Leader of the debate and chief editor of Wiadomosci24.pl – Tomasz Kowalski – invited interesting people to the conversation.
On one side we had very popular tech crunch bloggers (in the Polish Internet of course) like Przemyslaw “Spider” Pajak (http://www.spidersweb.pl), Maciej Budzich (http://blog.mediafun.pl/) and Krystian Kozerawski* (http://www.mackozer.pl). On the other, we had only one representative from classic press – editor of Polska The Times daily newspaper – Agaton Koziński. In the middle and between guys including me, who were invited to be a joint-company for those two very different groups of writers. I was sitting there as Microsoft employee – a person who understands technology and how it has impacted changes also in journalism. 

I’d be 100% ignorant, if I said that I was the most important guy in the company. We had two senior experts coming from academic world. Two well recognized Polish professors – Maciej Mrozowski and Włodzimierz Gogołek, who I suppose were invited to share their wisdom and distant maturity probably unknown to the rest. It was the first fail of the debate itself.

I have met those two fellows first time in my life. Post-mortem, I have huge respect to Mr. Wlodzimierz Gogołek who stood in the position of a person that tries to understand Internet and big changes in has introduced to our society. Mr. Maciej Mrozowski presented nothing but ignorance and arrogance in almost every word said. Too bad, he disrespected the audience. From quite interesting opening question and the perspective of discussion in subject, we had quickly switched toward war between amateur/enthusiast writing (blogs) and professional journalism which is “about serious stuff”. I’m writing war, because it was a smalltalk I often have with my friends during bar conversations. I expected higher level and argumentation worth the public debate.

I was terrified in lack of understanding of the Internet as a medium. I was shocked when Agaton Kozinski was more interested in finding funds for sending correspondents to Middle East, not asking a question first, if we here in Poland are interested in another news about the conflict in Palestine. Maybe we’re more interested how our freeways are constructed and why the heckwe need to pay so much for them? Not sure what is more important, but now I understand why, when I buy a magazine - out of 30-40 articles, I’m interested in maybe four. If editors do not ask themselves critical questions first, then they land in the abyss of sales falling down! In effect no money for the Middle-East guy.

I had a feeling that traditional journalists in Poland are bunch of celebrities who demand exclusive attention. I’m no expert, but I understand two ways of career development in journalism. The way of classic celebrity. With all steps in the food chain to gain respect and the way of rioter to jump over the food chain and piss on it. Regardless of the path folks enter, they should realize that it’s like five seats, not more, on the throne for the winners. The rest are forgotten and should demand nothing but keep fighting for the attention with good quality content and modesty. Good example with Mr. Agaton Kozinski. Before debate I didn’t even know who he is. No offense in that – I just don’t read daily newspapers.

I don’t, I have different sources of information that are faster. Honestly, all I know about the earthquake in Japan I’ve got from the Internet. I do not represent the majority yet. TV probably still is the winner. But such an audience, that takes Internet as primary source of information is growing. Now many Internet events are pimped up from classic media sources. Soon I’ll find info about new show in TV from the Internet, will turn TV on for that show and come back to Internet after it. Maybe all will be broad casted in the Internet and TV will be just a flat screen, yet another monitor in the living room.

On the debate I have realized that it is freaking out many traditional media guys. And they should be afraid. Sooner they realize that, they are not attractive to younger generations who are connected, sooner they will wake up. And some say we have about 20+M Internet users in Poland. Lots of people who are changing habits right now!

They have to wake up. We all together have issues to solve. Like privacy, like literacy of people who read true garbage and only that.
Internet represents very unique place where true democracy as I understand it, works. And from this prime experience I must say, democracy is very close to anarchy. Anarchy where arrogance has its beautiful yet unproductive power.

Mostly that is, what I’ll remember from the debate.

*) edited: Apologies to Krystian, I mistyped his surname little bit. Thanks (Dominic Warkiewicz) for pointing it out.

