Mark Koberlein - Web Developer, Koberlein Studios LLC

March 10, 2010

Making Google Apps More Attractive to Businesses with the Google Apps Marketplace

Last night Google launched their Apps Marketplace for Google Apps. I think that this is a good move by Google because it gives another reason for companies to consider using Google Apps for their businesses. If you are a Google Apps customer and you need an application that Google doesn't provide you can search through their marketplace and find a third party app that can integrate with your data in Google Apps (contacts, docs, emails ....).

It will be interesting to see how this evolves when the Chrome OS is launched at the end of the year. I bet Google will make a consumer version of their App Store so that anyone with a Gmail account will be able to buy and add web apps to their Google account.

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March 8, 2010

How Kirby Reminded Me that Selling is about Relationships and Not the Hard Sell

Last Friday I had an interesting visit by a Kirby salesmen. If you ask my wife she would tell you that if there is one that I enjoy it is a good vacuum. Maybe it's my over-compulsive need to have a clean floor but I actually enjoy vacuuming. So when Mr. Kirby came by I welcomed him into my home, especially since he was offering a free carpet shampooing.

I had no idea how expensive these vacuums are. Apparently, these vacuums are the BMWs of the vacuum world with it's super cleaning power, life-time warranty, and $1800.00 price tag. Like I said, I appreciate a good vacuum but there is no way I'm paying $1800 for one. (Especially when I can get a like new one on Ebay for $600-$800)

Mr. Kirby then proceeded with his cookie-cutter demo and showed me that my vacuum is really crap compared to the Kirby by picking up dirt that I never knew existed in my carpets. Mid-way through the demo I was sold, but I wasn't $1800 sold. The salesman knew this and then started to apply the hard sell. He tried to lower the price and do some trickery with no interest monthly payments but the price would never go below $1500. I even offered to give him $800 cash, but he wouldn't even consider that (because I assume he would lose his commission with that price).

Besides the price, the one thing that I could not understand was why the salesmen wasn't trying to establish a relationship with me as a customer. I asked him for his business card and any brochures about the product (which he had none). I told him that he could call me anytime in a week or drop by next weekend to talk to me again. He said would not be able to do that because he only gets credit for one visit and if he doesn't sell it to me today then we wouldn't get the full credit.

His product sold me but the salesmen in the end turned me off. Who knows, in a week, if he came back for a visit, I may have taken him up on the no-interest monthly payments offer but he will never know. I know companies like Kirby have research that shows that if a sale doesn't occur during the visit then the chance of the sale occurring after the initial visit is low. I understand that, but I don't understand how they expect people to be ok with a high price impulse purchase. If the salesmen would have had a little bit of patience and showed a little bit of care with a follow-up visit then he might have gotten a sale.

This week I'm starting to build the first product for Koberlein Studios and I'm thinking about how I will sell it. I believe that there are two crucial ingredients to selling. First, you have to have a great product that either doesn't exist yet or is in some way better than the competition. Second, you should be willing to show that you want to have a relationship with the customer. The customer should trust that you are not just trying to make a quick buck off them and instead you are trying to build a relationship with them. Then they will not only feel good about their purchase but also come back to buy something else from you.

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March 5, 2010

Fire the “web designer”? No, not if they actually want to be a "web" designer.

You've hired the wrong guy. After reading David Airey's forget about design and Andrew Maier's User Experience Designer vs. Creative Director I've come to the conclusion that the role "web designer" is a cheap ass effort to fudge a graphic designer into a role requiring two entirely separate fields of knowledge.

Web teams still need graphic designers to communicate visually appealing messages. And graphic designers moving from a print team to a web team should stay graphic designers. What's needed to compliment a web team's graphic designer is someone to account for the complexities of human-computer interaction (HCI). Surely a manager in any field can't expect staff to adopt a completely opposite, complex knowledge base overnight.

Welcome the missing link: User experience designer.

User experience design is a blend of usability, information architecture (IA), and user interface (UI) design.

A web-based user experience designer is charged with learning about users and creating interfaces that match website goals and user needs. They deliver interaction specs and simple mockups to the graphic designer as a framework for user-centered visual communication. Then, of course, the web developer makes the interaction work.

