Spry?

AJAX is a combination of web technologies widely popularized by Google. Spry is Adobes brand new AJAX Framework, directly competing with other libraries such as Prototype & Microsoft’s Atlas. It is very easy to use and comes with some great animation and visual effects. Some very powerful uses may also be in the works – such as AJAX application generation from Adobe’s Flex Builder. AJAX is a great way to develop rich internet content easily and inexpensively, and with more and more libraries coming out – developing AJAX is painless.

American Idol vs Grand Theft Auto 4

I did something today that gave me a pretty clear picture of the web. I looked at Yahoo’s Top 20 searches. It’s definitely informative, giving several key stats that let you see not only ranking and direction but momentum and acceleration up and down the charts. I was surprised when I couldn’t find anything on rap or hip hop but instead the new Grand Theft Auto 4 trailer and American Idol.

Check it out.

“Niche Super Serving”

The internet has created a way for niches to live big. Podcasting, has broadened the range of where and how niches are served.

The future of television will be based on internet content. Currently this almost entirely made up of indie-casters. Just as in the music and movie industries, television now has an independent segment and it’s at the forefront of a new kind of media.

Electronic media is continuously moving towards one box. Gaming, communication, and live or on demand content, will one day be completely  integrated. Microsoft and Apple both are heading up this revolution with developments including the Apple TV and Microsoft’s new version of their Xbox 360 dubbed Elite. Both use large hard drives and connectivity with networked computers and the internet to deliver content that used to live only in your office or bedroom, into your living room.

This is the beginning of a whole new way of serving media. It is part of a technical revolution starting back with the creation of the internet. We will no longer sit in front of a TV waiting for content to be pushed at us. We will decide when we will see whatever content we choose and interact with it to various degrees. This will ultimately broaden what is available. The audience will more and more affect content as a whole. American Idol and other shows use voting to let the audience interact with the shows outcomes. A two way connection with our living room offers an entirely new level of interactivity that will change the way we watch TV forever.

Web 3.0

The idea of Web 2.0 seems a bit silly to me. Sure, who doesn’t enjoy a good video on Youtube or finding some old friends on Myspace? Several other large sites have and will be successful, but as far as an entire reworking of how we use and think about the internet – I’m not so sure. I smell hype.

New organizations need new ideas with solid foundations. They can’t rely on basic technologies and modern ideas. They need to reach even further than what is simply popular and develop what will drive success in the future. When we review the history of future successes we will see that they were far ahead of the curve and not just relying on web 2.0 but rather creating a web 3.0.