Essay #3 Final Draft

Josh Clemons

12.2.09

Huey, Julie

Eng_155

Web 2.0 and Android

Web 2.0 is a valuable resource and a way to keep in touch with friends and family. With web 2.0 you are no longer on the outside looking in. Web 2.0 allows the locals in the community to talk about their community and the media “experts” are ignored. As stated by Johnson “those experts realize that they can’t compete with the real experts”, who are the small community locals. Williams view is quite different. He believes the web is too self-centered and when you are on the web you can search for only your point of view leaving the debating side left out. In Web 2.0 everyone is talking at once, so no one can hear another’s opinion. Although Web 2.0 makes it easy to leave out the debating side it is great because there are many ways to keep in touch with others and take part in discussions that can make a difference.

In the early stages of the Internet there were only pages that were posted and could be read. There was a rare occasion for people to use the Internet for anything but looking up information. As the Internet has become more and more popular, it has expanded and become more technical. Instead of using the Internet for jus looking up information, it could be used to talk to others via e-mail. E-mail proved to be to slow unfortunately for the growing amount of impatient teens using the Internet. The e-mail client developers came out with such programs as AOL instant messenger and yahoo instant messenger. This was the beginning of the Web 2.0 era. It is now possible to do virtually anything on the web. Teens and adults use Facebook to communicate with friends loved ones and to find old friends. Web 2.0 is also used for leisurely task such as watching videos on you tube and blogging. By posting a single blog about an idea a company can get many positive responses and investors from around the world to start making that idea into a reality. A single blog post a few years ago made Google’s Android operating system a reality.

In August 2005 Android was an idea thought up by a small company in Palo Alto California, it was the thought of having an open source operating system for a phone. Many accepted the idea and it picked up a following until Google recognized it. Google bought Android and began using their own high profile blogs to create a bigger following. Just by posting a small blog some people made millions of dollars for an idea that could or could not have been used by Google (news.cnet.com). For the original Android developer team, Web 2.0 is amazing! Google had already had certain services for mobile devices since 2001 and it was time for them to venture into making their own operating system.

An official Android blog was posted in 2007 called “where’s my G-phone?” It asked questions about when the highly anticipated phone would be released. It also gave information about what android would be and what carriers it would be on and what companies would work with Google to make the handsets (blogspot.com). In 2008 and SDK was released online. This was something that could only be done using Web 2.0. It allowed developers from all around the world to download the program for Android and start creating applications for it before the actual phones release date. Google hosted a contest online for the developer who created the best phone application. Because of many hardware design ideas turned down by the online community there was a hold on the release date of the phone. On October 3 2008 the HTC dream also known as the G1 was released on the T-mobile network. The phones many flaws were pointed out on countless blogs across the Internet and many comparison blogs were started. At the time the G1 was the only phone comparable to Apples iPhone. Not only is Android a new system competing with smaller phone companies, but it is also competing with the mobile giant, apple. Originally the first Android device was not meant to be an “iPhone killer” but the blogs people posted made it seem as if it was, which is great because it forces both companies to keep making their products better and more reliable. Apple has released two updates since the release of Android because it needed to keep up with Androids progress.

The Android story is a prime example of Web 2.0 at its finest. Two big companies competing and the winner in the long run is the consumer. Even to this day the two companies search forums and blogs and whatever else is posted talking about their products so that the good work can be kept up and the things that need improvement can be worked on. There are many other aspects of Web 2.0 that can be associated with Android. T-mobile sells Androids phones on their website which uses secure connections to conceal peoples identities and information when buying products online such as phones. Many people pay bills online as well which uses a secure connection keeping all of persons information private. Web 2.0 can be viewed as a great asset to the world in today’s time.

Johnson’s view of web 2.0 is very optimistic; web 2.0 is easily a show of what is to come in the future. Now instead of picking up a telephone one is able to video chat over the Internet, virtually getting rid of the traditional way of communicating. Android has been rumored on working on a project that will enable this chatting over their devices that are being distributed. Almost anything that can be done in everyday life can be done over web 2.0. Not only can a person look up information but they can also participate in providing the information, and debating information by participating in blog discussions.

In Androids official blog, that hundreds of thousands of people follow, there is a section for comments and what needs to be improved in the operating system. The blog is not just for the developer to inform the users of what is happening with their phones, but it makes the user apart of the experience by taking the suggestions made into consideration, and sometimes applying it. For example in the blog a fair amount of users wanted android to add video recording to the device in its first stages, three to four months later android released an update called cupcake that fulfilled the request. Android and “Web 2.0 is organized around people and not just those special people who appear on TV screens”(Johnson). Android is one of the companies that show how Web 2.0 lets people take part in discussions that can make a difference.

Williams will argue that web 2.0 is not a good thing unfortunately; he believes that the web is too impersonal and one-dimensional. Using Web 2.0 keeps people from interacting with the outside world. Teens and adults alike sign on to Facebook or MySpace and it seems like they don’t sign off. The Internet is said to be secure but hackers have many ways of getting personal account information transmitted through the Internet, It’s just an easier way of identity theft. When people go on the Internet they do not look for the downsides of things, such as what is wrong with Android only the promising aspects of it. In the blogs that are posted there are only the good things depending on the person who wrote it. They will be biased against the other party. It is possible that without seeing the other side then, the next new thing or big challenge will not be met because people are stuck in a rut of sorts, not wanting to see outside of their own world. By putting in a lot of work a person could always get their view across. Networking, blogging and creating websites can force a person to see another ones opinion. They can always click out if something unwanted, but if it is there enough then a person’s curiosity is sparked and they are compelled to read it. All things aside, the majority uses web 2.0 worldwide.

Johnson believes that web 2.0 is one of the greatest things to happen. When the little persons voice needs to be heard it’s only a few clicks away. Any person who needs to be reached no matter how far away they are is also only a few clicks away. Williams believes that this new version of the web can only do more harm than good. With the ability to choose what one wants to see and hear on the Internet, then the opposition is left out. He believes the Internet is too impersonal and one-sided leaving no room for future development because no one wants to listen to something they don’t already like. Web 2.0 is a valuable resource, without it many of the issues cannot be heard or seen anyway.

Web 2.0 houses many different social networking sites as well as business sites and blogging sites. These sites produce business and healthy competition. Web 2.0 will not be slowing down anytime soon, the ability to compete and conduct business and advertise for free will never be looked down upon. It will definitely be more democratic, some can try but the web can’t be censored, so a person can always voice their opinion no matter how ridiculous. Unfortunately this means there will be a lot of material that is inaccurate and just plain ridiculous but just as we find resources that are accurate today we will be able to find them in the future. In this day and time and in the future the web will be a valuable resource and it won’t be going anywhere.

Annotated Bibliography

Blogspot.com. Google.com, 5 Nov. 2007. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

This source was the first official blog created by android after its purchase by Google. It gives a lot of the history of Android; release dates upgrades etc.

Johnson, Steven. Signs of Life. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.

Johnson’s view of Web 2.0 that believes it is a good thing. It is a valuable resource and it connects people while assisting the little person voice their opinions without being overshadowed by the media.

News.cnet.com. CBS interactive, 17 Aug. 2005. Web. 23 Nov. 2009. .

Covers the beginning of android when it was first bought out by Google. Androids purpose is explained as well as what it is.

Williams, Brian. Signs of Life. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009.

Williams view of Web 2.0 that disagrees with Johnson’s claim that Web 2.0 is useful. Web 2.0 is too impersonal and it only focuses on what one wants to see and if is not something one cares about then they wont look at it. This puts a hold on progression.