Applications built with tools like Alpha Five will work the same on all your devices. The forms, dialogs and security features, as well as the calendars, video players and image galleries, are backed on the server side. Users won't have to worry about which device to use, and developers won't have to reinvent the wheel for each one.

Alpha Five provides developers with reusable components, from text forms to animations to location data mapping, that they can use without worrying about compatibility. The components are supported by its Codeless Ajax technology from the server side, providing a persistent connection so the user doesn't even have to know about it.

Alpha Software's goal is to reduce the burden on software development teams, so they no longer have to make difficult choices about which platforms to support.

"Mobile and tablet computing are great for users, but they've added cost, complexity, and uncertainty for companies," says Richard Rabins, co-chairman of Alpha Software. "IT has been forced to choose between investing in apps for the desktop or laptop, the web, mobile, and new form factors such as tablets. Development teams are burning out."

With a development tool like Alpha Five, companies can build once and deploy everywhere. Check out this demo of how the Alpha Five image gallery component works across platforms:

The Business of Platforms

Incompatibility across platforms is troubling for developers and users alike. Since the devices and operating systems we use are built by competing companies, it's inevitable, though annoying, that they won't always work together. But it's too easy to assume that the reason major platforms are incompatible with each other is purely due to competition. Sometimes there are good reasons for platforms to drop support for proprietary technologies.

Why Doesn't The iPad Have Flash, Anyway?

For example, Apple's portable devices don't support Adobe Flash, which powers lots of Web content and applications. That causes a headache for Flash developers and users who want to access Flash content. But Apple has made its reasons clear for not supporting Flash. It's proprietary, whereas HTML5 - which Alpha Five uses - is standard. Plus, it performs slowly on mobile devices and drains the battery.

There are selfish reasons for Apple not to support Flash, too - supporting Flash games on the Web would compete with the App Store - but performance and battery life are important for all users, and Apple wants to protect that part of the experience.

For a mixture of good and selfish reasons, platforms are always going to push and pull on each other with the technologies they support. But projects like Alpha Five that can bridge platform divides using common technologies help keep developers sane and users happy.

Why Pogoplug?

There are no storage limits or long upload times, explains the company, differentiating its offering from similar cloud services, like Google Music or Amazon's Cloud Player. Both of those services require you to move your MP3s from your computer's drive to the companies' servers and they're only for music.

With Pogoplug, your computer is the server and more file types are supported.

Pogoplug Now Offering Freemium Software - And Free Invites for You!

There are two levels of service with the new software. For free, you can download the client and stream your media to any other device, including iOS devices (iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch), on your same local network. To make your files available online, however, there's a $29 fee. This allows you to install the software on all your machines, too, which means you can make every single file you own available "in the cloud," whether they're stored on a Windows PC or on your Mac.

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The Web interface offers three new apps for accessing your files: an online jukebox for streaming music, a cinema app for videos or movies and a gallery app for viewing photos, already organized using their own metadata.

While the idea of "cloud drive" isn't all that unique, the company is offering a unique spin on the concept - a cloud drive you own and control, instead of one run by a major corporation like Amazon, Google, Microsoft or Apple.

Of course, another big company had the same idea not too long ago - Opera Software, makers of the Web browser of the same name. With Opera Unite, the organization proclaimed it would "reinvent the Web" by turning any computer into both a client and server. The concept itself, as a standalone entity, didn't take off with users, and the technology is now baked into the Web browser instead. Opera may have just been a bit ahead of the time with the cloud streaming concept, or it could be that people don't want the hassle of managing their own cloud. (Did I leave my computer on? Is my home Wi-Fi down?) Still, for only $29, users with larger collections of media might find the small hassle worth price, as it's far cheaper than using a third-party cloud storage service.

In the meantime, I spent a little time playing around with the desktop software side of the Windows Phone experience, which is notably different depending on whether you're a Mac or PC person. Different, however, doesn't necessarily mean better or worse, I've found.