I’ve been playing with Tablet PCs since I started working for Microsoft. One of very first computers I’ve got here was Tochiba’s tablet with Windows XP (back in 2005). I liked it, but it’d never become my main computer. Reason was simple – touch screen was optional, secondary way of interacting with the machine. Some (in fact a few) apps were designed to take advantage from digital pen, but overall feeling of the OS and most of apps was simple – it was designed for keyboard and the mouse as primary tool for interaction.

I has taken me a while to fully understand why Microsoft has postponed the original Slate idea to go to market. Then when I started playing with iPad and I realized how much the OS and all apps I’d downloaded were designed for the screen as primary tool for interaction. For new developers designing apps for such devices, consider it as mandatory part of your UX focused design. Not only the beauty of High DPI vector based graphics, but well crafted and tested interaction through available and individually invented gestures.
If your design required keyboard then it’s worth checking how many pads users buy this optional accessory. I don’t have the numbers but I don’t believe it’s mainstream. If confirmed, then simple question should be asked: is my one dollar app good enough to convince user to go to app store and buy physical keyboard for additional $60. This is universal knowledge regardless of the device and additionally impacting design process if one device just doesn’t have such accessory available.

So this is the main reason now I understand why well known user experience of current Windows is not the best shot in consumer world of tablets. Different UX from both OS and Apps is a must. I have great hope in Windows v.Next to see Microsoft’s progress in subject but still now I haven’t played only with iPad, I’ve got Galaxy and Xoom in my hands, I have several Slates with Windows 7 and even though I agree current benchmark of quality is measured by iPad’s success I disagree that only if you have bitten apple logo on the back of the screen you can success. I found many imperfections of both iPad1/2, I found many opportunities laying in Android’s the state the art, called the Honeycomb. I found many interesting use cases where Windows 7 based slates are the easiest way to navigate. World is not that clear and I believe that real battle for tablets hasn’t yet started.

Few examples:
- I hate watching movies on iPad because of the process to move my movies there:
If you have great video-streaming services in your countries that might not be an issue but when to watch movies I have to rip my DVD, format it to right codec & size that is iPad compatible. It is time consuming and it heavily frustrates me. Then I have to run iTunes to find settings for my video playing app and upload my movies to the isolated storage for that app. Why can’t I plug my pen drive to be automatically discovered and handled just like on my game console?
- I’m not big fan of isolated storage. sharing data between apps is painful
- Switching between apps is no so fortunate either. 
- Several and non-complementary content license systems. I’m not sure if I prefer iTunes/app store only way to purchase new content, but when individual app has its own system of acquiring new content it’s not always that stable as I’d expect. I lost a few issues of my Wired magazines with one update of the app. It put me on hold toward new purchases.
- there was lot of dicussion in sense of having copy/paste functionality. For me it’s must-be. Additionally I’d add fast app switching to this critical group. Still I miss some fast way like alt+tab, ctrl+c, ctrl+v way of doing it on the screen. Current implementations barely help doing it subconsciously.

I can add lot more of small defects and imperfections but there is no sense in that. After all, it’s great device and user experience playing with it. Still as said, I perceive lot of space for new innovations and improvements better than different color, shape and camera.

I’ve been playing with Samsung Galaxy which is no competition at all. Its performance disqualifies everything. I’ve been playing Motorola Xoom which is kind of cool, but as I read it hasn’t got the traction yet. Windows 7 based slates with good hardware capabilities (Asus Eee Slate is cool enough) are really nice for commercial scenarios, especially as closed OEM boxes. But I think it’s where Windows Embedded was designed to go, so it’s unclear how to position those devices. Windows 8 should answer to all questions but it’s it too early to say something more but speculations. With a few tablets already in my hands, I have learnt a few things though:

- Apple for sure is big perception winner, nevertheless it’s far from perfect
- To win in modern tablet space as a vendor you have to consider:
     – high quality hardware (by means of cpu/gpu/ram/hdd performance and 2+ touch points capacity screen that really is responsive).
     – I believe, there is no need to own hardware part of the business, but you have to ensure high quality of hardware delivered (OEM certification, formal hardware requirements, etc.)
     – you have to have apps (from OS to 3rd party apps) designed with touch screen as primary interaction tool
     – you have to have successful electronic distribution instruments as your business model proposal for developers making consumer apps
     – you have to know how to make strong and long-term relations with developers considering business application that require direct selling. App stores do not fit. Alternative business models have to be constructed or polished.

