These are my web-related English articles. Right now most of them are from my Webworries column, written during my time as editor for the Ericsson e-zine Eriweb.
September 9, 1999
I'M ALMOST DISAPPOINTED ;). I half-expected to wake up to a world in technological chaos, planes crashing, traffic signals going berserk, microwaves exploding, and my cell phone calling India for no apparent reason :). Reports from Japan, however, tell the tale that nothing happened. What a drag... after building up momentum like a crazed 2 tonne rhinoceros we are down to the report "All systems in working order".
What am I talking about? Well, the fact that some software programmers used the number 9999 as a 'stop signal', i.e. an end-of-process or end-of-file trigger. This led some people to believe that the date 9/9/99 would result in computer processes shutting down all over the world. Media hooked on to this belief, blowing it out of proportions and creating a scare, as media tends to do.
MY CALENDAR WITH forgotten English words defines the word drabloch today: "Refuse, trash, as the smallest kind of potatoes, not fully grown are called 'mere drabloch.'" -- from John Jamieson's Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language, 1808. That is exactly what I think the 9999 scare is: mere drabloch!
The fact of the matter is that programmers can use any combination of numbers as an end-of-process trigger. For a problem to kick in on this date in history, programmers will have to have made some pretty stupid mistakes. In the Gregorian calendar, September 9, 1999 is 990909, not 9999. No matter how you format the date, it does not produce 9999. So, provided that the programmer did use 9999 as an end-of-process string and did format the date in a pure nonsensical manner, there is a problem. Hence, if the date in one of your programs has always been impossible to interpret, start worrying. In the light of this you can see how the media hype really is drabloch...
WORRYING, THOUGH, IS by no means over. Ericsson specialists have stayed up tonight, doing a dress rehearsal for New Years Eve. That's really when the trouble may, or may not, kick in. And it doesn't end there, because since programmers ignored four digit years and the year 2000, they also ignored the fact that the year 2000 is a leap year. So we also have to be wary of February 29, 2000 -- taking in the fact that computers may not be able to calculate a leap year from '00'.
Somehow it seems like there will always be something to worry about when it comes to computers, and trying to prepare for a glitch that some programmer may or may not have caused to some extent seems like a waste of time. In my mind, computers won't go down when we expect them to -- they'll go down whenever they want, just as they keep doing everyday, all over the world, regardless of the bloomin' date.
If a computer tells me that February 29, 2000, does not exist, I know better. If a computer tells me I'm 2 years old, I know better. Relax, and try to see the fun in it. Cleaning up is dirty work but if we can have a good laugh about it along the way -- no worries. After all, we're all human and we all make mistakes -- and we created computers.
WHEN I'M WRITING this, the timeline still has not passed across the US of A. If we wish to believe that specific software over there has been programmed by some daft individuals, then by all means, keep worrying. Me, I say it's drabloch.
August 25, 1999
YESTERDAY, IGNORANT. TODAY, enlightened. I have truly witnessed the work of a genius, and I am not the first to proclaim that I have. The theatre of Robert Wilson grasped me from the very first moment, held me, shook me, dug a pit in my chest and buried itself inside me.
My fascination lies not only with the piece itself, "A dreamplay" by August Strindberg, but with the manner in which Robert Wilson achieves the mindboggling results that were acted out on stage before my wakening mind.
I can not reminisce how the train that pulls my thoughts brought me to draw parallells with web development but that is exactly what took place. The similarities, but above all: possibilities, are a treat for web professionals seeking inspiration and advice.
ROBERT WILSON STARTS with an empty stage, as we all start with an empty page. His storyboard is first sketched on a block of paper. He spends weeks with the actors, going through movements and expressions on the stage, all without sound. It is not until he is satisfied with the way in which actors movements interact, that he much later begins to add the props, and then the words and later the music.
Through his way of working, Wilson makes the play accessible for everyone. By starting simple, making the story accessible with only movements, expressions and no sound -- he makes the story available for those who are hard of hearing, or perhaps do not even speak the language. He then goes on to enhance each actor's movements with the play's text, props and music, bringing together a beautiful experience where all the various elements are designed to enhance and justify each other's presence -- all designed to strengthen and clarify the storyboard that was originally drawn up on paper.