As a Mac user myself, I initially found Microsoft's Windows Phone Connector for Mac surprisingly good. This desktop software allows a Mac end user to sync their phone with the music, videos, photos and podcasts from iTunes and iPhoto. In regular use (I sync several times per week, for podcast updates), I've had zero trouble with the software, in terms of crashes or bugs. The only exception was the first time I attempted to install the WP7 update called "NoDo" - it didn't take and I had to start over. Other than that, the experience has been on par (or, in terms of podcast sync, even better than) using DoubleTwist, a similar tool which lets me sync my Android to iTunes. Windows Phone Connector is very easy, capable and fast.

But unlike DoubleTwist, it lacks wireless sync, sadly.

For Windows users, there isn't a Microsoft Connector for iTunes, even though many PC users have iTunes installed and use the software with their iPods and iPads. PC users are expected to use Microsoft's own Zune software instead. This is an interesting strategy on Microsoft's part because it assumes that no Mac users would want the full Zune experience and no PC users would prefer syncing with iTunes. I think that's misguided, to be kind. In truth, I think this narrow-minded viewpoint about Mac vs. PC users is outdated - not everyone is a zealot for one platform or the other, you know. We like to have options. I wouldn't mind a Zune for Mac program, personally, especially since Zune offers a Wi-Fi sync feature.

But since this house is equipped with Windows PCs, too, I fired one up to see how the other half lives.

Zune Software for PC Users

The Zune PC software was a hefty download and long install, but not much worse than I've seen with the first installation of iTunes, to be fair.

The interface, inspired by the "Metro UI" (user interface) of Windows Phone itself, delivers the same stylings as on the phone, but on a wider screen. I feel it works less well here than on the phone, at least on the main screen of the Zune software - the feature called "Quickplay." This feature is designed to provide quick access to recent and favorite content.

But the screen, especially for new users, seems too busy - why are those pictures displaying? How did it determine these were my favorite bands? Quickplay is an interesting experiment in user interface design, but should probably not be the first thing users see upon the first installation and launch of the software. The "summary" page for the phone would be a more traditional, and in my opinion, better option.

Outside of Quickplay, the organization of the various menus and options is less confusing. It's pretty obvious that "collection" means my stuff, and "phone" is what's on my device, for example.

The software is busy providing tips, however, like "did you know that pictures from your phone can be uploaded automatically to photos.live.com?" I find tips annoying, personally. Just do it already! Of course, not everyone wants their photos online (even if the privacy settings were set in advance for you so you were the only one who could view the photos). But a better use of this space, if necessary at all, would be an action item that reads: "Check this box to automatically upload photos to Live.com. You can change this later in the Settings," or something of that nature. You should be able to switch the setting on immediately, from the tip itself, without being directed to the settings. Otherwise, the software should leave you alone.

Ah, but this is Microsoft after all, home of Clippy. Helpfully guiding users through their software has not typically been their forté.

For example, in the Marketplace, the tip here warned me that these apps below were for Windows Phone 7 only, which was entirely unnecessary, considering that my phone was plugged in and syncing at the time. Did it not know what device I had? Another waste of space.

One major issue I experienced while on Windows was that the syncing seemed to take much longer than the same sync on the Mac, or an iPhone-to-iTunes sync of the same content on either Mac or PC. I'm not quite sure what the holdup was.

It's important to get syncing right, too. If you've ever been rushing out the door, only to realize you forgot to sync your iPhone, you know how painful it is to watch a sync in progress in iTunes. It was so much worse in Zune on Windows, at least in my experience.

That said, there is at least a Wi-Fi sync option available, but it only activates when your phone is plugged into a wall outlet and not in use. You cannot trigger it to start from your phone itself. This feature assumes that everyone syncs their phone at night, before bed. I sync mine during the day, before I leave the house, so I have new podcasts to listen to while traveling. Again, it's a case of Microsoft thinking for me, and not getting it quite right. It's a shame, because a Wi-Fi sync feature is an outstanding differentiator for the Zune software.

