Mark Cuban wrote the original "The Internet is Dead and Boring". I just have a few more things to add in addition to what he said.
The internet, including the mobile web, is boring, it has been and always will be. The reason that technologies like Flash, Ajax, Javascript, and Silverlight were invented is to combat boredom. When people are bored they turn things off, the put things down, they look for something else to do. That isn't a great model for the internet, because boredom means you'll look for some other content, or you'll turn off your computer all together and do something out in the real world.
How are you going to view and click on ads if your computer is turned off?
Boredom is one of the biggest threats to the current internet model which is dependant on capturing "eye-balls".
In many ways it seems like an arms-race defined as: "a competitive building up of armaments by actors in a conflict". A lot of the current internet seems to be based on the concept of using some new technology to attract users and then keep them from getting bored and leaving. We try to create user honeypots like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and such as a way to corral users into one spot and then attempt to keep them from getting bored and leaving for the next temporarily exciting thing that comes along.
New assaults on boredom have been launched. Now all the user tar pits are creating an "open api" so that 3rd party developers can create anti-boredom weapons that can be launched within these private parties that we currently call social networks. I do Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and all the other usual suspects. Each one has a certain initial "cool" factor which quickly dies off. To me it is like watching a movie. The first time you don't know what is going to happen so it is exciting. The second time might still keep you entertained, but the engagement factor has fall off.
Apple recently announced that a new iPhone api will be released that will support 3rd party applications. Why? Because they know the iPhone will become boring if no new applications are created for it. I have an iPhone, the first few days of browsing the desktop internet over wireless was fun with all the pinching and finger flicking. Now it is boring and a pain. Now, most of my iPhone bookmarks are for the "mobile" versions of the sites I frequent, not the full desktop web site that causes me to pinch and flick.
The internet is extremely useful, it has revolutionized many aspects of our lives. At the same time it is boring and hasn't really changed that much in the last few years.
The internet, including the mobile web, is boring, it has been and always will be. The reason that technologies like Flash, Ajax, Javascript, and Silverlight were invented is to combat boredom. When people are bored they turn things off, the put things down, they look for something else to do. That isn't a great model for the internet, because boredom means you'll look for some other content, or you'll turn off your computer all together and do something out in the real world.
How are you going to view and click on ads if your computer is turned off?
Boredom is one of the biggest threats to the current internet model which is dependant on capturing "eye-balls".
In many ways it seems like an arms-race defined as: "a competitive building up of armaments by actors in a conflict". A lot of the current internet seems to be based on the concept of using some new technology to attract users and then keep them from getting bored and leaving. We try to create user honeypots like Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and such as a way to corral users into one spot and then attempt to keep them from getting bored and leaving for the next temporarily exciting thing that comes along.
New assaults on boredom have been launched. Now all the user tar pits are creating an "open api" so that 3rd party developers can create anti-boredom weapons that can be launched within these private parties that we currently call social networks. I do Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and all the other usual suspects. Each one has a certain initial "cool" factor which quickly dies off. To me it is like watching a movie. The first time you don't know what is going to happen so it is exciting. The second time might still keep you entertained, but the engagement factor has fall off.
Apple recently announced that a new iPhone api will be released that will support 3rd party applications. Why? Because they know the iPhone will become boring if no new applications are created for it. I have an iPhone, the first few days of browsing the desktop internet over wireless was fun with all the pinching and finger flicking. Now it is boring and a pain. Now, most of my iPhone bookmarks are for the "mobile" versions of the sites I frequent, not the full desktop web site that causes me to pinch and flick.
The internet is extremely useful, it has revolutionized many aspects of our lives. At the same time it is boring and hasn't really changed that much in the last few years.
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