The Teckki Says

In researching this article, I looked at several sites that have motion, animation and video - the Chicago Tribune, Disney and YouTube. They have one thing in common within their websites - they use animation software from Adobe called Flash. Not all animation is Flash, but in the overwhelming majority of cases, such as video, slide shows, many ads, games and some navigation, Flash is the tool of choice, and the defacto standard in website development.

This is more than a "nice to know" fact. The issue was pushed to the forefront last month when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs wrote and article on Apple's website to answer both customers and critics that Flash will never play on the iPad, as it did not do so on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Apple also took steps to ensure this by banning software developers from using tools other than its own to create apps for these devices. No more Flash means more than just no more pizazz, but the items I mentioned above, like video, games and other items developed in Flash, don't show up on Apple's mobile devices. If your navigation is developed in Flash, visitors to your site cannot move beyond the page they land on. This has serious consequences as to how your website is developed if you plan on your visitors being able to use these devices to view your site.

There are several things you can do resolve this, but bottom line is that you will probably develop two websites: one for computers, the other for mobile devices. On the surface, this seems like an extra expense, and it is. However, the website world is quickly moving from a one-size-fits-all environment, to one where multiple device types will access the web. The experience of sitting at a stationary computer is different from interacting with a device while in motion. As more flat screen TV's become Internet-capable, an entirely new web viewing experience will come into play, making websites developed for viewing via a 17" to 22" computer screens inadequate. But before you engage your developer in programming for new media, consider the following:

(1). Where is your audience, TODAY!
For anyone claiming that if you don't have a website, you don't have a business, I can find businesses that don't have websites, and are doing fine now, and will be in the future. In these businesses, the phone still works, and the doors are still open. The difference is they know where their customers are, but more importantly, their customers know where they are. Generally, no one is totally off the grid because search engines like Google has made it their business to put as much information out as possible, and businesses get listed through other means, such as memberships in organizations with website directories. But if a majority of your customers are walk-by's, how useful will your website really be, let alone someone searching online for you so that they can walk by your location?

(2). If being on the web is the future, what part of the "future" is yours?
It has been reported Apple has sold over 75 million iPhone OS devices (includes the iPod Touch) through last year. We can probably assume that better than 50% of these devices are still active. Apple recently announced that it sold a million iPads in the first month of availability. All of these devices are web-capable. How many of these device owners are actually a part of your targeted audience? These devices are definitely the future, but how long will they be potential? Even if all of your customers sported iPhones, will they use them to browse your site? You may be better off developing an app.

(3). How interactive is your website?
This is a very important question. The reason people migrate to these devices from computers is mobility, convenience and speed. Some sites require extensive interactivity, and need to be accessed using a computer and mouse. Other sites can be made very complex by reducing the size of the screen they are displayed on. Moving from one screen size to another can sometimes be compared from moving from a larger house to a smaller one - you are going to have to do a lot of rearranging, and some things will not be brought to the new house. A smaller screen may require a major re-engineering effort and purpose for your website.

All of the points above speak more to your business and your customers than to the technology that connects you both. While it is unsettling, and technology can usually transform entire industries overnight, ignoring how your customers interact with you can transform your business much quicker. Flash will be around awhile, because Adobe listens to its customers. Apple may or may not be a part of the equation, but their customers don't seem to mind too much, after all, a million iPads just got sold, and not one of them does Flash.

What is Cloud Computing?

If you have a public email account, understanding Cloud Computing is low pressure, because your emails, pictures and other information are stored in the Cloud Computing stratosphere. This, and your ability to access your account, is the basic gist of Cloud Computing. Google takes this a step further, allowing you to store documents and spreadsheets online.

Given this, many of you already trust the Cloud.

But some of you may have been introduced to a hail of issues in Cloud Computing if you owned a T-Mobile Sidekick and weren't able to restore your phone information from a backup after your battery went dead. In that instance, you understood it all too well - you got drenched.

Storms do occur in Cloud Computing, and there can be serious consequences.

In the future, I suspect that you will be flooded with marketing from companies touting Cloud Computing, sunny scenarios and all. Cloud Computing is relatively safe, considering that you've trusted your websites to such technology for years. However, are you ready to jet stream ahead and trust more of your company data and functionality to Cloud Computing?

It has the ability to transform the atmosphere in your business, reducing equipment costs and shifting labor to outsourced services. In the high pressure environment of survival, reducing costs is something in everyone's forecast. However I would think about this carefully, because the rules are still being written on Cloud Computing.

