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The State of HTML5 Video

It looks like the promise of standardizing video delivery with the advent of HTML5 will take a little longer to fulfill. As usual, no one among the companies that already dominate the web wants to agree on how to best serve users.

HTML5 added the <VIDEO> tag, theoretically freeing us from using the de facto standard for video playback, the notoriously crash-prone Adobe Flash. The reality, sadly, is much different. Of all the major browsers, not one of them fully supports the tag. Firefox and Chrome can only play HTML5 video if it uses the WebM codec, while IE and Safari will only play H264-encoded video. When you throw mobile browsers into the mix, things get even more confusing. Most mobile browsers use Webkit, the open-source browser platform that Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome are based on. This would be great, but different mobile devices support different profiles and aspects of the highly complex H264 codec, which means potentially more encoding for those devices.

In the view of these companies, upon whom we rely to make the web useful for everyone, it’s apparently more important for each to promote their own standards so they can dominate some facet of the web for themselves. And, of course, it’s users who suffer. Don’t they understand that no one should own the Internet? Be prepared for more laborious workarounds for both users and producers of video to deliver video to people.

Read full article: http://localtype.org/html5-video-sucks/

Worthy of the Mantle: Disney and Jobs

Our family recently made the pilgrimage to Disney World. It was the first-ever trip to the renowned resort for myself and our two grandsons. The boys were wide-eyed as they took in the rides and attractions (although the lines tried their patience a bit). It was all fun, but as we went through the day, I began thinking more and more about the power of customer experience.

Everyone is familiar with “Disney perfection.” The pleasant on-site accommodations are conveniently linked with the various parks by an efficient transportation system. The parks are clean, the staff friendly, and the ample restrooms, food services, and souvenir shops are easy to find throughout the expertly designed grounds. In an era where “customer experience” rules, Disney holds the high ground.

One detail that stood out for me is how they tactfully block off areas under construction. Painted fences surround the building sites. Alongside are benches where visitors can take a break. And on the fences at regular intervals are little plaques with quotes from Walt himself, politely reminding everyone not to feel too inconvenienced. After all, the parks are all about turning dreams into reality.

One particular quote from Walt stuck with me. “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.” I recalled the cartoon “Steamboat Willie,” with Mickie happily at the wheel, and how that mouse became the character that launched Disney to fortune and fame.

Of course, it wasn’t just Mickey that made Disney successful. And the long-lasting fame wasn’t automatic. The success of Mickey Mouse opened a door that allowed Walt Disney to express his whole vision, which included pushing the technology and business of animation forward, and giving his customers something that he knew would delight them. And this got me thinking about Steve Jobs.

Both Steve and Walt valued customer experience. Both pushed technology to deliver products that customers love. Both were in touch with the ethereal world of dreams (Disney: “When you wish upon a star,” Jobs: “Think Different”). Both maintained complete control of their products, companies, and brands. Both brought ground-breaking innovation to their fields. Walt pushed the limits of cell animation, perfecting “multi-plane” camera techniques. This early 3D-like experience delivered the first animated feature film, “Snow White,” despite the trepidations of everyone around him. On the other hand, Jobs brought computers to the masses with the highly successful Apple II and then delivered game-changing products like the Mac, the iPod, and the iPhone. Add to that inspired marketing, and he effectively married his gadgets into our daily lives.

But perhaps what’s most interesting is how Disney came to technology through entertainment while Jobs came to entertainment through technology. Walt, the entertainer, envisioned Epcot, the techno- “City of Tomorrow,” while Steve, the “tech guy,” became CEO of Pixar, the award-winning 3D animation studio, and brought the music industry into the 21st century with the iTunes store. It’s as if Jobs and Disney were both born with the ability to bring us treasures from the future. Whatever it was, their paths seemed destined to converge. Pixar inevitably was bought by Disney, and Steve ended up on Disney’s board as its largest shareholder.

You could say that Steve Jobs became the heir of Disney’s legacy. Connecting with customers’ most fundamental wants, and delivering unexpectedly satisfying experiences, link the two visionaries. Fans love their products because they’re delighted by them. Indeed, customers stand in long lines to ride “Pirates of the Caribbean” or get the latest iPhone. Their success isn’t the result of cold, calculating computer algorithms but the expression of a gift bestowed on only a few. It’s high-level creativity expressed in business, technology, innovation, and art, with unquestioned success as the result.

Today, the work of Disney and Jobs lives on, guided by the embedded philosophy of innovation and customer experience that’s in their companies. The world needs companies that can give us what was previously unimaginable — extraordinary products provided in exceptional ways. Perhaps a “sorcerer’s apprentice” is somewhere in the wings, waiting to take up this mantle at just the right time. The job description includes an unfettered imagination, an iron will, and a love for delighting the masses. “Thinking different” will help, too. Qualified candidates, however, need not apply. We’ll know you when we see you.

Think Android’s Burying iPhone? Think Again

There’s a lot of talk about how Android phones are quickly overtaking the iPhone in the marketplace. However, selling phones is not the same as creating an economy around a device. Apple continues to find ways to marry technology to the things people want to buy. And they do it with products that are reliable and delightful to use. So people buy their stuff and then use their devices to buy lots of other stuff. Android is trying to copy the model while lacking the essence, which is great marketing savvy and understanding of their consumers. For the latest numbers that bear this out, read, “iOS, iPad Web Use Still Outpacing All Android Devices Combined”: http://bit.ly/hIElqZ

NFC On the Move?