Don't mix up the two roles, user experience designer and graphic designer. Neither should do the others' job. They should never be blurred into "web designer".

If you're going to make the leap into a more complex communication channel, account for its complexities or it'll bite you in the ass when your competitors "get it"

via briancray.com

I do agree that many times companies try to force their "print" designers into the role of web designers because it's usually cheaper than hiring another designer for the web. Most of the time this causes the project to fail. Either because the designer's work isn't usable online or they don't understand HTML and CSS so they can't implement it themselves and will then hand their work off to a programmer who doesn't know Photoshop.

It all depends on how motivated the "print" designer is in becoming a "web" designer. If it's their choice, they can be successful. "Usability, information architecture (IA), and user interface (UI) design" can be learned as long as the web designer knows that this is a whole different ballgame than the print world.

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March 2, 2010

Copywriter and Python Web Developer Jobs Posted on Elance

I am in need of a copywriter and a python web developer for projects I am working on. Here is a summary of the job posts. If you are interested and would like to make a bid please do so on Elance.

Copywriter Needed to Review Tech Biz Website

Category/Subcategory
Writing & Translation/Editing & Proofreading

Summary
I need a copywriter with marketing experience in software and technology to review the copy on my new consulting website. I would like the copy reviewed for professionalism, clarity, accuracy, and usability. You will have the freedom to edit...

Tumblr vs. Posterous and why Tumblr is Winning

via businessinsider.com

There is an interesting article by the Business Insider about why Tumblr is beating Posterous at the micro-blogging game. Their main argument is that Tumblr is designed and Posterous is engineered. I have used both services and I would agree with that statement. Tumblr is a beautiful product and would recommend it to anyone who wants to quickly get a blog started.

However, I'm a Posterous user and I love the service. I use it because it is an engineered product and it has the features that I want. Their post by email feature is great. I enjoy working on the posts in Gmail and then posting to my website them by emailing it. I use the service to host my personal blog (markkoberlein.com) and then I pull the posts into the Koberlein Studios Blog through their easy to use API.

There are some features that Tumblr has that I wish Posterous would add. They have a great iPhone app, better templates, and better editing tools. I don't need any of these features but they are the features that make the product more usable for the general user. This is why Tumblr is beating Posterous by attracting more new users.

No matter how well a product is engineered, if it's not designed for the everyday user it will lose in the long run.

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Filed under // technology

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February 24, 2010

X.com: Paypal's Social Network for Developers

Last November, Paypal rolled out a new social network specifically for their developers called the Paypal X Developer Network. This is a smart move by Paypal to grow it's developer community. They must be taking a note from Steve Ballmer's "Developers, Developers, Developers...." and understanding that if they really want to grow their platform it takes the support of the developers.

Paypal has always had a large developer community around their platform and I'm sure this is going to be a hit with them. However, it will be interesting to see how many new paypal developers they will attract. I personally didn't like Paypal's previous developer site and from my initial review X.com looks to be an improvement by doing a better job of promoting it's suite of APIs and tools and also giving it's community of experts a platform to mentor and teach others.

One thing that I find interesting is they have included a level and point system for their members. I assume that points will be awarded for asking and answering community questions and the members will be able to "level up" after reaching determined membership goals. Another developer community that has used a system like this is StackOverflow and it has helped to promote an active community by turning the process of asking and answering questions into a game.

As a developer who specializes in Google platforms, I'm more inclined to use Google Checkout in my applications. I find that Google Checkout is cheaper and easier to integrate but the one requirement is the user must login or create a Google account in order to make a payment. Paypal prefers that user's create a Paypal account to make a payment but they do not required it. I believe that for a majority of online users this isn't an issue and they will create an additional account if they need to. However, I also realize that we should give our users as many methods as possible to make a payment and not solely rely on one platform.

If you're a Paypal developer let me know what you think about X.com and if you think it's going to broaden Paypal's developer platform.

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February 1, 2010

Could the success of the iPad mean the beginning of the end for Flash?

I have mixed feelings about the iPad. I love my iPhone, Kindle and my HP Netbook but I'm not sure if I have a need for another small computing device. Of course, who couldn't use a huge iPod Touch to have on the coffee table to check email and Facebook statuses. I could see replacing my Kindle with one because I'm sure that it is going to be a better book reader. However, I'm not paying $500 to $700 for a book reader. I waited until the Kindle came down to $250 before I pulled the trigger on that.

