Agile development: Get more done with less - "Get Real" by 37signals

I've just finshed reading the book "Get Real" by 37signals (developers of Basecamp) and i've got to saw its a fairly controversial and radical way to look at developing web 2.0 apps using the Agile development methodology.

My key take aways from the book are you can get more done with less. Less people (superstar developers), no meetings, no information architecture and no web farm to start. I recently met with a client of ours at Hanson Dodge Creative and talked with them about the shift from the web 1.0 brochureware "website" to the fire breathing always changing web 2.0 "web application". Already a developer of desktop applications, his final words where "welcome to the world of software development" which is so true.

Modern day web apps are complex with true object orientated programming and 3 tier architecture:

• Presentation Tier (XHTML, CSS, XSLT, Flash, AJAX)
• Logic Tier (.NET, Web Services, API)
• Data Tier (Database, XML

So yes todays web 2.0 application is becoming more complex to build, 37signals "Get Real" offers a different methodology and approach to breaking things down and building web apps using their Agile method from inception through completion. If you haven't read it already you can read it free, buy the pdf, or book at 37signals site.

Joost Beta - dubbed "The Youtube Killer"?

I just signed up for Joost beta today and i've been added to the list of users waiting inline to get a glimpse at this new internet service. It promises DVD quality video over the internet while offering fun and interactive content. Some are dubbing a "Youtube Killer"

If you haven't heard about it I suggest you head on over to their site and check it out.

De-centralized content

With the ever growing population of Web 2.0 community enabled sites on the internet it dawned on me that the same technology employed by sites like YouTube, FlickR, MySpace and others use to get visitors to their sites can be easily harnessed by other Business to Consumer and Business to Business .com's. Working in the agency world most clients generally believe a sound SEO and SEM tactics are the best way to get people to their sites. However what if you created your new website with the same embed tools (blog this, link this etc) that the experts use to enable you content to be aggregated?

As with any technology there are some concerns when you open up you websites content to be de-centralized, and that is loss of control. The other is making sure your site can handle the increased traffic if an article, picture of video goes viral. I recently read an article about the pitfalls of Microsoft enabling all their website content to be syndicated via RSS. The increased traffic almost brought their website to its knees, resulting in a less aggressive RSS strategy.

However the pay offs including improving awareness, increased visitors and your sites ranking are worth the risk. These days it seems if your embarking on a website redesign or build you should seriously consider a strategy to de-centralize some of your content. Whether it be press releases, imagery, documents or rich media such as video and audio. Creating buzz around your content is what it’s all about!