Year In Review: Favorite Innovations From 2006
One of the great elements of a blog is the ability to get feedback from readers so I thought a little reflection would be a good start. Innovation is one of our core values and there has been lots of it this last year. Some for better, some for worse.
Let’s keep the comments focused on innovations that have something to do with the Internet and be sure to include any links that might help others benefit from your discovery - and certainly tell us why it is significant.
Looking forward to more quality innovation in 2007!
–jc
Jon Cline
My favorite was the advent of Google Documents. I had used Writely in the past for quick note taking and portable word processing. With the addition of Google Spreadsheets and all of them being placed in a nice interface together, I have began to use them in a much more collaborative way with writing articles, interviews, and press releases as well as simple “punch list” style task management with other users.
More info at http://docs.google.com
jc
Bunmi
Internet Bill Pay, although not particularly new, has revolutionized my business and personal finances in 2006. The abundance of options and reminders haven’t made paying bills fun, but they have made it easier.
Jonathan
For me, the biggest innovation was podcasting. I know podcasting really started in 2005, but it blasted off in 2006. This year, I found that I can easily keep up on all the latest in technology and website strategies through the great family of TWiT broadcasts (http://www.twit.tv), and other tech podcasts–without having to tune in to any show at any specific time… If only all radio shows could be podcasts!
Similarly, RSS feeds (which podcasting is an extension of), have really helped me cut that time I spend browsing all the latest news and editorials–I can quickly and easily glance through what’s new without wading through info I don’t want to see. For anyone interested in RSS and how best to put it to use, I still recommend the simple but incredibly useful Sage extension for the FireFox browser (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/77/).
Mike Ohana
I absolutely LOVE Google Earth!
I took one of those fun aptitude tests several years back, which told me that my calling is historical cartography. Well, considering that nearly every nook and cranny of the world has already been digitally mapped, that means that I’d have to be an archeologist. But I don’t look good in hats, so that’s out. But that doesn’t mean I’m not a map geek! Enter: Google Earth. This program is awesome. Lots of cool features and it gets better every month.
Check it out! http://earth.google.com/
-Mike Ohana
Greg
Looks like Google is cleaning up… 4 words… Google Maps for Treo… If you own a Treo & a car, Google it from you browser and dowload ASAP… then turn left in 1.6 miles… Cheers!
http://www.google.com/gmm/treo
Markus Van Loan
Happy New Year; I think two products really stand out:
1. Logmein.com - this product category used to require payment like gotomypc.com - but now free is revoluntionary.
And on a global Internet / Tech focus:
This is on plastic microchips instead of silicone substrates - very revolutionary -
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/c341b510-9aa4-11db-bbd2-00…
Finally, this is on th $100 pc initiative to the developing world. Amazing momentum is growing on this linux product. Called the One Laptop Per Child initiative. Wow just truly amazing.
http://www.laptop.org/index.en_US.html
Scott Van Essen
#1 I’m in love with my new Treo 680 (smaller form factor & lower res camera). I strayed and was on the Mot Q for a few months and about killed myself. So glad to be back to the Treo!
#2 They are almost 10 years old now, but they caught my attention this year. www.netsuite.com. Completely web-based system to run your entire business. Accounting, WebStore, CRM, Iventory, Payroll, etc, etc. Amazing product. The future is hosted. I was so impressed we’re now resellers.
-Scott Van Essen
# Posted By Scott Van Essen | 1/6/07 11:39 PM
Greg White
I believe one of the greatest innovations for 2006 was http://www.zillow.com.
For anyone interested in real estate - this site is a must.
Zillow shows estimated home values and provides a plethora of additional valuable home information. This site includes information such as - comparables, sale history, area trends, and the recent addition of Google Earth. Though zillow estimates may not be 100% accurate, the estimates do provide a valuation starting point.
g. white
Luke Gschwend
Pandora is probably one of my favorites. You can check out the site at http://www.pandora.com.
It allows you to create your own music station and it tries to predict, based on what you like and dislike, which songs to play. It will play songs that have similar qualifications to the ones that you like. If you don’t like a song it is playing you just click on it, and select the “thumbs down” image (for dislike) and it will start playing a new song. Over time the station is customized to your tastes.
It’s great to listen to while at work.
Chris Conant
Okay y’all took the good ones already. Here’s some good ones: You Tube, although launched earlier, took off in 06. Watch how much video will impact content management in the next decade! I saw that Adobe came out with Premier Elements in ‘o6. I’ll need to pick up a copy. I can’t wait to see the formats you can save in…
I also think Yahoo’s new Search Marketing tool is quite the innovation. It powerfully makes a small company compete for the same business as a large one. A tool like this, among others radically impacts our economy.
Okay one more: Customizing Google Home Page gets me the cool custom cup o’ joe in the morning with some old school Astoroids.
Scott Boss
Well there have been a lot of sweet innovations in the year 2006, unforunately most of them I haven’t had a great deal of time to mess around with. Some hot ideas were the web based image editor, http://www.pxn8.com as well as a web based video editor, http://www.jumpcut.com, which I would say is a little ahead of its time. However, because I am a student I would say the best/most useful thing on the net right now would have to be http://wikipedia.org. Although it’s not a new innovation, it definitely helps jump start the numerous papers students have to write. Also, with the ability to send a text into google via your cell phone, you can settle those useless arguements about the Fokker Spin while eating a burger at In-N-Out and the historian in me loves the featured articles on the homepage, a bunch of random useless but interesting facts.
Andrea Williams
The following are sites and applications I find increasingly useful in the day-to-day:
For online project management (it’s not perfect but it’s much more user-friendly than Creative Manager):
http://www.robohead.net/info/
For large file delivery without the need for a dedicated FTP:
http://www.yousendit.com/
For increasingly high-quality online video (thanks to MySpace? See Business 2.0 October 2006 edition):
Adobe Flash Player 8 & 9
For inexpensive stock photography a designer would actually use (love their new design elements section):
http://www.istockphoto.com/index.php
For figuring out what to go see after work (don’t always agree with the ratings, but hey …).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com
And in my line of work, the easy way to look up almost any version (except LB) of a bible verse:
http://www.biblegateway.com/
-Andrea Williams
http://www.centralchristian.com
Garth
Google talk - gotta love a web-based chat program. I can use my account on any pc w/o an install. Google’s web-based apps are wonderful. Also, unlike other web-based programs, no performance hit from constant page refresh.
Christine
I guess I’m a little behind the times because I finally just got onto myspace in 2006. It has been a great hub socially and also for business networking (despite the TV media reputation it has developed). In addition to publicizing my company there I’ve also used it to publicize my “humanitarian cause” -
‘Words the Movement’, my upcoming book, as well as my online retail store, the official HQ of Words the Movement.
Furthermore, I manage a client’s myspace fan page (she’s
a TV personality)so it has crossed over into my regular company jobs as well.
Gotta love the space!
http://www.myspace.com/wordsthemovement
http://www.cafepress.com/wordshoppe