Another unique feature for Zune is the "Channels" feature, which lets you subscribe to automatically refreshing lists of songs within a given genre (e.g. "Pop"). It's not a bad feature at all, if you're not particular about your music or just like to stay on top of what's popular. However, given that I was a Zune Pass subscriber at the time, I don't understand why these Channels were not available as streams, but only as downloads. Why on earth would I want to have to constantly wait for songs to download if I've already bought the streaming music subscription?

Besides, I don't want to lose space on my device to songs I'm only sampling. Great idea, but poor execution.

Speaking of Zune's subscription feature, it's just not well-developed in comparison with competing services like those from MOG, Rdio and Spotify. Thankfully, Rdio is available for Windows Phone 7 now and Spotify is on its way. MOGgers, like myself, are out of luck. (Another reason why I can't fully leave Android at present. MOG, get it on it, please!)

You can't do much with Zune Pass while mobile, either, besides playing and pausing music. You can't favorite tunes, build playlists, subscribe to others' playlists, or anything else. On the desktop and the Web, you can do much more. Zune even has an online "social" platform where you can friend and follow others who have similar tastes. It's odd this was not extended to mobile.

Conclusion

While the few items I've mentioned are critical, on the whole, the Zune PC software is not bad. The main issue for me is that the sync needs to run faster, but I have not yet ruled out a problem with my PC on this (it is older, has USB 1.0 ports, for what it's worth). Plus, I'm sure you could make a list of iTunes annoyances which was just as long as this. In addition, although I didn't care for Quickplay, you may feel otherwise - you may even enjoy the serendipitous discovery it provides.

But in the end, I don't like that Microsoft is intent on providing different experiences for Mac and PC users. That's not to say it should discontinue its iTunes Connector for Mac, but that should be an alternative to the Zune software, not the only option.

Microsoft should also spend more time with Zune Pass, and make it more of a competitive option. If anything, Microsoft was ahead of the game here, offering subscription music before it was popular. But now that services like Rdio and Spotify are making headlines, Microsoft has stalled on its development of Zune Pass, allowing third-parties to outdo the experience Microsoft has actually baked into its mobile operating system itself. How very Microsoft!

Although nothing about Zune Pass was mentioned as coming in the Mango update, I would love to be surprised with a wholly revamped service later this fall. In the meantime, I want my MOG back. I want my Wi-Fi hotspot. I want my speedy Wi-Fi sync for Mac. In short, I want my Android.

Sorry, Windows Phone. You're pretty, but I need you to be powerful, too. I'll check back in with the platform after Mango to see how it's improved. But for now, Windows Phone is being relegated back to secondary status.

The new policy puts the responsibility for restricting access to certain projects in the hands of project administrators.

Under the site's new policy, the most restrictive settings will be set as default, leaving the impetus to change who can access a project, and from where, up to the project administrator.

"Our action provoked a strong, angry reaction from those it affected and from the community at large," reads the blog post. "We recognize that, for some people, the recent site changes called into question whether your support of us is justified. The changes that we deployed today are intended to empower our projects and reward your continued trust."

It will now be up to the administrator to determine that their project can be exported and how access might be restricted according to "the Denied Persons List and the Entity List, and other lists issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security," which SourceForge identified in its original decision.

While this opens the doors back up to users in a number of countries, we can only wonder what type of problems project administrators might run into now. Is this an admirable move or is it like a news organization not backing up its reporters? Instead of making a statement about US laws and how they might apply to the open-source movement, SourceForge is instead saying it will go with the flow and leave any stance-taking up to its users.

Right now, all projects remain restricted by default, so we'll have to wait and see if the open-source community rallies behind their stated outrage and opens up the projects en masse, or if it cowers behind uncertainty over US export laws.

One of Orb's best features is the OrbLive iPhone application which connects with your home computer over the internet to provide access to your media library of audio, video, and photos. Through the mobile application, you can access any of your media files and play stream them over either a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. In the Windows version of the software, PC's with TV tuner cards can also connect you to live, streaming TV in addition to the other shared media saved on the PC's hard drive.

