Category: Technology

Technology

Consumer software licensing innovation please

All around us the mechanisms for delivering applications are evolving and innovating. The web has created an infinite number of ways to do things. With all the change in the consumer application space there still seems to be a mind set that consumers should pay for the value of software up front (for local applications). So here are my suggestions for new licencing approaches:

  • Free for N number of days, after N days the customer pays what they think the software is worth to them.
  • Modest initial fee ($25 to $50) and then a small subscription fee for a fixed period of time.
  • Modest initial fee ($25 to $50) and then micro payments only when the software is used with the total payment capped.

Large upfront fees create economic barriers and perpetuate the digital divide. Companies that are willing to align their revenue streams with the rate at which their customers realize value will be more sustainable and profitable. The alignment of cost and value also provides greater motivation for companies to continuously innovate their products and focus on their customers needs.

Food for Thought, Technology

Documents as conversation pieces

Many times people are unable to sustain a dialog without some concrete representation to reference. In many organizations critical decisions, direction, assumptions and goals go under communicated. A document creates an opportunity to hold critical information but importantly it creates a relationship between the interested parties. The parties may have little opportunity to communicate and without the formality of a document the dialog never reaches critical mass or never occurs.

For example a report card really is a conversation piece to be used by the parent, teacher and student/child. In the end the value of dialog generated by the report card will eclipse the document itself.

The importance of the document is eclipsed by the dialog that is triggered and focused by the existence of the document. At some level the document is simply a conversation piece used to focus the exchange and create a reason for meaningful discussion. Once the conversations are complete and a meaningful result is achieved the document becomes a reference to the dialog that can be used to remind all parties of the exchange and commitments.

I know this is not some formal methodology where the documents are the critical and substantive. Pragmatically the value of the document will rarely exceed the value of the collaborative dialog that surrounds its creation, socialization, and acceptance. In the end the document is just a piece of corporate art that inspires passions, opinions and is left as a memory of it all.

Technology

Evolutionary systems

I have since I was a young boy been fascinated with building architecture. That interest was the foundation of my passion for architecture as it applies to information technology. Being the son of a carpenter gave me plenty of opportunities to see how buildings are built and evolved. I have taken that perspective and applied it to my work in information systems architecture. So as I was rereading How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand, I was struck by a most profound quote

A building is not something finished. A building is something you start.

Continue reading “Evolutionary systems” →

Technology

The numbers, give me the numbers

A simple example of a quantitative approach to estimates. There are many more examples from the likes of John P. Craven using of Bayes’ theorem of subjective probability (pg. 104) and Google.

Quantitative Research defintion via Wikipedia

Quantitative research is the systematic scientific investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships.

Yeah, just give me the numbers.

Technology

Simple shifts

As the understanding of the web matures, new unique perspectives of the web are going drive innovation. In the beginning having the web was the driving force of innovation (The Bubble was a side effect), and by all measures that type of innovation is still going on today. Now after more than a decade of the web we are seeing innovation based on using the web in an unique and innovative ways.

Companies like SalesForce.com (CRM, business applications), Google (mail, chat, calendar, marketing and search) are delivering services via the web that were previous costly and difficult to manage. Companies like 37signals (Basecamp for Project management) and Zimbra are simplifying and bringing together information and applications in meaningful ways. More and more simple shifts in thinking about how the web can be used or generally how the network can be used are having profound effects on technology and the community of companies and people on and off the network.

Technology

Buy a book and some processor cycles

Amazon is now offering Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). This goes along with other service offerings. I really like the business strategy statement in the the Amazon 2005 annual report but the service part seems kinda just tacked on:

Our business strategy is to relentlessly focus on customer experience by offering our customers low prices,
convenience, and a wide selection of merchandise, to provide e-commerce solutions and services to other
businesses and to offer web services applications to developers.

(my emphasis)

They offer services but (via Amazon Web Services Licensing Agreement):

AMAZON WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, AMAZON WEB SERVICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION LOST DATA, BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED PROFITS. CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, AND SO SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS, OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

But don’t worry if you die or get personally injured:

THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY DOES NOT APPLY TO LIMIT AMAZON’S LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY TO THE EXTENT ONLY THAT IT ARISES AS A RESULT OF THE NEGLIGENCE OF AMAZON OR OF ITS EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES.

Amazon continues to offer cool services to developers at affordable prices. So check out Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

Technology

Google visualization a contrast in styles

I really like the Google finance visualization. On the other hand Google analytics could be greatly improved. Coda Hale did a great analysis and offers some suggestions. Google has a talented team of people who did the Finance visualization, I agree with Coda Hale, have them do Google analytics.

When I first saw Google Finance I thought that they hired Edward Tufte. Who ever did finance should be doing all data visualization for Google.

Technology

Redirects

I was reading Dave Winer’s Scripting News when I came to the post linking to an explanation of redirects. It was fitting that I read the article as I prepare to migrate to FeedBurner feeds. It reminded me of a bit of time I spent figuring out HTTP. I have to say reading the HTTP spec is a bit dry but it really helped me better understand the web. The HTTP spec and Roy Fielding’s Dissertation on REST have been quite helpful over the last 5 years.

Links:
Scripting News RSS feed

Http 1.1 Spec
Http 1.1 spec return codes

Technology, tomcarroll.org

Update on my RFP for Feed Management Services

Well, I put out my RFP for feed management services last Thursday. I have received one thoughtful and rapid reply from FeedBurner (a Chicago company, that makes me happy). I have received visitors from some other companies that offer feed management services (You know who you are) but none as of this post have responded. So I will leave my RFP open until the end of the week.

On Friday August 11, I will make my decision and publish my findings.

So, if any of you lurking companies wish to take on FeedBurner, you better get to it.

Links:
reply from FeedBurner

question, Technology, tomcarroll.org

My RFP for Feed management services

I am looking to migrate from my WordPress generated and managed feeds to a third party service. So I thought I would spell out my requirements.

The important stuff:

  • The migration to the service must be seamless for my current subscribers (Yeah I know all 3).
  • The service should provide a suite of metrics that allow me better understand who, how often, when, how long, how many times (You know what I mean, the numbers).
  • In the case that I choose to leave your service, I must be able to migrate my feeds transparently and also be able to migrate my usage data.
  • I would like support for one click subscription to the various news readers.
  • The service must have tight wordpress integration.
  • Integration with analytical packages say like Google analytics
  • feeds must be human readable
  • I would like it to support leave comment from the feed.
  • Configurable support for social network services like Digg or del.icio.us (Sometimes I want it on, sometimes off)
  • Support for the widest set of RSS extensions (This is what I mean)
  • A strong record of availability, reliability and scalability (I might hit 4 subscribers someday)
  • Should support multiple feeds per site, no limit.
  • Integration to see where my feed is bookmarked and subscribed (share.opml.org, del.icio.us, Google reader ect…)

The not so important stuff:

  • Advertising, I prefer none. ( I know that say for a free service this is negotiable)

A free service must support the first 3 bullet points in my important stuff list. The rest Is negotiable. I may be willing to pay for no ads and really cool features. I would like to see a track record of satisfied customers, transparency is good. So that is it so far, if I think of more I will be sure to spring it on you in the 9th hour.

So make your case (reader recommendations welcome)