IMAGINE FOR A moment that August Strindberg's written play is our assignment, the stage is our screen, Robert Wilson's production is the web site and each actor a portion of the site, designed to clarify the message brought forth in our assignment and designed to help each other illuminate the significance and purpose of the web site -- hence making the finished production greater than the sum of its parts.
Robert Wilson is in fact teaching us user-friendliness, interactivity, added value and organization. He is faced with much of the same troubles as a web developer. He must limit himself to the area of the stage, to the simple theatrical effects available when it comes to sound and illusion, much in the same way as web developers must limit themselves to screen, browser capabilities and available bandwith. Wilsons's viewers may sit in the front row or in the very back, WWW viewers may be on a T1 line or a WAP phone. Some viewers will be well accustomed to the theatre and the story, and some will be newcomers. Surfers, similarly, have various levels of maturity and familiarity with the medium.
THE ART OF the matter is using the simplest of elements to present the core message. Added value elements, such as props/graphics and sound must be incorporated as to enhance what's already on stage/screen without creating a clutter. Each actor/web section must be a part of the whole, interacting and working together to disclose the objective of the production/web site. Scenographic changes must be quick and efficient, without confusing the viewer and the viewer must always be aware of where in the production and fictive "location", in relation to other scenes, the current action takes place.
Keeping in mind that a good web site tells a "story", easily guiding the user to the essential/required information, I imagine the number of parallells with the theatrical world we can ascertain are numerous.
I truly believe that by assuming the role of a theatrical director and actually going through the process of putting up a web site production, all web developers will discover aspects of web site storytelling that have not yet been brought to mind. There is a great history and lots to learn from the art of theatre. My advice today is simple: Go forth and direct!
May 26, 1999
WHEN I WAS a kid, I used to subscribe to shareware. Every month two disks packed with programs would land in my mailbox (postal mail!) and I would begin to explore new software; games, pictures, utilities, word processors... it didn't really matter what it was, because it was free! Well, postage and packing brought my costs up to about two dollars a month :)
Of course, shareware isn't really free. If it's free it's called freeware. Shareware means that I can use the software a specified length of time or number of times and then pay a license fee if I like it and wish to continue using it. Back when I was a kid, though, shareware didn't have the time-locks that you see today ;)
Since the Net became a buzzword, the concept of shareware and freeware really took off! My first HTML-editor, Arachnophilia, was careware (all you have to do is care) and I still use it from time to time. The FTP-program I use today is freeware. The image editor I still use was once shareware but its now so good it's gone commercial. Paint Shop Pro is competing with the best of image editors but is still only a fraction of the cost of any of the others. Today, also, there are no postage and packing fees; all I have to do is download my free software and start using it. And I don't have to wait a month for my order to come through.
TODAY, IT'S NOT just software. I can listen to music for free on the Net, I can dowload literature, images, films and I can get free storage space for web pages or documents. It's like people can't wait to give away stuff that they have worked hours, months or years to complete. And I'm just sitting here on the receiving end, enjoying every minute.
The funny thing is that shareware and freeware is often a lot better than commercial products performing the same tasks. This is a clipping from Webmonkey's definition of shareware: "Shareware, sans fancy packaging or middleman, is usually ridiculously cheap - US$10 or $20 - which is amazing considering it is often superior to store-bought goods (since you're downloading the latest, least-buggy release). An even better deal is freeware, which is, well, free."
SO WHY DO they do it? Why do they want to give away stuff for free? And now I'm talking about freeware, the programs I get for free and can use for an unlimited period of time. Programs like Arachnophilia which just keep getting better. Programs that in many ways are better than many commercial programs!
