This document discusses how abundance on the internet can destroy the meaning and value of digital places and properties as more options become available. It notes how concepts like websites, URLs, and homepages may lose their importance as the amount of digital content and platforms expands. The document suggests scarcity may be needed to create valuable digital places in the future as the internet continues to grow.
The document discusses the growth of online video and social media. It notes that by 2005, Americans will spend more time on the internet than watching TV. It also discusses how a video of Domino's employees tampering with food was viewed over 1 million times on YouTube and discussed on Twitter, damaging Domino's reputation. Domino's responded that they were blindsided and are preparing a lawsuit.
PDF version of the PowerPoint presentation I gave at the 2009 International Assoc. for Public Participation conference in San Diego in September, titled A New Era of Public Engagement?
The document discusses different concepts related to technology and its impact on society:
1) It discusses Marshall McLuhan's concept of "extensions of man" and how technology has extended human capabilities, first in space and later by connecting people globally through electric technology.
2) It questions what constitutes an "extension of man" and whether the internet can be considered like a hammer or Germany.
3) It discusses how McLuhan saw technology altering human relations and references how the medium impacts the message more than the actual content or product.
El documento presenta las nuevas API's de HTML5 que permiten agregar funcionalidades dinámicas al navegador como animación, multimedia, bases de datos, conexiones en tiempo real y manejo de archivos, sin necesidad de plugins. También introduce conceptos de geolocalización, web sockets, web workers, drag and drop y almacenamiento offline.
Workshop de Desarrollo con Cascades Blackberry Dev Meeting SantiagoCarlos Solis
Carlos Solis is introducing himself as a Blackberry Elite Developer, Adobe Community Professional, and author of the book "Manual del guerrero movil: PhoneGap". He then provides links to tutorial videos and code for a Blackberry Cascades workshop covering configuring the development environment, creating pages in Cascades, navigation, forms, animation, and controls.
The document discusses developing native mobile applications. It introduces Carlos Solis, a BlackBerry Elite Developer and author of books on mobile development. It notes that BlackBerry has changed and now supports technologies like HTML5, sensors, and maps. The document promotes developing applications for BlackBerry using C++ and reviewing the BlackBerry 10 software development kit, which allows creating user interfaces with pages, text, images, and sliders. It encourages attendees to learn more through recommended books and websites.
Herramientas de desarrollo e implementacionCarlos Solis
Curso de HTML5: Herramientas de desarrollo e implementacion
Como aplicar todo lo aprendido en el curso en el mundo real.
Mejora progresiva y adaptación a los diferentes navegadores del mercado
This document discusses developing mobile apps with HTML5 and covers several myths and best practices. It introduces frameworks like PhoneGap that allow creating mobile apps using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript that are cross-platform. Specific topics covered include delivering content to mobiles, platform support, app configuration in PhoneGap, and resources for learning more.
The document discusses the growth of online video and social media. It notes that by 2005, Americans will spend more time on the internet than watching TV. It also discusses how a video of Domino's employees tampering with food was viewed over 1 million times on YouTube and discussed on Twitter, damaging Domino's reputation. Domino's responded that they were blindsided and are preparing a lawsuit.
PDF version of the PowerPoint presentation I gave at the 2009 International Assoc. for Public Participation conference in San Diego in September, titled A New Era of Public Engagement?
The document discusses different concepts related to technology and its impact on society:
1) It discusses Marshall McLuhan's concept of "extensions of man" and how technology has extended human capabilities, first in space and later by connecting people globally through electric technology.
2) It questions what constitutes an "extension of man" and whether the internet can be considered like a hammer or Germany.
3) It discusses how McLuhan saw technology altering human relations and references how the medium impacts the message more than the actual content or product.
El documento presenta las nuevas API's de HTML5 que permiten agregar funcionalidades dinámicas al navegador como animación, multimedia, bases de datos, conexiones en tiempo real y manejo de archivos, sin necesidad de plugins. También introduce conceptos de geolocalización, web sockets, web workers, drag and drop y almacenamiento offline.
