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Questions for Spaz Project contributors about communication mediums

Posted: March 25th, 2011, 11:00pm CDT by Ed Finkler

Tags: [edit]

If you’re a Spaz Project contributor, or have thought about becoming one, I’d really appreciate it if you’d fill out this very short survey. Thanks!!
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Twitter’s ecosystem streamlining, and what it means for webOS devs

Posted: March 16th, 2011, 12:07pm CDT by funkatron

Tags: My Projects [edit]

I had a really fun time the other night on the webOSRoundup live podcast recording. We do it over Skype + UStream, so folks in the chat can watch us while we dick around and try to fix technical issues. I love doing stuff like this because I get to act like I know what I’m talking about – it’s a lot like this blog in that respect.

One of the major topics of discussion was a recent announcement to the Twitter developer community about the way users interact with Twitter, and where developers should focus their efforts. There were also updates to the API TOS, but that really didn’t change much. The “money quote” was in the letter, signed by Ryan Sarver, that went out:

…developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no.

While follow-up discussion has basically been Twitter employees saying “oh, we didn’t mean that you can’t, just that you probably won’t make money doing it.” While the folks posting this probably believe that, I think the folks who actually control what Twitter does meant what was said. And what was said was “you should not make client apps,” and not “you probably won’t make money making client apps.”

A lot of people have asked if this means 3rd party client apps are banned. No, not at the moment. But Twitter’s overriding purpose is to make their investors money, and if it becomes more lucrative to ban 3rd party clients outright, or restrict API access to blessed or paying developers, I have no doubt the company will do so. People have short attention spans, and if Twitter is still around in 2 years, things may have changed enough where they don’t care so much that they can’t use Tweetdeck.

The second point that came up in this discussion was how this affects webOS. There is no official client on webOS, but there is a very active set of 3rd-party devs who work on clients, including myself with Spaz. Right now, I believe there’s no official client simply because Twitter doesn’t care about webOS. At the moment, webOS market share is too low to matter to them. When that changes, they will be more interested in it.

And rest assured, HP Palm wants an official client. It’s in a list of apps they want, like Netflix and Skype. If HP/P has to build it themselves and just have the approval of Twitter (Twitter certainly doesn’t build all their official clients in-house), they will – like they did with FaceBook.

What does that mean for the various independently-developed Twitter clients? Probably that they will need to be accept that their products will be niche. I’m speculating, but I suspect HP/P will not put much effort into promoting 3rd party clients. There’s a good chance an official Twitter app will be pre-installed as well, which means many (most?) users won’t bother looking in the App Catalog for another option.

Does that mean you’re screwed? No. But it means you’re gonna have to accept a role as a “hobbyist” rather than trying to make this your day job. As Alex Payne said:

Get cozy with [Twitter], or work at arm’s length. Operating in between the hobbyist and professional roles could be difficult, and developers may be understandably frustrated as they’re forced to rethink their projects and products

I suppose it’s possible that HP/P might pluck some lucky indie developer out of obscurity and bring them on to develop the official client. More power to that person if it happens. I hope you’ll enjoy removing features from your client and making space for ads.

Me, I’ll keep making Spaz, and improving its interoperability with other microblogging systems like the StatusNet-based Identi.ca. I’ve never made money on Spaz, and I like it that way — it keeps me focused on doing the right thing, not what will improve my financial position.

Luckily I can do that, but not everyone can, and those webOS developers who rely on their Twitter apps for income would be well-advised to consider whether their want to tie their success to a single company anymore — a company with which they have no financial relationship, and one that has clearly stated their intent to control the end-user market.
Twitter’s ecosystem streamlining, and what it means for webOS devs

Posted: March 15th, 2011, 11:00pm CDT by Ed Finkler

Tags: [edit]
I had a really fun time the other night on the webOSRoundup live podcast recording. We do it over Skype + UStream, so folks in the chat can watch us while we dick around and try to fix technical issues. I love doing stuff like this because I get to act like I know what I’m talking about – it’s a lot like this blog in that respect.

One of the major topics of discussion was a recent announcement to the Twitter developer community about the way users interact with Twitter, and where developers should focus their efforts. There were also updates to the API TOS, but that really didn’t change much. The “money quote” was in the letter, signed by Ryan Sarver, that went out:

…developers ask us if they should build client apps that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience. The answer is no.

While follow-up discussion has basically been Twitter employees saying “oh, we didn’t mean that you can’t, just that you probably won’t make money doing it.” While the folks posting this probably believe that, I think the folks who actually control what Twitter does meant what was said. And what was said was “you should not make client apps,” and not “you probably won’t make money making client apps.”

A lot of people have asked if this means 3rd party client apps are banned. No, not at the moment. But Twitter’s overriding purpose is to make their investors money, and if it becomes more lucrative to ban 3rd party clients outright, or restrict API access to blessed or paying developers, I have no doubt the company will do so. People have short attention spans, and if Twitter is still around in 2 years, things may have changed enough where they don’t care so much that they can’t use Tweetdeck.

The second point that came up in this discussion was how this affects webOS. There is no official client on webOS, but there is a very active set of 3rd-party devs who work on clients, including myself with Spaz. Right now, I believe there’s no official client simply because Twitter doesn’t care about webOS. At the moment, webOS market share is too low to matter to them. When that changes, they will be more interested in it.

And rest assured, HP Palm wants an official client. It’s in a list of apps they want, like Netflix and Skype. If HP/P has to build it themselves and just have the approval of Twitter (Twitter certainly doesn’t build all their official clients in-house), they will – like they did with FaceBook.