Well, perhaps its the only way to compete with the big guys: Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia, etc. Or maybe they just don't care. Hackers aged fifteen just like seeing their programs being used. What's important, more and more people are discovering the high quality of freeware and it seems to me that more and more freeware is constantly appearing on the Net. Heck, the latest high-tech operating system, Linux, is freeware! And that's something that really is a wart in Microsoft's butt. Which makes you wonder if Linux is popular because it's good, or because Microsoft dislikes it :)
Any which way, diving into the world of freeware can really be a blast. There are so many fun and useful programs out there that are yours for the taking. But beware, get them while they're free. If they really start picking up in popularity, chances are somebody is going to start charging money for 'em. And hey, if it's shareware and you keep using it... pay for it.
May 10, 1999
AS THE POPULARITY of the Internet increases, it has become quite common to turn to the Internet for information. One tends to favor the Internet because it is becoming easy to use and can provide information about a vast number of subjects. I hear quite often that the Internet is the best source for information retrieval today.
The worrying thing is that more and more people also tend to blindly trust the content they find on the Internet, although they have little or no information about the person or organization behind the content.
I recently visited St Andrews Inn in Stockholm with a few friends. Beforehand, I had checked out the St Andrews Inn web site and so I knew what beer they had to offer. But upon my request for a Double Diamond, the bartender merely shook his head and replied: "- We don't have that." Dumbfounded, I went through the beer list on the chalkboard and ordered a Hansa. I had known that they had Double Diamond because their web site stated that fact. And yet, in real life, they did not offer that beer. It's at times like these when you really need a kick to the head to get your thoughts straight.
THE INTERNET IS the largest contributor of misinformation today. Nowhere else can you spread lies and rumors at lightning speed around the globe; lies and rumors that we all believe because we want to believe them, and besides… they originated on the Internet so they must be true. But even if people are not spreading lies and rumors, they may be hosting out-of-date web sites, another great misinformation source. And as few sites have dedicated webmasters working on them, keeping them up-to-date, the number of misinformation sources are steadily increasing!
Why do so many believe the Internet? Experts claim that it is due to the belief that computers don't make mistakes. And since the academic-scientific community has developed the Internet, people tend to place far too much trust in stories merely because they appear on a computer screen.
A few weeks ago somebody spread the rumor, on the Internet, that Mariah Carey, upon hearing news that the King of Jordan had died, said the following: "I'm inconsolable at the present time. I was a very good friend of Jordan. He was probably the greatest basketball player this country has ever seen; we will never see his like again."
Of course, Mariah Carey never said anything like this, but millions of people still believe it to be true. The story spread like wildfire across the Internet, and ran in many tabloids. Somebody wants Mariah Carey to look bad and few people bothered to doubt the authenticity of the statement. It makes you wonder what other stories people could make up and have you believe as a fact. Could medical web sites be fabricated? What happens when people's lives are at stake? What if someone consults a bogus doctor over the Internet? What if a mother nurses her sick child according to the instructions of an out-of-date web page, or one published by a 14-year old as a joke?
THE INTERNET FORCES us to take responsibility for own actions, thoughts and beliefs about what is the truth. Take a minute to apply a critical mind to content you find on the Internet. If you don't think twice before forwarding an e-mail message to your friends and colleagues, you may be contributing to further misinformation.
As many of you know, each year the Internet must be shut down for 24 hours in order to allow us to clean it. The cleaning process, which eliminates dead e-mail and inactive ftp, www and gopher sites, allows for a better-working and faster Internet.
This is an e-mail joke that turns up around April Fools day every year, stating that the Internet will be closed during a day for spring cleaning, as old sites are being removed. To me, it sounds like a brilliant idea.
Meanwhile, be skeptical… be very, very skeptical. Because your local bar may not have the beer their web site claims.
October 20, 1999
Have you ever been in a meeting (this is a rhetorical question, yes), listened to several participants go on and on for a length of time about something that seems very dear to them... and asked yourself: "Why in the name of Jack-and-the beanstalk are they telling me this!? What possible use can I make of this information?"?
There is a time and place for everything. If you can't govern time, give some regard to place. In the end, there is only one way in which concepts and ideas become clear to the entire audience. And the magic word is 'context'.
Try telling a joke without first adding context. If I say to you: "The bartender says 'Why the long face?'", you don't understand me. But if I first clarify context: "A horse walks into a bar." then the joke is complete.
