|
| Recent
Articles |
Blogging, Politics, And Modern Media
Robert Scoble revealed in his blog that he had been invited by the John Edwards campaign to cover the Senator's announcement regarding his intention to pursue the U.S. Presidency. Last week, I wrote a piece about the growing importance of blogging and other social media platforms in the realm of politics.
Which Search Engine Is Safest?
Can the results associated with your search queries send you to malicious sites? It depends on which search engine you use, but the probability this would happen has decreased. Thanks to an updated report from McAfee's SiteAdvisor, we now know that, for the most part, Internet search is a much safer activity than it was in the past. However, that doesn't mean search...
Google To Get Belgian News Hearing
A couple of parties to a lawsuit in Belgium against Google for its news indexing have settled with the search advertising giant, but Google will have to wait until 2007 to fight an injunction against its scraping of news content managed by distributor Copiepresse. Google and two associations, one representing photographers and another journalists, have reached accords with...
Visitors Value Video Viewing Variety
A survey by AOL and AP found that 54 percent of Internet users have watched or downloaded a video clip. The usage of online video has increased by a third since the same time last year, according to the video survey performed by the two firms, as 32 percent of respondents said they watch more video today. Pre-roll advertising beats paying for video when it comes to revenue...
A/B Testing For Adsense Is Often Pointless
Google recently posted a little blurb about The ABCs of A/B Testing. I hate to be a wet blanket, but for most of us lower volume publishers, that's a pointless exercise with little to gain. Unless you have very high volume, you simply don't have enough data to draw any useful conclusions from this kind of test.
Don't get completely...
YouTube Receives Minor Revisions
YouTube went down again thursday night, but this time, it was a planned "outage." Now the site is up and running again, with "some maintenance and . . . a few new features" under its belt. The current changes are interesting, although not groundbreaking, but there is a promise of more to come. The YouTube Blog offered...
|
 |
|
01.02.07
A New Year’s Wish List
 By Joe Lewis
There were a lot of significant advances in 2006 in the digital realm. Google prospered, YouTube exploded onto the scene, and the Internet overtook newspapers in the hierarchy of information consumption. What does this year hold in store for the technological landscape?
Wish lists are usually reserved for birthdays or the recent Christmas season, but somehow it seemed appropriate to ponder what I would like to see come to pass in this new year. So, for your reading pleasure, I have narrowed the list down to the five events that I would most like to see come to fruition this year.
1) A Google Enhanced Distribution of Linux
While Vista may not be the triumphant success that Microsoft had hoped for, it still remains that the operating system will have a determined focus to challenge Google's search dominance as its desktop search functionality continues to be refined. So, in response, an operating system bearing the Google emblem would be a welcome alternative for the anti-Microsoft disestablishmentarian fanboys.
The company already makes use of its own customized Linux distribution, and making that product available to the public would seem to be a logical step to challenge Microsoft in the OS realm. And personally, I always have subscribed to the adage that choice is good, and a Goonix platform could give consumers just such a choice.
2) Municipal WiFi That Isn't a Giant Hassle
When Google and Earthlink set out to set up a WiFi network throughout San Francisco, it seemed like a win/win situation for everyone involved. Now, in what seems like an eternity later, the project continues to be tied down within the miry confines of city bureaucracy and public scrutiny.
Isn't there some way to bring MuniFi to the masses without the "ginormous" hassle of jumping through hoop after hoop only to land in more red tape?
3) The Abolishment of DRM from iTunes
I've written about this topic a number of times, and I will keep writing about it until Apple gets a clue about just how counterproductive its Digital Rights Management (DRM) practices are to the spirit of the digital music community.
Apple has traditionally been the underground company looking to stick it to The Man (Microsoft) in its endeavors. Ironically, with the dominance of the iTunes music store and the restrictive nature of DRM, Apple is turning into its own twisted version of The Man.
4) Search Functionality Within Google Reader
Have I missed something here? I mean, I love… L-O-V-E the RSS aggregation tastiness that is Google Reader. In fact, I dare say I could not live without it when researching material to write about. However, I can't seem to find any way to search through my feeds for a particular topic, keyword, author, or any other term.
So you're telling me that a company that has made its name from search functionality hasn't figured out how to implement it within one of its fastest growing services?
It boggles the mind.
5) Yahoo Storming Back Into the Online Forefront
If choice is good, then genuine competition is grand. Yahoo took a lot of heat in 2006, so let's hope in 2007 that the company can rebound and become a bigger player than ever before in the landscapes of search, marketing, and online services.
Why? Because when true competition exists, then the consumer always wins. If Google and Yahoo become locked in a heated battle to provide the most comprehensive online experience for the user, the pace of innovation and user-friendliness increases exponentially. That's something we all should want, it's the fundamental principal that drives the free market.
Or as Austin Powers would say, "Groovy! Smashing! Yay Capitalism!"
So there you have it, the five things I hope will happen this year. It isn't too much to ask for, is it?
About the Author:
Joe is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
|
