Web 2.0 Blog

When MP3 came out, it revolutionized the way we listen to music. No longer did it need to be played from a physical medium like a tape or a disk, now music could be played from a storage device and the software available allowed you to start the song from any point by just dragging a pointer along a horizonal bar. Songs could be stored in their thousands and they could be arranged in any order. Mobile phone technology continues to evolve and are now integrated with MP3 functions. Nowadays, enjoying music has never been this good and hassle free.

According to none other than the Korea Times, ‘Music 2.0‘ or the new MT9 format, is a new music format that could be seeing a commercial release in the near future. Developed by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) and promoted by Audizen. The main new feature of it is that each track would use up to 6 different channels of sound, all of which can have their volume adjusted or turned off. This would allow you to turn off the singing voice, piano, guitar, bass or drum beats meaning you instantly have many different versions of the same song. Turn off all the instruments and you can play your guitar to your favourite artists voice, or turn off the singing and you’ve got an instant karaoke version of the song.

Like movies, software and videogames, I believe everything will be instantly downloadable from an Internet-enabled computer desktop at some point in the future, eliminating the need for physical purchases from high street stores, and with music developing a new shape in the form of ‘Music 2.0′, the companies listed above could see themselves at the forefront of downloadable technology.

One of the drawbacks of the current blogging platform is the fact that the content displayed on the page is static - it won’t update until you tell it to, by revisiting the page or refreshing the browser. Static content is also a feature of discussion boards and forums which is why it can be difficult to have flowing conversations, especially when posts are made simultaneously. ScribbleLive rewrites the ules of this publishing platform by offering its users the ability to view and manipulate live data over a network.

ScribbleLive was given special recognition at Canada’s Mesh Conference of the latest web technologies. Two advantages of this is the ability to transmit live data to viewers, with no reloading necessary. This type of communication could be ideal for broadcasting on a global scale, using a well designed platform to broadcast information. Conferences, demonstrations and up to the minute updates within communities would all be possible. Another advantage is the fact that it is written with Ajax, making it a perfect scrolling information service on mobile devices such as the iPhone.

The main requirement for this is participants however. There needs to be a decent community of users to be able to make this worthwhile, so it may take a while before this takes off and possibly replaces the standard blogging format. People can be aprehensive about changing from what they know, particularly when communities already exist.

I came across Feedreader the other day and was very impressed by the service it offered. It is basically what I expect the immediate future of RSS to offer in terms of Web 2.0/3.0 technologies. Instead of having the feed stored on a website, social bookmarking site or in your web browser, the content gets automatically delivered in an exceptionally user-friendly desktop new aggregator. I was staggered with how easy it was to use and how useful it is to have the web delivered to you in the most direct of circumstances.

Furthermore, the application is free and features two more features:

• Feedreader OEM - A fully customizable feed service including modifications to information collected and teh visual appearance of the software.
• Feedreader Connect - Allowing you to retrieve information articles from remote locations, including mobile phones. This information can even then be published throughout your local Intranet.

This type of simple and efficient information sharing is what will become standardized in future Web 2.0 devices in my opinion. When feeds were first introduced, they were pretty much as static as the website they were subscribing to. New ways of expanding and manipulating these feeds are becoming available and it should result in a much simpler service. Let’s face it, most Internet users wouldn’t be able to tell you what a feed is. By having information come straight to the desktop it detatches itself from association with website publishing and becomes merely a customized news service.

With the recent release of Grand Theft Auto IV, what is looking being the best selling game of all time, it is only to be expected that Internet followers will be utilizing Web 2.0 technologies to bring about a worldwide community of fans of the game. One of the most interesting I’ve found is the Map of Liberty City, which was assembled by the site’s registered users, that uses the technologies provided by Google’s Google Maps service.

Google Maps - Liberty City Map

The map is very detailed with markers locating pretty much every point of interest including missions, restaurants and places where multiplayer games can be started. Wouldn’t it be great if items such as this could be accessed within the game? I think the days when actual Web 2.0 apps are integrated within games (the consoles of which are all already hooked up to the Internet), will be a real step forward for technology mashups.

I happy to announce that this blog is now free of any nofollow comands that used to prevent Google and other search engines from influencing the link target’s ranking in the search engine’s index. This meant every comment prior to this was effected and potentially worthless as a link. This won’t encourage spam though as I’ll still remove anything which I don’t like.

You can find out more about the DoFollow plugin for your blog or download it directly here:

sem-dofollow (zip)