Let me first begin by saying that I have been a Republican since birth. I have voted in nearly every presidential election and have always voted Republican. I will probably do the same this November. In my quest for clarity on the issues, I spent some time looking at the “Big 3” candidates from each party to see which of them spent some time and effort to devote a section of their Web site to technology and the Internet. (Huckabee, McCain, Romney, Clinton, Obama and Edwards)
After all, the Internet is my life, my business and OUR future.
On each web site I went to the tab marked “issues.” Funny thing, with the exception of Mike Huckabee, almost all the candidate sites look the same. Very similar in look and feel. This begs me to ask who copied whom? All the sites were well optimized, well laid out and you can tell that each candidate employed some people with excellent web knowledge. Why then did so many of my GOP faithful not even mention the Internet on their sites. If they did, it was buried so deep I could not find it. So, who is the net important enough too that they mentioned it in prime space on their sites… and the winners are…
Of all the candidates, the only candidate with “Technology” on the main issues tab was Barack Obama. From there he digs deep into the issues of technology, media and the internet. From his site, “Protect the Openness of the Internet: A key reason the Internet has been such a success is because it is the most open network in history. It needs to stay that way. Barack Obama strongly supports the principle of network neutrality to preserve the benefits of open competition on the Internet. Users must be free to access content, to use applications, and to attach personal devices.”
Oh my and Barack dares to even include technology in a speech, oh my aching heart….
From Barack Obama.com- Technology and Innovation for a New Generation
“Let us be the generation that reshapes our economy to compete in the digital age. Let's set high standards for our schools and give them the resources they need to succeed. Let's recruit a new army of teachers, and give them better pay and more support in exchange for more accountability. Let's make college more affordable, and let's invest in scientific research, and let's lay down broadband lines through the heart of inner cities and rural towns all across America.”
— Barack Obama Presidential Announcement Speech in Springfield, IL 02/10/07
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/technology/
Broadband to my farm in South Carolina… John Edwards where are you? You are from here.
John Edwards had the second best thoughts on the Internet. However, you had to dig a bit past the first issues tab, but it was easy to find. From his site, “Building a Universal, Affordable Internet: The country that developed the internet is now 16th in the world in broadband penetration. While half of urban and suburban households have broadband, less than a third of rural homes do. John Edwards will set a national broadband policy to help make the Internet more affordable and accessible to all Americans, regardless of where they live or how much money they have.”
http://www.johnedwards.com/issues/open-media/
Considering that the Internet drives more than 35% of all retail commerce and that 85% of Americans have daily access to the Internet and that nearly 55% off all political campaign money is raised online, you would think that the net would play a bigger role in the “issues” of the candidates running for President of the United States.
Good thing for the GOP is this… I am not a one issue kind of guy. I want to keep more of what I make and be sure that I get back all the money I have put into the system. I want my kids to be safe and I want to die knowing that I made decisions to the best of my ability. If there is one thing the winner of this presidential race can do for me is set up a call with Steve Jobs and ask him to bring down the price of Mac’s. Or, at least open up the market to the Dell’s of the world. Steve, come on, you need more money? Man that would save me some money.
Long live the net.
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com
By Ryan R. Dohrn©2007
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
My Web 2.0 for 2008
As publishers and sales executives in the magazine business of 2008, it is critical that you know the meaning behind the term Web 2.0. After all, it is one of the only gauges we have for determining if your Web strategy, web site and other related digital plan are “up to snuff”.
I can think of no better place to help us learn about this term than Wikipedia. Why? Because Wikipedia is the collective thoughts, definitions and the like from a group of smart or informed people. There collective definition is much better than my single explanation.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Web 2) On September 30, 2005, Tim O'Reilly wrote a piece summarizing his view of Web 2.0. The mind-map pictured above (constructed by Markus Angermeier [1] on November 11, 2005) sums up some of the memes of Web 2.0, with example-sites and services attached.In studying and/or promoting web-technology, the phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly,"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." [4]Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web.[5][6]An IBM social networking analyst, Dario de Judicibus, has proposed a different definition which is more focused on social interactions and architectural implementation:"Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate content that is published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture." [7]
More from Wikipedia on this subject online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
Now, for my thoughts. I would encourage all publishers and editors to review my top ten for Web success in 2008. I feel the following components are critical to your success and your quest for life beyond Web 2.0.
1. Unrestricted access to main site stories without registration. Only keep valuable data, like archives, behind a registration system.
2. Archives. Archives are critical to a magazines success online.
3. Easy to find search box that allows users the ability to search all pages of the site and return results that can either be narrowed down or expanded upon once the search is returned.
4. Web extras and web only content. There are additional sidebars that drive readers from the magazine to the web for more. And, the same goes for the web, the web extras should drive them back to the magazine.
