Posts tagged history
More New Tools From Bing Ads: Change History Graph In The Works
Jun 14th
Following up on the new Bing Ads keyword performance visualization tool, Keyword Distribution Graph, Microsoft will soon be rolling out a visualization tool for change history. The Change History Graph will be available in the web interface and is meant to offer quick visual insight into the…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
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RW10: The 10 Most Important Stories In ReadWrite's History
Apr 19th
ReadWrite celebrates its 10th anniversary on Saturday, April 20, 2013. For the occasion, we’re running a series of articles looking back—and looking forward.
As ReadWrite founder Richard MacManus noted in observing the site’s 10th anniversary, our original goal was “to convert the Web into a two-way system.”
Back in 2003, only those with the technical skills to build websites could publish their thoughts. Those walls have broken down. For good or ill, the Web is now clearly a two-way system, and ReadWrite continues to explore what it means to live in a world where every object is something we can all read and write.
But it’s been a long journey to get there. For our 10th anniversary, we’ve highlighted the 10 most important stories in the publication’s history. Not just posts that generated lots of traffic or whipped up controversy, but the stories that set an agenda and mapped out what was coming next.
These were the stories that helped readers understand the monumental shifts in how we work, how we play, and how we communicate. From the evolution of Twitter as a platform for serious discourse to the steady rise of the Android operating system to rival Apple’s iPhone and iPad, these stories highlight ReadWrite’s history of invaluable analysis amid uncertain time.
1. 10 Future Web Trends
By Richard MacManus / September 2007
From Web services to personalization to the rise of Internet TV, our founder called some big shifts early on.
2. The Rise of Twitter as a Platform for Serious Discourse
By Josh Catone / January 2008
Twitter was not barely a year and a half old when writer Josh Catone commented on its potential to go beyond 140 characters.
3. ReadWriteWeb Interview With Tim Berners-Lee, Part 1: Linked Data
By Richard MacManus / July 2009
Called a “career highlight” by the man who started ReadWrite 10 years ago, Richard MacManus’s interview with Internet pioneer Sir Tim Berners-Lee explored the deeper meaning of the Web.
4. 13 Tools For Building Your Own iPhone App
By Sarah Perez / November 2009
Just as we covered the democratization of Web publishing, we were early in showing how the app economy was an opportunity for anyone.
5. Facebook Wants To Be Your One True Login
By Mike Melanson / February 2010
This story drew a lot of attention because confused search visitors thought this page would help them log in to the social network. What they found instead was a smart and prophetic take on how Facebook would become a universal login service for all kinds of websites and apps.
6. How Old Spice Won The Internet
By Marshall Kirkpatrick / July 2010
Marketing, too, became two-way, as a major consumer product adopted the Internet’s real-time ethic.
7. iPhone to Android: One Month with the Nexus S
By Sarah Perez / January 2011
For ReadWrite, testing gadgets isn’t about checking speeds and feeds. It’s about living with them.
8. Google to Launch Major New Social Network Called Circles, Possibly Today
By Marshall Kirkpatrick / March 2011
In a major scoop, ReadWrite learned about a key feature of Google’s Facebook killer months before its launch.
9. Top 10 YouTube Videos Of All Time
By Richard MacManus / September 2012
To write about a user-generated site, you have to understand the content its community embraces.
10. Why Are Dead People Liking Stuff On Facebook?
By Bernard Meisler / December 2012
This investigation into possibly bogus “likes” on Facebook raised big questions about the social network’s value to marketers.
Image courtesy of Richard MacManus. From the ReadWrite Summit in May of 2010 (from left to right), Frederic Lardinois, Chris Cameron, Richard ManManus, Marshall Kirkpatrick, Sean Ammirati.
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Advertising: A Brief History
Apr 19th
In the following infographic, Ocean Media presents several key events in history that help define advertising, and lead it to where it is today. Various countries are represented as they developed new methods to get information across to their audiences and helped pave the way for more development in the advertising, and promotional realm. Also featured is what future possibilities might be for the next generation of advertising.