To some extent, Orb competes with Apple's own offerings since it provides access to music and video from either a desktop computer or an iPhone. That's why it was somewhat surprising that Apple ever approved the company's iPhone application to begin with. Even more surprising is that they allowed it to function over 3G when similar products - like Slingbox's SlingPlayer for iPhone, another live TV streaming app - are restricted to Wi-Fi only.

No Live TV for Mac Users Yet

Unfortunately, the Mac version is debuting without the live TV streaming functionality. According to Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks, support for live TV support will be added in subsequent versions. In the meantime, however, Mac users can install the Orb software to stream music, photos, videos, home movies and webcam feeds stored in iTunes to their iPhones or to any other internet-connected device including netbooks, notebooks, media players, game consoles and more. All that's needed is the new Mac OS X desktop software (works on OS X Intel 10.5 or later).

Those interested in trying out the new Mac version can grab the installer from here: orb.com/en/download_orb. For now, the Mac software is available in English only.

Do You Need This?

Some people may think that backing up their cloud-stored documents is a somewhat unnecessary step to take. After all, the cloud, especially a service as robust as Google Docs, is often already being used as the trustworthy backup location for the local files created on your computer. However, those who use Google Docs as their only location for creating and storing files may be feeling that it's "better safe than sorry."

Although arguably safer than storing files on your own PC's hard drive, using just one cloud service for critical files can still be seen as a "single point of failure," to use I.T.-speak. Besides, considering what we saw occur with Twittergate (the attack on Twitter HQ where a hacker gained access to the company's private documents hosted on Google Docs), there's always the possibility that a malicious individual could gain access to your account and do terrible things...like wipe out your important documents just for fun or perhaps even hold them hostage for ransom! Maybe that's being overly paranoid, but if your files are really that critical, it's better to take the extra precaution just in case.

Of course, you could certainly perform this type of backup procedure yourself, but Gladinet saves you the time by automating the process. Plus, since it runs on pre-configured intervals, you don't have to remember to do it.

The new Google Docs backup feature is available in the Professional and soon-to-launch Premium edition of the software available for download here. Unfortunately, Gladinet is PC-only software at the moment, but the company reports a Mac version is on the roadmap.

For the most part, though, the outrage over the outages and downtimes suffered in cloud computing are overblown. Even when they last for hours, there are few cases where complete data loss has occurred (e.g. Google Docs comes back up, but your data store is wiped clean)...well, unless you count Ma.gnolia.

But Gladinet seems to tap into that primal fear that comes with the loss of control accompanying cloud computing; the fear that your precious data will one day be lost to the ether. O.K. sure, that's not all the software does. It also connects your computers together so you can share files, provides a platform for different cloud services to interact with each other, and provides tools for easily moving your local data to the cloud. Yet, out of all its features, the fact that you can keep PC and cloud in sync - with a local backup for safekeeping - is probably one of the service's biggest selling points.

Is that the future of cloud computing, though? A combined cloud/PC experience? Or will cloud computing eventually make our hard drives, filled with locally stored files, obsolete? With the rise of netbook computing and mobile computing, it seems that the transition has been directly influenced by the number of web/mobile apps that now replace what local software once provided.

So where does that leave a software program like Gladinet? Is it a useful platform for hybrid computing? Or just a transitional piece holding us over until the cloud is all we use?

No one could deny the hardware/software/services giant's place in tech history (their first plant is now almost 100 years old), but what does it have to do with the glassy, streamy, widgety world that tech had become? IBM staff on-site had many answers for that oft-repeated question, which was usually phrased, roughly, "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

So, what is IBM really doing in the social space?

Enter developerWorks, reportedly the largest online technical resource for software developers in the world. Today, half of the world's developers use it; that's around 8 million members.

And today, IBM is launching a social network just for them.

And before you rush to make comparisons, it's nothing like Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the better known social nets we all know.

