Showing posts with label Interface. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interface. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Apple's App Store and others.

What this post is about is the type of environment or community I see People, Ideas & Objects becoming. There are many types of communities that exist today that I can point to, and detail the attributes that appeal to me, and what I think should be emulated in "our" application modules. (Click on the title of this entry to be taken to a New York Times article on Apple's App Store.)

Google 

I am a prolific user of Google applications. Including Google Apps for People, Ideas & Objects where the Wiki, blog and many other productivity and collaboration applications are available. A regular Google Account also provides the ability to monitor and control the various data types that an individual is interested in. Consisting of more then 33 distinct applications, each is capable of managing a certain element of your world, and connect you with members of your community, whatever that may consist of. 

The attribute that I find Google Applications provide is a very good example of what the alleged "cloud" provides. Up to date applications that are available everywhere. This is the next element of the always-on Internet, and represents a huge leap in software value. When applications can be upgraded once, the speed benefits more then just the developers. The iterative development of software is possible, and users are put in the driver seat and in control of the applications features and functionality. 


Apple iTunes

iTunes, the application that just keeps getting better. Music, podcasts, radio, movies and TV. All of your entertainment in one easy to use, search-able database. And if you want to purchase a song or movie, the iTunes Store is just a click away. All the sophistication that is the iTunes application is available in the easiest interface. You have the opportunity to organize and manage your entertainment in unique and innovative ways like SmartPlaylists, and the new Genius functionality. 

The attribute that I find iTunes brings is the complete management of one element of your life. Your entertainment. What I would like to see is the user, who is in control of the developments for the oil and gas producer, use the People, Ideas & Objects application as their commercial environment. The place where they earn a living. 


Apple's App Store

We've all heard about the iPhone and its applications. Independent developers and firms that are selling "cloud" based services can develop an application very easily for the iPhone. With a huge Software Development Kit provided by Apple. A developer can make an application that could be a complete home run on the iPhone for as little as $50,000.00. With a readily available market, and distribution to consumers, developers are finding access to revenue streams of up to $500,000.00 / year. 

It should be made clear that this is the first time that a developer has been able to independently invest, market and earn based on their entrepreneurial skills. There have been markets such as SourceForge and Collabnet. But those are not necessarily ways to make money. They only provide for the ability, in the open source ideal, to being involved in making much better software. 

I am doing what is possible to make People, Ideas & Objects the second market for these developers. But theirs more, much more. This is also the marketplace where users will be able to actively participate in making the software they want and need, and also earn money for the time spent on working with developers and also their producer clients. 

The services associated with People, Ideas & Objects software are licensed to the users under contract. Developers and Users are able to look to the work being done here as part of their career and for monetary gain. As I have mentioned here many times before; the total cost of a global application with the full scope of a producer firm, is estimated to be in excess of one billion dollars. The majority of those revenues are distributed to the individuals who make the software what it is. The users and developers, please join me here

Technorati Tags:

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Google Health, and it's user interface.

I seem to be spending a lot of time writing about Google and the technologies that they're releasing. I have to say that what they are putting out is very impressive and reflects the massive development that has been ongoing there for the last few years. Click on the title of this entry to watch a video of how Google Health was built. Of particular interest is the amount of time and discussion that is dedicated to the users experience.

Other discussions talk about the many issues around access to the confidential data. Of course health related information is highly confidential, but there are many people that you would want to have access to it, like an emergency room doctor. I think in the People, Ideas & Objects application we face many of the same data integrity and security issues. Proving that this information can reside on the web and that their are solutions to these issues.

The centralization of data comes up as a big advantage in this video. I recently talked about the Google G:Drive or Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Having one certifiable copy of the data with access control privileges; answers so many of the related security risks and is able to get the right information in the right hands at the right time.

Finally the Question & Answer session of the video shows the level of detailed thinking that has to be put into something like this type of secure application. The questions and answers are some of the best I have ever seen being raised in an open forum such as this video.