Workshop de Desarrollo con Cascades Blackberry Dev Meeting SantiagoCarlos Solis
Carlos Solis is introducing himself as a Blackberry Elite Developer, Adobe Community Professional, and author of the book "Manual del guerrero movil: PhoneGap". He then provides links to tutorial videos and code for a Blackberry Cascades workshop covering configuring the development environment, creating pages in Cascades, navigation, forms, animation, and controls.
The document discusses developing native mobile applications. It introduces Carlos Solis, a BlackBerry Elite Developer and author of books on mobile development. It notes that BlackBerry has changed and now supports technologies like HTML5, sensors, and maps. The document promotes developing applications for BlackBerry using C++ and reviewing the BlackBerry 10 software development kit, which allows creating user interfaces with pages, text, images, and sliders. It encourages attendees to learn more through recommended books and websites.
Herramientas de desarrollo e implementacionCarlos Solis
Curso de HTML5: Herramientas de desarrollo e implementacion
Como aplicar todo lo aprendido en el curso en el mundo real.
Mejora progresiva y adaptación a los diferentes navegadores del mercado
This document discusses developing mobile apps with HTML5 and covers several myths and best practices. It introduces frameworks like PhoneGap that allow creating mobile apps using HTML5, CSS and JavaScript that are cross-platform. Specific topics covered include delivering content to mobiles, platform support, app configuration in PhoneGap, and resources for learning more.
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain which elevate mood and reduce stress levels.
This short document contains two web addresses. The first address is for a website at http://mmiinn.hostoi.com/. The second address is for an index page at http://mcmin.hosting.paran.com/index.html.
This short document contains two website URLs. The first URL points to a website with an unknown domain name, while the second URL points to a website hosted on a free web hosting service with a simple index page.
Information overload occurs when there is too much information for a person to process, understand an issue, and make effective decisions. It is caused by new information being produced rapidly, data being easily duplicated and transmitted through multiple channels, and information lacking structure and containing inconsistencies. When faced with information overload, people can experience nervous breakdowns, diminished work efficiency, information fatigue, hesitation to make decisions, and stress-related diseases. To cope, one should organize information, control and reduce incoming channels, and accept they cannot process everything while focusing on the most important tasks.
The document discusses HTML5 multimedia features such as video, audio, and canvas. It covers how to embed video and audio using <video> and <audio> tags, provides code examples for controlling playback and accessing media properties with JavaScript, and discusses related topics like audio/video formats and codecs, embedding YouTube videos, and using the <canvas> tag. It also assigns multimedia-related homework for students to create a video player with controls, animation, and validated form submission.
This 3 minute video shows a timelapse of the construction of a large skyscraper in downtown Chicago over the course of a year. Workers are seen building the steel framework for the towering building which rises higher each day, and placing windows and exterior panels onto the growing structure. By the end of the year, the newly completed high-rise has joined the impressive skyline of the busy city.
OOWS 2.0: A Model-driven Web Engineering Method for the Development of Web 2....Paco Valverde
This document describes the OOWS 2.0 method, which extends the OOWS method to support the development of Web 2.0 applications. It presents three main contributions: 1) an Abstract Interaction Model for modeling user interaction, 2) a RIA Interface Metamodel for modeling advanced user interfaces using RIA technologies, and 3) Web 2.0 Patterns for representing common practices that emphasize end-user involvement. The method integrates these contributions using model-weaving techniques to establish relationships between the models. It aims to provide high support for modeling user interaction, RIA interfaces, event-driven behavior, and Web 2.0 patterns.
Este documento presenta un cuaderno de trabajo llamado "¿Cuánto leo yo?" destinado a niños y niñas de 2° básico para que practiquen la lectura semanalmente y mejoren su velocidad y comprensión lectora. El cuaderno los acompañará durante todo el año e incluye diferentes actividades y ejercicios de lectura.
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
The document discusses the benefits of exercise for mental health. Regular physical activity can help reduce anxiety and depression and improve mood and cognitive function. Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins in the brain which elevate mood and reduce stress levels.
This short document contains two web addresses. The first address is for a website at http://mmiinn.hostoi.com/. The second address is for an index page at http://mcmin.hosting.paran.com/index.html.
This short document contains two website URLs. The first URL points to a website with an unknown domain name, while the second URL points to a website hosted on a free web hosting service with a simple index page.