If I pick up a big book with the word 'dictionary' written across it, I am aware of that I will find an alphabetical list of words along with definitions inside. The word 'dictionary', and the fact that it is a big book, puts the object in context. If I go to a mall, I'm pretty sure I'll find lots of shops there, and probably restaurants as well. If I'm in a restaurant and the waiter hands me a sheet of paper - I know it's either the menu or the bill, hopefully depending on if I've just arrived or am about to leave. I am familiar with the context. When I first enter a web service, however, I don't know squat.
One of the most important issues a web development team must deal with is how the user will react when he/she enters the web service. You don't want your users to say: "Why in the name of Jack-and-the beanstalk are they telling me this!? What possible use can I make of this information?"? You want them to say: "Oh, look at what I can do here... cool. Oh, and this is probably how I do it."
The most challenging factor the web has to offer is that there are no design standards. A lot of work is often put into creating excellent copy, graphics and navigation --- but little work is put into helping the user _understand_ (put into context) this excellent copy, graphics and navigation. Remember, a web user is often swooshing from site to site. If your web service --- no matter how good the copy is, no matter how excellent the graphics are and no matter how well-planned the navigation is --- is not put into context, then you're in trouble. If the user does not understand how he/she can make use of the information and make use of the navigation, then the next swoosh you hear will be all your users making a one-click exit.
Web sites are often global and web teams often battle with the issue: 'We must make a site that is easy to understand and navigate for everyone.', 'We must develop a general design that is easy for everyone to grasp and start working with immediately.' I'll let you in on a well-kept secret: There is no such thing. What the web development team must battle with is making the users learn, and some will learn faster than others, how to make the best possible use of the content and navigation that is being offered by the web service.
So how do we make the user recognize and comprehend the genious of our web service? We put the web service in a context!
Putting the web service in context is not a difficult task, actually. If you find that it is, then perhaps you should re-evaluate the reason for having developed the service. Adding context often means putting something in a broader perspective; 'What is the background --- who is offering the web service, why is it being offered and what are the benefits of using the service.' If the user understands the purpose and goals of the site, then he/she can anticipate what activities can be performed within the site (compare the purpose of a restaurant). If a user can anticipate content, navigating the site will become more effortless, with a tendency towards intuitive.
Adding context can furthermore involve illustrating a scenario of how a user may go about using the site. This is one way of putting the navigation in the broader perspective of 'actually being used in a process'. Showing the workings and benefits provided by the navigation will help the user understand how the navigation supports the purpose of the site. If the user can learn how the navigation method supports the content, then navigating won't be a problem. Illustrating a navigation scenario is of course also of great help when evaluating your own navigation design ;)
If the purpose of the web site is not expressed in a clear manner, then the user will have to use guesswork based on the design and labeling of your navigation system. Some users will make the right guess, some won't. The question is if you can afford not to let your users understand the circumstances surrounding your web site. The easier it is for your users to place the web service in a context, the easier it is for them to anticipate content and start using the web service.
In the end, what I'm trying to say is: if you can't put your message in context... you may as well crack a joke.
Sep 8, 1999
As a subscriber of many mailing lists I am well aware of the 'netiquette' that must be followed when posting and responding to messages. This netiquette has evolved for purposes of readability, faster downloads and a feeling of community. It should be respected by all list members, old and new.
If you are new to the mailing list world you may find yourself under attack by individuals who have been chatting on the Net since the dark ages and simply loathe newcomers who do not know how to "behave".
So that you may avoid embarassment and make better use of your time and networking possibilities rather than spend it fending off angry attacks, I have provided the following tips for your further education :) Enjoy. And don't forget to send med feedback if you find that something is unclear or wrong.
One of the most disturbing elements on a mailing list are people who fail to quote messages in an orderly fashion. Quoting is done when responding to a message and involves including part of that message in the reply. The purpose of quoting is to make it easier for those reading your mail to put your message in the correct context and see what you are responding to.
Clearly mark what part of the text is from the message you are responding to. Select the text that is relevant for your response and only the text that will put your message in context. Quoting the entire message, when you are only responding to a part of it, means that you are sending information that is uncalled for.
