Collaborative Software
Definition
Software that tries to compensate for face-to-face or collocated tasks by providing a system that allows users to store and modify data, interact with each other and achieve mutual goals. Popular examples of software are
I would like to expand this definition to include technology that we use regularly to communicate with people that are not physically collocated, sharing information and knowledge that pertain to common objectives. Applications such as Skype allow file sharing, instant messaging and video conferencing. Another application, Basecamp, provides project management tools for teams to create milestones, to-do lists and track hours, while working in disconnected settings.
Collaborative software to my understanding is any software application that attempts to bridge the gap of communication between people that are not geographically collocated by providing a set of tools that constitute an interactive virtual environment.
Interesting Concepts related to Collaboration
During the late 20th century and early 21st century, with the rapid advances in computer technology, companies envisioned reaching certain milestones in the next few decades that are yet to be accomplished.
A popular concept video is the Apple Knowledge Navigator. These concept videos seem absurd but to think that we do not have anything equivalent to the Knowledge Navigator, more than 30 years since this video was made, exposes the flipside of technological progress.
Apple Knowledge Navigator:
However, a few innovative and rather expensive collaboration tools have been implemented. ATT’s Video Conferencing and Cisco’s Telepresence are elaborate systems that require companies to make large monetary commitments to install these collaborative tools for their employees.
ATT Telepresence:
Cisco Telepresence:
Two other interesting ideas are MIT’s ClearBoard and Mircrosoft’s Future Vision 2019.
ClearBoard: http://web.media.mit.edu/~ishii/CB.html
Future Vision:
History
Colossal Cave Adventure created by Will Crowther in 1975 can be called the beginning of online collaborative software, a beginning that came about through the gaming community. With an increase in online gamers and faster Internet connection, the need for collaboration to boost the gaming experience led to new innovations such as MUD, Multi-User Dungeon in 1978. Most of these applications remained in research communities and were not accessible to general public till the advance of dial-up modems in homes.
Outside of gaming, VOIP(voice over IP) and video sharing contributed to the growth of collaborative software. The government began using collaborative applications in the early 1990s and the Navy's Common Operational Modeling, Planning and Simulation Strategy (COMPASS) was the first robust collaborative application. It allowed up to 6 users created point-to-point connections with one another; the collaborative session only remained while at least one user stayed active, and would have to be recreated if all six logged out.
Groupware is another interesting concept closely associated with collaborative software. It focuses on increasing efficiency of groups in a distributed setting. Groupware has been talked about since the 1980s and there a two quotes that express what the idea is and what people expect to see-
"Like an electronic sinew that binds teams together, the new groupware aims to place the computer squarely in the middle of communications among managers, technicians, and anyone else who interacts in groups, revolutionizing the way they work." -Richman and Slovak
"If GROUPWARE really makes a difference in productivity long term, the very definition of an office may change. You will be able to work efficiently as a member of a group wherever you have your computer. As computers become smaller and more powerful, that will mean anywhere." -Kirkpatrick and Losee
What you are most likely to hear about today(I have personally enjoyed using)
Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by Dropbox, Inc. which uses cloud computing to enable users to store and share files and folders with others across the Internet using file synchronization. Sharing can be done between dropbox users, right click a folder in your dropbox and choose share and you can then invite another user to share it. Each one of you can put files in the folder for eachother, and you each have full access to the files. So you can each edit, delete, add files etc. The only thing to be aware of is that files in the shared folder count against the quota of all people sharing it
Dropbox has free and paid services, each with varying options. There are a total of 10 clients, including versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux as well as versions for mobile devices, such as Android, iPhone, iPad and BlackBerry, and a web-based client for when no local client is installed. Dropbox uses the Freemium financial model and its free service provides 2 GB of free online storage and users who refer Dropbox to others can gain up to 8 GB of free storage.
Further Information:
http://lifehacker.com/#!397778/dropbox-syncs-and-backs-up-files-between-computers-instantaneously
Google Docs & Spreadsheets can handle the nuts and bolts of daily office work, such as composing and editing text documents. Crunching numbers in a spreadsheet, and making basic slide shows. While the features are far fewer than those of desktop software such as Microsoft Office, this online service conveniently lets you do your work anywhere and collaborate with other users.
It is free service from Google that allows you to upload and save documents from your desktop, edit them online from any computer, and invite others to read or edit your documents. Files are stored in Google's secure servers.
Google Docs & Spreadsheets is easy to set up and offers a clean interface. The service tags documents by subject and imports various file formats. It can export to PDF or download as original file format. The spreadsheets includes formula shortcut, auto saves files, works with ODF and Microsoft Office files
What to watch out for
Amazon’s cloud service provides a virtual computing environment, allowing you to use web service interfaces to launch instances with a variety of operating systems, load them with your custom application environment, manage your network’s access permissions, and run your image using as many.
Here are some interesting articles that involve these three services and what has been happening recently:
http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/21/amazons-cloud-crash-takes-down-foursquare-reddit-and-others/
Implementation and Consideration Issues
Chat and voice communications are routinely non-persistent and evaporate at the end of the session. Virtual room and online file cabinets can persist for years. The designer of the collaborative space needs to consider the information duration needs and implement accordingly. And until recently, bandwidth issues at fixed location limited full use of the tools. These are exacerbated with mobile devices.
Authentication is a major problem for Groupware. When connections are made point-to-point, of when log-in registration is enforced, it's clear who is engaged in the session. However, audio and unmediated sessions carry the risk of unannounced 'lurkers' who observe but do not announce themselves or contribute.
Collaborative software is an umbrella tern for desktop applications, web services and management tools that allow users to communicate through the service. There is a plethora of tools that enable sharing such as video conferencing, wikis, revision control etc. and each has a different set of challenges associated with it.
This blog post does not seek to cover all the existing collaborative software tools but is a way for me to talk about some of my favorite tools, what I think will be big next and how ideas from the last 50 years have evolved into the most useful applications for me as a college student.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborative_software
http://reviews.cnet.com/online-software-services
http://web.media.mit.edu/~ishii/CB.html
http://venturebeat.com/2011/04/21/amazons-cloud-crash-takes-down-foursquare-reddit-and-others/
http://lifehacker.com/#!397778/dropbox-syncs-and-backs-up-files-between-computers-instantaneously
No comments:
Post a Comment