Information overload occurs when there is too much information for a person to process, understand an issue, and make effective decisions. It is caused by new information being produced rapidly, data being easily duplicated and transmitted through multiple channels, and information lacking structure and containing inconsistencies. When faced with information overload, people can experience nervous breakdowns, diminished work efficiency, information fatigue, hesitation to make decisions, and stress-related diseases. To cope, one should organize information, control and reduce incoming channels, and accept they cannot process everything while focusing on the most important tasks.
The document discusses HTML5 multimedia features such as video, audio, and canvas. It covers how to embed video and audio using <video> and <audio> tags, provides code examples for controlling playback and accessing media properties with JavaScript, and discusses related topics like audio/video formats and codecs, embedding YouTube videos, and using the <canvas> tag. It also assigns multimedia-related homework for students to create a video player with controls, animation, and validated form submission.
This 3 minute video shows a timelapse of the construction of a large skyscraper in downtown Chicago over the course of a year. Workers are seen building the steel framework for the towering building which rises higher each day, and placing windows and exterior panels onto the growing structure. By the end of the year, the newly completed high-rise has joined the impressive skyline of the busy city.
OOWS 2.0: A Model-driven Web Engineering Method for the Development of Web 2....Paco Valverde
This document describes the OOWS 2.0 method, which extends the OOWS method to support the development of Web 2.0 applications. It presents three main contributions: 1) an Abstract Interaction Model for modeling user interaction, 2) a RIA Interface Metamodel for modeling advanced user interfaces using RIA technologies, and 3) Web 2.0 Patterns for representing common practices that emphasize end-user involvement. The method integrates these contributions using model-weaving techniques to establish relationships between the models. It aims to provide high support for modeling user interaction, RIA interfaces, event-driven behavior, and Web 2.0 patterns.
Este documento presenta un cuaderno de trabajo llamado "¿Cuánto leo yo?" destinado a niños y niñas de 2° básico para que practiquen la lectura semanalmente y mejoren su velocidad y comprensión lectora. El cuaderno los acompañará durante todo el año e incluye diferentes actividades y ejercicios de lectura.
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
Communications Mining Series - Zero to Hero - Session 1DianaGray10
This session provides introduction to UiPath Communication Mining, importance and platform overview. You will acquire a good understand of the phases in Communication Mining as we go over the platform with you. Topics covered:
• Communication Mining Overview
• Why is it important?
• How can it help today’s business and the benefits
• Phases in Communication Mining
• Demo on Platform overview
• Q/A
Unlock the Future of Search with MongoDB Atlas_ Vector Search Unleashed.pdfMalak Abu Hammad
Discover how MongoDB Atlas and vector search technology can revolutionize your application's search capabilities. This comprehensive presentation covers:
* What is Vector Search?
* Importance and benefits of vector search
* Practical use cases across various industries
* Step-by-step implementation guide
* Live demos with code snippets
* Enhancing LLM capabilities with vector search
* Best practices and optimization strategies
Perfect for developers, AI enthusiasts, and tech leaders. Learn how to leverage MongoDB Atlas to deliver highly relevant, context-aware search results, transforming your data retrieval process. Stay ahead in tech innovation and maximize the potential of your applications.
#MongoDB #VectorSearch #AI #SemanticSearch #TechInnovation #DataScience #LLM #MachineLearning #SearchTechnology
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Unlocking Productivity: Leveraging the Potential of Copilot in Microsoft 365, a presentation by Christoforos Vlachos, Senior Solutions Manager – Modern Workplace, Uni Systems
Full-RAG: A modern architecture for hyper-personalizationZilliz
Mike Del Balso, CEO & Co-Founder at Tecton, presents "Full RAG," a novel approach to AI recommendation systems, aiming to push beyond the limitations of traditional models through a deep integration of contextual insights and real-time data, leveraging the Retrieval-Augmented Generation architecture. This talk will outline Full RAG's potential to significantly enhance personalization, address engineering challenges such as data management and model training, and introduce data enrichment with reranking as a key solution. Attendees will gain crucial insights into the importance of hyperpersonalization in AI, the capabilities of Full RAG for advanced personalization, and strategies for managing complex data integrations for deploying cutting-edge AI solutions.