Considering it, I believe that in future again, just like with iPhone, iPad will land in the exclusive area of high-end consumer devices for people who can afford it as portable, yet home computer. But to reach mainstream in measures of PC’s current reach, I think real battle hasn’t yet started. It will begin and will include more vendors. Which is good, for all innovations that it may bring.

Confused, cause I perceive that real commercial apps examples show up how pointless discussion is which platform is better – native (not necessary c++) or web bound to the browser.

Amazed, because several apps I’ve been using constantly for a while show up how much we have moved forward in User Experience and aesthetic design of our apps.

Regardless if true web or native but still utilizing power of the Internet those apps still do not change my definition or priorities why I value Internet. So no big revolution in the Web itself, just more mature I’d say.

Internet has always been to me about three priorities:
 - to communicate (meet and chat with the right people)
 - to learn/get to know (gaining access to right information which can extend my knowledge, experiences and can help making better decisions)
 - simply.. to get the stuff, whatever stuff means.

Entertainment and consumer apps are the easiest example. Adoption of new trends has always touched those first. But I see all new interesting stuff for collaboration and IW stack of solutions like document management and knowledge management too.

I stopped using One Note some time ago and switch to Evernote. I stopped tracking tasks in my Outlook as even without tasks it’s filled up with so much info that I’m lost and frustrated every time I have to open it.

I envied that Mac users have Things. I’m glad to find Wunderlist. Evernote and Wunderlist are perfect examples of replacing one huge solution (call it Office) with smaller but dedicated pieces. And this is hard as I work for Microsoft, I have my free copy of Office, but still I preferred to un-install One Note (why the heck I’d need it now)

There are many more solutions like that. Preferences of users change, organization can block it or encourage it the same way as Facebook could have been blocked in many offices. Still users have those preferences and frustrations if they cannot choose the best possible solution they think is at reach.

This perception should encourage you if you make those decisions to look not only at software but also at hardware from different angle. Smaller is often better. Remembering not what but how employees work. With who and why they share information. Assess those and then pick up IT solutions based on real use cases not modelled by business or software requirements.

I’m deeply amazed by apps like Evernote, Wunderlist, new social networks like Quora or Convore which bind people by the professional interest they have not only by the will of sharing rubbish over web (like Facebook and Twitter). It’s only a beginning and I’m addicted to new hobby, searching for new stuff around me. Some are really a digital-life changers.

When I read it, it triggered my loud thinking. I’m not sure if they’re completely true but there are some signals of such vision going through, right now. It’s well visible especially in mobile, portables devices, as well in game consoles.

Instead of raw web pages to access services exposed by vendors we choose dedicated applications. On some devices we have no choice. Xbox 360 does not give you an opportunity to browse the web freely, but gives you apps to access Facebook, Twitter and Last.FM services. Those services are good examples of on-line service, which has multi-platform clients and web page is just one among them. Not always the most important and richest in features.

To give you comparison, even on PS3 which has web browser, it’s much better user experience to work with applications. In Poland, where I live, market for those apps is not very well developed and the only app I see on my PS3′s dashboard is AXN network in TV section. This particular app is in fact completely hopeless, offers only a few clips (I’d not even call them movies). Just like YouTube player but only with some very limited AXN sponsored content. Sony’s problem, opportunity is huge.

