SEEM4540 Open Systems for E-Commerce - Lecture 01
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SEEM4540 Open Systems for E-Commerce Lecture 01 – Introduction
What is “Open Systems”?
It was very popular in the early 1980s to describe systems
based on Unix, in contrast to the mainframes and
minicomputers (most are developed by IBM and HP).
In the old days, computer systems are dominated by some big
names such as IBM and HP. How the hardware/software
communicate is completely secretly.
Even you can develop hardware compatible for these computer
systems, you may not have the right to sell!
Unix systems featured standardized programming interfaces and
peripheral interconnects; third party development of hardware
and software was encouraged — significant departure from the
norm of the time!
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.
What is “Open Systems”? (cont’d)
Although today we have a very high degree of both hardware
and software interoperability, before 1990 this is not the case.
The open systems concept is by Unix vendors as a significant
differentiator.
IBM and other big companies resisted such idea for decades
until very late 1990 – early 2000.
IBM and HP begin marketing some of their products as “open
systems” and then “open source” (e.g. Linux Mainframe)
Sun Mircosystems promoted OpenSolaris (an operating system)
in 2005 (based on the closed-source Solaris) and OpenOffice in
2000 (based on the closed-source StarOffice)
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.
What is “Open Systems”? (cont’d)
Some “sample news” in the old days:
https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=soGti0kvtgwC&pg=PA7
&lpg=PA7&dq=Hitachi+IBM+lawsuit&source=bl&ots=6VokVq
UnXX&sig=6s4rHnGlK3IQZaX_ypaRrgu1xfg&hl=en&sa=X&v
ed=0ahUKEwjjro6XyJnKAhUD5qYKHTCTBD8Q6AEIMDAG
#v=onepage&q=Hitachi%20IBM%20lawsuit&f=false
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/12/business/ibm-and-
hitachi-in-new-accord.html
So you may consider “open systems” is a dated term, and
“open source” is more popular.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.More About Open Systems
It is interesting to see that the computer giant IBM (which
originally rejected the idea of open systems), switches to Apple
Macs from Windows PCs:
http://www.cio.com/article/3001871/macbook/switch-to-macs-
from-pcs-reportedly-saves-ibm-270-per-user.html
Switching is expected to save USD$270 per user in IBM
Mac OSX is based on BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution – a
Unix like operating system)
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Formal Definition of “Open Systems”
Open systems are computer systems that provide the
combination of interoperability, portability, and open standards.
Interoperability
A product or system whose interfaces are completely understood
and able to work with other products or systems without any
restriction of access.
Portability
The usability of the same software in different environments.
Open standard:
A standard that is publicly available.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open Systems vs. Open Source
Open Source
A term that looks similar to open systems but in fact very
different from it.
In computing, open source usually means open source software
(OSS).
It usually means the source code of the software is available to
the public in which the copyright holder provides the rights to
study, change and distribute the software to anyone and for any
purpose.
Source code available to the general public with relaxed or non-
existent copyright restrictions.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open Systems vs. Open Source (cont’d)
Open source is Formally defined by Open Source Initiative,
which is formed by Eric Raymond and Bruce Perens in 1998.
In fact, in 1997, Eric Raymond already published “The
Cathedral and the Bazaar”, a reflective analysis of the hacker
community and free software principles.
Cathedral Bazzar
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Cathedral Model vs. Bazaar Model
Cathedral Model:
The traditional model of development.
Development takes place in a centralized way.
Roles are clearly defined. Roles include people dedicated to
designing (the architects), people responsible for managing the
project, and people responsible for implementation.
In order to preserve the architectural integrity of a system, the
system design should be done by as few architects as possible.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Cathedral Model vs. Bazaar Model (cont’d)
Bazaar Model:
Often used in open source software development.
Roles are not clearly defined.
It has the following 6 patterns:
Users should be treated as co-developers
Users should have access to the source code and are encouraged to
submit additions to the software, code fixes, bug reports, etc.
Having more co-developers increases the rate at which the software
evolves. Linus’s law states, "Given enough eyeballs all bugs are shallow.”
