Remember GeoCities, Angelfire and Tripod? Bet you once created a site on one of those too – like most of us did at some point – for a school club, a favourite TV show fan page (complete with totally illegitimately used copyrighted images) or to show the world the (hopeless and awful) teen poetry we wrote with such passion.

Ok, maybe I was just a sad geek…

Regardless, the reason I’m bringing this up is because GeoCities, like many things dating from the 90’s is about to meet its maker. Yahoo (No, I will not use the exclamation mark) has announced a few days ago that it will be closing down the GeoCities free hosting service this summer; it promptly stopped new signups and has since been directing GeoCities users to its paid hosting service.

As naturally as Spring follows Winter (when climate change isn’t messing with us, that is!), it must be expected that services, especially ones conceived in 1994 when the web was but a baby, will one day close their doors. However, there are a number of reasons to be alarmed by this change:

• If Yahoo is willing to consciously destroy its users’ data, how should we feel about its other services like Flickr, Delicious and Upcoming, into which we pour vast amounts of personal data and time organising it?
• As Jeremy Keith quite rightly points out, “as someone who cares about online history, I’ll be watching to see how Yahoo deals with this situation and I hope they deal with it well (archiving data, redirecting links)” The sheer volume of link rot that is created around the web when large services die off without giving users a way to redirect to the content’s new home could be ugly. Search engines strive to give useful and current content, but if webhosts work against us, it makes our job exceedingly difficult!
• Where else will we find the most atrocious use of animated GIFs? Opera.com’s temporary “Celebrating 15 Years of Browser Innovation” comical homepage gets an honourable mention, and many of the mobile social networks we’ve used also keep the flame alive.

Our online identities are like pieces of a puzzle scattered around the web, so should we be concerned that, just like the dog that runs away with the corner piece of our best jigsaw, services being taken offline are running off with part of who we are?

As a technology company, we’re constantly faced with the question of how to make our products applicable and adopted by people of all technological capability levels.  This is why stories such as the one featured in a recent BBC story makes us turn and take notice.

As it turns out, The Gadget Helpline queried 5,000 people in order to come up with a top 10 list of words and techno-labels that confuse most people.  According to the study, these words make up the top 5: dongle, cookie, WAP, Phone Jack and Navi Key.  An interesting note about the top words that comprise this “techno-babble” list – three of them have to do with mobile web technology.

What lessons can we draw from the study?  A technique we technologists already know yet seem to forget quite often: A model known as KISS: Keep it simple stupid!

Even though we geeks may think it’s simple to snap photos and send messages on our cell phones, Apple debunked this with the release of the iPhone.  Apple, by focusing on ease-of-use and simplicity, unlocked smartphone functions that were previously hindered by complex menu systems.

The iPhone didn’t introduce any ground-shaking hardware capabilities, it merely pointed out how difficult and encumbering existing handsets made it to do otherwise simple tasks.  We have had “smart” phones on the market for a long time.  But many people don’t use the camera, compose a text message, or surf the web.  The iPhone made it possible for non-techies to conduct these tags.

As software developers and web developers, we must strive to keep our user interfaces focused on those who use them: the users.  Let us not forget whose needs keep us in business in the first place!

It’s with great amusement that I came across ReadWriteWeb’s story on a “technology in the workplace” survey [PDF link], which provided some entertaining Friday afternoon reading.

According to the survey, “Two-thirds of all Boomers agree that Personal Digital Assistants (like the Blackberry, for example) and mobile phones contribute to a decline in proper workplace etiquette, and believe the use of a laptop during in-person meetings is “distracting,” less than half of Gen Y workers agree.”

They must find me awfully rude in meetings for typing my notes up as we go and occasionally browsing to websites as supporting evidence during brainstorming sessions!

[Note: Boomers and Gen Y is a nasty generalisation of either generation as it's a question of mentality rather than physical age, but let's go with it for the purpose of this...]

Joking aside, I do think that Gen Y, otherwise known as the Continuous Partial Attention or Nintendo generation in my mind, could occasionally benefit (speaking from experience) from putting the gadgets away and having good ol’ paper & pen brainstorming sessions. There’s something organic and satisfying about picking up a pile of scribbled notes at the end of the session, isn’t there?

However, on a day to day basis, I don’t personally see anything wrong with choosing to use a tool that makes us more productive in a meeting. Over the years, I’m afraid I’ve become utterly incapable of writing by hand and always prefer to type notes, so I’d be one to support their use.

Whether it’s a mobile, a laptop or any other tool, what I understand of this research is that the older generation folks who responded to this survey expect the technology to be a hurdle, while the younger generation views it as an extension of themselves (a faster way to write, a secondary “memory” for facts in the form of Wikipedia, a way to confirm a gut feel by searching for other people’s views on a given topic, etc). Assuming tools become easier to use and less hurdle-like, will they be better received in the meeting room?

