MORE Open Source!

So this is my final post. I covered all the topics because we had a few repeats like this so I'll cover it again. Open Source software allows uses to access source codes so the software can developed and modified. There is practically open source software for every conventional program out there. SourceForge is a great resource. I'm not into open source that much because I'm not much of a techy but I definitely have used a fair share of the software. I just wish I knew how to develop...

Advertising and open source stuff haven't married yet but with companies like Google who are open source proponents and advertising giants, it will happen one day. Upon doing research for another class, I've come to find out that Google has been in the open source game for a while. With things like Google Code and ownership of Android Inc., a mobile open source software company, we are only scratching the surface of advancement with this technology. It will be interesting how Google will change the dynamics of the field once it can figure out how open source and advertising can build off each other.

Well, speaking on Google and its open source endeavors, it recently released the Google Nexus One. This is its first flagship phone that they fully have all the rights to (G1 and MyTouch were also "Google" phones"). The phone runs on the Android operating system which is open source. Why is this important? Well, this makes it the only open source phone on the market. There are a few other phones that run the Android OS such as the Droid from Verizon but the Nexus One is THE phone for open sourcing apparently. Open source mobile devices allow for personalization and development by the user. They can easily make they own apps and fix bugs in the phone much more quickly than traditional updates. Should be interesting to see where this takes us.

Here's Google's Nexus One site.

Open Source Software

Open Source software can easily become one of the best innovations of our time. With people knowing so much about technology where they can create software or modify open source software to cater it to their needs is mind boggling. Open Source software allows people to access source codes so they can understand and manipulate everything about it. Open Source software is used by many as alternatives to software that you have to pay for like word processors or photo editing programs but the true gem in these programs is the access to the source code. This allows for so much innovation and creativity.

Open Source software can be used in the advertising field in many ways. I know that use of of Audacity and the VLC player is wide spread across the field. There are some in the field that can code so they really are the ones that can benefit. They can use the source code to cater programs to whatever they need in particular situations or even just general use in their office. I know there are probably so many more that are widely used that I'm not even aware of in the field but I'm sure their out there.

This Open Source software could be a break through in the advertising field.

With Google making 97% of its billion dollar quarters from its advertising programs, Web advertising is venturing into a great realm of new opportunity. Openads, an open source software, is one of the only ad servers that are free (dated article). Ad servers allow you, along with AdWords, to control what ads appear on your site so you can cater them to your viewers. If ads are actually links to what your viewers want to see and are reliable, this could really help you out.

GoogleDocs & our Future

In MANY fields of work, collaboration and group work is the way to get things done. Google is the leader in Web innovation and the future of how we will use the Web. Those clever minds over there created GoogleDocs. This entity is the ultimate collaboration tool. Instead of modifying documents through making copies on every machine of every collaborator, GoogleDocs makes ONE document, spreadsheet or presentation that everyone can edit in one spot. This streamlines the group's work. They don't have to sit there and cross reference six different documents when editing.

This will be immensely big in Advertising in the future. For example, we edit copy all the time at my job and several people always do it. We have an external server where we save all documents and files so there's only one file that everyone accesses. This is exactly what GoogleDocs does but just widens the range of who can be a part of the collaboration. People outside the office or company may not have access to the server so they can't access the files but with their unique invite through email, they can!

Here's a very comprehensive article about what GoogleDocs is, how it works and the future it can have from How Stuff Works. With Google's innovation, the sky is the limit at this point. Google has so much that it either has or that it can create to incorporate into what it already has. I think adding in a chat applet and/or video conferencing feature would really be amazing. GoogleMeetings maybe?? Not to mention the consideration of translation. There could almost be a deterioration of language barriers across the world. Imagine what that could do for International business and commerce?