The functions of the site are remarkably task-focused. IBM's demo video sets a stage of goal-oriented techies seeking a specific knowledge or skill set and using My developerWorks' groups, discussion threads, and profiles to determine who has experience or expertise in a particular field. Warning: Demo video works better if you ignore the business stock photography. We know most dude developers don't really have frosted tips.

The most exciting prospect is the possibility for ongoing collaboration. All IBM needs now is to show profiles in other disciplines so that the biz dev, marketing, design, executive, and VC types can get in on the action and boom, you've got a never-ending Startup Weekend.

An IBM rep said via email Wednesday night, "IBM's goal with My developerWorks is to connect the global community of software developers and make it easier for them to create new technologies based on open standards such as Java, Linux and XML. With $4 trillion in global economic stimulus investments on the way for projects such as healthcare modernization, smart grids, and public infrastructure improvements - all of it technology-driven - IBM wants to give developers a seat at the table and help them build skills in hot technology areas including analytics, clean tech, and cloud computing."

And what does IBM stand to gain from a web of millions of registered software developers sharing information, compiling data, building teams, brainstorming ideas, critiquing and refining their work, and creating products on and through their proprietary network?

We didn't receive a comment on that point and have journalistic standards of objectivity to maintain; however, we're sure that the My developerWorks will profit both the individuals and the organizations involved.

Miro is the free, open source, cross-platform online video player that manages queued downloads much like TiVo for the Internet. And although the number of users has tripled to about 1.1 million uniques over the past three months with the release of Miro 2.0, the amount of funds available for nonprofits such as Miro has dramatically dropped. Insert yet another generalization about the crumbling economy here.

Founder Nicholas Reville said,"We're asking users to each support a little part of the program; hopefully, it will add up to our continuing to develop and grow."

Reville also noted that the idea of code adoption, although diminutively delightful, is based on the fundamental idea behind open source software. "The code isn't something that we or anyone owns. The idea of code adoption connects really well to our mission."

Participating users will receive an official adoption page, an image of their very own "line of code" that they can watch grow over the year, a blog or website widget, and credit for their contribution in every downloaded copy of Miro.

Users are encouraged to visit the Miro Adoption Center and adopt a line of code for $4 a month. It's definitely cuter than asking for microdonations; let's hope it's exponentially more effective.

According to stories on Nextgov and Federal Computer Week, the GSA had a number of other legal concerns about the standard terms and conditions of these services, including problems with indemnification clauses, liability limits, and endorsements, which led it to enter negotiations with these services. Also, a lot of the standard agreements call for dispute resolutions by state courts, while for government agencies, federal law has to apply.

It is important to note that these new agreements only cover the free services offered by these companies. The GSA is also looking into expanding these agreements to a wider range of social media services.

A number of federal agencies, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Library of Congress already use services like Twitter, Facebook, and Flickr. To do so, however, these agencies either needed special waivers, or they negotiated terms directly with these services. Some of these initiatives have been very successful. Pictures from the Library of Congress, for example, have been viewed over 15 million times.

Library of Congress on iTunes

In addition, the Library of Congress today announced that it will begin to share more of its content on YouTube and, as podcasts, through Apple's iTunes. This initiative will launch in the next few weeks.

Engaging the Public

We are glad to see that the GSA has now removed some of the major stumbling blocks that stopped a large number of government agencies from using social media sites. Now we just hope that these agencies will also use these services to actually engage with citizens.

Called Portable Contacts, the technical spec offers a standard, interoperable way for social networks to serve up your friends lists to anyone you give permission to access them. This should allow application developers to innovate on top of your social connections much more efficiently.

we're seeing major Internet companies making contacts APIs available, such as Google's GData Contacts API, Yahoo's Address Book API, and Microsoft's Live Contacts API (with more to come). Not surprisingly though, each of these APIs is unique and proprietary. We believe this creates the ideal conditions for developing a common, open spec that everyone can benefit from.

Why is This Important?

The social web works best when it's truly social. New applications that use social sharing can be much more useful when new users can port in their existing network of friends and see who they know is already using a site. That's much better than starting cold.