Am I completely wrong on this one or do others want to chime in?

Thanks to drastic advances in mobile handset technology, today’s cellular phones are very capable machines. A few short years ago, our phones only had a few functions, mainly consisting of making/receiving calls and sending SMS messages.

However, with the advent of the camera phone and subsequent advances, our mobile handsets pack a whopping amount of hardware and functionality. For example, the Nokia NSeries handsets feature 5MP cameras, on-board GPS, FM Transmitters, email and much, much more.

Even today’s more inexpensive feature phones carry on them 1 or 2 megapixel cameras capable of sending MMS messages and so forth. But, in my experience, many mobile phone users don’t use these advanced features because they are too hard to work with. This is part of the reason the iPhone is such a game changer, as it altered user behavior by creating a better user experience when accessing these advanced hardware features.

The Ease-of-Use Factor

Adding to this, the usage figures of iPhone users show they consume these advanced services more frequently than phone users on other platforms. A Financial Times article reports that iPhone users consume more mobile data because surfing the web on Apple’s mobile handset is so simple and enjoyable.  It’s a fact: iPhone users snap more photos, send more emails and text messages and this pattern doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon.

The Youth Factor

mocoNews recently reported that, in the U.S., T-Mobile will soon refresh the very-popular Sidekick product.  The Sidekick is a handset that features a slide-out screen that reveals a full QWERTY keyboard.  This particular handset is especially popular with teenagers and college students here in the United States.

However, the way these young users utilize their Sidekicks is astounding.  Here are some usage statistics that show Sidekick users:

• Send and receive 3,000 instant-messages a month
• Send and receive 600 text messages a month
• View more than 450 web pages a month
• Two-thirds of all traffic through the Sidekick browser goes to social networking sites

This handset, when combined with its 3.2 megapixel camera and built-in social networking software, is a connected teenager’s dream phone!  It goes to show that the Sidekick user base is a mobile-data hungry crowd that loves to use their handsets to the fullest.

However, in your opinion – what other factors drive advanced mobile feature usage?  I look forward to seeing your thoughts in the comments section below.

Yesterday, I came across a post by Christopher Penn about a martial art exercise he practices.

Bud’s drill goes something like this: for this drill, your attacker will do whatever they want. You as the defender are only permitted to use your footwork for evasion and your right hand in a shuto (hand blade/hand sword) form to protect yourself.

The goal, of course, is to develop mental flexibility and agility.

Creating for the mobile world is similar to this exercise. (By that I don’t mean we get to make crazy ninja moves – though that hasn’t stopped some of our guys from trying.) What I mean is that there are limitations that are entirely out of our control. We just have to learn to work with these limiting conditions, whether they’re the phone’s capabilities, the mobile network’s restrictions or the user’s own knowledge of their phone.

However, limits and boundaries, whether imposed or chosen, are wonderful things. They require resourcefulness and a dose of creativity, but see them with the right attitude and take on the challenge!

This video is possibly one of my favourite examples of boundary-driven creativity; Ophir Kutiel, otherwise known as Kutiman, created a series of music videos using only existing content from YouTube artists. The result is beautiful, and below is my favourite one.

During South by Southwest, Paul Annett from Clearleft dedicated an entire presentation to showing us clever and inspiring little Easter Eggs site designers have included in their web projects. Small delight after small delight, Paul took us through a range of sites – including Silverback’s site, Clearleft’s very own gorilla-saving usability testing software, which uses the neat parallax effect. (Just try resizing the window width for some eye candy, if you don’t know what I’m talking about)

So you’re working with a web browser’s limited capability. A mobile browser more contrived than you’d like. A team smaller than you’d wish for. Take it in your stride and see what you can achieve – I bet you’ll surprise yourself if you treat the boundaries as assets!

We believe that the touch interface is going to be a dominant technology in the mobile world for some time to come.  It turns out Nokia may be catching on to this mentality as well.

Nokia fans have had only one touch enabled mobile handset come out in recent months – the Nokia XpressMusic 5800.  In June, the Finnish handset giant is posed to deliver the Nokia N97, a device that is a feature monster, packing a touch screen and full QWERTY keyboard for data entry.

To add to this Nokia touch fever, a few poignant publications have noted that sources inside Nokia are reporting a threesome of ‘thin touchscreen phones’ set to debut later this year.  The new phones are said to feature the VibeTonz technology that Nokia licensed from Immersion, which takes haptic feedback technology to the next level by delivering a “multi-sensory experience”.

