Designing for the mobile web is not just a matter of trimming down the content on your website. Much better to think about the user first, and create a usable experience. Let’s think outside the box.
An internet watered down. by John Pettengill reinforces the point.
The Mobile Web (in upper case, like we used “Internet” for years) had been in the back of my mind for a while. Then in the early summer I heard about the W3C Mobile Web Initiative Training and decided it was about time I got my head round it properly.
Well, I’m pleased to share with you that last month I completed the W3C Mobile Web Best Practices course run very ably by Phil Archer,Dominique Hazaël-Massieux and François Daoust. If you are developing for the mobile web or wish to do so, you should look no further; this is the course for you.
As well as the challenges of developing for the One Web, what not to do is also reinforced throughout the course.
One of the best aspects of the course, was the online community for participants. The spirit of sharing and learning together was great, and there were always people on hand to answer our questions.
I look forward to putting everything into practice in the coming months, and look forward to the sequel!
I’ve just viewed this 90-minute video demo of Google Wave, Google’s new collaboration and communication tool. Lars Rasmussen, one of the key developers, does the ‘Google wave dance’ during his presentation, while he hopes the demo won’t crash!
It looks like Google Wave integrates a number of services (email, instant messaging, forms, etc) that we’re already pretty familiar with – bundling them together under a set of ‘google waves’. Built with Google web toolkit, Google Wave shows us that it is possible to collaborate and communicate in real time… without leaving the browser.
Email and IM are two of the tools that have been merged to create a real-time interaction between contacts. In theory, you’ll be able to have conversations, play them back, and leave a ‘history’ which can be accessed at any time. No more waiting when messanging and no more hand editing emails to insert your responses.
The playback functionality sounds impressive and fixes the often time-consuming process of finding the email thread you had a few days ago.
Not only you will be able to see real time data from your contacts but you’ll also be able to edit stuff collaboratively. This turns Google Wave into a production tool where, for example, your PM could write a set of notes that could then be edited by all parties. What’s more is that if any of those parties joined the conversation at a later stage, they can play back the conversation that took place earlier showing the history of the editing and the exact point at which they joined the conversation. This could have a positive effect on productivity.
Another example of real time interaction is the ability to upload photos, with your contacts able to view them instantly – and edit them if they wish.
There are other ‘waves’ that users would be able to add like blogging, video, linking, their social network, etc. It also appears that Twitter can add another layer of communication, and of course, Google Wave wouldn’t be complete without a ‘wave search’.
I thought the ‘bean soup’ demo spell checker was very impressive – spell-checking in real time, based on the context and not just on a word.
‘Languages’ is another added ‘wave’, a robot capable of translating from and into 40 languages, and guess what? In real time.
Google Wave will be ‘open’, allowing any organisation to create and host their own system and be able to interact with other systems around the globe, retaining privacy between systems. Developers will be able to create extensions and gadgets like games via the Google wave API.
Looks like Google Wave is a real contender in the ‘collaboration’ space… and one that businesses should investigate seriously. I can’t wait to try it out when it is released later this year.
Other reading:
Google Wave: What Might Email Look Like If It Were Invented Today?
Google Wave: Google Tries to Reinvent Email
Six Ways that Google Wave is Going to Change Your Business, Career and Life
Seth Godin talks a lot of sense about Tribes. People who disagree with the status quo and decide they want to change things. Godin persuades us to tell a story, connect to a tribe, lead a movement and make a change.
Examples of tribes range from Al Gore: an Inconvenient Truth to the iPhone hackers. All with the same purpose of people connecting with each other.
After listening to Seth Godin: Why tribes, not money or factories, will change the world I realised that throughout my life I’ve always challenged things quietly and never done anything about it. I think it’s about time I did something.
We can’t all be leaders, but we can join a tribe to which we feel connected. According to Godin, you don’t need to be born a leader to start a tribe but if you find yourself disagreeing with something, then there is now an opportunity for you to start a movement and it only takes 24hrs!
More examples of tribes: Free tribes e-book
Five days ago I returned from a wonderful family holiday to Mexico, only to be given a wide berth by people here who are scared about catching swine flu. Fortunately, none of us are remotely showing any signs of it.
It’s a very unfortunate event I sense has people downgrading Mexico again and re-labelling it a “third world” country. While it is true there is inequality in Mexico, when it comes to combatting something like this new virus, everyone should be treated consistently. Mexico hasn’t got the contingencies nor stockpiled drugs like we have in Europe; those struck down in a remote village in Mexico find their chances of survival compromised.
But during my visit to Queretaro, I was very impressed with the state government’s provision for the elderly, and for fighting poverty. It’s rather a beacon state to be copied by others in the country. Now is the time for people to pull together and for the world to show solidarity with Mexico, rather than seek to isolate her.
Thank you for stopping by. I'm a techie at heart and passionate about the social web. I help people embrace open source technologies and coach them to use online tools effectively.