Software 3.0: silent revolution

That year, everyone asks everyone about what will be “the next big thing”. What will happen after the web, social networks and clouds? In my opinion, the answer lies under our feet, but we do not want to notice it. Just because it is not exactly as we like it. This thing is not as simple as everyone expects. There are no more simple things left: Instagram and Groupon - not the most complex products - have already been done.

Let's try to look back a little, let's say, at 35 years old. It was the time of the first personal computers available. They could already be bought, but due to a strange interface, understandable only to very prudent guys, it was quite difficult to use them. This was the era of software 1.0. The time of pseudographics and command line, the time when the appearance of the color image on the screen was impressive more than the tricks of Copperfield. For obvious reasons, computers, in their then form, could not become truly massive. The software of those times was rather scientific and “geeky”, but not personal.

Then came the era of graphical user interfaces, the era of Windows, OS / 2 and Mac OS. Computers became clearer and people began to use them for their daily tasks: creating documents and editing images. This is software 2.0 time. Then the Internet, social networks and even cloud computing appeared, but the software, in most cases, remains the same. If you compare one of the first versions of MS Word and its modern incarnation, you will find that, conceptually, they are almost the same. That is, there are more opportunities, but it is still a substitute for a pencil and a sheet of paper.

So we got to our day. Now we have a huge amount of infrastructure that allows you to build very complex solutions in a matter of months. But for some reason, with rare exceptions, the tools remained the same. Cases where a classic word processor has become something big can be counted on the fingers. Take Google Docs. They added the opportunity to discuss and collaborate, and I abandoned my once beloved MS Word. I think this will be the next big thing - software 3.0. Software that changes the paradigm; software that allows you to work with the product team of people who are in different parts of the world. Then I will try to list the 10 characteristics that may have Software 3.0.
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1. Making holes, not selling drills

“People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill.” They want a quarter-inch hole. ”
Leo mcginneva

The main characteristic of Software 3.0 will be that it allows you to complete a task regardless of whether you have the necessary resources (both software and hardware) and the competencies to perform it. If the task is within your reach, then Software 3.0 will provide you with the tools, if the task is beyond your capabilities (for example, you do not know how to use photo processing tools), then Software 3.0 will provide you with the help of artists who can cope with your task, as well as control and communication with them.

2. These are your details, man

Data is always owned by the user and stored in his personal / corporate accounts. In principle, this concept replaces the computer hard drive from the past. Over time, this hard drive has acquired restrictions that are increasingly difficult to put up with. After all, the truth is you want to have access to all files from any of your devices. And sometimes not even yours. With the good old hard disk so will not work. But now there is GDrive, Dropbox, Box, etc. Now these services look like separate products, but over time they will simply become part of the necessary infrastructure. In 2003, we went to an electronics store to buy a hard drive. Now I can hardly imagine where it is in my MacBook.

3. Store everything so that others can read

In the struggle for the data, it's time to put an end. Yes, this is the holy grail of user binding to the product, when data written by one program cannot be read by another. But it is disgusting. In almost all areas, there are already open standards for data, there is no longer any reasonable reason to do another for your product.

4. Interaction - the key to efficiency

People communicate. The reason for working together is very simple - people in a group do a much better job. At the current level of development, any application can provide any means of interaction. I mean, technically, this is not a problem. There is a sufficient amount of infrastructure and technology. Moreover, some technologies have become cross-platform and it is not such a big problem to call from the phone to the tablet or browser. I will say even more, you can call there and there at the same time. And add video and text to communication. Software 3.0 will provide the user with the maximum possible choice of communication tools; in the arsenal of any application, there will be voice, video chat, messaging and file sharing tools.

5. In-app purchases in full growth

If we take any area, then most applications and services will have some common functionality. Let's say GDrive and Dropbox have a login feature. This is a service function that is necessary and requires a budget for development and support. This is the logic of the past. Customers will be paid for features that make your service unique. We are already seeing such a trend on mobile platforms in the form of in-app purchases: take a look at VSCO, a free application for image processing on smartphones. Well, it seems, in the future, consumers will only pay for unique features, thus obtaining a unique value for money product.

6. Check the data

Big data is just entering the market, we already see the first examples of successful commercialization. Now big data analysis is still not very well developed, but the potential that it stores in itself is really impressive. Analyzing a set of slices of multidimensional cubes, you can find relationships, the detection of which used to be beyond the available. Without a doubt, the data that will be created using Software 3.0 will be best suited for analysis.

7. Integrate capabilities

Most ordinary users do not even suspect the integration density of modern products. In fact, any product is now largely the result of integration, rather than writing code. And, I'm not talking about libraries anymore, I'm talking about ready-made services. For example, Google Analytics is integrated into a huge number of products. So far, these integrations remain invisible, but it seems to me that the time comes when the label “Working with Dropbox” becomes as desirable as the once-famous “Intel inside”. Over time, integration with third-party products should become one of the main quality metrics of Software 3.0.

8. Zero footprint

Software 3.0 itself will not require any additional modules, plug-ins or add-ons. Everything the user needs is already installed on his computer. From the software, the user only needs a browser. This approach fundamentally solves the problem of software deployment, all fixes and improvements will always be available in the version you are using. Versions hell, the developer’s biggest horror, is gone forever. I can hardly miss this thing. Installations are also no longer needed; entering the site is the installation. No more, no less.

9. Platform independence

We used to think that the platform is Windows or MacOS. In modern realities, a platform is more like a Web, and the sub-platforms Facebook, Google+, etc. that are inside it. Users spend more and more time in applications. Already there is no such thing as “sitting at the computer”, you always sit somewhere on Facebook, or somewhere else.
Software 3.0 is platform neutral. This means that you use this software on the platform on which you are comfortable. Whether it’s a separate website, a Facebook application, a Chrome OS application, or an Android / iPhone application. Depending on the platform, the software will change the amount of offered functionality and design in order to provide the highest possible user experience, to provide access to data and the environment.

10. Cloud is a ground

Cloud technology has changed the world forever. There is no longer a mass of limitations; clouds allow access to previously unimaginable resources, data and capabilities. The infrastructure for Software 3.0 is in the cloud. If the task requires intensive calculations for a long time, then all this will happen in the cloud. Only the result will be delivered to the user.

Conclusion

The world is accelerating, almost all the principles described above can be implemented today. I am sure that every day we will see more and more services that comply with the principles of Software 3.0. These services will help users solve their problems as efficiently as possible. Once upon a time I read a book by two professors from Sweden “Funky Business” . It seems to me that Software 3.0 makes the approach to business described in this book possible today.

Evgeny Shpika
CEO Pics.io