similar. How do you monetize…X? These days, you need to build hype, get people talking, get people blogging, although, having capital to help push this process definitely will help. May use the "give away the basic, and sell them the Pro version." This has been used on the Web for years, and is currently in use at Flickr.com. People try it out, they find the value of the service to be great - then they upgrade. What are the limits of social software? I'm not really sure. I think the under 25 crowd will surprise us with what they'll do. Maybe the better question would be, how can non-social software benefit from becoming 'social software?" With this question, we could disect what is already out there and potentially discover new ideas. What will Microsoft do? Same thing they always do: spend a lot of money, have huge development teams, make products free to destroy competition, buy small companies that innovate, rip on everything that isn't MS, attempt to "Win" the Web (yeah right Ballmer). Yes, we will all keep an eye on Microsoft, but the action is everywhere these days. Let's just hope fewer companies sell themselves to MS. Who’s Buying Who? There will be a fair amount of consolidation over the next year. The number of startups launching new services seems like it's climbing, but I'm sure many will be rolled into one of the bigger players, like Yahoo, Google, etc. Is Web 2.0 a marketing ploy, or something real? 50/50 
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Mobile - Web - Media Monday, Sep 26, 2005 12:41:35 PM
What if the world was remixed? What if you could participate? What if the world was remixed?What if the world remixed itself? What if the world remixed your life? What if the world remixed your life whith others? What if you could participate? RemixWorld.com - taking remixing to a new level - recontextualize the past, with the present and mix it with imagination - life is art NOTE: I am looking for business partners to join me in launching RemixWorld as a new form of entertainment. I have diagrams illustrating how this system will work, how if fits on top of MediaServer System (which is what ArtistServer.com runs on), and I'm currently in the process of documenting the system for pitching to obtain startup capital. I can't provide too much information online as to what this is or what it will do, but I can give a few indications. RemixWorld will serve as a portal for RemixChannels which are generated from the RemixSystem. The RemixSystem is a multi format remixing platform which will generate RemixChannels in a very interesting way. This is going to be hot. I get so jazzed when I talk about how it works and what it will do. I see this as a foundation for a new way to browse and consume content on the Web. I feel that that once a service and system like this is in place, that it could grow into a creative platform for many uses. Add to this a powerful API for users to extend and build upon, and we may actually have a doorway into 'interactive TV.'
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Mobile - Web - Media Monday, Sep 12, 2005 2:19:51 PM
Search? That's Yesterday, We Discover Content Now The following is a response post of mine over at MoCoNews.net, a blog covering "mobile content news"The posting covers the announcement from GoFish.com, stating: "it has launched a search engine — www.searchwebmedia.com — which integrates web and multimedia searches…so a search will not only bring up web pages that contain the text searched for but various audio and video results along with mobile content such as ringtones and images I took a look at the search site and wasn't impressed. When I tired a search, all I was given was a standard google search result set (I searched on: electronica). The quick summary... I don't see http://www.searchwebmedia.com/ being a player on any level. What caught my eye on the MoCoNews.net posting, was the statements by the "research director with Gartner’s Industries Media team." If you aren't familiar with the Gartner group, they are basically a body that conducts research on markets. In their own words: Research and analysis of information technology companies, products, and services, and of several industry sectors. Custom research and consulting services. You would think these folks would be really sharp, maybe they are - but in this case, I don't understand why are still thinking in the 'old ways.' OLD?!?!? Yes, 'search' is old, now let's dive in! >>> "Intelligently integrating multiple content streams — digital songs, music videos, ringtones, podcasts, and text content — into coherent and easy-to-navigate search results will be a permanent differentiator for digital media content providers." Mike McGuire, is right, but the solution needs to do a lot more than index the content and sort it by file type. In order to provide real value, a solution will need to go beyond the aging search paradigm. The process of obtaining content with quality and relevancy, is rapidly becoming difficult with the ever growing volume of content on the Web. How can a simple query on a keyword or name serve the needs of the user of tomorrow, especially, the