ivantohelpyou

What's Web 2.0? Simply stated, it's the combination of community, mashups and rich-media interfaces that characterizes the latest wave of web sites. Applications that once only operated on standalone PCs are now ripe for adoption to the Internet, thanks to faster connections and better browsers.

The Web 2.0 Expo conference track had impressive depth, with an unmistakable O'Reilly influence. On the show floor, the involvement of CMP, with its enterprise/channel expertise, really paid off in terms of getting major business-technology companies involved in what otherwise could have been an echo chamber of futurists talking to futurists.

Speaking of the future direction of the Web, it'll come not from the predictions of pundits, the bluster of bloggers, or the mechanizations of marketers, but rather the aggregate choices of millions of developers. The battle for Web 2.0 will be fought in the IDE. Where should an independent developer invest his or her energies? Which platforms will support the most successful applications, and the most profitable businesses?

The Sexy Stuff: Presentation Layers

Adobe Apollo - Adobe hopes to build a development platform bridging online and desktop applications, and they're off to a good start. Their presentation during the Web 2.0 Expo keynote highlighted several examples of Apollo in action: Buzzword, an Apollo-based word processor to be released this summer; an eBay application; Finetune, a music player; a time-tracking and calendaring application code-named gTimer; and Adobe Media Player. I have also been impressed by the Adobe presence at the majority of the events I've attended this year (see my events page).

Microsoft Silverlight – Last week, Microsoft anointed its own rich-media application development platform, previously named WPF/E. I predict that Adobe will have the cooler applications out of the gate, but Microsoft will ink enough deals with someone you do business with (e.g. your bank), or somehow tie it into the Vista experience. There'll be a compelling reason for you to download the Silverlight plug-in at some point, and the historical record backs me up. Thus, most of us will probably end up with both the Apollo and Silverlight plug-ins running side-by-side, with developers having to choose where to invest their time and energy.

It Ain't Over Yet: Operating Systems

Linux is the wild-card in the Apollo v. Silverlight showdown. Adobe plans to launch an Apollo version eventually, and I wouldn't expect Microsoft to follow down that path. While Linux comprises only a sliver of the PC market now, if and when the big vendors such as Dell and HP start to ship Linux boxes, that will certainly change. The Mac is now a PC; Linux is the new Mac.

From Enterprise to SMB: Partner Ecosystems

By partnering with a technology company that's already gained traction in enterprise and small-business settings, you can use a known name and partner network to get customers. For example, if you have an idea for sales-centered companies, you can build applications on top of Salesforce.com by learning the Apex platform and programming language. Or, if you envision applications built around web conferencing and online meetings, join the WebEx Connect developer program. Or, you can follow SAP's lead into the small market by learning their Business One platform. Are you more aligned with the online auction market? Join the eBay Developers Program. Or, use Amazon Web Services to create a business or service from customizable components. Even the venerable AOL has reinvented itself as a development platform with dev.aol.com, offering APIs for authentication, photos, videos, maps and more. It all depends on what you want to build, I suppose, and for whom.

Stop Programming: Zero-Code Development

Intalio has an intriguing open-source business-process management system (BPMS) that promises "zero code" development. Similarly, Coghead has easily-customizable templates for project management, HR and inventory applications, and the flexibility to develop whatever else makes sense for your application.

Or, if you want to build a simple database, Dabble DB lets you build databases on the Web, with relational capabilities accessed through a simple yet powerful interface. Swivel wants to be (and apologies for the formulaic construction, but it works in this case) the "YouTube for data sets", and makes customizable graphs available for inclusion in blogs, collaborative commenting and more.

Design and Development Resources

RobotReplay - Add a script to your web pages to record every mouse motion and click that users take on your website. It's like what Steve Krug says, to design a better experience, just watch your users in action. All RobotReplay needs is a way to surreptitiously turn on the user's webcam and microphone for the complete picture.

LuckyOliver - Inexpensive stock photos.

oDesk - Inexpensive development resources. And just to make sure that you're getting your money's worth, they'll take a screenshot of your contractor's screen at random intervals.

Labels: Adobe, Microsoft, Web 2.0, web design, web2expo

I've launched a new website and business at ivantohelpyou.com!

My business: Helping small businesses to get online quickly with simple, no-frills websites.

I saw plenty of startups at the Web 2.0 Expo, many of them ostensibly geared towards the small business. Very nice, and some great ideas. But if you're running a small business, the first task is to put up a basic, functional website without the "under construction" logo. That requires setup of a dot-com address, a standards-friendly web site, and from the very beginning, professional writing.

Check out ivantohelpyou.com to learn more.

