Saurabh Garg on The New New Thing

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Just opened my desk drawer and there were hundreds of coins, tens of Diet Coke Pull-Tabs and lots of pencils. I have been collecting these for some time now. And these things are as dear as anything else could be. In fact you can hold these tabs for ransom and I would do anything to get them back.

I am sure people DO collect things - from something as mundane as a stamp to something as interesting as a food bill (or is it the other way round?). Over a period of years, I have collected stamps, coins, matchboxes, postcards, autographs, certificates, marbles, empty boxes, bills, envelopes, tins, sand, songs, books, movies etc. Is it only me who is so engrossed in collecting things or are there more?

Curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to know what other people collect. I asked junta on twitter. Within the next two minutes I was told that people collect DVDs, Books, miniature elephants etc.

Logical extension would be a place to aggregate all these things and realized that Flickr and its group is just the right place. Just created this Flickr Group. Please see/share/comment things that people around the world collect. Use the tag “iCollect” in case you decide to upload your pictures.

Don’t you think, its a good way to share what absurd/weird/non-conventional thing do YOU collect?

The Google Blog has this post called The future of search by Marissa Mayer (I would love to meet her someday and bug her with my questions on Google). Very interesting I must say. This is my interpretation of the same and things that are possible and yet Marissa hasnt talked about.

Apart from everything that is mentioned on the blog, I would like to see these things in any discussion on future of search.

1. Device. A search device that I can carry along. A device that does not rely on an Internet connection. Hints: Kindle. Why cant I have a hand-held device that lets me use a search engine and emails and feeds? This could become my net access device and with cloud computing and software as service on browser, I can corner a large chunk of a market. TechCrunch’s web tablet could have been an ideal device but for size. Can iPhone become such a device with an always-on, high-speed net access? Can someone think of new devices?
2. Human Search. As the post on Google blog says, that universal search probably is the future, I would love to see it extended a wee bit. Instead of just uploading pictures or sounds, I should be able to capture inputs the way human do - by seeing (point my device at things and with a combination of great web camera technology, image recognition and bit of luck, the search engine should give me results - with QR codes, we are already seeing glimpses of the future), hearing (voice recognition and searching the sound pattern) etc. If we get close to any of these, that for me would truly be human search and evolution of search as a concept.
3. Recommendations and Personalization. When do we want to use search? When we are looking for more information about certain things. Search should be able to give me recommendations that will truly work for me. If Amazon Suggests can be extended to search, it will make my life so much simpler. As Google Blog mentions, its about personalization and the device/algorithm knowing you well enough to predict that you want to search for. Once that happens, I would be harnessing the power of search engines. Users look for answers when they search. With things being done at Mahalo, Google Knol and Wikipedia we are moving towards giving answers to users rather than a list of webpages that has those keywords or are relevant. Will the search engine that gives answers please stand up?

Search is something that I am really passionate about. Although I cant really speak from a technology perspective, I sure have end-user and product ideas. Here are my previous posts on search.

• Search Cost
• Hal Varian on Search

Google today announced Chrome - their own version of a browser (via TechCrunch). Everyone on the Internet is talking about it. And here is my two cents on it. I dont know a lot of things from the technology perspective but the browser from Google makes a lot of business sense.

1. Search Business. Search is the biggest cash cow for Google and with every new app or product, they try to integrate search with it. With a browser, they can do it even better. Every-time a user writes something in the URL bar, Google can suggest links (paid and unpaid). Every-time a user wants to click something, Google can suggest alternatives. (More on search here)
2. Integration. Better embedding of all Google tools including Gmail, Calendar, Groups, Spreadsheets, Docs etc. in the browser. It will help users, developers and Google itself make better and effective applications. I can envision functionality for each Google app built in the browser.
3. The Platform. In fact we might see the browser actually becoming the next platform. Developers will now make applications for the browser and all the applications can then be easily ported to all systems, devices and machines where ever that browser can be ported. The speed of application development would be very very rapid (I am assuming that it will be easy to make applications for Chrome).
4. Thin Clients and Cloud Computing. We are getting closer to the thin computing. Everything (data and preferences) would reside on a server and will be accessible from everywhere you have a Google Chrome. All Google needs to overcome is the adoption bump and the network effect. With the kind of clout and fandom Google enjoys, this should not be a very difficult task. In all probability Google will add Chrome to their famous Google Pack before pushing it with other things.
5. The Start Page. Everyone is trying to battle it out to become the start page for the user. From the New Facebook to Windows Live to iGoogle. Chrome can now become the start page. And in fact if things like TechCrunch’s webTablet becomes a reality, we can see a monumental change in the way Internet as we know it today. From applications to usability to accessibility.
6. Analytics. More data and more analytics. Google would be able to collect data easier, faster and be more accurate. This data can then be used to come up with more business applications. Its like yet another positive feedback loop. Use of browser makes life easier for users. And use of browser helps Google collect data. With this data, Google comes out with more applications that help the users. So on and so forth.
7. Artificial Intelligence. With a browser that Google owns, they can mine into the browsing patterns of people. How long to they spend on each page, how do they navigate the links. Which links are clicked most. With their Analytics software, they were already doing this for all pages that have embedded the code. Now they can do without the use of the Analytics code.
8. Death of Mozilla. A large part of money at Mozilla comes from the Google Search Box (the default home page on Mozilla). With Google pushing Chrome, will we see the fund-flow drying for Mozilla? Can Mozilla survive in the browser market with two giants in Microsoft and Google? Does Chrome translates into death for Mozilla and Firefox?
9. Internet Explorer. How can a rant be complete without talking about the rather infamous Internet Explorer? Already losing ground to Mozillas and Safaris and Operas of the world, Google Chrome would present a formidable challenge. And since the future is all about Internet (refer to thin clients and cloud computing above) rather than software residing on the hard-disks, this is another battle where Google and Microsoft would compete head-on. Who will win, only time shall tell.