Remember, the purpose is to simplify reading, and readability is greatly enhanced by shortening and selecting relevant text clips.
The most common form of quoting is to give each quoted row a '>' sign in the left margin. A good mail program should fix this automatically.
Write your response below the quoted text. This is so that the reader first can browse through the context should this be needed. If you are responding to several issues you may layer quotes and your own text.
Especially when you are responding to a mailing list it's nice if everyone can see who's message you are responding to. Write something like "John wrote:" or "John Doe wrote:" above the text you are quoting. Many programs fix this automatically and some must be set to do it for you. It's also not so difficult to just type this phrase yourself.
Example:
Subject: Re: My visit to the store
Christian wrote:
> but before I went to the store I bought
> an ice cream and a computer magazine
> at Wally's
Really? what computer magazines do you
read? I prefer Web Techniques.
> at the store I bought another ice cream
> which I ate on my way home.
Wow, don't you ever get enough ice cream?
//Peter, who never buys more than one ice
cream a week :)
4. CHANGING THE SUBJECT
You have probably experienced this: a conversation on a mailing list spins off and completely changes subject and tone, and eventually only the Subject line remains from the original message.
Sometimes this is not a problem but at other times it can be difficult to grasp the context, especially if one message spins off into several other subjects. If you notice that you are really changing the subject then it is a good idea to show this in the subject line, by providing a new subject. Also, specify the original Subject line in some way, e.g. by putting it in parentheses behind the new subject.
Example:
Subject: Ice Cream gluttony [Was: My visit to the store] Peter wrote: > Wow, don't you ever get enough ice cream? Never!! I can easily consume a gallon of ice cream a day, and my favorite flavor is carrot. //Christian
Most mail programs sort their mail chronologically and you see the newest messages first. Some mail programs, however, do not sort by the time the message was received, but by the time the message was sent.
This poses a problem if the sender's clock has the wrong time --- in which case that message can sort itself far from all the other new mails. Therefore it is important that you ensure that your clock is set correctly.
According to standards for how e-mails are handled your e-mail program breaks your message into short lines before sending it. Certain mail programs can show messages even if the sender hasn't used line breaks, but for others it may greatly reduce readability of the message. Therefore, ensure that your mail program uses line breaks, or do it yourself.
Some mail programs are provided with the feature that you can have an auto-response when you are out of the office. This is nice for friends and clients. On mailing lists, it's a real pain!! Your Out of the Office message will probably be distributed to all members of the list every time someone posts a message. If you can't block out your Out of the Office message from certain e-mail addresses, then unsubscribe from the list if you have an Out of the Office message on. Alternatively, subscribe to mailing lists with an e-mail address which you do not put an Out of the Office message on.
Some people download via a modem, and it's just plain rude to attach anything to your e-mail message. If you wish to refer to a file, post it on the Internet and provide a link.
Do not send a mail to the list asking how you unsubscribe! All mailing lists provide you with a welcome message which tells you how to unsubscribe. Save this message. If you can't find it, a solution may be to e-mail one person on the list who you know, and ask that person if he/she saved the welcome message.
NOTE: Most serious mailing lists today include subscribe information in the header of every message sent to the list. Your e-mail client should allow you to view these headers.
My best advice is perhaps that you should try and copy the behavior of others on the mailing list. Before you start posting messages, try and sense the tone, the little quirks and the special rules that apply. No set of rules will apply for each and every mailing list --- usually those that have been list members the longest set the 'rules'. And, of course, don't be afraid to ask. Often, it's better to ask than to do it wrong. You gain that air of respect just a bit faster by 'doing it right'.
Good Luck!
June 7, 1999
YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE how often over the past month I've heard the words: "I'm a bit stressed, could we do it some other time?" It's almost as if stress is a new buzzword. And I'm also noticing it on all my mailing lists as the amount of traffic is decreasing; people just don't have spare time anymore! I believe the current situation is quite serious and will probably become worse over the next year.