Author information
The post Advertising: A Brief History appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
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The Developers Guide To Android History [Infographic]
Apr 8th
Mobile app developers have a favorite pastime: complaining about fragmentation in the world of Android. “So many screen sizes! So many version numbers! Why can’t Google be more like Apple and make it simple?”
Developers tend to be a whiny lot.
Yet, it can be hard to keep track of the ever-evolving Android platform. Since 2008, there have been 39 updates to Android among nine major system versions. From Cupcake version 1.5 to Jelly bean version 4.2.2, there have been thousands of design changes, feature additions, security updates and general improvements to Android. Only the most dedicated of developers can tell you precisely what is different in each version of Android. Add all of the major and minor tweaks Google has added to Android with devices from the likes of Samsung, HTC, Motorola, LG and others and it becomes a complicated environment in which to build an app.
Boston-based mobile cloud services company Kinvey understands developers’ pain. It has created a handy infographic that maps the major changes to Android from inception to the latest build and even speculates on what might be coming next with the so-called Android 5.0, Key Lime Pie, which Google will likely announce at its I/O developers conference in May. Some highlights:
Android 1.0 – Inception
- Google Maps, Search & Talk
- Camera Support
- Custom notifications and wallpapers
Android 1.5 – Cupcake
- Widget support
- Copy & paste in the browser
- Auto-rotate
Android 1.6 – Donut
- Quick search box
- New framework APIs
- Text-to-speech engine
Android 2.0 – Éclair
- Turn-by-turn navigation
- Bluetooth 2.1
- Live wallpapers
Android 2.2 – Froyo
- Wi-Fi hotspot functionality
- Adobe Flash support
- Dedicated shortcuts on the homescreen
Android 2.3 – Gingerbread
- Near Field Communications (NFC)
- Video chat in Google Talk
- Extra Large screen sizes supported (for Google TV)
Android 3.0 – Honeycomb
- Dedicated tablet support
- Virtual and holographic user interface
- New Action Bar
Android 4.0 – Ice Cream Sandwich
- Google Chrome for Android browser
- Swipe to dismiss notifications
- Resizable Widgets
Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean
- Google Now
- Project Butter improves user experience
- Google Cloud Messaging
Check out the infographic from Kinvey below. What do you think has been the best improvement to Android since Cupcake? Let us know in the comments.
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A Visual History Of The Web Told Through Webby Winners
Apr 2nd
Every year, the Web changes a little bit more. As the years tick by, we may not notice how everything on the Internet is becoming a little bit more beautiful, a little easier to use. But, if you remember what the Web looked like in 1995 and now look around at what we have now in 2013, it is the difference between antiquity and modernity.
The Webby Awards have been celebrating the best on the Web since 1997. Like the Web, the Webby Awards have grown in size and stature in the last 16 years and are now considered the highest honor that a website can garner these days. The 17th annual Webby Awards will be given next week on April 9th. To commemorate another year, the Webby Awards teamed up with Internet Explorer to produce a graphic timeline of the Web, as told through Webby winners since 1997. If you have some time to burn, hop on over to the site and see how the Web has evolved since the days before the Dot Com Bubble to the Mobile Revolution.
Below, we took some of the best examples of how the Web has evolved since 1997. From SonicNet to TED Talks, the transformation of the Web from function to design has been remarkable.
1997
SonicNet
In 1997, the music industry was still healthy and churning out mega profits. Boy bands were the rage, Radiohead was coming into its own and Smashing Pumpkins was still together (they broke up and since have reformed). SonicNet won the Webby for Music that year and, well, it was 1997. The website itself was not much to look at but was considered a fairly high standard for the day.
Family Planet
Family Planet won the Home category for the Webby’s in 1997 and it is perhaps the quintessential late 1990s website. Actually, it is quite a bit better than most late 1990s websites. You can start seeing some of the early design trends that would pervade the Web for years to come in Family Planet, with the three column layout and banner headline on the top.
2000
Thrive Online
By the time the new century rolled around, the Web started to look a little bit better than it had in the 1990s. Browsers were better and quality designers were buckling down on a more aesthetic Web. Then the Dot Com Bubble burst and many of those designers soon found themselves out of work. Thrive Online won the Health category in 2000 with a bold design, big fonts and front and center pictures.