We’ve been hearing about NFC (Near Field Communications) for a while now. The technology, expected to empower a new era of mobile commerce, should shortly be upon us. With appropriate chipsets, mobile phones will be able to make payments at the point of sale terminals, similar to how we use credit cards today. Considering the interactivity of web-enabled phones, this is likely to create a host of new opportunities for retail and mobile commerce.

Today, Google is ready to start testing NFC in select retail locations in NY and SFO. The following article provides insights into how we might use the technology. NFC is one to watch.

Read full article: Report: Google to Test NFC Mobile Payment Service in NY, San Francisco:http://bit.ly/gHARoF

Google’s Tweak Should Mean Better Search Results

Google has tweaked its search algorithm, which should be good news for websites with legitimate content. They are finally going after the “article farms” that create keyword-rich articles to rise to the top of popular searches.

Manipulating search engines is something that no one wants, but everybody does. The goal of being “#1 on Google” is the typical request of people who want their websites to rank high in search results. But to get there requires meaningful, helpful content that others connect to via links — in other words, content that’s good enough to share. And that’s an excellent approach for deciding who gets top rankings on search results pages. After all, highly relevant results are what we want when we search, right?

That is unless your site could also be returned for that search term. Then you want Google to rank your site on top, whether the content is the best or not. Getting your site to #1 is the art (myth?) of SEO (search engine optimization), an industry called everything from miraculous to snake oil. And sorting out pages with genuinely useful content from pages that are merely “optimized” is the dilemma that search engines must deal with every day.

Suppose you’ve gone to great lengths to create valuable, meaningful content that helps people make decisions. In that case, you’ll be happy with Google’s new tweaks, which penalize sites with content designed simply to manipulate the search engines and manufacture rankings. If you’re an “optimizer,” you’ll be less than thrilled. However, the happiest people of all should be search engine users. Remember them? They’re looking for helpful, relevant information, and if that’s what you deliver, you shouldn’t have to “optimize” to see your pages valued by Google.

Read full article: Google Tweaks Algorithm to Push Down Low-Quality Sites

Laptop Killer?

How many computers do you use most days? A desktop at work and a laptop for the road? Another desktop at home? How about a netbook for the couch? And then there’s your smartphone — those computers in our pockets that allow us to use the Web, do email, work with documents, take photos, and videos, manage appointments and contacts etc., etc., etc. And, oh yes, make phone calls. Right! And with apps, these smartphones can do hundreds of other helpful computing tasks. They’re full-blown computers, and we’ve only begun to tap their potential.

Well, what if you could carry a smartphone around with you that contained all your applications, data, documents, photos, videos, contacts etc., etc., that you could plug into a terminal, say in the office, a coffee shop, the airport, etc., that provided a keyboard, screen, pointing device, and ports for external devices. After hooking up, the terminal would become a regular computer system with your exact computing environment ready to go. When finished, you unplug and carry your digital world with you to use in miniature on the device or in full mode on the next terminal. Think of how little redundancy and much convenience are afforded when you don’t have to sync everything and can work seamlessly wherever you go.

I’m not sure how close we are to that day, but we can see it coming. A new smartphone and docking station fulfills a good part of this dream: Motorola’s Atrix 4G, an Android smartphone that debuted at CES this week. It can turn your smartphone into a laptop, much as described above, through its accessory docking station. Could this configuration become a “laptop killer?” Future phones will need faster processors, more storage, and more powerful apps before they can replace our notebooks. But the past is prologue in computer hardware, so there is some assurance that it’s just a matter of time before our phones will compete with, if not replace, the computers we use every day.

Read full article: http://nyti.ms/eYfUtM

Q: Are Web Apps the Future of Websites? (A: Yes)

As we become a more mobile society, in the sense of the devices we use, everything becomes smaller. “Smaller” includes the time expected to complete tasks (or to be unavailable), the keyboards and screens we use, and the applications necessary to do our work. The Age of Apps is here. Due to the success of the iPhone, we can expect to see AppStores everywhere: the “MacApp Store,” “the ChromeApp Store,” “the AdroidApp Store,” and app stores from probably every telecom, computer platform, and device maker known to humankind.

Why have Apps become all the rage? People want to do things on the go, and Apps provide functionality in portable form with wonderful simplicity. Most apps do a single function very well. They’re easy to install and use and, in general, exemplify what people have always wanted from computers. With this in mind, businesses should start thinking of how they can offer their content and functionality as simple apps that people can use on the go.

In the mid-2000s, many of us still had to “go online” – meaning if we wanted to use Internet services like e-mail or read the content published in a blog, we needed to get to a computer connected to a network.

That doesn’t happen anymore. Or, at least, it’s happening less and less. We now travel about our real-world surrounded by a bubble of data and functionality that is always available to us. And, since we have ditched the spending-time model in favor of the doing-tasks model, we should expect that the organization of functionality and content should change as well.

No one had to persuade people to start using apps (unlike the unrelenting “education” of consumers regarding 3D TV). The demand has always been there. Now there’s a way to deliver the goods via portable devices. People like having their data and functionality with them. Smart businesses will take note and begin finding ways to provide customers with the information and capabilities they want when on the go.

Read full article …

Seventy-five Percent Of Online Americans Look For News On the Web

This is not surprising, especially as mobile devices of all kinds proliferate (smartphones, tablets, netbooks). What will be interesting is how news-gathering organizations (formerly known as newspapers) adapt and accommodate advertisers.

Newspaper delivery workers might want to start job hunting. A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicates that getting news online is one of the leading – and quickly rising – activities among online Americans.

Pew’s Generations Online in 2010 report surveyed Americans from 12 to over 74 years old to find out which activities dominate their time online. Email and search marketers may be glad to learn that checking inboxes and using search engines are the two leading online activities.

Read full article …