The introduction of Internet has brought many new ideas to the world, including, new ways of learning, new ways of marketing and advertising, as well as business models. Before the Internet, it’s safe to say that the idea of, “…giving away the store,” would have been a poor one. However, the Internet is a different storefront, with a different way of doing business.
A prime example of this is “Flickr, a Web 2.0 photo-sharing site.” The founders of Flickr, Catarina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, have undoubtedly proven that giving away their product and providing customers with free services can make you successful. The site allows users to upload and share photos with friends and family. The funny thing about Flickr is that people often view other people’s pictures that they don’t know. Flickr’s slogan is this, “ Share your photos. Watch the world.”
Well, how do these website’s make money if they’re giving everything away? That’s the genius of a “collective user value” approach, as highlighted in chapter one of Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide by Amy Shuen. The website takes stock in the fact that if they can recruit enough users, then that’s what they can sell, the rights to advertise to these people. It’s a brilliant idea as well as concept. Think about Facebook. It’s free to join and similarly to Flickr, you can upload and organize your photos, make comments on them and join in on an online community, but on the side of every page there are multiple advertisements. However, usually non-intrusive advertisements, but nonetheless advertisements, and there’s nothing I hate more than advertisements on the Internet. Surprisingly enough, I still use these services and knowingly let marketers target me. Although, not all websites market to their users to create revenue, some websites only allow users to use the basic features of their program and charge them to use the more advanced features. An example of this would be MusicMatch Jukebox. You can download the program and use it for free, but for 19.99 you can get the upgraded version that has many more features. This business model is known as “freemium” (“Free + Premium = freemium”) developed by venture capitalist, Fred Wilson.
I think “freemium” ware, is wonderful. I love programs like Music Match, Itunes, and Facebook because they allow me to basically do whatever I want on the Internet for free. Even though, I hate advertisements, I don’t mind them so much when I’m getting what I want in return for a momentary eye glimpse of my attention.
Works Cited
Shuen, Amy . Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide. Sebastopol, CA: O' Reilly, 2008.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Advancing and Integration of Web 2.0 Technologies
Over the past twenty years, the Internet has advanced in every way possible, the most notable being that of integration. One of the biggest problems with Integration has always been that different platforms do integrate well. For example, if you’re using a Mac book, you can’t download programs or plug-ins that have a .exe or executable file, vise-versa, if you’re using a windows operating system then you can’t download a .dmg file, ( a.dmg file is the equivalent of .exe on a windows.) XML languages have broken down the barriers of this problem.
In a nutshell, XML Technologies make content viewable on multiple platforms and operating systems, according to Richard MacManus and Joshua Porter, “XML technologies enabled content to be shareable and transformable between different systems, and Web services provided hooks into the innards of sites. Instead of visual design being the interface to content, Web services have become programmatic interfaces to that same content.” Macmanus and Porter use Ebay as an example of integration, due to the way sellers list products and the way that buyers purchase products.
When an individual, or business for that matter, list a product on Ebay, there are two options, using a template that Ebay provides or using your html code. Ebay gives you option due to multiple reasons. The first being people use different operating systems and/or browsers, which view web pages differently. The other being that different java script run programs (picture viewers or slide show script-runners) will not be properly run due to different run-time errors, another XML advancement is exemplified by Andale. Andale is tracking service that allows sellers to view how many people either, look at their item for sale or add their item to watch list. The main feature of this program or tracking service is that it tracks not computers, but people and it then profiles their buying habits or the products that they may have been potentially interested in, the reason being that, the next time they get on Ebay.com it automatically shows item they may be interested in.
Inevitably, people are always going to continue further technology to be more intuitve for shoppers, sellers and browsers. I think it’s scary that are programs profiling my web browsing and buying habits; even though their for my benefit and only being used for intrusive services. However, if EBay has this service, it makes one wonder what other people are doing with these advanced web 2.0 technologies.
In a nutshell, XML Technologies make content viewable on multiple platforms and operating systems, according to Richard MacManus and Joshua Porter, “XML technologies enabled content to be shareable and transformable between different systems, and Web services provided hooks into the innards of sites. Instead of visual design being the interface to content, Web services have become programmatic interfaces to that same content.” Macmanus and Porter use Ebay as an example of integration, due to the way sellers list products and the way that buyers purchase products.
When an individual, or business for that matter, list a product on Ebay, there are two options, using a template that Ebay provides or using your html code. Ebay gives you option due to multiple reasons. The first being people use different operating systems and/or browsers, which view web pages differently. The other being that different java script run programs (picture viewers or slide show script-runners) will not be properly run due to different run-time errors, another XML advancement is exemplified by Andale. Andale is tracking service that allows sellers to view how many people either, look at their item for sale or add their item to watch list. The main feature of this program or tracking service is that it tracks not computers, but people and it then profiles their buying habits or the products that they may have been potentially interested in, the reason being that, the next time they get on Ebay.com it automatically shows item they may be interested in.
