If you’ve ever worked in teams, especially large teams where everyone is located all over the world, you’ll know just how important efficient and effective team communication apps are. Communicating via email is generally standard, but let’s be honest, email works but isn’t efficient or effective enough for many situations — it’s too slow, difficult to use with more than a few people at once and and, depending on your organizational skills, can get wildly out of control.
There are plenty of great team communication apps around for varying purposes ranging from instant messaging to forums to real-time group chat rooms. No single app will work best for everyone’s specific communication needs. I’d like to put together a roundup covering the varying types of team communication needs and the best solutions available.
So let us know which, if any, team communication apps you and your company uses to stay in touch with co-workers, clients and everyone else. We’ve listed a few popular apps in the poll to the right but be sure to submit other’s we’ve not listed. Thanks!
For most, music is a core essential in day to day living. We hear it while shopping, waiting in elevators, perusing the mall, while driving and just about anywhere there’s electronics. Thanks to developments in web technology, we’re able to enjoy more music that we prefer and even build online libraries — in some cases for free. There’s even been speculation that Apple is preparing to offer some sort of online version of iTunes while Amazon has already delivered their version, called Cloud Player.
With so many fantastic music streaming (both radio and full library) apps available, it’s hard to decide between them all. With your help, we’d like to put together a comparison between the most popular music streaming apps and all their different offerings. This overview should help many of you make a more definitive decision and ultimately a more satisfying one.
So which app(s) do you use? If yours isn’t in our poll list, let us know what it is. Why is it your preferred music streaming app?
There’s about a billion task management apps available and we’ve reviewed quite a few. There’s so many available though, we want to hear from you — which task management app (or apps) do you use? We’ll list a few that we’ve reviewed in the poll, but if you don’t use any of those, just submit the name of the one you do use or leave a comment below.
We’ll use these poll results to put together a comparison between the most popular task management web apps with a bird’s eye view on aspects such as pricing, features and platform compatibility.
Make sure your suggestion(s) are for task management web apps rather than strictly project management apps. They’re similar but we’re looking for apps with a focus on task management. Thanks!
Mozilla’s Paul Rouget made a splash on the web this week with the question, “Is IE9 a modern browser?” and a most definitive answer, “NO”. The post makes a great argument as to why IE9 is “more modern, but not really modern.”
And of course the post’s accompanying infographic is well worth checking out for a more visual perspective on the subject. Microsoft responded with several valid points of their own on the subject, adding more heat to the continual browser wars.
Many of us are biased for one reason or another, while it’s difficult for others to really say what a “modern browser” is since it isn’t clearly defined. Personally, I’m biased and don’t believe IE9 will be a “modern”, competitive browser for any other reason than it’s what has been used for so long, by so many, but IE — I can only hope — will continue it’s market share decline.
What do you think? Is IE9 a modern browser? Once fully released, do you think it will compete with Chrome, Safari or Firefox?
If you haven’t noticed (or don’t visit the sites), Gawker launched an all new design across their sites (Gizmodo, Lifehacker, etc) that’s quite different. Many people think it’s terrible and a poor decision. I can’t help but see various similarities between the new design and designs you’ll see on tablets such as the iPad.
Gizmodo
Performance issues aside (which are being worked out by their staff), the new design’s usability makes more sense for tablet-type devices than the prior blog style design. Personally, I like the new design more than the prior one, even on my desktop. It makes more sense from a usability standpoint; no new page loads or tabs when navigating to a post, a quick overview of recent or popular posts, etc.
The question, though, is whether or not people really want mobile web UX when they’re on their desktop computer? I think the web and computer technology is slowly evolving into more dynamic, interactive and “go anywhere” hardware and software, so I see designs such as Gawker’s as an expected step across all platforms.
As you can tell, I clearly prefer the newer design and the idea of mobile web UX making its way onto the desktop, replacing our older viewing methods. What do you think? Do you prefer iPad-type web designs over their desktop counterparts while on the desktop? Or do you think desktop web UX will, and should, always be different than other platforms?
I love Gmail, as do many others. The other day I found myself asking the question, “Would I pay for this app? And if so, how much would I be willing to pay?” I’ve recently been going through the many internet apps I pay for, asking myself whether the the cost warrants the value I get out of the app. Several app subscriptions have since been canceled.
Going through the many apps I pay for monthly (and some yearly) got me wondering which apps are absolutely vital to my day-to-day tasks. Gmail (well, Google Apps & Gmail) is one of them. For the most part though, we’ve all grown accustomed to free email services and many other web apps on a freemium basis. But should we always continue to expect that?
I’m curious as to how many of you would be willing to pay a monthly, or perhaps yearly, fee for Gmail. Or would you simply switch to another email provider? If you would pay, how much would you be willing to fork over?
Personally, I would pay in a heartbeat. I’ve yet to find an email app I prefer more than Gmail and it has definitely rooted itself quite deeply into my daily workflow and online life. As for how much, that’s hard to say.
