May 31, 2004
Success?
I had dinner with an older friend yesterday ... and a lot of interesting discussion came up in regards to my future and my "chosen" career path. We talked a bit about Tabulas and its troubles, and my goals for both Tabulas and my other projects.
An interesting point was made: B2C (business-to-consumer) websites rarely survive. Websites that succeed must first acknowledge the B2B (business-to-business) crowd... for websites that generate true business value, only the B2B crowd will take the time to understand that value... the average consumer does not really care about the added value of websites until they try it out.
Edit: This was posted as a response in a comment below and I feel it warrants space in this entry.
Specifically, I'm looking at eBay as a good example of this. eBay is the perfect B2C company; they simply provider the service and have absolutely no physical overhead involved with running a marketplace. The reason adoption at eBay is so high (supposedly they have 3000-4000 new users per day!) is because people see the immediate value to eBay. As a buyer, you can get things cheaper... and for a seller, you can sell your older stuff instead of giving it to Goodwill. Because people see immediately the value of eBay ($$$), they will sign.
The values gained by blogging are not so obvious. In terms of personal gains, you get to meet new people, hear new perspectives, and get valuable feedback and comments. But that is not a benefit that many see... in fact I think the propagation of sites like Xanga and AsianAvenue/Migente/etc. have actually cheaped the real value behind blogs... now the "outsiders" see blogging as a waste of time. This was something I had to convince my friend of last night... he believes that blogging is a waste of time. A lot of people feel the exact same way, and I can't blame them when I see so many "boring" blogs.
What other values are there to blogging? I've noticed that many CMS packages grow as a result of the blogging phenomenom. Software like Tabulas is in essence very specialized CMS (which makes development a lot easier...) ... on a more societal level, blogging led to the creation (or re-creation by some accounts) of RSS. Now we see RSS being used in newspapers and websites all over the web. The very concept of syndication became a huge phenomenom as a result of blogging.
I personally believe personal data management is the next battlefield; in fact, the whole concept behind Longhorn is to make your PC more "yours." Instead of a hodgepodge of files, they're going to make it really easy to access all files relevant to your life. And the start of all this is in getting people comfortable with blogging ... get them comfortable with the basic concepts behind syndication and content management online, and we'll see greater adoption of these techniques in everyday life (perhaps maybe more people will pay me to create their websites and integrate it with Tabulas perhaps?;))
Unless Tabulas (and other providers) can bring an immedate value to blogging to everyday consumers, we are going to be very hardpressed to succeed in the marketplace. Typepad made a great move (they are normally a B2C company, just like Tabulas) when they signed that deal with NTT DoCoMo (ISP in Japan) basically giving all the ISP's customers free Typepad accounts. To continue their success in the B2C field, Typepad made a solid B2B deal. Genious.
Now, this doesn't mean I'll be abandoning B2C websites anytime soon. In the back of my mind, I always knew that B2C websites would not succeed in a glorious way. For me, I just want to write the best product I can write and have people use it. If I can make a small living off of it, so be it ... but if not, I'm not going to be horribly dissappointed.
For me, the point is to get people to blog. I don't really care if they use LJ, Blogger, Typepad, or Tabulas. But I just want people to realize what a great thing this whole revolution is. The ease and the power... the communicating potential of the Internet (besides the inane chatting part) is just being reached.
But this made me realize that my job is not just to provide people with a website with features, it is to educate. There is a very small percentage of the current US population that truly understand and use weblogs... even when they're taking out, the average Joe user that is really necessary for its success (27+ years old, middle class) is still in the dark.
Tabulas must educate. A clean GUI is the first step, but a comprehensive help center and support ticket/forum are the next stages. There must be a strong sense of a community in order to create support networks where people feel comfortable "trying" this out.
This is where people like Joi Ito, Jeff Jarvis, Scoble come in... they are constantly evangelizing the advantages of blogging on the values of blogging to diffeerent groups. I'm still much too young to fully understand the values of blogging. I have the vague notion and I can see how great it is, but I have trouble describing it in a fashion that people understand. So I just continue to work on the product, trying to find the magic bullet that will make people _understand_.