I know of several people, including myself, who moved into the area of IT with the notion of having a life outside of work. Everyone knows that IT professionals have quite flexible working hours, are able to work from home, can take a day off basically when they wish, as long as they're up-to-date with all their projects. So why is this not happening? Why does "flexible working hours" seem to mean that work hours can stretch but not contract? Why are so many IT professionals suddenly closing in on an occupational burnout?
THE ANSWER COULD be that many of us are becoming one with our work. And becoming one with our work means becoming essential for everything pertaining to our work. Projects are speeding along at such an incredible rate today (everyone is always late for something) that there is no time for documentation. If there is no documentation it's almost impossible for someone else to jump in and take care of your work when you're not available. This basically means that you have an obligation to be available all the time.
It's absolutely ridiculous to think that anyone can be available all the time, but there it is; 61 per cent of IT professionals interrupt their vacation to call and check if everything is okay at work. 25 per cent of IT professionals bring a laptop or cell phone on their vacation so that they can stay on top of developments at the office.
HAVING NO SPARE time puts IT professionals in a bad, downwards flowing spiral. No time to keep up with new technology means a loss of skills. More work and less skills creates immense amounts of stress - and this gap seems to be increasing steadily. No spare time also means less human interaction and instead more time in front of the computer - something that tends to cause depression. No spare time means less creativity. Less creativity means less fun and hence disgruntled workers. Depressed and disgruntled workers are costing IT companies a bundle of money today, and yet no one has pulled the emergency brake as more and more workers are hitting rock bottom.
The best thing you can do is pull your own emergency brake before a dreaded burnout strikes. Have a look at the way you work: Are you turning down meetings with your friends? Are you working late and weekends? Are you no longer having coffee breaks with your colleagues? Do you never find time to exercise? Do you work when you're ill? Pull the brake!! Talk to your boss and get your stress out into the open. Just talking about it can get you a long way towards having more fun at work!
April 28, 1999
YESTERDAY, I WENT shopping for a new suit at a store called SAKS. In the store I found myself browsing through different models, different colors, pants with or without lapels, vests with five or six buttons and what have you. I was lost.
To my aid came Johan, one of the cheerful store clerks. After shooting a few questions my way, concerning the clothes I liked to dress in, and for what occassions I intended to use the suit, he had me try on a black three-piece model which fit quite snugly. And when I say snugly I mean that Johan had to convince me to try on a larger size. In any case, I fell in love with the suit, although I decided I liked the grey variation more. Johan made a few calls and will contact me at home as soon as my new suit arrives. They didn't have my size in stock :) Johan also helped me find an excellent spring jacket, and I intend to use him as my personal clothes advisor in the future as well.
WEB SITE DEVELOPERS are constantly searching for ways to attract users to their site. Discounts, games and competitions are there for the taking but e-commerce sites are still struggling for profits. Web sites are juggling new features back and forth as young web developers push the web to its limits with animations, dynamic pop-up menus, mouse-over effects, and every two weeks a complete redesign. Users are lost as the features rarely have anything to do do with making the sale, that which in fact could help the web site prosper. And what strikes me is how little the web sites adapt to basic marketing strategies; When I walked into SAKS yesterday, Johan didn't ask me if I wanted to play Donkey Kong.
I shouldn't be expected to find my way around every shopping site on the internet. I know I'm not expected to find my way around every store in Stockholm, much less the ones in London. When I enter a store online, I want to be able to talk to someone who knows his/her way around the site, who "works" there. I want to talk to someone who can give me advice when I'm in doubt. I want Johan on the Net!
As web developers are constantly remodeling to charm new users and keep up with the evolution of the web, they are missing this crucial ingredient in marketing strategy — personal interaction. Introducing live personnel on a web site would undoubtedly serve to pick up online sales. This could be done through an online chat or direct telephone connection as in conventional catalog sales. A helpful salesperson goes quite a long way to making the sale.
THE FAST DEVELOPMENT of the internet forces us to constantly adapt to new ideas of thinking, to new ways of working, and to new ways of conducting business. But does this have to be at the expense of established, successful ways of performing the tasks in the past? Stop a second, take a step back and have a look at your site. Instead of molding the new medium into a store, perhaps we should give the old store a new medium.