I do have a feeling that the iPad will be successful because the mac boys and tech heads will flock to it. It will be the next must have gadget. I also see this device becoming very popular in educational circles. If it gains a lot of traction in these markets then I assume the mass market will eventually follow unless a competitor like HP or Dell can deliver comparable product with a good UI and a lot of marketing.

I just read an interesting article by Steve Gillmor on TechCrunchIT and it made me think about something. If the iPad is successful does that mean the beginning of the end Flash?

Take Flash. Please. When Jobs quarantined it on the iPhone, we all felt it was a tactical thing, more political than technical. Of course, it’s never been technical, even now when it’s kept off the iPad because it is responsible for such a great percentage of crashes in Safari or whatever. Actually, Flash is being kept off the iPlatform because It Sucks. Google’s HTML 5 liturgy is another contiguous example of how to sell the same message, but enquiring minds still want to know why we need a plug-in from a company that makes its real money from Photoshop.

via http://www.techcrunchit.com/2010/01/29/left-out/

As a web developer, I'm not a fan of Flash. I have a lot experience working with it because of my former life as a designer, but now I try to use Javascript and CSS whenever I can to avoid using Flash. Flash is a blotted web browser plugin and is the leading cause for web browser crashes. It is CPU and memory intensive and on low powered devices like netbooks is barely usable.

Flash is still installed on over 98% of the web browsers and I believe the primary reason it retains it's foothold is because of video sites like Youtube and Hulu that are built on on it. Video is Flash's killer feature. Also, there a Flash games like Facebook's Farmville that help to keep it on top. However, more and more mobile devices like smart phones don't have Flash installed and people are starting to get comfortable with the idea of not relying on Flash for their dynamic content. Also, websites are using Javascript for animations that would have required Flash to run in a browser.

The one thing that Javscript can not do is video and that is where HTML5 will come into play. HTML5 allows video to play in a web browser using a video codec like MPEG or H.264 Youtube is already starting to move over to an HTML5 video player and most of their videos are viewable in a beta version of their site.

So back to the iPad. Taking Steve Job's recent statements into consideration about Flash, Adobe, HTML5, Flash will probably never step foot inside of an iPhone or iPad. I bet that if Steve could, he would try to keep it off every Mac. If the iPad becomes a successful web browsing device without Flash, then that could be the final nail in the Flash coffin. It probably won't happen overnight because that 98% install base will take a long time to come down but I think that in 2 to 3 years we will no longer have the need for Flash in the browser.

Like I said, I'm still undecided about whether or not a tablet device like the iPad is right for me, but if it helps to kill off Flash and speed up the adoption of HTML5 then as a web developer, I'm for it.

Just in case you live under a rock and you don't know what the iPad is:

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Filed under // development gadgets technology

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January 30, 2010

Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra is ‘Bullshit,’ Adobe Is Lazy: Apple’s Steve Jobs

This is an amazing article on Wired with Steve Jobs opening up in public about going after Google and Adobe.

After a big public announcement of the sort Apple had this week for the iPad CEO Steve Jobs often takes time in the day or two afterwards to have a Town Hall at One Infinite Loop, making himself available for questions from employees bold enough to stand up and take one right between the eyes.

This time, the big topics included Google and Adobe — no surprises there. Google recently unveiled its own Android-powered handset, the Nexus One, whose release Jan. 5 prompted Jobs to perhaps over-react by announcing on the same day that the iTunes store had served up three billion apps and that “… we see no signs of the competition catching up any time soon.” Apple’s billionth iPhone app download was greeted with great fanfare, but the two billionth not so much, so it felt a tad like Jobs was feeling some heat.

And the absence of Adobe Flash support on the iPhone for three years and counting, and now on the iPad, is either celebrated by users as a poke in the eye of one of the web’s most dextrous tools, or the most over-rated and overused crutch for decent design.

Jobs, characteristically, did not mince words as he spoke to the assembled, according to a person who was there who could not be named because this person is not authorized by Apple to speak with the press.