My friend talked about the evolution of business and its move to constantly be more efficient. The Industrial Revolution helped increase worker efficiency, thus planting the seeds of the middle class. But do you think people back then were happy to see machines that would put people out of the business? We've also seen over the past few decades with our clothing industry moving to Mexico and China... and people also heralded the end of the US due to jobs moving away. The auto industry was scared because the Japanese were so much more efficient, but we survived. The point of the story here is that everytime we were worried about jobs moving overseas, we survived and became better off because we were in a position to capitalize in cheaper costs.
My friend worries that with the outsourcing of IT jobs, we're no longer in a position to take advantage of the cheap IT... a huge percentage of the population doesn't care and doesn't know what benefits can be reaped from IT ... and if the Chinese/Indians/Eastern Europeans can educate their people about the benefits of the Internet ... then my friend believes that the power will really shift away.
It's an interesting thought ... and I'm not entirely sure I believe it, but I can't provide any good arguments for or against this train of thought. However, this does remind me of the importance of EDUCATING. The importance of blogging is that it's very easy for someone to set-up and run, which provides a very important stepping stone for the average Joe user who needs to become educated.
If people can understand simple XML technologies like FOAF, OPML, and RSS ... then a huge step has been made. People will understand the concept of the semantic web...
An interesting point was made: B2C (business-to-consumer) websites rarely survive. Websites that succeed must first acknowledge the B2B (business-to-business) crowd... for websites that generate true business value, only the B2B crowd will take the time to understand that value... the average consumer does not really care about the added value of websites until they try it out.
Edit: This was posted as a response in a comment below and I feel it warrants space in this entry.
Specifically, I'm looking at eBay as a good example of this. eBay is the perfect B2C company; they simply provider the service and have absolutely no physical overhead involved with running a marketplace. The reason adoption at eBay is so high (supposedly they have 3000-4000 new users per day!) is because people see the immediate value to eBay. As a buyer, you can get things cheaper... and for a seller, you can sell your older stuff instead of giving it to Goodwill. Because people see immediately the value of eBay ($$$), they will sign.
The values gained by blogging are not so obvious. In terms of personal gains, you get to meet new people, hear new perspectives, and get valuable feedback and comments. But that is not a benefit that many see... in fact I think the propagation of sites like Xanga and AsianAvenue/Migente/etc. have actually cheaped the real value behind blogs... now the "outsiders" see blogging as a waste of time. This was something I had to convince my friend of last night... he believes that blogging is a waste of time. A lot of people feel the exact same way, and I can't blame them when I see so many "boring" blogs.
What other values are there to blogging? I've noticed that many CMS packages grow as a result of the blogging phenomenom. Software like Tabulas is in essence very specialized CMS (which makes development a lot easier...) ... on a more societal level, blogging led to the creation (or re-creation by some accounts) of RSS. Now we see RSS being used in newspapers and websites all over the web. The very concept of syndication became a huge phenomenom as a result of blogging.
I personally believe personal data management is the next battlefield; in fact, the whole concept behind Longhorn is to make your PC more "yours." Instead of a hodgepodge of files, they're going to make it really easy to access all files relevant to your life. And the start of all this is in getting people comfortable with blogging ... get them comfortable with the basic concepts behind syndication and content management online, and we'll see greater adoption of these techniques in everyday life (perhaps maybe more people will pay me to create their websites and integrate it with Tabulas perhaps?;))
Unless Tabulas (and other providers) can bring an immedate value to blogging to everyday consumers, we are going to be very hardpressed to succeed in the marketplace. Typepad made a great move (they are normally a B2C company, just like Tabulas) when they signed that deal with NTT DoCoMo (ISP in Japan) basically giving all the ISP's customers free Typepad accounts. To continue their success in the B2C field, Typepad made a solid B2B deal. Genious.
Now, this doesn't mean I'll be abandoning B2C websites anytime soon. In the back of my mind, I always knew that B2C websites would not succeed in a glorious way. For me, I just want to write the best product I can write and have people use it. If I can make a small living off of it, so be it ... but if not, I'm not going to be horribly dissappointed.
