Software Above the Level of a Single Device
April 15, 2010 3 Comments
The best example of this that I can think of that is a plague sweeping the globe in my opinion is, that’s right, Facebook. This social networking juggernaut has long since left the humble desktop as its home and spread its clutches into mobile devices and even games consoles. With telco’s offering free Facebook as an incentive to sign on for a 24 month contract on their new iPhone plan its perpetuating this trend and further engraining into everyday society.
The Facebook app on the iPhone and indeed nearly every other smart phone on the market is enabling people to update their statuses a million times a day as well as making mobile uploads of pointless photos possible! Not only that but upon purchasing my new HTC phone it gave me the option to sync my contacts list with everyone’s Facebook pages meaning I would always have a fun up to date picture of who ever was calling me! Needless to say I resisted the urge to key in each persons email and tediously make it happen but the fact its a possibility even I will admit is impressive.
A similar function is built into the PS3. When you create your PlayStation network account it gives you the option of syncing it to your facebook so you can do a status update between every round of Call Of Duty I play! Now that’s a must!
Setting aside my dislike for facebook I will admit that it is a truly impressive service not only in terms of its sheer scale and user base but also with its ability to transcend the desktop computer and become a native app to so many devices. They have been a major part of pioneering this multi platform user experience enabling its consumers to maximise its functionality and personalize the service to their individual requirements.
This style of software above the level of a single device is proving to be an exciting and revolutionary step forward in the way people interact with the internet. Some of the companies i have already discussed in previous blogs are doing the same thing with YouTube being possibly my favourite mobile app of all time! But also eBay has gone truly mobile so it’s becoming fairly obvious that to be successful, or rather become part of your users daily life this kind of mutli-platform service is the way of the future.
PS, so glad we are now using NING for our class discussions, now I can delete my Facebook!
Tobycox's Blog 
Delete your facebook, lol. Good luck with that.
Hey Toby,
You are describing that you can use Facebook nearly with every mobile device (even with your PS3 – amazing, I didnt know this).
A very important thing for me in this issue is always security. Actually I hate it to be a part of something like Facebook (and obviously you are thinking nearly the same because you are considering to delete your account 🙂 ) but is there any choice?!
However, what do u think: In my opinion the security becomes more important as you can use Facebook with all of these mobile devices. I think this is a frightening development and I dont wanna know how many people/organisations have already stored our “private” data.
Cheers Matt
i think that security is important but i don’t think that makes that difference for all applications. some app are so simple that doesn’t need sophisticated security system.