I’m not sure what to expect from a VibeTonz-enabled hands yet.  However, after experiencing how Apple’s iPhone and application developers are utilizing touch on the Apple platform, I’m anxious to see what Nokia can deliver if and when they put their creative and engineering muscle into delivering a touch-enabled device.

A chief complaint amongst touchscreen phone users (and a major barrier for buying them) is the lack of tactile feedback while typing.  Perhaps with Immersion’s haptic technology, Nokia can win over those who have held out on buying a touch device to date.

What is your opinion?  Can you type adequately on your touch-enabled phone?  Have you held off on buying a touch-enabled handsets, or is the utility of the iPhone enough to make typing troubles non-existent?

Also, do you think Nokia can deliver a winner of a touch handset, or are they just too late to the game?

We look forward to the comments!

[image courtesy: MaxRoam]

A few days ago, I was on the train home and eavesdropping on a conversation. (Don’t look at me like that, you know you do it too!) A mid-50’s gentleman was discussing with a friend that he didn’t approve of mobile phones that were more than just phones, referring often to “that Apple phone”.

His argument was that gadgets like phones and handheld gaming systems were breaking society, making kids antisocial and emotionally incompetent.

As I was silently fuming and formulating my undiplomatic riposte (had I had the guts to barge into his conversation), perfectly on cue, the kids in the next set of seats, who clearly didn’t know each other, all simultaneously started asking questions, after one of them brought out “that Apple phone”. The mid-50’s technophobe sat, silently, watching teens who still didn’t know each other’s names pile up on top of one other to see the game the boy with the spiky hair had just downloaded. “Wow, what’s that one called? I’m grabbing that one too!”

It seemed poetic justice that the kids then exchanged IM names before each leaving the train at their respective station, completely unaware that they’d proven the grumpy man wrong in every way. Immensely satisfying, I must admit!

We’re looking for a Senior IT Technician who can help us build and support our alternative take on mobile search. Our ideal candidate will be a recent graduate with exceptional interpersonal skills and capable of maintaining a positive attitude in the most frustrating of circumstances!

The role will include many responsibilities, but broadly covering:

• First-line support to staff, assisting with laptops and desktops (Windows, Mac and Linux)
• Office IT infrastructure: networking, printers, cabling, desk moves etc
• IT purchasing, returns, stock management etc
• Linux maintenance (installing, patching, troubleshooting)
• Server farm support: installations, repairs, diagnosing problems

Academic Requirements

• good “A” levels demonstrating science and mathematical skills
• a degree in a science or engineering subject OR equivalent industry experience and track record

As a minimum, our ideal candidate will have:

• Good familiarity with linux
• General purpose scripting skills, including bash and perl or python
• Good Mac/Windows support knowledge
• Basic networking knowledge (TCP/IP, DHCP, DNS)
• A good degree
• A misspent youth providing IT support to friends and family
• Several machines at home, only one currently in operation, the rest in various states of disrepair cluttering up every spare drawer, shelf and cupboard
• A subconscious distrust of emacs users (not that we’re opinionated or anything)

The small print:

There will be occasional out-of-hours work to help minimise office disruption, and, when sufficiently trained, the role includes participation in the 24-hour on-call rota. Candidates should be aware the role will include some physical work crawling under desks, cable routing, unpacking and racking (some very beautiful) 19″ servers etc. There will be some travel required when working on the server farms located off-site in various facilities requiring a UK driving licence.

If you are interested, please send your CV and cover letter to givemeajob@taptu.com.

Please NO Agencies – We WILL route you to /dev/null

In the past week, a new Twitter client has been creating waves around the web. And for a change, it isn’t an iPhone app but rather Gravity, a S60 Twitter client.

As a Nokia 5800 recently landed in the Taptu office, like a magpie I picked it up right away and installed the application to find out what the fuss was all about. It turns out to be one of the most polished apps I’ve used on an S60 device, and while I still feel like I could attack the 5800 with a nail gun* – being used to the smooth iPhone experience – I can appreciate that apps of this standard could change the landscape for app stores outside of Apple’s world.

But what does it take to become a mobile application developer?

Choosing a business model

The first decision an indie developer must make once they’ve decided what kind of application to build is whether or not to try to monetise an application. Some reasonably good apps have been released as complete freebies by generous geeks who create them as experiments but we’ll leave those out of the equation for the time being and look at those who do wish to make a bit of money from their labour.

Developers must make the decision between two models; ad-funded or paid-for software. Each have their pros and cons, and in the case of the soon-to-be-released Taptu iPhone app, we have opted for a free service, supported by relevant ads to make the app as accessible to all users as possible.

Some, like Iconfactory’s Twitterific for the iPhone get their pie and eat it by using both models; they offer two versions of the app, a free ad-supported one and a paid one.

The price is right… or is it?

Choosing the paid-for model brings up the ultimate question: What’s the right price for my app?