mobile user? Here is where Mr. McGuire gets it wrong, in my opinion: "easy-to-navigate search results" is not a solution for a data drenched world. I'm sorry, but I'm done navigating. The systems should be navigating for me, not just displaying pages of results. The answer, is to move towards intelligent suggestion engines similar to what you would see on Amazon.com, where the system becomes aware of interests, your click-path through the site, words you search on, what you buy, what you want, etc. But this isn't the complete answer, as we can't rely on the algorithms to get everything right, so we add in 'social bookmarking' to the mix. With a social bookmarking environment, we now have our peers helping shape the results of a search - all connected by tags and selected based on personal preference. When it comes to media, you don't want to sit there browsing though 'easy-to-navigate search results,' you tend to want to find a good song or ringtone right now - or if you are looking for something specific, you don't want a result set, you just want the item. >>> "Portals and content companies would be wise to invest in the next stage of search as it will continue to be encouraged and supported by the growth of the digital media ecosystem." Yes, again, Mr. McGuire is correct, but I think it's key that people realize that search isn't going to be what it used to be, that we will evolve the concept of search to something more like "intelligent agents" who know our interests, that can pro actively discover content for us, harvest it, and provide us with the ability to explore a result set if we wish. I'm responding to this blog posting, because I recently outlined a plan for a 'suggestion engine' or what I'm calling a "Content Discovery Engine" which will be used to assist Web users in discovering better content on ArtistServer.com. Take a look at this chart: http://www.artistserver.com/mss.cfm?mss=4 This points toward the type of system users will need when interacting with a media portal. While this diagram does display the pieces to the puzzle, it doesn't display how the suggestions are formed. That's the tricky part! I think one of the main differences between what I'm suggesting, and what Mr. McGuire of the Gartner Group proposed, is the idea of content discovery over content search. We had time to search in the 90's, it was fun. Now, halfway though the first decade of 2000, we are getting a bit tired of searching. If you don't know what I'm talking about, try joining a social bookmarking site. After two months of browsing what others add to the site and adding your own items, you'll start to understand what I mean.
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Mobile - Web - Media Friday, Sep 02, 2005 9:22:28 AM
Hey, You Can Kiss My RSS... at www.KissMyRSS.com While working very late one night, I was searching for domain names for an idea. As I searched, I was looking at my monitor and said to myself, "Kiss My RSS!" laughed, then checked for the name - it was available. I then pondered, "Hey - that would be cool on a shirt." As you may or may not know, "RSS" is buzzword, which deals with content syndication and subscriptions. Some people like the word "Feeds" - while others feel our orange and white friend is doing a fine job. RSS has leaked out from the developer and geek world, taken the blogosphere to new heights, and even obtained it's own Venture Capital firm who is looking for RSS companies/technologies to invest in. That's a fair amount of hype around our acronymic friend! How much hype? Enough for Microsoft to come to the party, enough for investments to hit the table, and enough to generate a flurry of Web Clones for every functional angle that surrounds content syndication and the so called, "Web 2.0" ways. Being a bit of a creative soul, and an entrepreneur all in one package, I selected to take the silly phrase, "Kiss My RSS," and carry out the task of creating t-shirts using http://www.CafePress.com/ as the printer and distributer for the products. The designs are based around the standard RSS, XML buttons you tend to see on most blogs and many sites these days. Not only are these items fun to give as gifts, or to buy for yourself, they also help me get ArtistServer.com re-launched and on it's way. Obviously, selling t-shirts through CafePress.com isn't the best way to raise money, you just don't make much on shirts unless you put the money upfront and go with a real printer and not a 'print on demand' service like CafePress. But, this was easy to setup, and it takes no investmenton my part beyond set up. Please, help spread the word, and pass this link around: www.KissMyRSS.com - you can also use this button if you like:  [url to image: http://www.kissmyrss.com/images/KissMyRss.gif ] All funds generated from the sales of these shirts and products will go directly to ArtistServer.com and will help cover the costs for our site re-launch. If you buy one of the shirts or products - be sure to snap a photo of you wearing the item, and I'll post it on the site, including a link to your site. Thank you for your support! :)
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