These types of standardized approaches to passing that data are secure (that's good) and allow developers to write code once to use all the supporting sources of data. You've heard the old illustration about railroads? When all the railroads in the US accepted a standard size of rail, all the trains were able to travel much farther than ever before. That's where we're headed with all this information on the web. When we give it standard methods of transport, it can go further and do more than ever before.

That's a pretty big deal and it's fantastic that Google has moved to support the Portable Contacts standard. Hopefully sometime soon everyone will and then we'll wonder what took the web so long to enable social interoperability.

This is a great idea and we expect that young people who discover it will appreciate it. At first glance it looks better to us than iTunes University. This could genuinely help young people make more informed decisions about what schools to apply to. There's also a lot of great content on the site for anyone to learn from.

Last year we asked "Is YouTube the Next Google?," noting that video search is one of the most compelling types of search online. There is video content online, and on YouTube in particular, about just about anything. College content? That's a no brainer.

If you like academic videos, make sure to check out Academic Earth as well.

Over the past month, the Evernote team has been cranking out new features left-and-right. If you haven't been following the news, here's what you've missed:

• Clip to Evernote Bookmarklet: the Clip to Evernote bookmarklet was updated to allow you to clip either part of a web page or the whole thing. Plus, you can create a simple quick note without launching Evernote.
• Safari Clipper: Evernote added a Safari version of the Web Clipper which, in addition to the standard features, also lets you save web pages as PDFs. Growl support notifies you of new syncs and clippings.
• Firefox Clipper for Mac: For those who prefer Firefox on Mac, the new Firefox clipper for Mac is tightly integrated with the desktop client.
• Android Client Gets a Makeover: The mobile version for Android was revamped, adding in improved searching and navigation. It also optimized the interface for touch screens, enabled portrait and landscape viewing, and now takes full advantage of the Android browser.

The new Web Clipper

Shoeboxed Integration

Perhaps the biggest and best update, though, is the partnership with scanning service Shoeboxed - a partnership which was announced a little less than a month ago. This service lets you either mail in or email in scans of receipts and business cards. They do the tedious work of scanning them for you and then they post the scanned images online. With the Shoeboxed + Evernote integration, you can now send your Shoeboxed scans directly to your Evernote account.

Finally, if you can't get enough Evernote, the company has also introduced a podcast about their service. The first one, released mid-March, features discussions about the company itself as well as company news and tips. You can get the MP3 here or subscribe in iTunes.

Do you use Evernote? Tell us about it in the comments!

In this release, Xobni has also included additional user controls which will allow users to better customize Xobni's behavior. This feature is designed to help people with "underpowered" computers to take advantage of the plugin. (Can we say netbooks?) The controls let you customize the indexing times and configure a delayed load when Outlook starts, among other things. Although we never did formal tests on the Xobni plugin ourselves besides just using it on our own machines (where it performed just fine), we heard of some anecdotal evidence where people had claimed it slowed Outlook down. For those who reported the slowness issues, these performance enhancements and configuration tools will likely be a great benefit.

As for the funding, the company says the money will be used for continuing development of the product and will help them proceed with work on a premium version of the software, slated for release this summer. The investment from BlackBerry Partners Fund brings the total raised in Xobni's Series B funding to over $10 million and adds BlackBerry Partners Fund Partner, Rick Segal, to Xobni's board of directors. Xobni closed the first part of the Series B in January 2009, led by Cisco Systems ($5 million).

You can download the new version of Xobni here.

In general, I am just not good with physical things, because I am a software person. I've always been fascinated by people who can easily make sense of physical objects, because for me it takes a lot of effort even to put together children's toys. My brain is wired differently, to see patterns in software, not in hardware. But most people are the other way around.

A Brief History of Making Physical Things

Before we dive into the realm of software, let's look briefly at how we got here. Clearly, the history of humanity is the history of hardware. Since the Stone Age, when we invented the hammer, the world around us has been, so to speak, a nail. For the past several thousand years, we figured out how to use physics and chemistry to make physical objects. For a long time, we were craftsmen, until the industrial revolution brought scale and systematic manufacturing.