Of all the above mentioned things, I am really excited about the browser becoming the Start Page, Thin Client and above all a Platform for everything that we do on the Internet. This for me is a New New Thing and I am really looking forward to how Chrome advances.

What is your take? What do you think is the business side of Google Chrome?

Apart from helping people connect and interact and collaborate on things, Internet has actually democratized information. People can now upload their thoughts in any form (text, audio, video, mashup), tag them appropriately and watch the entire world discover it and take it forward.

You no longer need to be a celebrity or a rockstar or a politician to attract crowds as long as you know the right forums to voice your opinion.

The beauty of the medium is that the response is immediate. You will know in an instant if your idea holds merit and if it excites more people. You will get instant feedback. You will get in touch with people who think the way you think and you can now collaborate.

Any quick and dirty opinions?

Today I bribed my way in India.Alltop.Com. An awesome achievement I must say considering that they list only the best of the best. Off the 100 odd resources there, notable inclusions are Gurcharan Das, John Elliot, apart from regular ones like pluggdIn, Mutiny.in, WebYantra etc.

And I guess its about time I wrote about Alltop.

WhatIs Alltop?

Started by Guy Kawasaki (former Apple Fellow and author Art of the Start, bio), Alltop aggregates resources from mass niches around the world and displays them on one page. So they have innovation.alltop.com, cricket.alltop.com, marketing.alltop.com and a lot of other mass niche categories (complete list is on their homepage). They like to call themselves a magazine rack (I tend to disagree though).

Infact, just yesterday Dan Roam (Art of visual Thinking and author The Back of Napkin), posted his interpretation on Alltop here. He says that Alltop does the filtering for you by using human editors and recommendations (as compared to Google where all results are available in raw formats and you are left with tedious job of sifting for content you want to see). More details on Guy’s blog here.

So how does it help?

If you are a cricket fan and are looking for cricket related blogs and news listing, rather than using a Google search, you can head on to Cricket.Alltop and browse what real people are talking about cricket. Instead of using a feed reader and subscribing to 100 feeds on cricket, all you need is to point to a browser and you will have all the top news and websites on cricket on one place.

In effect Alltop helps you identify the content that you might be interested in and would reduce the search time and cost (read my earlier post on search cost here) for you.

For a blogger, Alltop becomes a platform where the blogger will find audience that he wants to target. For example if I write about entrepreneurship, I want VCs, startups, prospective hires to read my blog rather than any other netizen. On Alltop, as a publisher I am sure I would reach the right people.

Overall, the website is usable and solves a problem for both readers and publishers

More on Information and Search

As it is very commonly said, if the information is important for me, it will find me. From blogs I read to people I interact with to my contacts, I would most probably have contacts who know me well enough to pass on information of my liking to me. Alltop does the same thing. It becomes my default information source. However some tweaking needs to be done to become the complete information source but I am sure team Alltop are working towards refining this already.

What else is noticeable about Alltop?

1. Appeal to Ego: Alltop massages your ego. Take me for an example. I used to use Alltop to find content when I was bored. But moment they added me, I am now an Alltop evangelist. I am spreading word about it. And if you can get early adopters as evangelists, nothing like it.
2. Viral Effect: Just because it massages your ego and says that you are amongst the best, you start spreading the word. You post about it on your blog, you update on twitter and you talk to your friends about it.

Questions to team Alltop

1. Can one blog be a part of two sections? Say India and Entrepreneurship? Yes you can be a part of two or more. (Tip: Gautam Ghosh is part of three (HR, Careers and India)
   
2. How about further dividing categories? Something like Marketing.India.Alltop?
3. Are there plans of creating an iGoogle like website where people sign up and see only the feeds that they want to see? (Alltop already does this but using AJAX and cookies). Will this is be too far from the Alltop idea?
4. What is the business model? Where would alltop make money from? Inline advertisements? (there was some mention of selling ads but dont have the link. Can someone give the link)?
5. UPDATE: How about a social network for people features on alltop? These are the ones that are known to have a better than average opinion on things. If these guys got together, I am sure interesting things would come out of it.

Ideas in this post

1. Find an offering that caters to mass-niche.
2. Reduce the search cost for your target audience.
3. Let the users spread the word themselves. Make them evangelists rather than you doing the hard work.

What do you think of Alltop? Do you find it useful? And please note that my opinions might be colored :)