Again I want to impress upon you the urgency that I feel we proceed with this software development project. Nothing more can be done with out the financial resources necessary to commence and continue development. If you know of an investor in oil and gas, please send them the URL to this web log and encourage them to sponsor this worthwhile project.

Technorati Tags:

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

The brilliance of Google's G:Drive

Regular readers will know that I have waited for Google's mythic G:Drive service to arrive. Well the good news is its here. And apparently, I have been using it for a number of years. This product launch shows me that Google remains innovative, and how it is able to keep ahead of the competition.

Google's G:Drive provides not only the hardware storage, but also the applications the user wants. Documents, spreadsheets, presentations, .pdf's, and standard forms and templates. Recall that Google Docs is the standard collaborative environment for this software development project. The method that Google uses here makes a lot of sense to me, but that is only the beginning.

When using Google Docs, the user is provided with one version of a document located in the "cloud" as the only copy that you need. You can access it from anywhere that you have an Internet connection. Collaborators contributions and content readers are easily added through a simple interface. There are also multiple opportunities to publish the content on the web. For example I use Google Docs in my @people-ideas-objects.com account to post to this blog. 

Why is this important to this software development project.

We use Vouchers as has been described in the Accounting Voucher Module's Draft Specification. Vouchers are the catch-all phrase of accounting to represent an accounting document. Processed by the systems, these documents are a critical part of any organizations accounting records. The treatment of these Vouchers in People, Ideas & Objects applications are essentially the same things as documents in Google Docs. People collaborating on one version of the Voucher with multiple versions being recorded as the voucher develops. Multiple versions that can be used to establish an audit trail.

Recall that each voucher is access enabled to the authorized personnel in each producer company represented in the JOC. Stored in the cloud, the people with authorized access have only one place to look for the right, or most current, version of the Voucher document. And that one version is not bound in the physical world, many people can view and edit it at the same time. One major difference is the act of closing a voucher to further changes is something that will be built within the standard general ledger interface.

This also applies to for A.F.E.'s, Agreements, Leases, Mail Ballots, Truck Tickets etc. Any and all documents that oil and gas producers' use to document their business transactions will be included as documents within the People, Ideas & Objects applications. This functionality is based on the Security & Access Control Module that ensures no one has access to documents they are not authorized to have access to.

There are three applications in the People, Ideas & Objects specification. One each for the People, the producer companies and the JOC's. I can see the interface for the Peoples application emulating many of the characteristics of the Google Docs interface. I will therefore be adding components of this post into the Accounting Voucher Draft Specification.

The last bit of brilliance from Google shows us the way in which their developers provide value to their users. Through innovative uses of fairly common digital storage medium, and other technologies, users are provided with interfaces that satisfy their needs.

This has been a hard learned lesson for me. To expect the user to better understand the technologies that are involved in this application is never going to happen. A point that I have tried to make here many times before. What Google has taught me is that users and developers need to work together, more then they ever have in the past. Why this is so innovative is that they have been purposely separated through a variety of management layers that will no longer exist in this software development project. And that is how the systems are developed appropriately. Innovative users and developers working together to solve the industries problems.

I wish to appeal to those that have an interest in making this software development project real. If you know of a producing company, or an oil and gas investor that is interested in sponsoring this project, please email the URL of the web log to them and join me here.

Technorati Tags:

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The Sistine Chapel of software.

Time Magazine's comment regarding Apple's new iPhone.

The user interface is crammed with smart little touches — every moment of user interaction has been quietly stage-managed and orchestrated, with such overwhelming attention to detail that when the history of digital interface design is written, whoever managed this project at Apple will be hailed as a Michelangelo, and the iPhone his or her Sistine Chapel.
I don't think Time magazine is known for overstatement, and we will have to wait and see what the final outcome of the iPhone will be. What can be stated today is this software development for oil and gas must implement this level of quality of interface. Nothing less is acceptable.

The days of when Microsoft pretended to emulate the Mac, and provide user interfaces to the bulk of users is over. The amount of time and effort that both Apple and Google spend on the user interface seems over the top for most of their competitors. The user interface is the reason for Google and Apple's success.

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,