Archive for the ‘Internet’ Category

Google Desktop, Google Docs, and Google Chrome: How Google Builds an Operating System

Posted on May 27th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

What is an operating system, really? When most people think about computers, they think about desktop features, file hierarchies, word processing, spread sheets, and most importantly the internet. It’s no coincidence that Google has created Google Desktop (a collection of cool widgets and a powerful file search engine), Google Docs (word processing and spread sheets), and finally Google Chrome (the fastest way to browse the internet). Over the years, it always seemed like Google was randomly coming out with these great services, but if you were connecting the dots along the way, you would see that Google has been building an OS all along. The purpose of this post is to briefly cover the three major releases that Google has launched since Google Search, and explore how they fit together with Google’s vision of the future for operating systems, the Google Chromium OS.

The Art of Online Advertising

Posted on April 20th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

Online advertising is all around us. Sometimes it’s discrete, and sometimes it’s in your face. Sometimes it’s helpful, and sometimes it’s annoying. As the web continues to evolve into a completely free service, sponsored only by advertisers, so too does the integrated complexity of online advertising. The purpose of this post is to explore the art of online advertising by looking at human nature with respect to both the general public and advertisers.

Search vs. Email Hot Air Balloons

Posted on April 15th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

When looking at how people use the internet, it’s interesting to consider the ratio of search engine use to email use for the most popular search engine and email providers, Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. To illustrate the concept, I chose to represent each company as a hot air balloon. The balloon represents search engine reach, while the basket represents email reach. The more search (more air) that a corporation has, the higher it will lift. The more email (more weight) that a corporation has, the lower it will fall.

How the iPad Is Splitting Internet Users Into Two Groups

Posted on April 12th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

It seems like there is still a lot of debate with regards to whether the iPad will revolutionize how we use the internet, or not. What people don’t realize, however, is that the iPad is actually segregating two types of internet users. The purpose of this post is to explore what these two groups are, and how the iPad leverages their differences.

How People Use the Internet (Infographic)

Posted on April 11th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

How do people use the internet, on average, each and every day? The purpose of this post is to explore what the internet is and how we use it. I collected my data from www.alexa.com by looking at the percent daily reach of all websites above 2.5%. Daily reach refers to the percentage of all internet users who access a given site each day. For example, 42.1% of all internet users access www.google.com each day. By categorizing each of these websites, I’ve put together a high level view of how the internet is used today.

How Online Advertisers Sponsor the Internet

Posted on April 7th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

How often do you search the internet with a popular search engine like Google, Yahoo, or Bing? How often do you check out what your friends are doing on Facebook or Twitter? How often do you check YouTube for new cool videos? Okay, now imagine a world without these services. Can you? All of these services and many more are free to use because they are ad driven. In this article, I would like to explain how the internet has evolved and how online advertising has played a key role is its development.

What is SEO?

Posted on March 17th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and it’s probably the most critical tool that you have in order to drive traffic to your website. You could have the most creative, innovative, and technologically advanced website known to man, but if you don’t fully understand SEO, no one will ever find you.

Google vs. Microsoft in the Race for Cloud Computing Dominance

Posted on March 7th, 2010 by Eric Rowell

With Google’s recent acquisition of DocVerse, a product that allows real-time online sharing and simultaneous group editing of PowerPoint, Excel and Word documents, it’s becoming more and more apparent that not only are Google and Microsoft moving towards cloud computing, but they are in fact trying to take the whole pie for themselves.

How to Make Money Online With Ad Driven Websites

Posted on March 2nd, 2010 by Eric Rowell

It seems like everyone and their uncle these days have some kind of get rich quick scheme to make money online, but very few of them (I would say less than 0.1%) actually understand how real online business models work, in particular with respect to ad driven business models. The purpose of this post is to give people an overview of the two most common ad driven business models while providing some realistic expectations for each.

Are We Running Out of Web Addresses?

Posted on January 21st, 2010 by Eric Rowell

That’s right, the number of web addresses are running out, and that’s a fact. How could this be possible?