Media: You're It! reviews a Year of Tagging

"The Year in Tags" by Gene Smith neatly sums up the news about, and the significance of, this data labelling phenomenon through 2005. (Was last year the year that you started putting photos on Flickr?)

'2005 has proven that tags are both big (in the financial sense) and useful. Whether or not tagging is a game-changer will, I think, depend on what Yahoo, Amazon and Google do with tags in 2006. But with three big players in the tagging game there’s a lot of opportunity for innovation,' he concludes.

On the way, Smith runs through developments in the industry but also includes commentary on usage and the impact of world events: 'Hurricane Katrina (September). Tags not only helped keep people connected during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, they tethered together many disparate pieces of content so we could make sense of complex, evolving, intertwingled events. (Or try to make sense of them, anyway.)'

Associated Link: You're It!: The Year in Tags

Why 'The 10 Commandments of Web Design' are Complete Baloney
Source: SitePoint, 5 July 2008
 
Further to our earlier discussion...

Local Council Websites: Good, but no Cigar
Source: Webcredible, 4 July 2008
 
The 'Local Council Websites: Good, But No Cigar' report evaluates the top 20 Socitm council websites against 20 best practice usability guidelines.

Why does the OK Button say OK?
Source: Gerry McGovern, 3 July 2008
 
Most times I come across the OK button, something not-OK has happened.

The 10 Commandments of Web Design
Source: Business Week, 2 July 2008
 
To try and make sense of it all, BusinessWeek.com canvassed a broad range of Internet luminaries to discover the design rules they live by right now.

Bill Gates' email rant at the Usability Team
Source: Crunch Gear, 1 July 2008
 
The Seattle P-I has tracked down an old e-mail from 2003 that Bill Gates sent out to members of the Windows Usability team.

Can a better User Experience also be a Greener Experience?
Source: Catalyst Resources, 30 June 2008
 
By improving the user experience of its web collaboration software, Catalyst made it easier for clients to work in productive teams without travelling the globe.

The Spread of Telepresence Technology
Source: Tech News World, 28 June 2008
 
Rising energy costs and green concerns are fuelling a huge increase in demand for videoconferencing, collaborative software and virtual telepresence technology.

UK Usability market worth more than £200 million by end of 2008
Source: eConsultancy, 27 June 2008
 
The UK Usability market will grow by an estimated 20% in 2008 to a value of £214 million, according to research published this week by e-consultancy.

Research suggests growing importance of Usability to UK Businesses
Source: Business Strata, 26 June 2008
 
Integrated software for lead generation and marketing is valuable, but only as long as it's usable.

Web 2.0: Too Smart by a Half?
Source: Computer Technology Review, 25 June 2008
 
Will the Web 2.0 generation’s epitaph be, “They died with their options open?”