Can you smell your way around the Net? Is your browser a cookie monster? What happens when your boss turns out to be a nine-year old? Tune in to WebWorries? every fortnight for updates on woes of the web.
June 20, 1999
DO YOU SPEND TIME spontaneously chatting with coworkers in the hallways, by the coffee machine, or after meetings? How often do you feel that these chats lead to new knowledge, new ideas and new ways of thinking that benefit the way you work? In my case, it's all the time.
Some employers feel that they could increase profits by eliminating the time employees spend "doing nothing", such as chatting with co-workers. They couldn't be more wrong.
The most valuable knowledge resides where we can not clearly see it, at the frontier with the rebels. How else can we get to, learn from and develop this knowledge if not through interaction between those who bear the skills, opinions and impressions.
INSIGHTS, KNOWLEDGE AND IDEAS become more valuable as they are shared across the company. As I chat with a colleague, or team of colleagues, we often go a long way towards coproducing solutions that will benefit our clients or our own way of working, and hence also our company. There is a build-up of positive energy when social interaction and sharing takes place between different competencies. The result is often quite rewarding.
The true brilliance of organizations are the stimulated ways that workers solve real problems in ways that formal processes do not support. The world that we are living in today forces us to rely more on informal ways of performing tasks, as the documented processes are becoming increasingly out-of-date.
MY CHATS WITH COLLEAGUES brings me to insights about my colleagues' competencies. Instead of using the Net mainly for searching, today I use the Net mainly for networking. The most powerful search engines are real people. A five minute conversation with a real person (either across a table or across a cable) can tell me more than five hours browsing the Internet. Intelligence is all around you on the Internet, and it isn't artificial.
Having all this in mind makes me think that maybe it's time to start formalising your chats :) What I mean is, if you can find a forum for your different workgroups, you could maintain a record of the new insights your chats bring about. In this way, you can share your information with more people and magnify the benefits.
People and companies who can utilize and encourage momentous gossip will benefit from new, shared knowledge and the fun spirit of community. Those that don't will keep walking in circles.
Original title: It's Time to Back Down
April 7, 1999
I FIND MYSELF having to constantly explain myself to people. And not being able to. Lots of people do not understand how I can meet a guy in Houston over the Net and challenge him to a racing game, how I can chat with my father in Tanzania in real-time (and it doesn’t cost more than a local call!), and how I can handle around six hundred e-mails every day in my inbox. It’s a new way of life, a new way of working, and it’s creating huge knowledge gaps.
The World Wide Web is in its infancy. We still have to figure out how to use the Net to best serve our intentions. And we have to find a way to make new Internet users feel welcome. If new users are scared away, the evolution of the Net will slow down. Those of us who hooked up to the Net quite early have already ascertained a web competence with which we can navigate towards information faster and filter information in a breeze. But some people would have a seizure if the sound for "You’ve got mail" played sixty times per hour. It’s futile to believe that the development of home pages can continue in the mind-boggling rate it has been going over the past year. Animations, dynamic pop-up menus, a multitude of plug-ins and huge imagemaps are creating masterpieces of confusion for new users. It’s time to back down.
The World Wide Web can no longer be about visual effects. Few are impressed and those that are quickly move on to view special effects on other sites. It’s now about communicating with, and listening to... [big drum-roll]... users. It’s about readability, usability, and findability. The Net has provided an immensely valuable feature - it is called feedback. Never before has it been so easy to allow users/customers/partners to provide feedback and let companies know what they want, think, believe and feel. Never before have so many companies and web sites failed so devastatingly at performing this simple task. Never before have so few ignored so many.
The maturity of the Net is low, and it is low both within the user segment and the content provider segment. More and more companies are, however, realizing the importance of usability engineers, information architects and content managers who can step in and create web sites that mature with the users. Personnel must be able to step in real-time and provide users with content they desire. Real-time 24-hour transmission is what the Net is about; there are no commercial breaks or test signals. It’s all there all the time. Web sites shall be brochures no more, they shall be means for communication. The web site is a place for listening to demands. This is a first step towards determining how we can use the Internet in the future. Today, you see, nobody knows where this ship is headed.