For me, the point is to get people to blog. I don't really care if they use LJ, Blogger, Typepad, or Tabulas. But I just want people to realize what a great thing this whole revolution is. The ease and the power... the communicating potential of the Internet (besides the inane chatting part) is just being reached.
But this made me realize that my job is not just to provide people with a website with features, it is to educate. There is a very small percentage of the current US population that truly understand and use weblogs... even when they're taking out, the average Joe user that is really necessary for its success (27+ years old, middle class) is still in the dark.
Tabulas must educate. A clean GUI is the first step, but a comprehensive help center and support ticket/forum are the next stages. There must be a strong sense of a community in order to create support networks where people feel comfortable "trying" this out.
This is where people like Joi Ito, Jeff Jarvis, Scoble come in... they are constantly evangelizing the advantages of blogging on the values of blogging to diffeerent groups. I'm still much too young to fully understand the values of blogging. I have the vague notion and I can see how great it is, but I have trouble describing it in a fashion that people understand. So I just continue to work on the product, trying to find the magic bullet that will make people _understand_.
My friend talked about the evolution of business and its move to constantly be more efficient. The Industrial Revolution helped increase worker efficiency, thus planting the seeds of the middle class. But do you think people back then were happy to see machines that would put people out of the business? We've also seen over the past few decades with our clothing industry moving to Mexico and China... and people also heralded the end of the US due to jobs moving away. The auto industry was scared because the Japanese were so much more efficient, but we survived. The point of the story here is that everytime we were worried about jobs moving overseas, we survived and became better off because we were in a position to capitalize in cheaper costs.
My friend worries that with the outsourcing of IT jobs, we're no longer in a position to take advantage of the cheap IT... a huge percentage of the population doesn't care and doesn't know what benefits can be reaped from IT ... and if the Chinese/Indians/Eastern Europeans can educate their people about the benefits of the Internet ... then my friend believes that the power will really shift away.
It's an interesting thought ... and I'm not entirely sure I believe it, but I can't provide any good arguments for or against this train of thought. However, this does remind me of the importance of EDUCATING. The importance of blogging is that it's very easy for someone to set-up and run, which provides a very important stepping stone for the average Joe user who needs to become educated.
If people can understand simple XML technologies like FOAF, OPML, and RSS ... then a huge step has been made. People will understand the concept of the semantic web...
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marvin
it\'s been almost 8 years when i first started to connect to the web, and up to this day, i am still amazed that with this white box shining in front of me, i was able to interact with the world. it\'s such an exhilirating experience to be able to communicate with people of different cultures, languages and religions without even leaving the comfort of your own room.
i share your vision. i see the web as one of the easiest ways to educate people, i see the web as the fastest way to gather infromation. it\'s a phenomenon in so many levels it\'s so difficult to fully realize its potentials.
but the web would be useless if people do not know how to access it. so i also believe in the idea of the simple web--a web that is user-friendly and allows people to use it easily.
and by creating tabulas, you have succeeded in providing newbies in this web a place to think aloud and share their thoughts and experiences without the need of learning about the codes that make this web work. eventually, over time, these people will also learn to harness the power of the web. But this is what\'s important: you provided people a place to start this wonderful journey of discovering the web.
thank you, and i wish you success.
roy
kdb003
You can make B2C work in a glorious way, but it is going to take time.
roy
The problem with blogging is that people don\'t immediately get the benefits of blogging. Even me, I had to blog for a few years before I realized how valuable it was to me (in terms of becoming a better writer, getting more perspectives, getting feedback, etc.).
If you also take a look at Typepad, they are primarily a B2C business, but their main success was locking in a deal with NTT DoCoMo (I think it was), a huge ISP in Japan... so in essence they are serving the B2C model, but actually used a B2B transaction to generate more sales...
haiphong
marvin
roy
That\'s the mentality I\'m trying to change. Blogging isn\'t just \"keeping a diary,\" it\'s about leveraging the Internet to manage a CMS... blogging has so many benefits that people need to realize besides \"just keeping a diary.\" =)
benwebber
benwebber