Time and time again we’ve said computing is increasingly moving towards a cloud-oriented platform. Web apps continue to evolving into alternatives to their desktop counterparts, and in some cases they’re more powerful. However, the concern for the security and privacy of your data will always remain. It’s one aspect of desktop data storage that’s certainly more attractive.
With all the benefits cloud storage has to offer, it’s hard to argue that it shouldn’t be used, especially when used in combination with desktop storage. On the flip side, the web has proven to be a highly insecure space for the storage of sensitive data, even with all the security advancements that’ve been made over the years.
When you take into consideration the privacy concerns apps like Facebook has presented users with, I often wonder if I should ever trust storing any of my data anywhere in the cloud except on my own controlled server. Even knowing those issues exist, I continue to maintain full backups of all my data in the cloud, even in multiple locations. This, of course, is in an effort not to lose any of my data, under any circumstance — ever.
Though I do store my data in the cloud, I’ve never fully trusted those who maintain the storage facilities it resides in. I don’t know that I ever will; though I don’t have anything to hide so it’s not much of a concern for me either. Do you trust storing your data in the cloud? Do you trust those who manage your data?
Do you think cloud technologies will ever reach a point where we can trust our data in the hands of others?
Over the last few years apps have overtaken our phones and now the web — at least in a more organized way (e.g. the Chrome Web Store). While this movement has been fantastic and allowed us to do more than ever, it’s also made it easy to overload ourselves with an unmanageable number of apps.
Mobile devices and desktops aside, I am still overwhelmed at times with the number of web apps I use, have access to and test each and every day. The web front didn’t use to be this way for me and was quite manageable. Perhaps I’m in this situation now because I work with so many more web apps for this site, or perhaps the growth and advancement of the web has opened up many more web app possibilities.
What are your thoughts? Are you overloaded with web apps on a regular basis or do you just ignore the growing multitudes? If you ignore them, how do you stay on the edge of new and exciting apps?
Personally, I am consistently overloaded with not just web apps but mobile and even desktop apps. However, I generally thrive off the constant stream of fresh, new apps to try, which always push the envelope of what’s possible to greater lengths. At times though, I certainly need a break and to stabilize my ever changing app line-up. How about you?
Have you read up on net (network) neutrality? Do you understand how it affects you and even our culture as a whole? It seems that most people, while having heard of net neutrality, don’t actually understand it and what it means for them. This is an important subject to have at least a basic understanding of so you know where you stand.
In a nutshell, net neutrality describes a general idea where your internet access is not restricted by internet service providers (or governments). Once you pay for internet access at your desired speed, you’re able to access the internet as you wish (legally of course).
So what is everyone up in arms about? One side believes the internet should not be controlled, while the other side believes that organizations providing internet access should be allowed to run their networks as they wish. In other words, Comcast could block or restrict (possibly at a price) access to services like Hulu or Netflix.
There’s a whole slew of potential issues a “non-neutral” internet would present but those would need a full article to discuss. For an easy to understand overview of net neutrality, check out http://theopeninter.net. A more in-depth article covering what net neutrality is, arguments for both sides, the new laws introduced Dec. 21, 2010 and further details, checkout lifehacker’s Introduction to Net Neutrality.
Personally, I’m for an open and neutral internet and the new rules set by the FCC seem promising for my wired internet connection, but not so much for my mobile connection. What do you think of the FCC’s new rules? (view FCC’s net neutrality rules in PDF)
As of late, Flash has been increasingly filling my thoughts. If you follow Web.AppStorm (you do right?), you’ll know that we’re clearly fans of Flash-less web apps and excited by advancements in apps utilizing HTML5 and CSS3. Although some of our posts would lead you to believe we’re anti-Flash, we’re certainly not — though I personally tend prefer Flash-less apps.
As the year is coming to an end, I’ve been evaluating the content Web.AppStorm covers and why we’ve so severely neglected our Flash brethren. The simple fact of the matter is, HTML5 stole much of the limelight this year and Flash took a few hard knocks thanks to a some big names like Apple and Google.
You’ll notice many new or improved web apps are flaunting HTML5 versions or replacements, dropping Flash like a bad habit. In a way, Flash has become a dirty word to many — or maybe just less marketable. While this may have been the trend during this last year, we’re well aware of the fact that Flash is still a powerhouse and in many situations, the right tool for the job.
With that in mind, I’d like to balance things out and give Flash more love this coming year. As such, I’ve been trudging through the mountains of web apps I use to find some really great Flash-based apps for in-depth reviews on Web.AppStorm.
With that, I’m wondering if you avoid Flash-based apps or embrace them lovingly? Do you have some really great Flash-based apps in mind that you’d love to see reviewed or featured on Web.AppStorm?
And, dare I ask, are you an HTML5 vs Flash OR an HTML5 & Flash (living in harmony) web user? Are they rivals or are they different tools that, used together, can accomplish amazing things?
