opinions
Cloud-Computing vs Apps
Google's Chrome Operating System
With the introduction of Google Wave, following Google Docs and the Google Apps suite of productivity and collaborative working tools released over the last year, the release of Google Chrome is truly one of the most serious ventures in challenging Microsoft’s dominance of the way 90% of the population use their computers.
Freebooters, Nostalgics, Renaissants & Media Urchins
Napster's Streaming Music Service
Sky Songs – a new music service, in beta naturally, which offers a streaming service similar to Spotify for a little over 6 quid a month, has over 4m tracks AND you get to download 15 tracks to keep. Now that seems like the perfect model – a decent balance of streaming everything, a reasonable monthly charge AND you get a few favourites to keep. So why has Spotify cornered the market as the “plat du jour” of the streaming music services? How did it manage to get the drop on Last.fm and since its adoption of a download costing model (all neatly synched with partner 7Digital) … will it really start being a threat to iTunes music store?
The inevitable demise of Geocities
Original Yahoo-Geocities Co-branded Landing Page
Geocities, Geocities, Geocities … so Yahoo have finally announced that they will be ditching the Geocities free web-hosting facility. What do internet veterans feel about this?
Undead Avatars and Digital marketing
Facebook Werewolf Application
No-one has attacked my werewolf for at least 12 months thankfully. That might be because, along with a major purge of people I half knew (or old ex-girlfriends that my wife still had a problem with!) I also had a spring clean of all the useless ‘Web 2.0′ social networking apps that were funny for about 5 seconds. And it got me thinking … now that the buzz has died down somewhat concerning all things Web2.0 – what does social networking & user generated content really mean in the context of digital communications campaigns as we come to the end of 2008?
Wayfinding & Signposting in interface design
digital image header for teara.govt.nz - after Rosalie Gascoigne
“You have to lead them by the hand – It’s not the number of clicks, it’s the confidence level that you’re still headed in the right direction”
Steve Krug “Don’t make Me Think – A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability”
Best-practice involves making navigation and interaction as simple and logical as possible for the user. This is neatly summarized by the concept of ‘wayfinding’ – an alternative and more natural approach to what is normally captured under the heading of “Information Architecture”.
Digital Branding in the 21st Century
The MyBrand Generation
Every aspect of the business affects the perception of the brand. So every interaction and “touchpoint” where that experience is generated, must reflect and reinforce the brand. Protecting and managing the brand has therefore become a fundamental task for any business.
Creating and sustaining a consistent brand experience across multiplying and converging channels challenges the way in which today’s organisations manage their brands. The brand is a relationship between the organisation and users, a promise to be fulfilled and an on-going experience, often co-created by the user. For example, the look and feel of a website and the level of customer service it offers are both perceived as one by online customers.