Software call to arms

Let me break it down for you, because some of you are way behind the curve. The world has moved on, please catch up.

Figure out what you do. Put it down in simple words. Now in today's world I'm not asking you whether it's a good or a service, because that's like asking if matter is a particle or a wave. But strip away all the extraneous.

Figure out what the content part is (whether you own it or not). And here's a bonus tip - the difference between content and data, is that content has been indexed and tagged and processed. It is understood. It is under control.

Now make sure that content is available everywhere. That means it has to be on the internet to start with, or in the cloud as we call it now. If you're reading through the news and the word cloud is throwing you, just substitute internet.

Note that at this point in time, security is somewhat optional, as far as I can tell from the consensus. Hopefully that will change, and some day every bit we upload will be encrypted. The only way security works at all is by exception. When the default is allow, well just don't bother calling it security.

You can't assume however, that just because your content is on the internet, that it is available everywhere. We ignore the disconnected scenario over and over in this country to our peril. Think long and hard about sync, and about offline, about data and transmission protocols, and about crazy form factors and use-cases like cell phone browsers, java-enabled readers, and tools for the disabled, etc. Think about re-use and re-purposing and mash-ups. Functional fixedness is the killer here. Watch some science fiction movies to get in the right mindset, and then think of what you want this to work like in 5 years, and in 20. Think how much software has changed in the last 5 and 20.

Speaking of mash-ups, don't, don't, don't, lock up your content! It is not going to make you any money trapped somewhere. Let it go out and work. Even if it works for free - then you get free advertising and marketing. It's called reach, and you will never grow without it. No matter how many times we prove this, we still see great content wasted, killed, needlessly.

Now that the data is everywhere, we can really get started. Don't think we're done. Don't leave this to others, unless you're sure these defacto partners of yours are going to do a great job, because until you have made it drop-dead-easy, reach-out-and-touch easy for the people you see next to you in the grocery store line to do whatever it is they can or should do with your content, the system is broken and your content has no value. Don't get the water pipe halfway to the reservoir and then turn on the hose. Your content just gushes out into the dirt, wasted. Don't stand 150 feet from the bank and throw your money at the teller. So what does that mean practically? It means an appropriate client for every single device. It means modularization, so that you can reuse as much as possible. It means graceful degradation that is so graceful you feel like you're being upgraded. It means design before build, and testing. How does stuff continue to get out the door so broken? You really think I'm going to sit and wait 5 minutes for the button I pushed to do something? You really have to present me with 4 screens in order to get my password? You really think I can figure out how to save my changes when there is no toolbar button with a floppy disk icon and no menu item that says "SAVE"? Delight me, impress me. Dig a little and quit passing the buck.