A tale of scale & speed: How the US Navy is enabling software delivery from l...sonjaschweigert1
Rapid and secure feature delivery is a goal across every application team and every branch of the DoD. The Navy’s DevSecOps platform, Party Barge, has achieved:
- Reduction in onboarding time from 5 weeks to 1 day
- Improved developer experience and productivity through actionable findings and reduction of false positives
- Maintenance of superior security standards and inherent policy enforcement with Authorization to Operate (ATO)
Development teams can ship efficiently and ensure applications are cyber ready for Navy Authorizing Officials (AOs). In this webinar, Sigma Defense and Anchore will give attendees a look behind the scenes and demo secure pipeline automation and security artifacts that speed up application ATO and time to production.
We will cover:
- How to remove silos in DevSecOps
- How to build efficient development pipeline roles and component templates
- How to deliver security artifacts that matter for ATO’s (SBOMs, vulnerability reports, and policy evidence)
- How to streamline operations with automated policy checks on container images
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
Maruthi Prithivirajan, Head of ASEAN & IN Solution Architecture, Neo4j
Get an inside look at the latest Neo4j innovations that enable relationship-driven intelligence at scale. Learn more about the newest cloud integrations and product enhancements that make Neo4j an essential choice for developers building apps with interconnected data and generative AI.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
For the full video of this presentation, please visit: https://www.edge-ai-vision.com/2024/06/building-and-scaling-ai-applications-with-the-nx-ai-manager-a-presentation-from-network-optix/
Robin van Emden, Senior Director of Data Science at Network Optix, presents the “Building and Scaling AI Applications with the Nx AI Manager,” tutorial at the May 2024 Embedded Vision Summit.
In this presentation, van Emden covers the basics of scaling edge AI solutions using the Nx tool kit. He emphasizes the process of developing AI models and deploying them globally. He also showcases the conversion of AI models and the creation of effective edge AI pipelines, with a focus on pre-processing, model conversion, selecting the appropriate inference engine for the target hardware and post-processing.
van Emden shows how Nx can simplify the developer’s life and facilitate a rapid transition from concept to production-ready applications.He provides valuable insights into developing scalable and efficient edge AI solutions, with a strong focus on practical implementation.
Securing your Kubernetes cluster_ a step-by-step guide to success !KatiaHIMEUR1
Today, after several years of existence, an extremely active community and an ultra-dynamic ecosystem, Kubernetes has established itself as the de facto standard in container orchestration. Thanks to a wide range of managed services, it has never been so easy to set up a ready-to-use Kubernetes cluster.
However, this ease of use means that the subject of security in Kubernetes is often left for later, or even neglected. This exposes companies to significant risks.
In this talk, I'll show you step-by-step how to secure your Kubernetes cluster for greater peace of mind and reliability.
Building RAG with self-deployed Milvus vector database and Snowpark Container...Zilliz
This talk will give hands-on advice on building RAG applications with an open-source Milvus database deployed as a docker container. We will also introduce the integration of Milvus with Snowpark Container Services.
16. Abundance can destroy meaning
In the physical world, you can only be in
one place at one time
The Sixth Sense Effect:
We can still see dead things, long after
they’re (basically) gone
17.
18.
19. Abundance can destroy meaning
In the physical world, you can only be in
one place at one time
The Sixth Sense Effect
Digital metaphors can have real value
30. 30
Source: eMarketer via ThinkEquity LLC, “The Opportunity in Non-Premium Advertising.” May 4, 2009; IGN Entertainment analysis
2009 2010E
14,225
16,473
18,903
2011E 2012E
21,411
2013E
24,023
+69%
Worldwide display impression forecast
Billions of impressions
31. www.com is not the only platform…
soon, it won’t even be the biggest
why?
content travels
top-level domains for sale: dot-anything
so many screens!
social might beat search
34. as the amount of digital real estate
expands, digital “place” loses its value
that is already happening to the pixel,
and will happen to the URL…
taking the site out of websites
35. so how do we create a valuable place?
scarcity
36.
37. where on the web can we find a nice,
quiet place to call home?
What is Wired talking about? Doesn’t everyone use the web?
This presentation is about one way the web *is* dying – as a system for understanding how the digital world is organized. As a metaphor. The World Wide Web: websites and pages and http://something and browsers and all that. That *way* of organizing the Internet is what’s going away.
