Dienstag, November 14, 2006

The gap between the offline and wireless worlds is getting smaller

If you wander through the streets or if you go shopping, have you ever felt you would like to check a comparable offering on the internet? Probably most of us have not so far. But with new wireless devices and cheaper data packages it soon will be totally normal to compare and check stuff on your mobile. Let me give you an example: You probably have seen those pieces of papers that get attached to the inner windows of cars saying:"For sale for only $1290", right? In case you really needed a new car at that moment, you possibly stopped and wrote down the telephone number, right? Then you would call the person, and asked for some details, test drive, etc... But wouldn´t it be great, if you had all the details about the car written down somewhere or even better in a digital way? Wouldn´t it be great to directly compare the offering with other cars? Wouldn´t it be great to do the transaction on a secure internet platform? Well eat this: A young company from Switzerland has launched a cool wireless feature for eBay listings that spits out a 2D- graphical and branded code that the seller could stick on his car or any other item. All the buyer would have to do is get the small Java client via SMS and take a picture of the code. The buyer then gets directly transfered to the eBay WAP listing of the car and he could bookmark the car in order to compare it later to other car offerings on the internet. Check out: http://ebay.beetagg.com!

Of course this idea is not brand new, since there are already things like "text to buy" in the USA, supported by Paypal, but the market is just starting up. Believe me. In about 12 months from now we will see many posters and advertisements in the streets that include some kind of wireless link! Wanna bet?

must read: the low-down on mash-ups

This is a brand new article about mash-ups and it summarizes the importance of open webservices and affiliate programs. My predictions is that affiliate programs from companies like eBay or Amazon will soon be valid financing options not only for internet mashups, but also for IPTV channels and wireless tools. Hey and why shouldn´t modern coffee places, bars or internet cafés run affiliate advertisements in their local storefronts with smart short-codes next to it that bring you directly to a WAP offering, e.g.!? See also my next post about the gap between the offline and wireless world that will soon be closed...

But first read this great article: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/news/trends/article.php/3643721

Mittwoch, November 08, 2006

23 Mio Nonliner in Deutschland

Von diesen 23 Mio sollen laut der Initiative D21 rund 78% über 50 Jahre alt sein. Wow - das ist ein interessantes Marktsegment! Enkel und Kinder tut Euch zusammen und lehrt die Großeltern und Eltern das Internet! Auch für Softwareentwickler ein interessantes Marktsegment, sofern sich beweisen ließe, dass es so etwa wie "elderly-optimized software ergonomics" oder "Software, designed für Senioren" gibt...

Just one more thought on Web 2.0

Ok, I know the term "Web 2.0" is overused and way to hyped-up. But after so many months of discussing this subject I took a look back and glanced at a rather more important acticle about this topic: What is Web 2.0 by Tim O'Reilly: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

Looking at his Meme Map today, there is one bubble that really gets me thinking next to all the others that we know so much about: "An attitude, not a technology"

Internet users have been using forums and eBay for over ten years, so user-generated content is not really new. Open interfaces existed, technical browser limitations were tackled by new technologies like Flash way before AJAX was hyped... so what has changed? Why is everyone so fuzzed about Web 2.0? Maybe it is really the attitude of all the millions of internet users?! Maybe we now have reached critical mass, because internet access is cheap and widely available and that would mean that attitude is actually driven by technology. PCs have long become a commodity and so has the internet! So suddenly all the internet users have woken up? For me it is a new attitude based on lesser technical and financial restrictions. We are not looking at our watches anymore, counting the money that the connection had costs from the point on when our 28/8 modems started making that funny dial-in noise. Access is easy. Users spend more time in an open medium. They are and will be online all the time. Therefore Web 2.0 in my opinion really is about easy internet access and more bandwidth for everyone, just as Switzerland has recently made DSL part of everyones primary basic home supply. Or would you have uploaded a 6 MB avi-file to youtube a couple of years ago with your 28/8 modem? Wait how Web 2.0 will accelerate once we have a country-wide DSL, UMTS, WLAN or WIMAX access with 10 MB/s plus! Cheap access and bandwidth still limit "mobile 2.0" today by the way...

Montag, November 06, 2006

Six years eBay developers program...

... and our American friends are celebrating! Win a a new Xbox 360 TM or a new video iPod TM: http://developer.ebay.com/wearesix.

Lesetipp zu Mashups

PHP Magazin, demnächst am Kiosk: http://phpmagazin.de/itr/ausgaben/psecom,id,330,nodeid,60.html

google und eBay - eine prima Kombination :-)

Skype mit eBay-Tab

Hier ein Link zu einer speziellen Skype-Version mit eBay-Tab. Praktisch, da Skype bei mir eh den ganzen Tag läuft. ;-) http://pages.ebay.de/skype/

IPTV - mp3 zur Podiumsdiskussion

Horchen Sie rein. Hier ist das mp3 der Podiumsdiskussion an der ich auf den Medientagen
in München teilnehmen durfte. Die ersten drei Beispiele kommen vom ZDF, MTV und Premiere. Weiter hinten dann das eBay-Beispiel: http://www.medientage.de/mediathek/audioservice/files/mp3/audio_32.mp3