Upgrade and Downtime
Patrick May 16th, 2007
I’m upgrading WordPress, so there will be a bit of downtime. I’ll try to minimize. Thanks!
Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
The Future of Software (or, On “How to Widget?”)
Patrick April 5th, 2007
Last night, I revisited Fred Wilson’s post entitled “How to Widget?” Something about the post has been bouncing around in my head since I first read it a couple of weeks ago. Not the bit about feed-based architectures, though I’d argue that Fred takes the “create once, publish anywhere” mantra a bit too far down the value chain. Fred seems to be arguing that creating a feed is the equivalent of writing, not of publishing, when in my view, it is clearly the latter. A feed is not the atomic content unit in an of itself, its a distribution method, just like a website, an email newsletter and a widget. The key is to store that content in a standard, open format so that it can be easily distributed via these methods and more, such as APIs to other sites, mobile devices and even traditional media.
But I’ll leave that debate for another time (or for Hooman). Before Fred concludes that widgets should be built on a feed-based architecture (and ultimately, there is something to the idea that feeds can be a key enabling technology for widgets), he references his earlier four rules on The Future of Media:
- Microchunk it - Reduce the content to its simplest form.
- Free it - Put it out there without walls around it or strings on it.
- Syndicate it - Let anyone take it and run with it.
- Monetize it - Put the monetization and tracking systems into the microchunk.
Niall on Google Gadgets, Version 2.0
Patrick April 3rd, 2007
Niall Kennedy takes another look at the Google Gadget Ecosystem, comparing March’s results to February’s, and at a higher level, Google to a few other players. Google’s Gadgets grew in volume by 15%, compared to 7% for NetVibes, 3% for PageFlakes, and -20% for Windows Live. Views of Google Gadgets grew 36%.
My main takeaways from Niall’s analysis
- The number of gadgets in Microsoft’s directory actually decreased. I wonder what is going on here.
- NetVibes and PageFlakes in particular have some catching up to do.
- The Fortune Cookie gadget grow more than 20,000%!!! I may have to add that to my personalized Google page to see first hand what all the excitement is about.
Also notable, Google Gadget pageviews grew 36%, evidence that the widget market in general continues to gain traction.
Clearspring Raises $5.5 million
Patrick March 28th, 2007
Widget syndication company Clearspring raised $5.5 million in venture capital. Some VCs I’ve heard from doubt the potential of widgets. Novak Biddle and ZG Ventures are not among them.
Widgets Live!
Patrick March 28th, 2007
Om Malik and Niall Kennedy produced this conference about, you guessed it, widgets. I love their slogan: “a small web loosely joined.”
Question: when is version 2.0 of Widgets Live? I need to make my travel arrangements…