I’ll set up some context with lessons from other systems that have died, not so much by becoming technologically obsolete… as becoming bad metaphors.
The web’s organizing principle for the digital world – it’s metaphor -- is, I believe, all about having a sense of place. A universe of ideas, feelings, sounds, images – all organized in our minds by their *locations* in the digital world. Even the word web*site* is all about location. But the map of those locations is changing, and I think understanding that map – understanding the “sense of place” on the web – is one key to understanding the Internet’s future.
So first why does Wired think the web is dying? They led with this now-much-maligned chart. The chart shows the proportion of total traffic on the web that is devoted to various activities, and seems to show the “web” portion declining with time, due to the rise of video and peer-to-peer services.
Of course if you adjust for total traffic then it looks more like….
They’re all increasing, fast. Especially video – the pink section. But the web – in red – is growing, too. No death here. BoingBoing, which published this analysis, helpfully points out that this is only a measurement of bandwidth – how much data is consumed. That may not be a great measure because 50MB of video and 50MB of text are two very different experiences. It doesn’t account for time spent, revenue, whatever else you care about.
But the web is clearly NOT dying in terms of usage. So how might it be dying? Let’s look at a few other examples of systems that have died, not by becoming technologically obsolete so much as irrelevant.
Telephone numbers’ prefixed originally had lots of meaning – they told you where a place was. But, over time, they became just numbers. Even the area codes today are, increasingly, unrelated to where the number is issued.
Originally, area codes were very meaningful: they told you where someone lived. This is the original map of the area code system created by the North American Numbering Plan. One great rule of the organizers of the information is that they love acronyms.
They were so meaningful that when we started running out, people had a bit of a fit. The Atlantic dug up this old gem from Google Archives. The original system had a billion numbers. There are only 300 million or so of us – do we really need more than a billion phone numbers?
Even as late as 1997, when this cartoon ran, area codes were still status symbols.
But then they became… just numbers. In fact, this last one has the area code for an eFax number I got a few years ago. I didn’t even realize 360 was a real area code, I’d definitely never been to Western Washington.
This has happened in the media world. The networks used to rule television. Of course, there weren’t many choices. So if you controlled, in this very powerful medium, what appeared when someone clicked to the number 4, you had a very valuable asset. Today, people have more choices…
This is the channel listing on Hulu. Everyone understands that in media there has been an explosion of options, and that this has put enormous pressure on all media companies. Think of your favorite channel on cable or satellite. Can you even remember what number channel it is? As channels become abundant, the idea of a channel is becoming less relevant. (Let alone DVRs, VOD, and all kinds of things that are doing away with linear television viewing altogether…)
So, again, over time, abundance can destroy meaning.
What can we learn about a system that is, more explicitly, about organizing information? We all know the Dewey Decimal Classification. Section 500 for Science, etc. This used to double for a physical map of the library, because you could just go to the 500s section and it corresponded to a physical place in the library. Some of you may know the classification is still being updated, managed by an organization called the – here comes the acronym -- OCLC (which won’t tell you on its website what it stands for, I think because the O is for Ohio and maybe they’re going global).
It’s a big world – they’ve organized it! Or have they?
If you search for references to the Dewey Decimal System on Amazon, the first result is for a book about love. And on the Amazon forums there is actually a question of whether the Dewey Decimal System still exists…
And why is that? It’s because in a world where a book can be found in more than one place, tagged with more than one category, and can appear, digitally, on more than one shelf maybe we don’t quite need a system that puts every book in one and only one place. The idea isn’t as relevant.
So in the physical world, a relevant idea helps us map the meaning of physical objects. Because a physical object can only be in one place at one time. One other lesson of both area codes and the Dewey Decimal System is that, long after they’re not as relevant, they are still around.
Finally, let’s look at an example of a place that really doesn’t have any relationship to the real world – yet has enormous value.
This is a map of a section of the World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft has 12 million people in it, who spend more than a billion hours a year spent in this game. You’d think a world like this might get pretty crowded?
