Year: 2014

Tantek asked, “What if our mobile devices focused on people first and apps second? Remember when they used to? When you looked up a person first, and decided to txt, call, or email them second?”

I remember when I used Trillian on Windows, and now Pidgin on Linux to unify my instant messaging contacts. I didn’t have to care if Bob was on AIM, YIM, ICQ(dating myself there, aren’t I?).

I don’t mind installing applications as methods of communication, but that is the plumbing. I don’t see people going off and saying they want to know how their water gets to their sink. They just want it to work. But, as time has gone on, companies have moved away from allowing third-party clients, which means that third-party clients that take multiple services and a common interface may not be possible in the future.

So, that means that any people-focused communication has to tell a service to launch their application to handle it. The proposal would have you visiting the person’s website, see their page that shows methods of communications in order of priority, look for the method of communication, tap/click it, and you are taken to the website/native application that handles that service.

And, if you make the site smart enough, it can change the presentation based on availability and other factors. If you want people to authenticate their identity somehow, it could show different presentations to friends over strangers.

It sounds very nice. But how does one build such a thing? Or even start building toward such a thing. I’ve been building things I myself want to have for my site. .

There are two ways for a web browser to register handlers for specific types of communication. One is outlined in this Mozilla document and shows how websites can register themselves. Gmail, for example, offers to registers itself to handle email. The second is the registering of an app to handle these. This is pretty common on Android, for example…that a specific action can launch an external application to handle it. For example, if I click a Youtube link on a webpage on my phone, it will ask me if I want to open it in the Android Youtube app. Until recently, iOS has done this using URL handling schemes, but apparently in iOS 8, they will be getting something called App Extensions that will allow this functionality.

Even Facebook got into the app to app communications issue at their last developer conference with AppLinks.

So, in the end, the barrier is that the desktop experience is fragmented, the mobile experience slightly less so, but there is currently no way to ensure a consistent communications experience. If you don’t believe me…try clicking this email link. Did it open your usual email or webmail client?

If the web is the medium by which we communicate, and the web is being sectioned off into silos or walled gardens…sites whose goal is to keep your communications and activities wholly inside their ecosystem, then how do you make communications transparent so the person trying to reach you doesn’t have to know what medium you prefer, that is all handled for them?

So, let’s go back to how we build such a thing. For now, it is create a space…a website that tells people where to reach you. In the old days, we’d use a business card…but the modern tools have the same utility.

In the below shot, from one of my previous articles on this site, I have a series of social buttons that tell you how to find me on Facebook, Twitter, etc… but not how to communicate with me.

That will be changing…or at least enhancing…as soon as I figure out how to convey that. In the meantime…you are welcome to try and find me whatever way you wish…

References

• Toward a People Focused Mobile Communication Experience
• Building Blocks for People Focused Mobile Communications
• Markup for People Focused Communications

The problem as I explored this that has keep me stalled is the walled garden problem. Sites like Facebook or Twitter want you to embed their code, which does a lot more than open up the service. At the least all these scripts embedded in your website slow it down. Some functions don’t even have the option for integration.

One can’t rely on asking people to install pieces of software, especially the less technically inclined. Which means you need to have a simple solution that takes advantage of what people already have.

So, in terms of instant messaging, we have Facebook and Google Hangouts(formerly Google Talk). Both had support for a common standard, XMPP. Google Hangouts is still backwards compatible with XMPP for who knows how long. Facebook is compatible until April 30, 2015, when they will discontinue support. Neither has an alternative way of accessing their service, other than their own tools.

So, that leaves me with little choice right now but to roll my own solutions. But that is the essence of the Indieweb movement I’ve gotten involved in. Of course, I’m not really a programmer, but I can do some things.

So, if you look at this test for a new configuration for this site(may be in place if you are reading this in the future), I have the links at the time, which are all syndication points…Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, RSS, etc… other locations to see the same content, if that is the way you want to seem them.

Below the syndication links(aka social media), I have the mockup of the new business card style profile. I want to add communication icons to this card style I have, but other than email, I, at the moment have none. This has been stalling me for some time now. This is not the final version.

Here is the old layout…I have no better tagline…I really need one. But, I hope to add the buttons for email and other ways to reach me. But I lack many methods.

So, next, I’m thinking of trying an experiment. Setting up some software you can click on the site and communicate with me. You don’t have to know what the protocol is, and it should hopefully work in a browser. There is one individual I saw in researching who allows you to click a link that rings his phone.

So, what do you think? Remember, you can comment using any of the links below. You can even use the contact form on this site by clicking here.