The last of Tim O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 patterns is. This pattern is about leveraging the power of your web application to create a service which does more with less instead of getting too big too quickly. There are many techniques a service creator can use to achieve the aim of “doing more with less”.
These techniques included;
• Using a small development team
• Outsource in fracture and expertise wherever possible and practical
• Release functionality in increments
• Scale with demand
• Scale Pricing and revenue models
• Use open source services where possible.
My favorite example of a web 2.0 application which demonstrates how to successfully follow this pattern is Digg. Digg is a web application where users can “Discover and share content from anywhere on the internet” (What is Digg).
Kevin Rose started digg in 2004 at a cost of $2000 and hosted this service on a single server costing $99.00 a month. Whilst the development of the digg service has not been without problems, the number of users assessing this services grew with over 37 millions registered users buy 2009.
References
Tim O’Reilly - http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=4
What is dig - http://about.digg.com/about
About Me
- Dean
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- I am a full time computer consultant for a small firm, focusing on the small to medium business sector. I am also a student completing a Double Degree in Business and an Information Technology at Queensland University of Technology. This has created a hectic schedule and, as a result I am always busy working on something.
I do however have interests that are outside of work and University, including active involvement in the scouting movement and regular games of indoor soccer at Brisbane City Indoor Sports. My passion however, has always been in computing. This is shown by my active participation in the computer club at high school. I joined the school computer club in grade eight and continued right through to grade twelve. I was also a member of the computer club executive from grade ten.
I intend to use this blog to discuss a variety web 2.0 applications and how they relate to the web 2.0 patterns. I encourage you to read my posts and make comments below.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Leveraging the long tail
The 7th pattern of web 2.0 applications, and the topic of this blog post, is leveraging the long tail. Tim O’reilly describes this pattern is about how making use of the internet allows a web 2.0 service or application which does not appeal to the masses but instead appeals to a small minority of people.
One a service is online, their user or customer base is no longer limited by geographical location as a web service can be accessed from anywhere in the world. This means that while the particular product or service being offered my only appeal to a small percentage of the total number of internet users (almost 2 billion on June 30 2010 – Internet world stats), their product will still appeal to a large number of people.
As well as the increased market size, there are other factors which allow web 2.0 applications to leverage the long tail. Some of these factors include
These factors combine to make running a website a lot cheaper than running a conventional store for example.
The web application I have chose to explore as an example of this web pattern is the iTunes store. The iTunes store is an online store for many different types of digital entertainment include songs, movies and TV shows. iTunes is able to leverage the long tail by providing a much greater range in their catalogue compared to a physical store. Whilst a physical store is required to stock all the products they hope to sell, iTunes provides digitally download copies when a purchase is made. They are also able to provide these downloads to users all over the globe at any time of the day or night.
As a result of these advantages, iTunes is able to maintain an ever expanding catalogue with over 12 million songs in February 2010 (iTunes Store tops 10 Billion Songs Sold. This large catalogue has allowed apple to take of the web 2.0 platform to leverage the long tail
References
Internet world stats – www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
iTunes Store Tops 10 Billion Songs Sold
-http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/02/25itunes.html
One a service is online, their user or customer base is no longer limited by geographical location as a web service can be accessed from anywhere in the world. This means that while the particular product or service being offered my only appeal to a small percentage of the total number of internet users (almost 2 billion on June 30 2010 – Internet world stats), their product will still appeal to a large number of people.
As well as the increased market size, there are other factors which allow web 2.0 applications to leverage the long tail. Some of these factors include
- 24/7 availability
- Cheap to update
- Cheap to run
These factors combine to make running a website a lot cheaper than running a conventional store for example.
The web application I have chose to explore as an example of this web pattern is the iTunes store. The iTunes store is an online store for many different types of digital entertainment include songs, movies and TV shows. iTunes is able to leverage the long tail by providing a much greater range in their catalogue compared to a physical store. Whilst a physical store is required to stock all the products they hope to sell, iTunes provides digitally download copies when a purchase is made. They are also able to provide these downloads to users all over the globe at any time of the day or night.
As a result of these advantages, iTunes is able to maintain an ever expanding catalogue with over 12 million songs in February 2010 (iTunes Store tops 10 Billion Songs Sold. This large catalogue has allowed apple to take of the web 2.0 platform to leverage the long tail
References
Internet world stats – www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm
iTunes Store Tops 10 Billion Songs Sold
-http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/02/25itunes.html
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Perpetual Beta
Running an application as a web service allows software developers to change the development life cycle they follow. The 6th web 2.0 Pattern, Perpetual Beta, deals with this change and its effects for users.
Software developed for using the traditional development life cycle, such as Microsoft Windows or Adobe PhotoShop, are developed and deployed on the system of the user who is running the software. In contrast, Web 2.0 applications run on the server which the developers control. Compared to the traditional method of deploying software on users’ systems, new Web 2.0 methods of providing users with software have several advantages for developers.
When traditional software has been developed, users will install the software on their device. When this software needs to be updated, the developer can provide the users with the update but has no means of ensuring that the user applies or installs these updates. Google has developed many applications which fit under the perpetual beta banner. As an example, today I will examine Google Docs.
The large majority of Google products and services, as shown on their product listing page, fit the model of the perpetual beta. Google docs is a office suite of applications (similar to Microsoft office) accessed on the cloud. This service is designed to allow users to share files: the documents are stored online, and this enables any user to view the most recent version of the document. This Web 2.0 application is also a good example of the perpetual beta model.
