Billups Design

In another blog post, I brought up the topic of how the web is being “abstracted” into new mediums and devices such as Rich Internet Applications, netbooks and tablets (e.g. the iPad). After pondering this topic a little more, it hit me that that this concept might be a lot bigger than I initially thought, and deserving of an individual posting.

As I already mentioned, there are new mediums and devices coming out that are abstracting the web and displaying the content in other more unique forms. Instead of the typical user sitting down at his/her work station and loading up Generic Browser X to “surf the web”, they are opening their Twitter client, geo-locating friends in an iPhone app, and soon to be reading books on their iPad.

Without trying to sound to cliche, the internet – and the data that supports it – is infiltrating our lives and dictating how we communicate amongst ourselves. Maybe “dictate” and “infiltrating” are harsh words, but when thinking about it from a newspaper publishers point of view, those words don’t sound harsh enough. It’s no question that the internet has hurt traditional print media publishers and the primary reason many of these companies have gone out of business. But my question is what aspect of the internet actually led to the demise? The answer is not that mind-blowing, but is simply, the accessibility of information became so abundant we no longer needed to pay to see the same content elsewhere.

At this point you might be saying “Wow, great concept, Bryant… ‘Accessibility’ – welcome to 2010,” and I will also agree that this concept is rather outdated, but it is also the exact point I am trying to make. Instead of saying “welcome to 2010″ you should have been saying “welcome to 2006.” Accessibility of information is what has already shaped the internet and is what made it into this giant creation that we use today. The frontier that is now being conquered, and is the root of the “abstraction” process I have refereed to, is making the web more usable.

When you look at some of the first products that “abstracted” the internet, such as Rich Internet Applications (RIA), it’s very clear that they wanted to take the content of the web and make it a more enjoyable and usable experience. Why is the internet not a usable and enjoyable experience? Ha! Well that can be answered several ways (and also very sarcastically), but in short it is because of the infrastructure of the internet. At that point in time (which we are arguably still living in) HTML and web browsers were not advanced enough to handle some of the interactions and display patterns designers wanted to use to display content. Because of this technological limitation, developers created RIA, which can grab the content of the internet and harness the power of a localized application to deliver it to a user in a much more versatile, running environment.

As powerful as some RIAs are, the main drawback is that it was not running inside the browser, the main component of using the Internet. However, with the adoption and implementation of new web standards into modern web browsers, browsers would soon be able to handle all of the same interactions and display patterns that RIA currently did.

Flash forward to today (You didn’t know we were in a flashback mode, did you?) where most modern browsers support forms of HTML5 + CSS3, and paired up with the canvas element, there are javascript techniques out there that will rival Flash. What is the next step? Well, it’s taking the usability and accessibility of the web and delivering it in a product smaller, leaner and more tactile than looking at it on your desk monitor….wah-lah – the iPad!

Now, I don’t consider myself to be an Apple fanboy, though it may seem like I am one when I talk about the iPad. But what I am really trying to explain is the concept and execution of the iPad. I don’t think any company has nailed the tablet concept quite like Apple – although I do think other companies definitely have the capacity to do so. Anyway, the reason I believe the iPad to be so revolutionary, is that it takes the accessibility of the internet, adds in usability features found on modern web browsers and couples the whole thing in a nice, lean well-designed mobile product. It’s the type of product that you look at old 1980′s movies and see futuristic people with flying cars using, except the main difference is that it’s actually here. Does the iPad not have multiple applications running? No. Does it have Flash? No. Does it deliver its most important asset, the internet, in a new portable textile medium? YES! And it seems to deliver that extremely well.

I must say that I was very disappointed when I learned that the iPad didn’t have a forward-facing camera. Furthermore, I think the price structure of the various iPad units suggests a bait and switch approach ($499, yeah but who is going to buy this without 3G?). But when it’s all said and done ,I would be more than willing to pay $650-ish dollars for a device that delivered the Internet to me in a portable, book-sized container.

And now, finally, back to the publishing industry. It would seem that with all this technology they are destined to go the way of the Dodo Bird, but if you take a closer look (at least at the iPad) you can see the iTunes store paradigm fitting in perfectly. iTunes itself has grown to be the world’s largest music retailer, and an argument can be made that people only download music that is easy to get, no matter if it’s free or .99 cents. Bringing this sales approach to the magazine and newspaper publishing industry would be a win-win….win. Publishers will still be able to provide their premium content to virtual subscribers and not have to worry about printing physical copies. Users will be able to access rich “print” media on new user-friendly devices that enhance the reading experience. And device manufactures will be able to create these new devices and push the bounds of technology even further.

Whew… that was a lot of writing, and maybe my conclusion is a little optimistic. But in the face of seeing a major industry collapse on itself, it is refreshing to see an outlook change and be reinvigorated by the advent of a new cutting edge piece of technology.

Last 5 posts by Bryant

• Generic Twitter Widget using jQuery Template Plugin - April 8th, 2010
• SXSW 2010 - March 29th, 2010
• Awesome Dev+Design Playground - January 28th, 2010
• 8 things Ushering in the "New School" of Web Development, Part 1 - December 29th, 2009
• A "new era" of web design...poster design - December 8th, 2009