Epicurious
Not everything was slick and trim in the year 2000. Epicurious won the Living category that year and was a jumbled mess. 2000 was still in the era of the Web when more was still thought of as, well… more.
2003
PayPal
Following the aftermath of the Dot Com Bubble, the Web picked up its pieces and forged ahead. By the early-to-mid 2000s design and functionality started to meet in interesting and creative ways. PayPal, the payments service that not only survived the Dot Com era but came out so far ahead that its alumni are now considered a technorati mafia, was one of the websites on the forefront of function and design. PayPal won the Webby in 2003 for Financial Services.
Orisinal
Gaming and computers have always mixed. Who was a kid int he 1980s and did not play Oregon Trail or Carmen San Diego? By 2003, games on the Web were becoming big business and Orisinal was an original player providing cute animal-based games that proved to be the biggest time-suck ever. “Apple Season” was a favorite, where players tried to catch as many apples as possible.
NASA
I am a proponent of giving NASA a lifetime achievement Webby just for being awesome. At a time when most government-run websites were husks of hyperlinks and text, NASA was pushing forward with visuals, videos and science.
2006
Google Earth
If we were to break the first 20 years or so of the Internet into two epochs, the boundary line between the two would be Google’s initial public offering in 2004. Since Google went public, the Internet has become faster, information has become easier to obtain and design has drastically increased. Google has had a large part to say in this. Google Earth won the Webby in 2006 for Best Design – Function. Google Earth made satellite imagery, once a curiosity for students and researchers, in the hands of anyone at had access to an Internet browser.
Flickr
Flickr won multiple Webby awards in 2006, including Best Practices and Best Navigation/Structure. If you can believe it, Yahoo was actually good at bringing quality websites to the masses once upon a time (Yahoo acquired Flickr from Ludicorp in 2005). Flickr was the photo sharing site in the mid-2000s and its mix of design and functionality was second to none.
2009
The Turbo Gene Test
Turbo Gene Test was a website created for car company Saab. It was a bit of a marketing gimmick, but it was beautiful and portended a trend that we have seen a lot of since 2009: brands creating interesting websites to promote their business. It is no longer flashing banner ads and keyword search results. Turbo Gene Test won the Webby for Best Design – Aesthetic in 2009.
NikeID
Towards the latter half of the 2000s, the Web became more interactive. NikeID, the website for Nike’s sensor-laden running show, was a great example of how brands and websites could show off their product in interesting visual and interactive fashions. NikeID won the Webby in 2009 for Best Design – Function.
2010
Nike – A History Of Flight
Nike won another Webby in 2010 with Jumpman: A History of Flight. It was basically a way to show of Nike shoes through the years, especially those of basketball star Michael Jordan. The timeline-style website was informative, interactive and visually appealing. Nike might seem like an odd company to have such influence over the design of the Web, but it has proved multiple times that it can bring on the right people to implement creative new ideas to push boundaries. History of Flight won the Webby for Best Design – Aesthetics in 2010.
2011
TED Talks
TED Talks have become must-see Internet over the past couple of years. In 2011, the TED website won the Webby for Best Design – Function. TED has shown us new ways to think about live and how video communities live on the Internet.
2012
Kinetic Fanzine No. 1
The Internet is now a place where anybody with a little imagination, a friend with design chops and maybe some rudimentary knowledge of coding can create a great website that is lightyears ahead of what was being produced in 1997. Kinetic Fanzine, which won for Best Design – Visual in 2012 is a great example of that.
Top image: National Film Board of Canada won for Best Photography in 2012
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SISTRIX Publishes Its Own Google Updates History Page
Feb 27th
SISTRIX, a German-based SEO tools company, launched a Google Updates history page where you can track all the major Google updates in one place. SEOmoz published and maintains a very similar list over here as well. Both provide date information, with the name or type of the update that was believed…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
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SISTRIX Publishers Their Own Google Updates History Page
Feb 27th
SISTRIX, a German-based SEO tools company, launched a Google Updates history page where you can track all the major Google updates in one place. SEOmoz published and maintains a very similar list over here as well. Both provide date information, with the name or type of the update that was believed…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
View full post on Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Google Analytics Change History Helps You Understand & Track Changes
Feb 25th
Change History records changes made to pretty much everything that happens in the admin area of your account: user changes and access, account settings, profiles, site properties, goals, filters and every Google Analytics admin function available.