YouTube player is another good example which for mobile/portable devices provides dedicated application instead of a link (icon) to the web page. I believe it came originally from technological limitations. They stream videos using Flash technology and have experimental support for HTML5 <video> tag. There is big escape from Flash on mobile devices and not each and every device and platform supports well HTML5 yet. So YT gives an app to search and play their videos. I think having those apps guys behind YT do realize the potential of dedicated UX coming through application, not web page.

If you look at electronic publications, slow migration to e-paper is coming and killing need for rich content on web pages. Why? It’s great business opportunity hidden there. Some believe a rescue wheel for publishers who struggle how to monetize well from the web, while paper subscription is at constant decline.

We’re so much used to see web pages free, that still as Internet users, we barely like to pay to read anything on particular URL. Sites like www.nytimes.com give content for free and install ads anywhere possible. They of course have subscription for on-line content. WSJ has it too, but I suspect that most of their customers are corporate/business, not consumers.

Now take NY Times Reader for PC, phone, iPad, whatever. Designed to emulate daily issue, paid the same way as daily issue comes to your door. Full of dedicated content and with User Experience suited for the device. Highly welcomed product, I find among my friends, people are eager to pay for it.

What a rescue for newspapers indeed. Electronic distribution of many different kinds of goods (on-line content) wins more and more shares and with our shift toward public cloud, it’s just sentenced to win.

Now, going forward. What if all that becomes true. We will have Internet A -> with browser and web pages – Obsolete and with legacy stuff. Another Internet (B) will come with apps, that will just use the infrastructure for connectivity. Little bit just like in old good times but with much more mature platforms, APIs and standards than in 90ties (Webservices and JSON as good examples which we didn’t have in previous decades).

So how about that current, mindset war against RIA versus HTML5 improvements. If apps come to win, is HTML5 really relevant? I think yes. In many scenarios, it’s right now the easiest way to start a project portable across all these different platforms and screens. Biggest risk is, that it’s still immature (both in standards and browsers implementation) and fragmented.

Many HTML5 enthusiasts yell that HTML5 kills all need for any other development platforms and first of all need for Flash and Silverlight as RIA platform for the Web.

I’ve played with HTML5 little bit and to set it 1:1 to Flash or Silverlight, I must say it’s incomplete. To really compare both at features level, left side has to include:

HTML5 + JS DOM extensions coming with HTML5 + CSS3 + SVG

Then I can start talking about any comparison to what SWF and XAP files can render themselves.

But this post is not about bitching at HTML5 versus plugin-based RIA. In fact I believe that in reasonable time maturity of HTML5 will finally come true. Standard will become complete and all popular browsers will support all relevant features. To handle HTML+JS+CSS+SVG complexity, we just need different tools which are right now absent. But I believe they will come too, they just have to be split to suit needs of both coders and designers (the way Visual Studio and Expression Studio is positioned in MS offer as an example). Then and only then we can start verifying HTML5 as dominant platform for the Web.

But wait a second, let’s go back to the beginning. Wired said Internet will survive (infrastructure level and connectivity across devices), but Web will become obsolete. So why HTML5, if not for Web pages? Web apps – yes!

Right now for more and more platforms we can build web apps behaving like regular client apps for the devices.

Pads/Slates are good example of devices which I call hardware browsers.
So, if my window to the Internet is hardware device not the browser application for PC, why to need a software browser inside it?

Still one core feature currently dominant for daily Web usage – search. For websites and on-line services, even content and apps download you need search provider to find them in endless wastes of the Internet. But when we talk about Web Apps, search can be easily replaced by something we see becoming mainstream right now -> App Marketplaces, App Stores, Steams or whatever the service is called.

I’m not a conjurer, I can’t predict the future, but some things are happening right now. And if it all becomes true, think why Google is building marketplace for web apps that are on-line not for download. To be prepared..

Think how many businesses will change operationally if that happens. SEO for example. Big risk to be killed or 100% controlled by app store vendor. App stores are closed and I see no reason why to open them up. If killed, then we will most probably come back for traditional model for billboard like advertisements.

