Google’s Bold Play
One of the most overlooked things that Google’s App Engine brings to the table is the ability to tap into the massive user base of Google Apps, in a very similiar way to facebook’s developer platform. While Google lacks the social network facebook provides (at least in the US), it provides a large captive audience to any new service who previously would have had to go through hoops to try anything new.
What’s wrong with a signup form?
Writing about the endless number of new web services that greet users with a form rather than utility. Luke Wroblewski writes the following:
I’ll just come out and say this: sign-up forms must die. In the introduction to this book I described the process of stumbling upon or being recommended to a web service. You arrive eager to dive in and start engaging and what’s the first thing that greets you? A form.
We can do better. In fact, I believe we can get people engaged with digital services in a way that tells them how such services work and why they should care enough to use them. I also believe we can do this without explicitly making them fill out a sign-up form as a first step.
(
More at A List Apart: Sign Up Forms Must Die.)
Solution?
Now with Google’s App Engine as a developer we can engage new users with out applications almost completely seamlessly. Any user who has used a google app (like GMail), can instantly try out your application in its fully capacity without having to go through another signup. OpenID strived to allow users to to carry a digital identity with them around the web, but the barrier there is technical as OpenID has not reached critical mass outside of highly technical users. While there has been a long history of good news with big companies adopting OpenID, there have also been many questions
Where is this headed?
- I think that companies such as Amazon, Yahoo, and others will attempt to leverage their vast large userbase by opening up similar competing developer platforms.
- Those with existing platforms will likely expand and improve their platforms to compete.
- Privacy concerns will be created as data is more and more concentrated in fewer “silos”
- More platforms and open APIs will result in more web services and competition, ultimately a win for the consumer.
Will we see the end to the sign up form soon? Probably not. But it will certainly be interesting to see where these recent events propel us forward.
We’ve all been there: You have the next best thing all planned out, your contextual ad fueled social mashup running on all propriety technology someone is going to be dying to buy out. All you need is a a couple million in vc funding and you’ll be cruising on in your jet in no time.
Next time you’re trying to explain your paradigm shifting social mashup to one of those dull VCs do it in style! Our latest shirt “Fund Me!” will let them know exactly what you need and why you need it.
Check out the new shirt here: http://startupwear.com/fund.html
Or our business plan: http://startupwear.com/startupwearpitch.pdf
Make sure all your web2.0 friends sign up for our mailinglist at http://startupwear.com so they don’t miss another design. RSS feeds will be up soon.
It’s official, we’ve launched StartupWear.com: The poor man’s VC Wear.
The business plan is pretty simple, while VC Wear targets the upper echelon of investors with their $100 witty t-shirts. StartupWear.com targets the layman entrepreneur probably funding their startup with a credit-card and strong financial projections. We think $20 for a witty t-shirt covering device is the perfect price point for those ramen fueled entrepreneurs out there.
Here are some of my favorites:
You can see the rest of the designs here or take a look at our killer business plan.
PS - This not an april fools joke. Seriously.
If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason.
Ben Franklin in Poor Richard’s Almanack
Unless of course you want to look dumb in Safari.
Background
Safari is the only browser that correctly interprets the color profile information as is the default for Photoshop when saving jpegs.
So what happens is your make your cute web2.0 app with your oh-so-original rounded corners you made in photoshop, and you all your safari traffic will see your cute corner image clash with your cleverly chosen background color. And you’ll be none the wiser in firefox land.
How to fix it
Just uncheck the box.