As a regular user of the google docs service, I have received the benefits of the self-updating application, as new improvements are installed without my having any imput from myself. I was not presented with an option to download or install the new version, only a small text notification box briefly explaining the changes that had been implemented in the new version, There was also a bright red link, which took the user to a page with details about the new features.
Software developed for using the traditional development life cycle, such as Microsoft Windows or Adobe PhotoShop, are developed and deployed on the system of the user who is running the software. In contrast, Web 2.0 applications run on the server which the developers control. Compared to the traditional method of deploying software on users’ systems, new Web 2.0 methods of providing users with software have several advantages for developers.
When traditional software has been developed, users will install the software on their device. When this software needs to be updated, the developer can provide the users with the update but has no means of ensuring that the user applies or installs these updates. Google has developed many applications which fit under the perpetual beta banner. As an example, today I will examine Google Docs.
The large majority of Google products and services, as shown on their product listing page, fit the model of the perpetual beta. Google docs is a office suite of applications (similar to Microsoft office) accessed on the cloud. This service is designed to allow users to share files: the documents are stored online, and this enables any user to view the most recent version of the document. This Web 2.0 application is also a good example of the perpetual beta model.
As a regular user of the google docs service, I have received the benefits of the self-updating application, as new improvements are installed without my having any imput from myself. I was not presented with an option to download or install the new version, only a small text notification box briefly explaining the changes that had been implemented in the new version, There was also a bright red link, which took the user to a page with details about the new features.
Software above the level of a single device
More and more everyday users are accessing services and their data from multiple devices. Tim O’reilly’s What is web2.0 blog post discusses how uses are no longer restricted to using the PC platform. An individual user is likely to have a regular computer as well as a portable device. This had created the need for a new category of web applications and has lead to the development of applications which use the 5th Web 2.0 pattern. This software allows users access to services above the level of a single device.
The presence of multiple devices in the life of a user has lead to the requirement for users to be able to access their data from any of their devices at any time. Previously, users had to manually put a copy of each file they required onto each of their devices. Web 2.0 applications such as Windows Live Mesh and Dropbox use a web platform to automate this process. In this blog post, I am going focus on the approach Microsoft took with their live mesh product.
Window Live Mesh is provided to users free of charge as part of the Microsoft live suite of applications and integrates with Microsoft sky drive. Live Mesh provides users with several features, the most important of which include:
To use the Live Mesh service a user must register for a windows live account and install the Live Mesh software on each device they would like to sync to. They can then select folders and sync these folders to each of their computers. Live Mesh also provides its users with a web desktop which they can sync 5GB of files to. This provides users with offsite storage and the ability to access their personal files from any one of their computers. From this web desktop, a user can also remotely connect to and control their computers.
The limitation of Windows Live Mesh is that it currently only supports syncing between Windows PCs and Apple OSX based machines. Mobile devices such as android based devices and iPhones cannot currently be synced to Windows Live Mesh. Drop Box however does not support all these features but does support more devices than Windows Live Mesh.
References
Tim O'Reilly - What is web 2.0, http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=4
The presence of multiple devices in the life of a user has lead to the requirement for users to be able to access their data from any of their devices at any time. Previously, users had to manually put a copy of each file they required onto each of their devices. Web 2.0 applications such as Windows Live Mesh and Dropbox use a web platform to automate this process. In this blog post, I am going focus on the approach Microsoft took with their live mesh product.
Window Live Mesh is provided to users free of charge as part of the Microsoft live suite of applications and integrates with Microsoft sky drive. Live Mesh provides users with several features, the most important of which include:
- Data synchronisation between devices;
- Program settings synchronisation;
- Data accessibility from any internet connected devices
- Remote access to your devices; and
- Offsite backup
To use the Live Mesh service a user must register for a windows live account and install the Live Mesh software on each device they would like to sync to. They can then select folders and sync these folders to each of their computers. Live Mesh also provides its users with a web desktop which they can sync 5GB of files to. This provides users with offsite storage and the ability to access their personal files from any one of their computers. From this web desktop, a user can also remotely connect to and control their computers.
The limitation of Windows Live Mesh is that it currently only supports syncing between Windows PCs and Apple OSX based machines. Mobile devices such as android based devices and iPhones cannot currently be synced to Windows Live Mesh. Drop Box however does not support all these features but does support more devices than Windows Live Mesh.
References
Tim O'Reilly - What is web 2.0, http://oreilly.com/pub/a/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html?page=4
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Rich User Experience - Gmail
As Internet connections speeds continue to improve, the experience for users accessing a range of services have evolved to take advantage of these improvements. This has lead to the 4th Web 2.0 pattern, Rich user Experience.
As explained by Tim O’rilley, creating a rich user experience is the process of combining the best elements to a desktop application and the online experience. This process creates a richer and more compelling experience for the users and assists in the transition from the desktop to an online model.
To explain this pattern, I have used google email service, gmail. With the gmail service, google created an online interface which allowed users to access their email. Google had taken an already existing service and developed a rich user interface with in web application.
Google have evolved this interface over the years they have been over several years and it now includes many features. These Features include,
· Simple way to send and receive emails
· Displaying documents received
· Instant messages facility
· Contact management system
· Calendar
· Task list
All of these services can be accessed from within the one user interface.
There are many other services such as Yahoo and Windows Live Mail which may offer more sophisticated appearing interfaces than the service offered by Google but, Gmail has new some web 2.0 technologies behind it.
The Ajax programming used in gmail allows the software to refresh the inbox and display any new messages without requiring the users to refresh the entire page. The use of these web 2.0 technologies to create a rich user experience has allowed Google to develop a product with many competitive advantages over competing products on the market.
References
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