Purchasing C-class infrastructure to set farm of SEO servers to pimp up your pages faster will just not work. You’ll have to go to the apps store vendor and just like with NYC’s Times Square LCD screens, you’ll pay heck of money to be on main page as app of the week.

Take one example: viral marketing.

I noticed two interesting examples of above where my female friends on my list just started writing on their own messages on their Facebook walls. First example was quite shocking.

What would you say if you read dozen of messages written by your female friends like: “I like to do it on a kitchen table” or “I like to do it on my favorite sofa” or “I like to do it at the shower”.. When you pass through twentieth of such a message you stop suspecting your friends of being exhibitioners & perverts that day, there had to be a second bottom. And there was. Message that triggered it all was a campaign to push women to check their breast regularly to minimize risk of undiscovered breast cancer. They manifested to other women where they liked to check their breast in that context.

I had to do my investigation with my wife to realize that. No man I know knew about it. Clever but kind of obvious as we barely risk it.

Second campaign is quite fresh. I still not quite get it, I presume it’s about encouraging people to read maybe. Again only women on my contact list bought it.

I see several messages like: “And the sun was beautifulin the morning” or other rubbish nonsense with a comment of their own: “open a book, do not pick your favourite one, check page 52 and write 4th sentence on your Facebook wall”.

I saw similar viral nonsense over IMs in the past but totally random in its reach I believe.
Above two seem to be well crafted or there is a genuine thought behind it:

Women are the best target for viral marketing.

…At least considering on-line, social networking as the platform.

Group was initiated by some Norwegian medicine student who picked up Polish city Poznan for studies. Some arguments he put on the table are quite idiotic, some are natural consequence of still developing country just 20 years after beating communism, still having infrastructure issues, broken mentality and other things we all Poles know very well. Some are just his personal bad lucks.. (just like I’d complain on US being screwed just because less and less stores accept American Express these days).

So what… still all that bullshit just sounds like frustration, cry-out and bad luck of a single person who picked up a place for studies which missed his overall expectations. Can’t it happen everywhere? It can.. so what’s unique in this one?

FB as massively adopted social networking spot triggers interesting behaviors. A person who says that is pissed-off at a whole country instead of pissing at it, leaving the country, having better memories elsewhere comes back occasionally to that country to point out new bad experiences. Truman Show of modern Internet, it’s so easy nowadays to join the community and say “Welcome to Web 2.0 asshole, by the way I hate you”.

There is other group then, who responds and here we go with virtual war over principles.. Some would say it’s democratic.. but as it doesn’t really change anything isn’t it just an online garbage who shouldn’t really care about? Estimates say that we right now utilize abstract amount of data over Internet.. most of that is for single use.. much is just the same garbage as one mentioned..

Speaking of modern Internet culture, I’m worried what dumbasses future will bring us.

Then I’ve come back to country willing to buy new Blizzard’s game and I found price exactly the same as in US and equal to console conterparts in my own homeland.

I’m curious if that’s licesing cost or local distributor confused encouraging with discouraging piracy through fair offer. Especially in the country where PC gaming is still perceived a commodity with commodity level of pricing while consoles are still exclusive hot stuff “richies” usually own.

Staying on legal side of the business, I’m expecting to see used-market blossoming on this title very fast.

Red Read Redemption shows totally different game. GTA sandbox approach to vast emptiness. I just started but I have a feeling that this approach might become its worst failure. I’m playing about 2-3 hours now and I perceive riding accross praire much less compelling than driving crowdy streets of Liberty City. Please tell me that there will be more action in near future outside Armadillo, what I have now is just dull.

It was the year where Microsoft showed quite impressive Xbox 360 coverage and Sony embarrassed themselves with “if we don’t say that’s Next Generation, it’s not Next Gen yet”. With huge announcements and living sense of community that tradition lasts to the very day and believe me it was really interesting to sit on the channel yesterday evening and chat with the angry mob of hardcore players who complained how boring message Microsoft has brought to them.