There is only so much information I personally am going to let go beyond my internal computers and servers. This mirrors my philosophy on business functions I will never outsource - finance, marketing and R/D. Yours may be different, but I feel that those three functions define so much of what a company is that they should be carefully guarded and secured. In the Cloud, I would give up this security.

I would also be more vigilant about what my own employees could do on the Cloud. In some cases, lapses and carelessness can be embarrassing, and in other cases, they can be considered crimes. If it happens on internal computers, it may just be a local issue. In the Cloud, you might have to fend off federal wire fraud charges. If you think this is a stretch, note what can happen to an underage kid who posts pictures of his under-dressed, underage girlfriend to Facebook. Prosecutors in some cases are upgrading charges to that of an adult sex offender.

You have been using the Cloud successfully for years, but those have been defined uses, and the companies you have been using have been fairly clear on how to use their technology. As you puff your Cloud with more of your information and functionality, the rules become more general, and your culpability increases. Keep that in mind as you use more Cloud Computing, how you weather the experience is prognosticated on how well you manage the climate. Sunny days can be many if you do this well.

The Internet as we know it is more of a concept than a product or service. It is not like the street we see, giving us the ability to point out to a physical road and explain the dangers of it, nor is it something we can tag or place a warning label on to inform us of its hazards. The Internet is a collection of devices, services and interactions, pieces by themselves that are not dangerous, but in combination, can be lethal.

Because of this, information on usage of the Internet is done either through classes, books, mucking through it and workshops, like one I participated in last month. It was full of information that is important both in personal and business matters. The workshop featured information from the Chicago Police Department, and five distinguished technology experts. I will summarize highlight of the workshop in this article.

Chicago Police Officer Charmaine Strong gave a presentation on Internet Security and children. This one was of particular interest to me since I am battling technology-savvy children of my own. One point struck me, however, is that as much attention as Internet Security is getting, the number of officers assigned to Internet Security at CPD is relatively minuscule, roughly five officers devoted to a city of three million. While identity theft takes up the majority of news press and is definitely more prevalent, these are also the officers that handle Internet predators.

I was impressed with the list of acronyms Officer Strong presented as a part of the texting lingo (see this site for lists) kids use to talk to one another. It reminded me of the days when I was a kid, but maturity level of the texting language in some cases should be rated NC-17. Generations of parents have always tried to figure out what their children are saying. The list helps. DYGT (did you get that)?

George Rumsey, of Computer Resource Center, did an excellent job of moderating a panel of four professionals who offered much to the audience in keeping their computing experiences relatively safe. Richard Buchner, of Hyde Park Systems Group, provided an array of tips to those in the Windows computing world. He discussed the seemingly obvious, such as the money scams we get in emails, to the not so obvious, such as getting emails from people we trust, but whose email accounts have been hijacked. Charlie Havens, of Wooded Isle Consultants, discussed the rather lassie-faire attitude that those with Apple computers take towards protecting them from viruses. An interesting statistic he presented was that for Mac computers, there were just under 300 known viruses. He contrasted that to the almost 300,000 know viruses in the Windows PC world. While it is much more likely that Windows PC users would likely encounter a virus, a Mac user is more likely to be infected by one. Havens also had the latest Apple sensation, the iPad, on display. Look for a future review of his experiences with the iPad in a later post.

Jean Pickering, of The Tecktite Group, covered social media. In her comprehensive coverage of the topic, Jean related how the critical mass of Internet users has already embraced social networking media, making it fully mainstream. She stated that more and more businesses and employers are using the media in many ways from marketing to employee background checks. She also gave a counter to the conventional wisdom that nothing lasts forever, saying that once something is posted to the Internet, it never goes away. This certainly gives pause to think about what you post.

A lot of my input complemented the other panelists. However, I believe that web computing can only be made safe to a point. It's like driving. You trust yourself, and implicitly, everyone else on the road. This trust won't necessarily stop accidents, hit and runs and drunk drivers. Today’s Internet, like driving, will always have some element of danger, but we can only be so cautious.

The audience felt that they were given a lot of good information. The panelists always get a lot out of it. Hopefully, everyone is safer and relatively more secure in navigating the Internet.

A special thanks goes out to Richard Buchner, of Hyde Park Systems Group for organizing the event, to Camille Hamilton-Doyle for managing many of the tasks and coordinating the publicity, and to Elizabeth Kirby, principal, as well as staff at Kenwood High School for hosting the event.