Each market has behaved very differently on this front; the majority of iPhone apps cost peanuts, but can often be monkey work. Other apps, like Things cost $9.99 (£5.99) but buyers generally feel it’s worth every cent. Most, however, opt for the “safe” $0.99 to $2.99 window.

Outside of the iTunes Store however, it’s still a fairly Wild West. With Nokia’s Ovi Store not yet launched and rumours of central app stores for other mobile operating systems, there are fewer precedents set and fewer apps up for comparison. There are great apps for non-iPhone devices, but the lack of centralisation makes it much more difficult to find, buy and install. In response to that issue, some fans have taken the issue in their own hands; Symbian-Guru, a blog dedicated to news surrounding S60 devices, has set up its own S60 app store, for example.

James Whatley shared his views on the pricing of Gravity a few days ago:

“The market has changed folks. Dramatically. And as much as I’m loathed to say it, thanks to the iPhone App Store and more recently the Android App Store, consumers (normobs if you will) are used to paying £0 – £3.00 for their applications. Anything more than that is an indulgence at best.”

Sustainability is key

Looking at the sub-£3 ($4.50 or so) applications published, one must wonder how many apps a developer needs to sell to cover basic development time, let alone make a profit to justify continued development?

Assuming that an application is sold for a round ol’ $5, sold in the iTunes App Store, $1.50 is taken by the middleman, leaving the developer with $3.50 before the taxman requests his share. He then provides ongoing support, answers questions like “I don’t know how to plug in the cable to my phone, how do I install your app?”. For a market like the iPhone, with an App Store very conducive to buying and standard hardware setup, there is potential for a developer to break even, or even make some pocket money, but what about S60 and other platforms where users have to pro-actively hunt down software and sometimes don’t even know 3rd party software IS available?

Gravity developer, Jan Ole Suhr, says:

“Mobile software is viewed as offering lifetime updates, unlike desktop software where upgrades are often paid-for. While developing new features and improving the software constantly, the developer only earns revenue from new customers. It leads to a cycle where developers offer free upgrades, they run out of steam when the app brings in only a trickle of income. As a result, they can’t justify the time it takes to fix or improve the app, it falls in disrepair, users complain and say that apps are generally of poor quality.”

The cheap-as-chips iPhone mentality has set expectations that mobile software should be free or nearly so, yet no one expects desktop software companies to sell their app for $5, do they? We keep wishing for mobile devices to be more like computers, with more functionality; this means more time and effort for the developers behind it. In short, developers are people too.** People with bills to pay and a job to do.

Expectations for the future

While I strongly believe there is a market for high quality paid apps for all mobile platforms, I think we’ll be seeing a division in the future; cheap, fun but disposable pieces of software and quality, durable and highly maintained apps.

Each will have its place in the market. Productivity, communication apps and high-end games will most likely be sold at a premium, while disposable, silly apps will go for the price of a chocolate bar.

James Pearce hits the nail on the head by saying:

“Anecdotally? I would say they deserve someone’s 7 pounds more than a crummy British sandwich shop does for a soggy roll and coffee. It’s adding major functionality to a device that cost almost 3 orders of magnitude more. Good software ain’t cheap. (Soggy rolls should be)”

This is the direction I expect to see paid mobile software take, alongside the ad-supported applications. I keep my fingers tightly crossed that, learning from Apple’s inviting – if imperfect – App Store, the other mobile platforms will release useful, user-friendly app stores in the next few years, making it easier than ever for users to get their mitts on interesting applications.

[* Rest assured that this view isn't shared throughout the Taptu office and others are giving the 5800 plenty of TLC]

[** Might get a tshirt printed with that on... Or does it already exist?]

Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, the wiki-based community encyclopedia, has announced that that Wikia Search will be closed down soon.  While this is terrible news for proponents of the popular community-based search product, the impact of Wikia Search will live on.

Wikia Search, for those unfamiliar, is a search solution that relies not upon mathematical algorithms for ranking search results, rather Wikia Search utilizes user input to rank and position search results.  Additionally, the Wiki community had the ability to delete, add to, and comment on entries, creating a community feel to the once-popular Wikia search engine.

This Wiki-based search is a very popular service.  According to an eWeek article, Nielsen Online reported that Wikia Search was the web’s 5th fastest growing member-driven destination in February 2009, following sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Even though Wikia had a short life, it’s impact on the search market was pronounced.  In fact, as a result to community-based search being so popular, Google recently implemented SearchWiki, a similar service now found inside a typical Google search result set.

The point that remains is this: No company “owns” search and there are loads of innovations that will manifest from companies who are focused on bringing them to market. We at Taptu believe we are helping push search into the mobile market in an exciting new way.

We look forward to having you join us on our journey!