And that’s it, my first comment, I’m surprised that many people are surprised by current course both from Microsoft and Sony.
I’m waiting for today’s conference of Japanese giant but I’m not expecting much more than crazy MOVEs with their new controller.

This year the most exciting news as for games for its core audience I’m expecting from 3rd party. This thesis I’ve been spreading around my friends for a while. Why? Well casual, social gaming is a huge slice of the cake that corporate giants want to address immediately. Biggest, current winner in most common gaming media – game console – is obviously Nintendo. So both MS and Nintendo are looking for new opportunities through own innovation but a door opened by the competition.

Hardcore gamers might be disappointed but for most of all what’s left in this actually current generation is new games crossing boundaries. As for new hardware and hardware changes it’s obvious that message is directly pointed at new customers (the Wii-type) or to extend gaming family at household to other members under the same roof.

I’m curious how it will end up after a year or two, as for Microsoft itself I see big chance for it in countries like Poland, where Nintendo has no subsidiary and there is no real distribution of Nintendo related goods. With good business plan next years can reveal Kinect as synonym of casual gaming in such countries. The trick is that not every plan is good.

I’m excited to see the near future, especially that Xbox Live has been indirectly announced to come to Poland. Probably at the end of the year. I hope that with it Xbox Live Indie Games chapter will have also become available to Polish Indie developers. We have many talented guys who will use that chance to test their skills against commercial rules.

Last but not least, Xbox 360 Slim. It looks cool but most of all it will matter only to attract new customers. I presume not so many will replace old ones beside those frustrated by the noise or crash of the system (by whatever reason).

Big players have already realized it. EA’s purchase of PlayFish for about $300M, personally, blows my mind as for start-ups’ potential in this category. Success showing cosmic values. EA known in past to be whale swimming in slow-motion if we refer to innovation, reaction to new opportunities now plays in the first front establishing its own, rapidly growing department dedicated to social and on-line gaming.

Cake is growing and so are hungry mouths of bigger and bigger players in the industry. That’s pretty awesome to observe it, on-live, in just a couple of years. I presume it will continually surprise us in following years. Recent news around Facebook although help me realize that we might actually reach the first base now and games’ rules are changing.

In effect social gaming with much bigger budgets, big players involved and start-ups from past years becoming a multi-million ventures will probably have to review their strategy, size and risk taken for future projects.

One of the success indicators for games like Farmville was platform (FB) that has allowed to spread the word rapidly at minimal or no cost using social behaviors and in fact viral marketing. Facebook is interesting Web 2.0 entity. Scale of its own success brings him only enemies, er.. I meant followers. To maintain its position they have to change dynamically and respond with new innovations, security and privacy improvements (400+ million active users is hell-of-a-database I wish I had for Business Intelligence) and other aspects that may touch a 3rd party developer very painfully if we won’t understand them well or these changes won’t be communicated clear.

I have a perception that it’s not. Seems like in times of gigantic success we started to perceive Facebook not only as social-networking service (for end users), but also as a platform available to 3rd party developers. It’s nothing wrong with that as Facebook is great candidate to be named like that, but not to get lost on the path of building such a platform it has to have all its characteristics. One characteristic, very important in my opinion is technical and business specification not only for the current time but also for well defined future.

Predictability of what can possibly happen in next year or two may help me make my decisions and be predictable myself. Open question if that can be possible with Facebook, I don’t have clear opinion now. Seems like market does not either.

Zynga and other companies seem to believe in platform diversity. Games are hosted on Facebook, MySpace, MSN Games and by its own Dot.Com site. I personally believe that a single hub (or a few to keep things competitive) has now space to grow on all concerns Facebook has built. Sounds abstract but mainly because only Facebook has its proof point how to reach so many folks around the world and unfortunately in their story trigger pulled was not aimed at gamers first.