Rich Internet Applications (09-24-2009)

Tried out some cool websites that demonstrate how information can be made rich. A quick glance at a few examples in the books by Edward Tufte effectively showed how to go about making your data visual, meaningful and appealing. I was going back and forth on whether to buy the Adobe suite for my new laptop. The class demonstrated the importance of learning how to incorporate flash objects in internet applications and therefore, I am sold!

HULU watch free movies online!

Tried to watch Dr Horrible but two flu-sniffling boys clawing for mommy made me change to watching Veggie Tales which they absolutely love. The movie was High Quality which I appreciated. The bar even showed where commercials would pop up and I have to admit:- I am not a fan of commercials and surprisingly, they were not as many and as long as I thought they would be......switching from one show to another....... different story.

Technologies required to create Hulu include Adobe flash technologies. Research shows that Hulu is working on a subscription based model where users will be able to pay for premium content and possibly cable/satellite shows. By making it possible to watch shows online and for free, the need to buy a pirated copy is reduced. Licensing and royalty fees are a major factor when it comes to growth in this sector.

Competition is on the rise. Cable TV owners such as Comcast are developing their own online video streaming website, as well as other TV companies such as CBS. This limits the amount of portfolio available on Hulu and also hinders their power to gain market share. All in all, the future of streaming video seems very bright. Hulu has set the example of how it should be done and as advancements continue to be made, the richer the content will be, which will make a more pleasant online-video-viewing experience for the consumers.

BUZZWORD by Adobe

Buzzword is an online word processor which acts like a normal word processor. It is an collaborative tool in that various users can work on the same document. Users are able to share and store files.Buzzword contains many great tools such as fonts, colors,comments, word count, version history, lists, just to name a few. One can import any .doc or .odt files.

I believe Buzzword is better than Google Docs as they provide a more richer customer experience. Despite the fact that it is still in beta mode, the promise of what the future holds is very promising and as functionality and applications are added I believe it will be give Google Docs a run for its money.

Compared to Google Docs:

	Buzzword	Google Docs
Layout	X
Collaboration	X	X
Cost	Free	Free