Labels: web design, web2expo

Speakers:

1. Jeremy Keith, Adactio
2. Kelly Goto, gotomedia
3. Chris Messina, Citizen Agency
4. Richard McManus, Read/WriteWeb (moderator)

The speakers explored the paradox of having to become a "hybrid designer," someone blurring the lines between designer and developer.

Some paraphrased notes and actual quotes:

(1) Many web designers come from the print world, where they have almost complete control over the layout and presentation of their work. It's not like that on the Web. Get used to it.

(2) "What do these new [hybrid] designers look like and how do we hire that person?"

(3) "You don't actually know where your content is going to show up." Could be on your website, in some feedreader, cell phone, bloglines or another website. So, make sure your mark (e.g. ivantohelpyou) is on your work (ivantohelpyou) outside of your blog (ivantohelpyou) template.

What's the key skill for the hybrid designer?

(1) "Communications."

(2) "It's curiosity."

(3) "Willingness to ask questions."


It's hard to get started as a hybrid designer, isn't it.

(1) Big companies like to pigeonhole you as a developer or UI designer, and aren't prepared for the hybrid. The more modern companies expect you to do absolutely everything. "It's tricky to find that '1.5' area" where you can start breaking out of your pigeonhole."

(3) "Find, if you can, one other kindred spirit." Pair up with a designer if you're a developer, or vice versa. Start designing interfaces on the screen to show developers what you're thinking, which is better than trying to explain what you want.


What about platforms?

(2) Go ahead, pick a platform/environment/toolset/"playground" such as Ruby on Rails, Drupal, among others.

(1) Toolsets lower barrier to entry. But it takes time to learn these tools. Learn from "view source" mentality. Closed systems don't allow this, and so they'll never have the same impact as open systems.

(3) Get fluency in the idea of mashups. Either DIY, or wait for someone to DIFY (Do It For You). An example of a mashup, particularly for web2expo attendees: conferenceer.com.

My thoughts:

The technology was the bottleneck. Now, frameworks allow rapid reproduction of massive sites that would have taken months to build by hand or rebuild using new designs. This means the new bottleneck (and therefore profit opportunity) is the design phase, matching the output of these automated tools to the needs, preferences and aesthetics of the end users. Developers, in order to make a difference, will have to dig deeper and deeper into the weeds. Designers can stay close to the customer where they belong.

See you on day two.

Labels: Web 2.0, web design, web2expo

It's Web 2.0 Expo Week at ivantohelpyou.

I'll be in San Francisco through Wednesday at the Web 2.0 Expo, attending the keynotes and every other session, plus wandering around the show floor, seeking order in the chaos.

Impressions to follow.

Labels: Web 2.0, web2expo

I asked Scooter if she wanted to join me at the open-to-the-public Ignite Expo at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. She listened to my description of the event, which consisted of 16 presentations in two hours, each presentation made up of 20 slides moved forward automatically every 15 seconds.

"It sounds like a poetry slam for geeks," she replied. "Count me out."

Good description, actually.

Yet there were some differences between Ignite Expo and a poetry slam. For instance, instead of three minutes, as is the poetry slam standard (see the PoetrySlam.com FAQ for more information), Ignite participants received five full minutes. And instead of the poetry slam custom of selecting five audience members to act as judges, Ignite asked the entire audience to vote via text message on which presenter of each round of eight would be asked to give the afternoon keynote in front of 3,000 people.

The audience also used anonymous text messaging to heckle, with the messages displayed as the participants spoke. This took an ugly turn during one presentation about diversity and inclusion programs. One text message made fun of the speaker's weight and another about his clothes, thus proving the speaker's point about the need for greater diversity and inclusion in the technology world. Nobody voted for him.

The organizers made the curious decision to display the running percentages of the votes given to each contestant during each round of voting. There's a reason that the television networks are asked to refrain from showing predictions before the close of the polls. Early voters have undue influence on later voters, which can knock out an otherwise viable candidate from consideration. Perhaps they were following the "hive mind" concept of Jordan Schwartz from Microsoft, in which one bee doing the "waggle dance" influences others to check out a potential spot for a hive. Subsequently, other bees can then waggle if they like what they see. So, instead of each bee making an independent decision, the decisions are made sequentially with full knowledge of the choices that have been made before.

You can read about the presenters listed on the web2expo blog.

And here's a link to the PoetrySlam.com poet gallery, complete with MP3.

There's a hybrid opportunity to bring together two diverse audiences under one roof with one set of rules. I'd go again if I could see an eager, fast-talking entrepreneur paired with a passionate counterculture performer. Bring it on!

Labels: poetry, Web 2.0, web2expo