Digital Lifestyle Aggregation
A Sample Day in the Future, by Marc Canter…
We're all used to the notion of integrated productivity software (like Microsoft Office) but we're still waiting for media editors, like music or sound sampling, graphics or photo editing and simple presentation tools - to be integrated with IM, email, personal publishing (like blogs) and social networking. ... Imagine a next generation MyYahoo service – which enabled end-users to keep track of their personal (and their families) music, photo, video and file collections and provided them with ‘home publishing' capabilities to create, store and distribute their own content. Imagine a social networking environment which matched and found like-minded people and enabled them to participate in activities together (both on-line and in ‘real space'.) Imagine a system that managed their Home LAN, devices, cell phones and videogames while providing a virtual file system to give them access to all of their content and data – whether they were at home, the office or on the road. Imagine a communications and personal management system which enabled inter-personal interaction (sort of like ‘groupware for humans') that assumed that all of these features and capabilities were built-in system constructs. Now imagine all of these capabilities and features in one integrated environment – focused in on a particular constituency, content brand or set of activities. That's what we call a digital lifestyle aggregator (DLA.) ...Each will share the notion of making THEIR customers lives easier – by integrating, aggregating and providing appropriate levels of customization to bring all of the disparate elements of digital convergence together.
- Marc Canter, "Digital Lifestyle Aggregation"
The notion of integrated applications and services for all kinds of data is central to the idea of Digital Lifestyle Aggregation (DLA) and a potential future for Web 2.0. The value is in allowing the consumer, the end-user, to connect the different products and services into a collected interface specialized for their own personal use. An example might be a service that enables users to track personal music, photos, videos and files, as well as the ability to create, edit, and distribute that content. Along with that is the idea of a social network that connects people based on similar interests or content and allows them to interact on-line and in real life. DLA is the idea of having all of your electronic devices connected and accessible virtually anywhere. Barb Dybwad gives a list of potential digital functions that could be aggregated in a DLA: Public Functions - bookmarks, photos, blogs, posts on other blogs, media collections, calendars, and Private Functions – bank accounts, memberships and subscriptions, cell phone usage data, email interfaces, online orders, blog and photo posting, note-taking and content management. The possibilities are wide and varied.
Sample Application: Watson
A current example, on the MAC platform, would be Watson.. Watson is described as “a time-saving ‘Swiss Army Knife' program that packs over 20 interfaces to the most important web content and services.” It can Google search, site search with Sherlock, get prices with PriceGrabber, access Amazon.com, display the weather, give movie times and t.v. listings, track packages, store contact information, track stocks and more. Apple has a DLA called “iLife” (Wikipedia) which is centered on media production with iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, and GarageBand included for content creation capabilities. Microsoft is building some DLA components into their new, codenamed “Longhorn” server operating system.
Further…
Watson Review: http://www.sdmug.org/newsletter/review.php?review=watson_review
Speaking out about Watson: http://www.macobserver.com/article/2002/07/29.7.shtml
Summary
The meta-meme of Web 2.0 is a living work-in-progress. The modern, developed world is growing more and more accustomed to a reliance on digital tools for the processes of “life”. Integration and accessibility in most facets of life is becoming standard. Can a fully integrated digital lifestyle soon be a reality? Jason Kottke - a prominent blogger, and friend of mine from our undergraduate years at Coe College - offers some poignant criticisms and major problems to face before the Web 2.0 concept of DLA could become a reality: the cost of modulated, fee-based services would add up greatly, the need for portable/transferable data in order to change vendors would be necessary, agreement on common formats and standards is required, and the all-important, assured security of personal information and passwords is a major question to address.
It is only fair to say that today we are still very far from this ultimate goal of full automation. … Full dynamism and complete automation, as some Web services preachers advocate, will require a real revolution in technology.
- Gustavo Alonso, "Web services: concepts, architectures and applications" (304-5) [bold added]
Future Revolution in Technology…
The ultimate goal of “full automation” is being approached step-by-step in the utilization of the principles and practices of Web 2.0. These pieces of technology, XHTML, CSS, XML, PHP, MySQL, SOAP, REST, and AJAX , bring us closer, but what will bring about the REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY that Alonso points towards?
There are further ideas of millions of inter-connected computers working together through the idea of Grid Computing or P2P (Person to Person) file sharing.
Although the underlying philosophies of Grid computing and P2P are different, they both are attempting to solve the same problem, that is, to create a virtual overlay over the existing Internet to enable collaboration and sharing of resources. …Grid computing connects virtual organizations that can cooperate in a collaborative fashion. P2P connects individual users using highly transient devices and computers living at the edges of the Internet.
- Ian J.Taylor, "From P2P to Web services and grids" (1)
Where is the future of Web 2.0? The principles and practices, Web Services, Collective Intelligence, Really Simple Syndication, Lightweight Programming, Multi-Device Software, Rich User Experience, and Digital Lifestyle Aggregation, hinge on an axis of service, adaptability, and the centrality of the user. The power and potential of the web is being discovered, but what is the key piece that will open up the opportunities for a clearly new revolution in technology of the web?
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