View full post on Search Engine Watch – Latest
A Visual History Of The Photograph [Infographic]
Feb 7th
We are in a new era of photography. The Mobile Revolution has fundamentally changed the nature of how photos are taken, where they are taken, by whom they are taken and, most importantly, how often they are taken. People now take photos of everything and share them to other phones, social media sites and all over the Web. You could argue that the rise of Facebook was predicated on photos and Instagram is now the de facto photo app for millions of would-be photographers.
The photo has come a long way. From the camera obscura of French inventor Nicéphore Niépce in 1822 to the daguerreotype from Louis Daguerre in 1837, the “Brownie” camera around 1900 and later the invention of the Polaroid in 1947. Photo quality has increased as cameras have become cheaper and more widespread. One of the first camera phones came from Kyrocera in 1999 and by the mid-2000s, almost every flip phone on the planet had a decent camera attached to it.
How Smartphones Changed Photography
The smartphone has caused another paradigm shift for photography. Not only can the masses take lots of pictures, they can take good pictures – and look at them as well – right on their mobile devices. Before smartphones, many people actually used to print their photographs.
The rise of Apple’s iPhone can correlated to its attention to detail in its camera hardware and software approach. Samsung’s BlackJack released in 2006 had a decent camera (even if it was running Windows Mobile CE). Nokia has recently made camera quality a priority with its PureView camera phone and features like Carl-Zeiss optics in its Lumia series.
What The Hell Is An “Ultrapixel?”
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC wants to remind people that it has also been on the forefront of camera technology. In the infographic below, HTC outlines the history of the camera and its own contribution to the Mobile Revolution. The HTC Incredible was one of the first smartphones with an 8-megapixel camera.
HTC thinks it is on the cusp of the next great iteration of smartphone photo technology. Its newest smartphone, rumored to be called the M7 and scheduled to be announced on February 19th in New York, is said to have a “4-ultrapixel” camera with an entirely new photo experience. What the heck is a 4-ultrapixel camera? Who knows. I will be on hand for HTC’s announcement later this month and will be sure to figure out if the manufacturer’s claims hold any water.
Check out the infographic from HTC below. Do you buy a smartphone based on its camera capabilities? Let us know in the comments.
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“Stupid, Stupid” Christmas Song Tries To Make Internet History [Video]
Dec 5th
YouTube personality and musician Alex Day made his plea on Reddit on Wednesday: help my new song “Stupid, stupid” top the charts on Christmas Day in the UK. Or don’t. But if you “really wanna see it beat the traditional label acts this Christmas in the UK and beyond,” then please pre-order his track on iTunes as soon as possible, as it goes live December 16.
Is Alex Day The Future Of Music?
Alex Day is what Forbes calls “the future of music.” Day has no manager and is signed to no label, and yet has still managed to get two singles in the top 20, and sell more than 300,000 downloads in 2012. All through YouTube.
Day employs no middlemen so doesn’t have to divvy up his profits, which is why he is the “[embodiment of] the musician – the artist – of the future: self-sufficient, self-funded, and self-motivated.” The death of the current music industry is nigh, and Alex Day is leading the hit men.
Despite being a digital do-it-yourself musical prodigy, Day did admit to the Guardian he would sign with a label if they provided him with “tour support and marketing,” but otherwise, “if it means I can release the singles I want to when I want to, then I obviously just rather do it myself.”
Popular Success
Getting his new single to No. 1 won’t be easy, but Day’s last Christmas track, ‘Forever Yours,’ reached the No. 4 slot last year, and made it into the Guiness book of World Records for the highest performing unsigned single in history. To date, Day’s YouTube channel has seen more than 102 million views, with 597,000 subscribers.
So far, Reddit has responded kindly to Day’s plea, with his thread receiving more than 300 upvotes. His video on YouTube for his single, uploaded today, is already trending, with the viewcount frozen at the auspicious viewcount number of 301. Influential YouTubers, like the New York Times best-selling author John Green, have been tweeting his video too.
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