Internet usage across the world has been increasing rapidly. More and more people are visiting iTunes, watching YouTube video clips, and connecting with long lost neighbours and Elementary school friends on Facebook. The frustrations that users experienced in the late 90’s and early in 2000 that helped with the Tech Bust are no longer an issue; infrastructure and technology has been improved and people are no longer forced to struggle through choppy streaming video and slow loading pages - or are they?

I’m a little skeptical about an article I read recently suggesting that users will start to experience Internet brownouts by 2010. There are points that probably can’t be argued: more people with a thirst for rich media is increasing the need for investment in infrastructure to the tune of at least $100 billion worldwide, but it doesn’t really tell the whole story. Towards the end of the article:

One thing the study does not take into account, however, is the emergence of new technologies that improves the efficiency of existing infrastructure or new methods of broadband access such as wireless.

With more and more people moving to handheld devices, the demands on less-traditional infrastructure is more likely to take the brunt of these increasing demands, and users will be more patient with these new technologies, especially early adopters.

Last month there were reports about Facebook’s numbers decreasing in September. I didn’t put too much on one month’s decrease, attributing it to the return to school by the typical Facebook user, but there is more buzz this month with Facebook’s numbers seemingly flattening. The traffic did increase from September to October, but October’s numbers are down from August. MySpace, on the other hand, reached an all time high with their traffic in October with 71.9 million unique visitors. I still wouldn’t put too much into these stats alone, but if this trend continues, it might be significant.

MySpace has a very different niche market than Facebook: music vs. college. College users are going to slowly increase their use of Facebook, but they still have to worry about school and homework and midterms et al. The music-based MySpace crowd will experience a similar dip in use, but the market is more diverse and will find it easier to rebound. The battle is anything but over, and the wait is on for November’s numbers, but in my opinion, we need to look at this around February to get be able to extrapolate relevant results.

For more on the topic, see Mashable and GigaOm.

I’m obviously not the only user who has been disappointed with the latest OS release from Microsoft. While Mac users have been graced with the recent release of Leopard, PC users have been left to suffer with Vista. I hate to harp on it, because I think there were good intentions and attempts to improve on XP, but the results have left me frustrated! An article on PC Mag talks about The Vista Death Watch, and offers three steps to improvement. I have to agree with the suggestions, but not that it’s one or the other (or the other).

1. It can give up on the stupid variations and lower the price on the one good Vista, Vista Ultimate. I’d say $99 would be a price everyone can live with.

2. Microsoft can scuttle the entire product. Why not? Work on a whole new OS starting today with one team and work on SP3 for XP with another team to keep users on Windows.

3. Roll out Vista 2.0. Figure out some way to add some nifty features, perhaps stolen from the next version of the Mac OS. Bring in some outside designers if you have to. Oh, and lower the price on this one, too.

Writer John C. Dvorak hits on an interesting point: Microsoft is too obsessed with Google and is ignoring their core business. Google’s core business is search and search advertising, something they never lose focus of. They have a stranglehold on it. Microsoft’s core business is software. They have a stranglehold on it. Although they didn’t stumble with Office 2007, they have with Vista, and it’s time they got back to focussing on their core business.

I’m definitely getting tired of the term Web 2.0. I actually have started to cringe every time I hear someone say an idea isn’t 2.0, a site looks very 1.0, or anything similar or derived from those statements. Web 2.0 is a philosophy more than a standard, and unfortunately, the term has been bastardized and marginalized from when it was originally coined. However, I have to support the general movement, and in doing so, provide the following link as a good resource for those looking to spice up their online presence. I do caution that the use of these resources will not make your website 2.0. Simply adding rounded corners or colourful badges will not actually facilitate the Web 2.0 movement or equate to and adherence to Web 2.0 standards. As I mentioned, it is a philosophy, and too difficult to explain well or effectively, especially with so many interpretations and/or preconceived ideas already filtering into the mainstream. Hopefully the link and downstream links help, either directly or through inspiration.

99 Resources for Web 2.0 Design

I have yet to experience the newest Mac OS X release personally, but there have been (almost) nothing but good things said about the release of Leopard. Many of the over 300 new features are probably unnoticed, but what is the key to Mac’s success with these releases? Their attention to - or acceptance of - the most important factor in development: customer experience.

One of the constant battles that I have with true developers revolves around customer experience. Design and ease of use are often forgotten, and without keeping those in mind, it’s difficult to create an interface and experience that is obvious and intuitive, something that average users expect from their products. Complete overhauls that require the user to re-learn products are hit and miss, for example, Windows Vista and Office 2007.

Office 2007 was the type of upgrade that makes power users like myself need. It took a bit to adapt, but the good easily outweighs the bad when it comes to the new menu interface, making the gamble a good one. Vista, on the other hand, has nearly been a complete failure in my eyes. Having opted for the OS on my recent laptop purchase, I’m quickly regretting the decision to have adopted the new release. I’ve almost never had any problems with Windows operating systems, even as far back as 3.1. I experienced 95, 98, a bit of NT, loved XP, and recently was given a throw-away system with ME on it; out of the list, ME gave me the most problems, but none have compared with the constant crashes and frustrations given to me by Vista. I understand the need for increased security - using a phrase I (may or may not have) coined at a Sxip beta test: the average user is still the average user. Fine, we need to prevent them from inadvertantly installing pretty much everything. I can appreciate the need to prevent piracy; it will happen regardless, but hey, making it harder is fine. My gripe is that those force the user experience to take a bit of a backseat.

I like what Microsoft has TRIED to do, my only problem is they haven’t succeeded. Too many bugs, too many crashes, too many headaches. I’m looking at taking everything off my system and throwing on a copy of XP. Why? It works. I can handle the odd blue screen of death now and then, but daily problems with Windows Explorer that cause me to shut down and restart (thankfully I’m not one of those people who loses hours or days of work because of it) are unacceptable.