5. Online subscription pages. Your readers should be able to do all their circulation fulfillment and management online.
6. Video. There should be 2 sections, publisher created videos and users created videos.
7. Blogs or editorial only sections. It is critical that magazine staff get involved online and write. It is perfectly ok to keep the public and staff blogs separate.
8. Community components. Special sections that have some similar components to MySpace.com or Facebook.com where readers can share, discuss and become a part of your online property.
9. Searchable advertiser index or searchable pages of your actual magazine. This is not to say every page of your magazine is online. Give readers the ability to find advertisers and/or more from your magazine. Digital editions can help solve this problem. As well, digital editions will help prepare you for the day when digital readers will become more prevalent within the public sector.
10. Dedicated insertion of advertisers into the online content. Ads that are outside the content in the stark white exile of your site not only tell the advertisers that you want them as far away as possible, but tells the readers that too. In addition you reduce ROI for your advertise by as much as 35%. Use Interactive Advertising Bureau standards and integrate ads in a rich way into your site.
Web 2.0 goes far beyond site structure and goes deep into content management technology as well. So, do not think that the above list is complete as it is not and it is my opinion. Read, read and then read some more. Also, listen to my new Digital Media OZ radio show as I ask experts about this very topic.
Blessings for a great 2008.
RRD
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com © 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
I can think of no better place to help us learn about this term than Wikipedia. Why? Because Wikipedia is the collective thoughts, definitions and the like from a group of smart or informed people. There collective definition is much better than my single explanation.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Web 2) On September 30, 2005, Tim O'Reilly wrote a piece summarizing his view of Web 2.0. The mind-map pictured above (constructed by Markus Angermeier [1] on November 11, 2005) sums up some of the memes of Web 2.0, with example-sites and services attached.In studying and/or promoting web-technology, the phrase Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web-based communities and hosted services — such as social-networking sites, wikis, and folksonomies — which aim to facilitate creativity, collaboration, and sharing between users. The term gained currency following the first O'Reilly Media Web 2.0 conference in 2004.[2][3] Although the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software developers and end-users use webs. According to Tim O'Reilly,"Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform." [4]Some technology experts, notably Tim Berners-Lee, have questioned whether one can use the term in a meaningful way, since many of the technology components of "Web 2.0" have existed since the early days of the Web.[5][6]An IBM social networking analyst, Dario de Judicibus, has proposed a different definition which is more focused on social interactions and architectural implementation:"Web 2.0 is a knowledge-oriented environment where human interactions generate content that is published, managed and used through network applications in a service-oriented architecture." [7]
More from Wikipedia on this subject online at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2
Now, for my thoughts. I would encourage all publishers and editors to review my top ten for Web success in 2008. I feel the following components are critical to your success and your quest for life beyond Web 2.0.
1. Unrestricted access to main site stories without registration. Only keep valuable data, like archives, behind a registration system.
2. Archives. Archives are critical to a magazines success online.
3. Easy to find search box that allows users the ability to search all pages of the site and return results that can either be narrowed down or expanded upon once the search is returned.
4. Web extras and web only content. There are additional sidebars that drive readers from the magazine to the web for more. And, the same goes for the web, the web extras should drive them back to the magazine.
5. Online subscription pages. Your readers should be able to do all their circulation fulfillment and management online.
6. Video. There should be 2 sections, publisher created videos and users created videos.
7. Blogs or editorial only sections. It is critical that magazine staff get involved online and write. It is perfectly ok to keep the public and staff blogs separate.
8. Community components. Special sections that have some similar components to MySpace.com or Facebook.com where readers can share, discuss and become a part of your online property.
9. Searchable advertiser index or searchable pages of your actual magazine. This is not to say every page of your magazine is online. Give readers the ability to find advertisers and/or more from your magazine. Digital editions can help solve this problem. As well, digital editions will help prepare you for the day when digital readers will become more prevalent within the public sector.
10. Dedicated insertion of advertisers into the online content. Ads that are outside the content in the stark white exile of your site not only tell the advertisers that you want them as far away as possible, but tells the readers that too. In addition you reduce ROI for your advertise by as much as 35%. Use Interactive Advertising Bureau standards and integrate ads in a rich way into your site.
Web 2.0 goes far beyond site structure and goes deep into content management technology as well. So, do not think that the above list is complete as it is not and it is my opinion. Read, read and then read some more. Also, listen to my new Digital Media OZ radio show as I ask experts about this very topic.
Blessings for a great 2008.
RRD
The views of Ryan Dohrn are 100% personal in nature and do not represent the views of his employer, any other person, company or entity in any way. Any similarly is coincidental in nature. Please listen to Ryan’s audio version of this blog online at http://www.RyanDohrn.com © 2007 Ryan R. Dohrn
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