Yahoo’s new BBAuth — Browser-based Authentication service is another building block for the coming wave of Web-based small businesses. No one wants to run a server farm and no one really want’s to deal with authentication. Between Amazon’s virtual computing and storage, and Yahoo’s authentication service, it’s going to be simpler and simpler to assemble a online business.
One sign that the business of building businesses on the Web has changed since the bubble years is that entrepreneurs are talking about “good money” and “bad money.” Used to be that all money was good. The idea used to be to get as much money as you could from a VC, then go public as soon as you could. And of course investors would cooperate by buying lots of stock, causing the price to sky rocket. Quick riches and early retirement. Then on to create a second company that never quite captured the magic of the first.
The VC funded IPO is becoming rarer and rarer. I wonder if the Small Business Administration will be the new funder of small Web businesses?
The buzz about an Apple iPhone has hit the streets. Personally, I’d like a new cell phone, but I don’t like much of what I see. I want a phone, but I’d like much more. I carry an iPod, a Palm and a Cell Phone, that’s two devices too many. The Treo tries to do all three — but isn’t quite right. The issues around CDMA and GSM (Apple + Cingular) are very interesting as well.
The problem is one of narrowing the user interaction to the set that hits the utility needs and desires of the largest group of consumers. I’m a terrible example, I like Palm’s PDA because I can SSH in to my Web space — not exactly a feature that the market is crying out for. But some method of mobile blogging or Web site content updating is part of the killer app for a mobile device.
Techmeme’s new advertising model is perfectly organic to the site’s presentation and content. In a sense, it’s as significant as Google’s text ad model. Although, as Dave Winer points out, it may be difficult to blog about a new product for a whole month – or even more. But I can imagine a whole new gig for talented bloggers as guest bloggers on a sponsorship blog.
The creation and acceptance of new advertising formats is critical for the survival and growth of new Web-based small businesses. We’d all benefit from fewer display ads on Web sites — especially sites that offer text as their primary content. Imagine TechCrunch with out all those graphic ads.
One of the ideas that came out of the “Future of Web Apps” conference, recently held in San Francisco, is that an IPO is no longer a primary goal. While there were lots of presenters talking about taking money from venture capitalists, the liquidity event du jour is an acquisition by Google, Yahoo or Microsoft.
The other thread was that staying small and creating a company that could support you and some of your developer buddies was a perfectly fine goal. A few people were looking beyond the mass market to the long tail and simply being a small business. The cool thing about the Web is that it makes “really big” possible, but “small” works too. 37 Signals and their suite of Web Apps is a good example.
The Bay area had a literary giant in its midst for many years. For the most part, he was unrecognized and unknown — despite winning the Nobel Prize. Czeslaw Milosz’s work probably resonated more naturally in his home countries of Poland and Lithuania, but there was plenty there for the rest of us. His book Visions of San Francisco Bay speaks to us directly. Earlier this year (April/2006), a gathering was held at the Main Library to remember Milosz and his time with us here in the Bay area. This flood of thoughts about Milosz was triggered by a new book, “Czeslaw Milosz: Conversations.” I can easily imagine myself engaged in conversation with Milosz for the rest of my life.
This thought has been rattling around in my brain for a while. When will we transition away from transitional doctypes in building Web sites? What will we gain and what will we break? It seems others are thinking the same thing.
Ameriprise is using actor Dennis Hopper in a new retirement ad — they’re trying to “redefine retirement.” As the baby boom retires it looks like we’re going to see some very interesting spokespeople. Who’s next?
Users understand “real,” not wireframes. A rationale for not inflicting wireframes on users in usability (or any other kind of) testing.