Inevitably, people are always going to continue further technology to be more intuitve for shoppers, sellers and browsers. I think it’s scary that are programs profiling my web browsing and buying habits; even though their for my benefit and only being used for intrusive services. However, if EBay has this service, it makes one wonder what other people are doing with these advanced web 2.0 technologies.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Web 2.0 Technologies
Web 2.0 Technologies
Life After Napster
During the late 1990’s, the Internet was just reaching new peaks of popularity. So was downloading music, for free, and Napster was the source. Napster is an online mp3 or music-sharing source that allows users to share their files in a peer-to-peer file-trading format. Napster operated from June of 1999 until July 2001. It should be mentioned that Napster still currently operates; however, you now have to pay for it. Napster was shut down due to copyright infringements; in other words it was shut down because artists were not getting paid when people downloaded their songs. So what does all this mean? Well, first and foremost, it means that people can no longer download music for free but it also means that people now understand that things like this can be done and other people were most assuredly going to figure out how to make these new web 2.0 technologies work for them.
Here are some examples of Web 2.0 Technologies and where they stemmed from:
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Akamai is what the BitTorrent technology stemmed from, or better yet where the technological idea came from, if you will. The difference between the two is how the information is dispersed or stored. Akamai uses servers to store the information and disperse it. Therefore, the system as a whole can only get larger if the company does. “Akamai must add servers to improve service,” (2) Napster on the other hand went about the situation completely different: P2P. In other words, “BitTorrent thus demonstrates a key Web 2.0 principle: the service automatically gets better the more people use it.” (2)
Well, Napster is shut down, so what does this mean to us?
Even though it’s shut down, it paved the way for websites like isohunt.com that allows users to download torrent files. Once a user downloads a torrent, (a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol,) that person can use a number of programs such vuze (formally known as Azureus), to download the file. The program connects people to people or computers to computers so that users can share what they rightfully own through the use of an online server in order to bypass online trading laws via loopholes to avoid copyright infringement. The great thing about Isohunt and Vuze is that its just not mp3 files but any and all media content.
In my opinion, online technologies will only improve with time as well as other Web 2.0 technologies. However, for the time being, BitTorrent’s are the best way to download online media content. The future for the Internet is a very exciting concept. Unlimited access to any and all media with the ease of clicking a button is thrilling for us and alarming for the industry. Eventually, a compromise between the user and the provider must be made.
Works Cited
O'Reilly, Tim . "What Is Web 2.0 - O'Reilly Media." Technology Books, Tech Conferences, IT Courses, News - O'Reilly Media. 1 Sep. 2009.
Life After Napster
During the late 1990’s, the Internet was just reaching new peaks of popularity. So was downloading music, for free, and Napster was the source. Napster is an online mp3 or music-sharing source that allows users to share their files in a peer-to-peer file-trading format. Napster operated from June of 1999 until July 2001. It should be mentioned that Napster still currently operates; however, you now have to pay for it. Napster was shut down due to copyright infringements; in other words it was shut down because artists were not getting paid when people downloaded their songs. So what does all this mean? Well, first and foremost, it means that people can no longer download music for free but it also means that people now understand that things like this can be done and other people were most assuredly going to figure out how to make these new web 2.0 technologies work for them.
Here are some examples of Web 2.0 Technologies and where they stemmed from:
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster
Akamai is what the BitTorrent technology stemmed from, or better yet where the technological idea came from, if you will. The difference between the two is how the information is dispersed or stored. Akamai uses servers to store the information and disperse it. Therefore, the system as a whole can only get larger if the company does. “Akamai must add servers to improve service,” (2) Napster on the other hand went about the situation completely different: P2P. In other words, “BitTorrent thus demonstrates a key Web 2.0 principle: the service automatically gets better the more people use it.” (2)
Well, Napster is shut down, so what does this mean to us?
Even though it’s shut down, it paved the way for websites like isohunt.com that allows users to download torrent files. Once a user downloads a torrent, (a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol,) that person can use a number of programs such vuze (formally known as Azureus), to download the file. The program connects people to people or computers to computers so that users can share what they rightfully own through the use of an online server in order to bypass online trading laws via loopholes to avoid copyright infringement. The great thing about Isohunt and Vuze is that its just not mp3 files but any and all media content.
In my opinion, online technologies will only improve with time as well as other Web 2.0 technologies. However, for the time being, BitTorrent’s are the best way to download online media content. The future for the Internet is a very exciting concept. Unlimited access to any and all media with the ease of clicking a button is thrilling for us and alarming for the industry. Eventually, a compromise between the user and the provider must be made.
Works Cited
O'Reilly, Tim . "What Is Web 2.0 - O'Reilly Media." Technology Books, Tech Conferences, IT Courses, News - O'Reilly Media. 1 Sep. 2009
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