Journal tags: odeo

I’m enjoying the process of putting together the d.Construct 2006 podcast. It seems that other people are enjoying it too.

I wrapped up the latest episode with a call for feedback. I’ve added a link to Odeo on the podcast page so that you can record a message for the podcast.

I’m intrigued by the idea of using audio to leave feedback, add comments and ask questions. This is something that Tom played around with a while back. I like the context that’s added just by hearing a person’s voice. It’s like a gravatar times ten.

On Odeo, everyone knows you’re a dog.

Don’t be shy. Record a message, add some text if you want, and hit that big “send” button. If you’re coming to d.Construct, tell me your hopes and fears for the conference. If you can’t make it to d.Construct, make your presence felt by leaving your thoughts on APIs, mashups, Web 2.0, and anything else you feel like talking about.

If this little experiment works out, maybe I’ll end up using Odeo as a feedback channel for this journal. I have some other feedback and commenting ideas that I’d like to try out too. Watch this space.

Odeo have released an embedded recorder that you can add to your own webpages.

Del.icio.us now offers private bookmarks.

Flickr now marks up profiles using the hCard microformat.

Something that became very clear — both at the Carson Workshops Summit and at the many web app panels at South by Southwest — is that websites like these are never finished. Instead, the site evolves, growing (and occasionally dropping) features over time.

Traditionally, the mental model for websites has been architectural. Even the term itself, website, invites a construction site comparison. Plans are drawn up and approved, then the thing gets built, then it’s done.

That approach doesn’t apply to the newer, smarter websites that are dominating the scene today. Heck, it doesn’t even apply to older websites like Amazon and Google who have always been smart about constantly iterating changes.

Steve Balmer was onto something when he said “developers, developers, developers, ad nauseam”. Websites, like Soylent Green, are people. Without the people improving and tweaking things, the edifice of the site structure will crack.

I’m going to make a conscious effort to stop thinking about the work I do on the Web in terms of building and construction: I need to find new analogies from the world of biology.

Update: Paul Hammond told me via IM about a book called “How Buildings Learn: What happens after they’re built”. Maybe I don’t need to abandon the architectural analogies completely.