The clever people at Blizzard, the company that is the omnipotent G-d of World of Warcraft, solved that problem. They created what they called “realms.” Effectively, entirely separate dimensions. You could be in a city in this universe, and I could be in the same city, and we’d never interact with each other. There are over 200 realms for North America alone. There is even an online census of the various realms, because some have overpopulation problems. The technically minded folks will know that this was really all about instances on different servers. Physical hardware boxes mapping to metaphorical dimensions in the World of Warcraft.
So what do you do if you get tired of the people in your dimension? Or want to meet a friend who is in Arathor while you’re in Bronzebeard?
Well, the people at Blizzard have a solution for that: you can pay them $25, plus tax. Yes, we tax you for going to another dimension in World of Warcraft.
So the last lesson – before we talk about the web – is that a digital place, an idea, can have real value. Anyone who has bought a better kind of seed in Farmville knows that.
So what does all this tell us about the web? I want to start by explaining how important the idea of PLACE is to the vocabulary of the web and computing technology in general.
This was Microsoft’s first real global brand advertising campaign, in 1994. WHERE do you want to go today…
The language of the web is full of references to location.
In the early days of the web, this made complete sense. The only way to really find a page was to start at its homepage, so it felt like a natural metaphor.
Yahoo! was originally a directory. There wasn’t really a way to conveniently get to anything but the homepage (unless you remembered a long, complicated URL).
Today, this just isn’t the case. This is one of the most visited sites on the web, eHow, owned by a company called Demand Media. This is their homepage, which, to be honest, not that many people go to relative to the enormous size of the site.
They get to the site by searching on Google…
And then they land on what we’d call an “interior” page… although that’s a strange name because it is, for a typical user, really the front door.
This was the old model for how people imagined traveling through the web.
It holds – Sixth Sense principle! – even today. And it’s even a proxy, as you can see here on this chart of homepage visitation – for the strength of a brand.
But really the web today isn’t like this, where you come in the front door. It’s a strange house, where you can pop in anywhere – just *appear* in any room. This is confusing to a user… it’s hard to design a house in a way where every door is a front door. In the digital world, unlike the physical world, a room can also be entered from any other room!
It starts to get a little confusing. This is a real problem for the web. Maybe users don’t want to surf this way. Maybe they just want a boat.
Not to mention on the web, unlike the physical world – everywhere you go you leave a trace, and carry a unique ID card. 84% of people can be identified by their browser, operating system, and plugins. If you use Flash, 94%.
Not to mention abundance is starting to erode value. This chart shows the growth in ad inventory on the web, as a proxy for the general explosion in commercial supply.
Abundance is going to apply at many levels, and erode the value of a website.
So what does this mean for how we organize the web? We are already designing every door as a front door. But now we also have to design all kinds of different houses. A mature web service has to be on so many platforms… so the idea of a service being in a single “place” is now really challenging to imagine.
The web might become irrelevant as a metaphor for understanding our digital world.
It starts with restoring scarcity. Genuine scarcity that comes from something really valuable – not an artificial restriction.
And *that* is why applications are such a fundamental change in the organization of the web. Apps are promising because they return us to a world of fewer choices. And they’re scary for the same reason. Yes, there are millions of apps out there. But you’ll only have 20-40 on your phone at any given time? And probably only access a handful regularly. It’s more like the dial on your television than it is like the channels on Hulu.
And note: an app only has one front door. You can’t start on a random page. You can’t search your way directly into the page of an app on carving a pumpkin. The experience has, again, more of a “path” to it.
An app is a place. Just a digital metaphor, but one that has real value. And that’s what everyone’s fighting for. Facebook thinks your friends, and what they “like” will be the place that matters – rumor is they might even build a browser to help you surf the web that way. Apple thinks it will be this view here. Google has their view.
And so the central question is this. Where can we find a place that matters. One that has scarcity, that understands that on the web you can be in more than one place at the same time.
It probably won’t be the URL bar, although that will stick around a long time -- because of the Sixth Sense effect.
Where will it be? I don’t know. Maybe it will be re-attaching the web to physical places, Foursquare is doing just that. Maybe it will be with simpler platforms, though I think there will always be a tension between times when you want the MC Escher magic staircases, you want to pop into and out of random pieces of content.
But one way or another the web, as we know it, as an idea for how places in the digital world are organized, that web is dying – and a new one is being born. Looking forward to seeing what the map of that web looks like.