What does that mean for the various independently-developed Twitter clients? Probably that they will need to be accept that their products will be niche. I’m speculating, but I suspect HP/P will not put much effort into promoting 3rd party clients. There’s a good chance an official Twitter app will be pre-installed as well, which means many (most?) users won’t bother looking in the App Catalog for another option.

Does that mean you’re screwed? No. But it means you’re gonna have to accept a role as a “hobbyist” rather than trying to make this your day job. As Alex Payne said:

Get cozy with [Twitter], or work at arm’s length. Operating in between the hobbyist and professional roles could be difficult, and developers may be understandably frustrated as they’re forced to rethink their projects and products

I suppose it’s possible that HP/P might pluck some lucky indie developer out of obscurity and bring them on to develop the official client. More power to that person if it happens. I hope you’ll enjoy removing features from your client and making space for ads.

Me, I’ll keep making Spaz, and improving its interoperability with other microblogging systems like the StatusNet-based Identi.ca. I’ve never made money on Spaz, and I like it that way — it keeps me focused on doing the right thing, not what will improve my financial position.

Luckily I can do that, but not everyone can, and those webOS developers who rely on their Twitter apps for income would be well-advised to consider whether their want to tie their success to a single company anymore — a company with which they have no financial relationship, and one that has clearly stated their intent to control the end-user market.
- Mike Desjardins http://getbuzzbird.com 03/16/2011 01:23:21 PM
  Thanks for that realistic (and refreshingly level-headed) response to the recent controversy… I hadn’t heard Alex Payne’s comment and I think it’s spot-on.
Why You Would Be a Jackass to Miss the Php Community Conference

Posted: March 10th, 2011, 9:48am CST by funkatron

Tags: PHP [edit]
I’ve been doing conferences since July of 2006, when I attended OSCON in Portland, OR. Since then I’ve been to 4 or 5 a year, mostly as a speaker (#humblebrag) but sometimes as an attendee plebian as well. They have included joints like:
- OSCON
- Open Source Bridge
- SXSWi
- php|tek & works
- Brooklyn Beta
So I’ve gotten to see quite a range of conferences, from 10,000 people at SXSW, to 150 people at Brooklyn Beta. And after several years of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best conferences are:
- Intimate
- Intelligent
- Welcoming
- Focus on sharing and learning from one another
With conferences like this, there’s a lot less separation between speaker and attendee, which I like a lot. I personally LOVE jabbering with anyone who wants to hear me, so I love it when attendees come up and ask questions or share their own experiences with me. And this is a LOT easier at smaller conferences that actively encourage this kind of atmosphere.

Last year, I attended two conferences that met those criteria for me: Open Source Bridge and Brooklyn Beta. Both of them were small, volunteer-driven, not profit-motivated, and intimate. The people who attended were across the board there because they love what they do. They love making great things, sharing what they create, and sharing how they create. And that’s why everyone was there.

So I am very excited that some dedicated folks are trying to bring this kind of experience to the PHP community. The PHP Community Conference on April 21-22 in Nashville, TN is going to be an intimate, friendly, intelligent conference for folks who use PHP. You’ll learn new stuff about a variety of topics, from technical PHP issues to open source community building.

Plus, how often do speakers like Rasmus Lerdorf, Andrei Zmievski, Lorna Mitchell and Terry Chay come to Nashville? For once you can attend a top-notch PHP conference that isn’t on the west coast or Chicago.

I’m speaking as well, but what I’m most excited about is being able to learn and share with other folks who love building things with PHP. I’m confident that this will be the best PHP conference of 2011. And I hope you’ll be there so I can meet you and talk about the awesome stuff you’re doing.
Why You Would Be a Jackass to Miss the Php Community Conference

Posted: March 9th, 2011, 11:00pm CST by Ed Finkler

Tags: [edit]
I’ve been doing conferences since July of 2006, when I attended OSCON in Portland, OR. Since then I’ve been to 4 or 5 a year, mostly as a speaker (#humblebrag) but sometimes as an attendee plebian as well. They have included joints like:
- OSCON
- Open Source Bridge
- SXSWi
- php|tek & works
- Brooklyn Beta
So I’ve gotten to see quite a range of conferences, from 10,000 people at SXSW, to 150 people at Brooklyn Beta. And after several years of this, I’ve come to the conclusion that the best conferences are:
- Intimate
- Intelligent
- Welcoming
- Focus on sharing and learning from one another
With conferences like this, there’s a lot less separation between speaker and attendee, which I like a lot. I personally LOVE jabbering with anyone who wants to hear me, so I love it when attendees come up and ask questions or share their own experiences with me. And this is a LOT easier at smaller conferences that actively encourage this kind of atmosphere.

Last year, I attended two conferences that met those criteria for me: Open Source Bridge and Brooklyn Beta. Both of them were small, volunteer-driven, not profit-motivated, and intimate. The people who attended were across the board there because they love what they do. They love making great things, sharing what they create, and sharing how they create. And that’s why everyone was there.

So I am very excited that some dedicated folks are trying to bring this kind of experience to the PHP community. The PHP Community Conference on April 21-22 in Nashville, TN is going to be an intimate, friendly, intelligent conference for folks who use PHP. You’ll learn new stuff about a variety of topics, from technical PHP issues to open source community building.

Plus, how often do speakers like Rasmus Lerdorf, Andrei Zmievski, Lorna Mitchell and Terry Chay come to Nashville? For once you can attend a top-notch PHP conference that isn’t on the west coast or Chicago.

I’m speaking as well, but what I’m most excited about is being able to learn and share with other folks who love building things with PHP. I’m confident that this will be the best PHP conference of 2011. And I hope you’ll be there so I can meet you and talk about the awesome stuff you’re doing.