2.0

Developers rank Web platform providers

eBay gets the highest overall marks from developers as a Web platform provider followed by Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN, according to a new survey by Evans Data.

Amazon.com, which is trying to develop a large Web services business, scored near the bottom while Google gets good marks for its tools--even better than Microsoft.

Although simmering for a while, the idea of building Web applications on top of large-scale commercial sites like Yahoo or Google has picked up steam significantly in the past two years.

This is an important transition in the application development area--and the Internet overall. As … Read more

An equal-opportunity player for Web 2.0

There's the temptation to start talking about the Democracy Player with a Lord of the Rings-esque, "One Player to Rule Them All" joke, but that wouldn't be very democratic, would it?

The latest version of the open-source Democracy Player contains some serious upgrades that make it worth a second look, if you haven't liked it in the past. The most important improvement is that the publisher, the Participatory Culture Foundation, seems to have worked through most of program's early stability issues. After tooling around with the player for hours on Windows Vista, it neither crushed my system's memory usage nor crashed. Memory usage and stability have been major issues for the plucky little player, and I suspect they will continue to be. But at least it wasn't gathering piles of RAM like a YouTube-obsessed squirrel fearing the approaching winter.… Read more

Kawasaki's Truemors: Dollars and sensibilities

Guy Kawasaki's start-up Truemors debuted last month to mixed reviews. The site, designed to combine gossip with social networking, was beset by spam, and many doubted whether there was a viable business model.

Now Kawasaki, who came to fame as an "evangelist" for Apple has broken down exactly how much time, effort and money it took to set the site up. As it turns out, he says, for $12,107 and 7.5 weeks of labor, you too can have a Web 2.0 business.

Kawasaki says the point is that new technologies have made it that … Read more

When Web 2.0 (Yahoo Maps) attacks

I'll start by confessing my curmudgeon-ness. I can't stand the new "broadband" Yahoo Maps interface. I find it totally clunky, hard to use, and overly graphical--the vast majority of the time I'm using a mapping site, it's to get driving directions that I plan to either print out or send to my phone, and it's usually just to double-check my GPS directions. I'm fine with simple text directions and a nice little map. So it's been fine for me to just click back to the Classic Yahoo Maps interface (since Yahoo … Read more

Cisco's John Chambers preaches Web 2.0 gospel

From ZDNet:

At the Interop conference in Las Vegas, Cisco CEO John Chambers talks about the need for businesses to increase productivity by implementing Web 2.0 tools such as wikis, mashups, and virtual conferencing. He also explains how Cisco used Web 2.0 principles in its $7 billion acquisition of Scientific Atlanta.

Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0: A review

When it comes to mobile browsing, most cell phone users are stuck with the Web portals provided by their carriers. Not only that, but accessing Web mail and conducting online searches on most cell phones can take a painfully long time. If you're a fan of Yahoo's services, then the new Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 may be the solution to your mobile-surfing woes. Compatible with more than 175 handsets, the Yahoo Go for Mobile 2.0 software provides instant access to Yahoo services and information sources like Web mail, local directories, maps, news, and even Flickr, … Read more

Rough start for Truemors site

Truemors, a new social information site from former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki, went live this week, but has suffered some early growing pains.

The site is sort of a combination of Twitter and Digg; users can phone, text or e-mail in rumors, and they're posted to central page. Then other users can vote them up or down.

While the launch of Truemors was widely anticipated, opening day didn't go entirely well. Spam posts quickly appeared on the main site, and bloggers wondered whether its lack of focus would hinder its ability to find a community.

Blog community response: … Read more

Nielsen: Web 2.0 slacking off on design principles

Danish usability consultant Jakob Nielsen earned his unofficial title of "Web usability guru" as an early promoter of standardized Web design. You can thank him, in part, for blue links. He prompted a lasting, vocal debate by distinguishing between print and online approaches to eye appeal, readability and writing style. (For example, see "History of print standards.")

Unafraid of controversy, he continues to tout astonishing concepts such as "Why you only need to test with five users" and is known for his strong--some would say "extreme"--opinions on minimalism and uniformity.

BBC News on Monday published an article detailing Nielsen's new call … Read more

WordPress wizard talks to CNET's Webware

Matt Mullenweg is officially the CEO of Automattic. Please note the double "t"--as in "Matt." But he's really the guy who brought WordPress to the world and oxygen to the blogosphere.

You can see the first half of this Webware interview here. Matt explains why WordPress is open source but his antispam kismet isn't. He discloses the catalytic role his mother played in his software development. And he talks about blogging in places where the government is out to get you. The second part of the interview will be available online soon.