The main thing we learned is patterns in physical objects. We know that we can bend them under certain conditions. We know that there is friction. We know that things react differently to heat. The millions of facts that occupy our lives have to do with how we interact with the physical world and make physical things. These patterns get wired into our brains and help us live our daily lives.

Software 1.0: Why Computer-Phobia Happened to The Mainstream

Computers have software inside that does not behave like physical objects do. The key thing about software is that it is soft and that the conventional laws of physics do not apply to it. As a result, it's hard for people to picture what is going inside. It is hard for people with brains trained to deal with physical things to understand how software works. Because there are no physical laws we are used to, what are we to expect?

I constantly meet really smart non-technical people -- doctors, lawyers, teachers -- who have no clue how computers work. They treat them as magic black boxes that randomly break and never make sense. Why? Because software is a fundamentally different kind of system. It does not behave like the other things around us that we are used to.

On top of being different, software was really hard to use as recently as 5 years ago. PCs and Windows are to blame for the computer-phobia that still dominates the mainstream. My wife works for a large pharmaceutical company, and her Dell with its Windows 2000 is a monster. I do not blame her for being confused. In addition to being unbearably slow, the computer just makes no sense with its crazy administration scripts, incompatible drivers, annoying popups, endless choices, and daily crashes.

There is nothing in the physical world as complicated or confusing as her computer. All of the systems in our home work with the push of a button; all her daily routines are much simpler than figuring out how to turn off auto-spellcheck in Microsoft Word. Like most people, my wife is perplexed by the complexity of her work computer. But thankfully, things are turning around.

Software 2.0: Apple, Ajax, Video Games, and the New Laws of Physics

We changed our household computer to an Apple in 2004 and later on got one of the first iPhones when they came out. Obviously, my wife has no trouble using Apple products, because they are simple. More important, they, like physical things, behave as expected. Every user action results in a reaction that makes sense. There are way fewer choices, and things do not pop up out of nowhere.

Even better, this new kind of software proves to the user that the digital world can be superior to the physical one. There is no friction; things move around effortlessly; and they do work. This is not happening just with Apple products; it is happening all over the web. With the advent of AJAX, a new breed of web applications is teaching users that software can indeed work better than hardware. And that it can be way more fun.

It's the fun element that is likely going to be the tipping point, because it involves kids, our future. The latest video games are simply stunning. Like Apple software, they feature a lot of physical realism and behave as users expect. But in addition, they add a lot of special behavior only possible in the digital world. And it's not just about flying or instantly transporting from one place to another. Video games are creating a whole new reality that is an intricate blend of physical and digital.

Our kids are growing up native to this new digital world. To them, the new rules of digital physics are what the rules of physical physics are to us. They take these new rules for granted, because that is just how all our brains work.

Techies + Mainstream + Kids = Software Revolution

I never had trouble grasping software. To me, its inner workings and abstractions always made more sense than the physical things around me. But this is not so for many other people. Yet, the shift is on its way. Good software is becoming an integral part of our lives. Apple is one of the first and most visible examples of how software is taking over the hearts and minds of mainstream consumers. Its software is beautiful, simple, it works the way we expect it to, and people are starting to love it.

And this love is the first step to truly getting it, to understanding how something works. Because this new software is simple and fun, people are becoming attached to it and are willing to spend more time with it and, ultimately, to understand it well. This new software has a shot at making people get it, just like they get hardware.

And kids, of course, are already there. For them, all of this novelty is effortless and natural. It's a ton of fun, and they do not think twice about which buttons to press; they just know. So, with techies, the mainstream, and kids on board, we are poised to enter this brave new world dominated by software. The impact of this new world is going to be huge because, whether we like it or not, we will no longer be the same. Our brains, while never forgetting the laws of physics, will increasingly adapt to the laws of this new, digital physics.