Is the answer to the troubles of the web out there? Was the Melissa virus named after a stripper in Florida? Will I ever get through my e-mail? Is Bill Gates really a woman? Tune in to WebWorries? every fortnight for updates on web happenings.
September 23, 1999
I HAVE AN acquaintance who in his resume once wrote that he was experienced within the fields of CGI, Perl, SQL, SSI, CSS and TLA. The people who hired him never asked him about any of the abbreviations and perhaps they merely regarded TLA as a valuable qualification. For those of you who are uninitiated, TLA stands for "Three Letter Acronyms".
Somehow, this story is indicative of the whole IT business. Only in this world can the word 'WAP' make a stock market go wild. Only in this world a technology that has not been seen or even proven to be of any value whatsoever, can make TLA-happy people all over the world scream for more. Whisper WAP and I will gladly give you money. Oooh, say it again, baby. Oh, yeeaaah....
A COLLEAGUE OF mine attended a two-day seminar on WAP. He said it was the first seminar he attended where you never actually got to see an example of the phenomenon on everyone's lips. And why is this, do you imagine? Well, probably because there are still no WAP phones to be had and no WAP services to be used, and it is about as valuable as having only one chopstick. The only thing we can see in a demo today, is text... and who hasn't seen text on a mobile phone!!?!
Having researched the WAP hype over a period of time I still have not found one service that has really appealed to me except for e-mail. Or rather, I haven't seen anything new. Driving directions, great... but can't I just pull over and ask someone --- or take a cab? Check weekend weather... why don't I just watch TV, Internet or use the weather service offered by my mobile operator? Order dinner for home delivery... why don't I just call? Check stock prices... get the latest sports scores... I've done all this with SMS and the Internet. Why do I need a third technology, on a smaller screen with less bandwidth and a great limitation on features?
EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT bandwidth. Take a diet version of HTML and call it WML, take a diet version of javascript and call it WMLscript? and all of a sudden we have access to the Internet through our mobile phone because everything is without calories and information can move much faster without the fat. Except it isn't Internet, is it? If it was Internet I would have access to all my favorite web pages, I could do what I can do on my desktop computer. This is what I would call micronet, access to a limited amount of services through your cell phone. Services that still have to be developed!
You say: But we have WAP gateways that strip HTML pages and are readable by WAP browsers. I say: Show me and I'll believe it. If these WAP gateways really work... then we do not really need to bother about developing WAP-specific services, do we? Meanwhile, faster mobile networks are being developed and within a foreseeable future surfing the actual Internet, over the mobile phone network, won't be too bad. Is this not what we will all do then... simply stop using WAP and go back to HTTP? What I fail to grasp is, why do we need this short period of time of using WAP, when we will all return to the Web in a year or two anyway?
I MAY BE devastatingly wrong, and I would love to hear it. I'm usually one of the first to adapt a new technology and use it . What really bugs me about WAP is the hype --- the fact that WAP has so many followers before WAP has any services. The hype is due to how it is marketed; "Internet in your mobile phone", but few people understand WAP technology and how it can benefit them, or even how the Internet will look on a 2 by 2 inch monochrome screen. And still everyone wants a piece of it!
To me, WAP has little do with the Internet, but a lot to do with messaging. WAP will probably offer a few great services, and the users will be few --- but all the services will also be available on the Internet. Nobody is going to buy a WAP phone if there are no services, and few companies are going to develop a service if there are no users. My guess is that WAP phones will be handed out free if this hype is to be realised. And yes, Ericsson is in fact developing some services, I know :) [Editors Note: This article was written for an Ericsson E-zine, hence this is relevant.]
ONE POSITIVE NOTE about WAP before I round off. If WAP takes off like everyone says it will, then maybe we can start by getting information architects to take part in developing the web services, so that we can avoid all the mistakes made on the World Wide Web when it comes to usability. But TLA-happy companies will probably use LGM* to build services and WAP will be DOA** ;)
* LGM - Little Green Men
**DOA - Dead on Arrival