Richard O'Callaghan : Blogged

Webware

Phil Wainewright points to a good post by Paul McNamara about the fact that the term "Software as a Service" or Saas as it is commonly referred to, is simply a bad term for a new wave of technologies since it dwells on the past by referring to the term software.

Paul recommends the term Webware as a replacement.

I fully agree that a new description is needed, as most non-technical people simply don't get the whole Saas thing - there is too much of a blurred line between what was there a few years ago, and what is available now.

I like the term webware, but I have reservations about it - the first thing that sprung to my mind when I read it was similar sounding terms - Spyware, malware, etc. I get the feeling that end-users would think of the same terms and view the term webware in a negative light.

Hopefully I'm wrong though as its a nice term

USL - Providers of webware for web-designers!

Google acquires YouTube for $1.6 billion

Well the rumours were true and Google have announced that they are to acquire YouTube for $1.65 billion.

This makes the News Corp acquisition of MySpace for $580 million earlier this year look small. At the time, everyone was slating the price, saying it was too much, and now whats it worth?

As Scoble pointed out, create something really unique, with a passionate user base, that increases the user-value as it grows, and thats worth something.

One of the crucial things that YouTube has over MySpace and Bebo, is its global coverage - from my perspective anyway, it seems to have a hold on its market, on both sides of the Atlantic, whereas MySpace is big USA and Bebo big in Western Europe.

And as Scoble also points out, Google have now ensured that both Microsoft and Yahoo don't have YouTube, and that too is worth something big in trying to stay ahead of the game.

With YouTubes current negotiaions with several Movie labels, this is sure to a) increase its value even more in a short space, and b)make it difficult for the likes of MS to compete with it.

Also very interesting that Google plan to maintain the YouTube brand to ensure user loyalty - are Google suggesting that they are having issues with user loyalty / trust? ;)

Anyway, its all interesting stuff...!

Apples Fairplay DRM cracked (again)

A guy called Igor Skochinsky has released a program for stripping music files bought through iTunes of their Fairplay DRM.

This was done previously by Norwegian Jon Johansen back in 2004 but Apple quickly released a new revision of Fairplay.

This latest attempt is the first in 2 years to successfully remove Fairplay DRM from even the latest revision of iTunes - 6.0.5.

I'm sure Apple will be quick to release an iTunes update with a new revision of Fairplay.

I wonder how many iterations they have pre-developed, based on the assumption that a revision will eventually be compromised.

I've lost my Connexion

Very dissapointing to hear via CrunchGear that Connexion (Broadband in the skies) by Boeing has been dropped. Whilst Om is correct on the issues Boeing faced on getting traction with the service in the main markets such as the US, I would suspect that this may have a greater impact for general connectivity during flights - do travellers really need to be connected...

Surely now that such a large player in the airline industry has dropped the idea; so many others will question it, and possibly other inflight connectivity proposals.

Has wifi during air travel just received a major setback?.... I think so...

Google Analytics Open to the masses

Google Analytics has finally been opened to the masses, having been available by invitation only until now.

I can say that as a user of analytics for the past few months, its pretty good. It seems to be accurate enough and the interface is nice and quick. Previously I tried using Webtrends On-Demand, but the interface leaves alot to be desired - its sooooo slow. And Webtrends costs $$ per month ofcourse!

Google analytics is well worth a look for anybody interested in decent web stats - having been built upon the Google acquired Urchin product. Setup is nice and easy, by simply adding 5 or 6 lines of javascript to every webpage on a site, unlike Webtrends massive amount of code (probably in the region of 200 lines of code!!)

Analytics integration with Adwords is also a really nice touch.

Web 2.0 trademarked!

I've just read over on Tom Raftery's blog that O'Reilly media claim to have a pending trademark on the term "Web 2.0". They have sent a notice to IT@Cork in relation to their upcoming Web 2.0 conference claiming infringement of their trademark.

Who in their right mind would try to trademark Web 2.0 ? I mean, I can see the business value ofcourse, but its like a generic term at this stage. Heck I might as well go and trademark the "Dot Com Bubble" or something daft like that. I can't believe it.

And why would they target an Irish HALF DAY conference - it's just petty. I wonder have any other events or conferences around the world being served with these notices???

I'm sure this will cause big stir if it becomes widespread. Bad form O'Reilly media.
And especially since Tim O'Reilly was invited to speak at the conference according to Tom.