Microchunking applications
Many people have been talking about the idea of “microchunking.” This means taking an object, usually a media file, and reducing it to its smallest usable part. The idea is that instead of fighting against innovation, digital media can embrace new technology and still be profitable if it is microchunked, syndicated, and monetized wherever it is consumed.
This is a powerful idea; but why limit it to media? It seems to me that the same logic applies to applications. A big part of what I think is exciting about the latest batch of web apps is that they microchunk what was once a monolithic software application (e.g. Office), make it web-native, and monetize its use via advertising and/or premium service fees.
Going back to digital media, a big part of why it can be effectively microchunked now is that certain enabling technologies are widespread enough to reduce the advantage once held by centralized media: things like editing tools, RSS syndication, and aggregators. The same thing is true for apps; enabling technologies here would include widespread broadband, more active browser techniques like AJAX, and standardized data formats.
I think that there are two main remaining barriers to microchunking apps. The first is the lack of many needed standardized data formats. One big help in this regard could be microformats. The second big remaining stumbling block is that of identity. Big applications, whether on the web or not, have the significant advantage that you just log in once, and then can easily use the different components of the app together.
So how could this identity barrier be knocked down? Well, how about microchunking identity?
As it so happens (or more like, partly motivating this post), microchunking identity is what I just talked about at BarCamp SF. I’ll get to that in the next post.
June 28th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
Microchunking is an awful big word. Do we really need a new buzzword.
Aren’t you just talking about Resource Modeling (i.e. identifying resources with URIs)? Uniform Resource Identifiers are just the first part of the elevator pitch for the web style. Everything follows after that, you perform operations on representations of those resource through a standard set of verbs with a few rules to enable caching and some conventions to help the back button during human interaction etc. Some handwaving economic analysis here on coordination costs. Adam Bosworth and Google are betting on Atom (see GData as a standard data transport and publishig protocol)
To the point about identity it’s an interesting problem but one that is being resolved one service integration at a time. I’m sure the conventions and best practices will come in short order, there’s every economic incentive for that.
June 28th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
Hi Koranteng,
Buzzwords, they’re flying everywhere! In my defense, I didn’t make this one up. But I do think that microchunking gets across a specific idea with regard to digital media that is beyond resource modeling or standardized data exchange. Those are the tools; microchunking is an approach to distributing media so it can take maximal advantage of them.
With regard to apps and identity, I think the same logic applies: by breaking down previously monolithic entities, they can become more effective in a world where such tools allow widespread syndication and remixing.
Thanks for the comment!