This is the first post in a series of five weekly articles on issues related to Kynetx application development in a server-centric world.

Kynetx is on the forefront of creating the app-driven purpose-centric web. As we talk to people about our platform I have discovered that there are two main categories of Internet users:

Category 1: Placers- as in users who think about the Internet only as a collection of locations. Placers are firmly rooted in the paradigm of location. You go to an address, you visit a site, etc. They consider web sites analogues to physical stores or your front lawn. Most people are placers because they have only been exposed to server-delivered/browser-consumed web applications, which reinforce placer thinking. You can’t blame a placer for being a placer.

When placers see what can be done with Kynetx applications their initial reaction usually includes two sentiments: the first being, “that’s really cool,” and the second being, “the site owner won’t like it.”

Category 2: Appers- as in users who think about the Internet as a platform for building interesting applications. Appers can separate location from application, and can appreciate the organization of data and functionality from different sources to bring new value. Appers are not averse to trying new apps in their client environments. Ultimately they know they are in control of their experience. Appers are relatively rare, but mobile platforms are converting more people to this kind of thinking, and the markets are recognizing this coming shift. This shift is inexorable on all platforms, including the server-centric web.

When appers see their first Kynetx demo they get very excited and always want to sign up for a developer account on our platform. They frequently make statements where they compare Kynetx favorably to such ideas as sliced bread.

Phil Windley coined what I will call the Apper’s Creed:

I claim the right to mash-up, remix, annotate, augment, and otherwise modify Web content for my purposes in my browser using any tool I choose and I extend to everyone else that same privilege.

Put in other terms, the Apper's Creed asserts the right to run apps in the browser environment. I believe that more and more people will discover the value that appers enjoy and will make the transition from the placer world.

A very important question for Kynetx application developers is: how do we get placers to begin to make the transition to appers? Another important question: how do our apps get along with location-centric resources and developers on the Internet?

I will explore answers to those two questions in a series of weekly posts. I hope you find them useful.

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1. Kynetx Code » 10 Suggestions for Good Web Citizenship — July 19, 2010 @ 11:42 am

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