On Google: We did not enter the search business, Jobs said. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them, he says. Someone else asks something on a different topic, but there’s no getting Jobs off this rant. I want to go back to that other question first and say one more thing, he says. This don’t be evil mantra: “It’s bullshit.” Audience roars.

You know I miss the days when Apple (as in Steve) went after Microsoft and IBM with a vengeance. That battle didn't turn out too well for him, but it was fun to watch. It would be fun to see Apple and Google go at it.

The real battleground is the iPhone and Android phones. One one side you have a slick closed platform (iPhone) that is a single piece of hardware controlled by Apple. On the other side you have an open platform (Google's Android) that can run an infinite number of mobile devices that are not controlled by Google. The history of the PC vs. Mac wars showed us that an open platform (as in able to be installed on any non-apple device) wins over a closed platform controlled by one company. It will be interested to see what happens this time around.

About Adobe: They are lazy, Jobs says. They have all this potential to do interesting things but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy, he says. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash, he says. The world is moving to HTML5.

While I would heartily agree with Steve that HTML5 is the future the world is moving away from Flash, I don't think he should start rocking the boat too much because if Adobe really wanted to stick it to Apple they could stop releasing Photoshop on the Mac and just release it for Windows and Linux. If this would happen, you probably see a large portion of the creative and educational markets move away from Apple. This is a hammer that Adobe has always had over Apple but used it because it didn't make financial sense to them.

The world, of course, includes Google, which last week in a somewhat more modest development bypassed Apple’s iPhone app blockade by unveiling an html5 version of Google Voice, which takes full advantage of mobile Safari on the iPhone. Wired.com found it to be an impressive variation of the app Apple has neither approved nor officially rejected.

And it is, of course, in keeping with Google’s stated view (Android app marketplace notwithstanding) that the future is really in web-based applications and not in mobile apps at all. Web-based applications of the sort html5 makes much more viable.

So, great work rallying the troops, Steve — but be careful what you wish for.

via. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/01/googles-dont-be-evil-mantra-is-bullshit-adobe-is-lazy-apples-steve-jobs/#ixzz0eAH4tDef

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January 22, 2010

W3schools.com's Historical Browser Statistics

via michaelvandaniker.com

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January 13, 2010

Send a $10 Donation to the Red Cross for Haiti Relief by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999

American Red Cross Pledges Initial $1 Million to Haiti Relief

Send a $10 Donation by Texting ‘Haiti’ to 90999

Editorial note: You can make a donation by calling 1-800-REDCROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish) or click on the Donate Now button.

National Headquarters
2025 E Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006
www.redcross.org

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1242929/Haiti-earthquake-pictures-How-natural-disaster-ripped-island-apart.html

The American Red Cross is sending money, supplies and staff to Haiti to support relief efforts there after yesterday’s earthquake, which caused catastrophic damage and loss of life.

According to reports, as many as three million people may have been affected by the quake, which collapsed government buildings and caused major damage to hospitals in the area.

The Red Cross is contributing an initial $1 million from the International Response Fund to support the relief operation, and has opened its warehouse in Panama to provide tarps, mosquito nets and cooking sets for approximately 5,000 families.

via. Red Cross Website

http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.94aae335470e233f6cf911df43181aa0/?vgnextoid=15c0c5a210826210VgnVCM10000089f0870aRCRD

$1.2 Million in Donations for Haiti, via Text Message

By JENNA WORTHAM

Update | 6:51 p.m. Adding more information about the campaign and updating the total raised.

In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday, thousands of Americans are sending financial support — through their mobile phones.

Anyone with a mobile phone and an account with a major wireless carrier can text the phrase “Haiti” to the number 90999 and donate $10 to the Red Cross. That amount is charged to the donor’s cellphone bill.

The texted donations are being handled by a company called mGive, which started the campaign in a joint effort with the State Department and the Red Cross late Tuesday night. Thanks to a mention on the White House’s blog and lots of word of mouth onTwitter and Facebook, the campaign had raised more than $1.2 million by Tuesday evening, mGive said.

via http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/1-million-in-donations-for-haiti-via-text-message/?src=tptw

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American Red Cross Pledges Initial $1 Million to Haiti Relief

$1.2 Million in Donations for Haiti, via Text Message