2008 November « James Gross

Archive for November, 2008

Developers

Published November 18, 2008 Business Model 2 Comments

So many exciting, rich applications coming online based on new architectures and platforms. There is a gold rush of potential on platforms like The iPhone, Facebook, Android, OpenSocial, etc. Developers have opportunities that could make them millions, while also offering a meritocracy around their work that keeps them independent and not engineer #1B465D at Oracle or some other software legacy company.

The problem? There are big gatekeepers looking to create an exclusive club, take profits, steal IP, and leverage their scale to crush anything that is competitive. Feels very similar to four years ago when, if you were an independent site looking to create a revenue model, you didn’t have a lot of choices. Ad networks paid $0.10 CPMs and affiliate partners were not interested in valuing your audience for anything else than a CPA transaction.

Who is going to create a model that looks out for the interests of developers?

Pageonce is slick

Published November 16, 2008 Creative , Platforms 1 Comment

I think the biggest issue they are going to have to overcome is how safe consumers feel in entrusting all their passwords to one company. Which begs the question, is it safe?

The application for the iPhone and even the browser is the best solution I have found for managing so many of the toughest accounts to log into. ConEd, TimeWarner, AT&T, etc. It also gives you a snapshot into your balances.

Some photos of the iPhone UI from Lifehacker

Pageonce

For travel it is a great way to look up your itinerary for a flight or hotel check-in without having to crack open the laptop or remember reservation numbers.

The Remixed World

Via Oren, a drawing from Hugh MacLeod on the importance of APIs.
APIs

What I'm Liking

Published November 15, 2008 Advertising Leave a Comment

Barack Obama

Obama
I’ve covered this one a bit, but it continues to be great. Now there is news that he is going to take fireside chats to YouTube. Awesome.

Nikon D90

It’s by far the best camera I have ever owned. I’m a novice with DSLRs and my hands tend to shake a lot but I’m impressed with how easy it is to use and how good the photos are.

Google Analytics & Google Trends

Neither of them are new, but I find myself using them more and more each day. Great companies make great products.

Yammer

We are using it internally at FM. It’s cool, the collective nature of a simple messaging tool allows for a clean way for people to share thought streams and ask questions. In a smaller company you have a lot of people that are talented in many areas that are far beyond the scope of what they are hired for. Tools like Yammer allows for this to come out.

An iPhone Case

I don’t have one of these but I’m going on my third iPhone. Maybe I should buy one? Steve Jobs: “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” I argued the case conflicts with the design and therefore interrupts how it should naturally work. Well, it doesn’t work at all when the screen is shattered.

#hashtag/meme movements

I’m excited about services like Twitter and their ability to capture the spirit of the moment in a very lightweight, extensible way. Hopefully more to come here.

cooliris

Formerly, Piclens, cooliris is just cool. If you have a PC hooked up to your TV it’s even better(larger screen). A fun piece of software to weave your way through a more liquid and media-rich web experience.