If many users view the source code, they will eventually find all
bugs and suggest how to fix them.
Note that each user’s machine provides an additional testing
environment. This new testing environment offers that ability to find
and fix a new bug.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Cathedral Model vs. Bazaar Model (cont’d)
Early releases
The first version of the software should be released as early as possible
so as to increase one;s chances of finding co-developers early.
Frequent integration
Code changes should be integrated (merged into a shared code base) as
often as possible so as to avoid the overhead of fixing a large number of
bugs at the end of the project life cycle.
Some open source projects have nightly builds where integration is
done automatically on a daily basis.
Several versions
At least two versions of the software.
A buggier version with more features and a stable version with
fewer features.
The buggy version (also called the development version) is for users
who want the immediate use of the latest features, and are willing
to accept the risk of using code.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Cathedral Model vs. Bazaar Model (cont’d)
High modularization
The general structure of the software should be modular allowing for
parallel development on independent components.
Dynamic decision making structure
There is a need for a decision making structure, whether formal or
informal, that makes strategic decisions depending on changing user
requirements and other factors.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.An Open Source Impact
The Cathedral Model and The Bazaar Model model receive
significant attention in early 1998
It was one of the most important factors that motivates
Netscape Communications Corporation to release their
popular Netscape Communicator Internet suite as free software.
This source code subsequently became the basis behind
Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, SeaMonkey, etc.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Unfortunately…
Unfortunately, before 2000s, not all people appreciated open
source (just like not all people appreciated open systems)
A Microsoft executive publicly stated in 2001 that:
"open source is an intellectual property destroyer. I can't imagine
something that could be worse than this for the software business and
the intellectual-property business.”
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-raps-open-source-
approach/
Note: open systems and open source begin to be adopted by
some big companies from late 1990s to early 2000s.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Luckily…
Luckily, even the concept of open source has historically
played a role outside of the mainstream of software
development, companies as large as Microsoft, IBM, Oracle
and Google are just some of the few the companies with a
serious public stake in today’s competitive open-source market.
There has been a significant shift in the corporate philosophy
concerning the development of free and open-source software
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Why Open Source is Good?
The open-source model generates an increasingly more diverse
scope of design perspective than any one company is capable of
developing and sustaining long term.
A report by the Standish Group (from 2008) states that
adoption of open-source software models has resulted in
savings of about $60 billion per year to consumers.
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/creating_wealth
_free_software
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Some Note About Open Source
Open source means the source of the software is open but this
does not automatically mean the software itself is free of
charge (although most example is…)
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Sustainability
Unlike proprietary software, which comes with restrictive
copyright licenses, open source software can be given away for
no charge.
Its creators may not be able to ask each user to pay a license fee
to fund development.
A common question against open source is sustainability.
Common funding model:
Software can be developed as a consulting project for one or
more customers. The customers pay to direct the developers’
efforts: bug-fix prioritize, features added, ...
Charge for training, installation, technical support,
customization, advanced feature, …
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Funding (cont’d)
A company’s own developers work on open-source projects that
are useful to the company's infrastructure.
The open source project itself is free of charge, but repackaging
the project as a commercial product require payment to the
original authors.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Kumamon and Kumamato – Reverse Thinking
If you still puzzle about how open source can raise fund, then
let us talk about Kumamon and Kumamato.
Kumamon (熊本熊) is a mascot created by the government of
Kumamoto Prefecture (熊本縣).
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Kumamon
The name “Kumamon” is generated by the combination of
kuma (熊, bear), the first word in Kumamoto, and mon, a
variant of mono (物, thing)
He is the Head of Sales Department (營業部長) (Very senior
position!!!)
https://www.facebook.com/kumamotodiary.en/
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Risk & Challenge
He was first created in 2010 for a campaign to draw tourists to
the region after the Kyushu Shinkansen (新幹線) opened.
Note: Kyushe Shinkansen will NOT stop at Kumamoto
The governor of Kumamoto afraid that Kyushe Shinkansen will
drive away visitors (i.e. less visitors to Kumamoto)
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Solution & Opportunity
The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture, Ikuo Kabashima (蒲島
郁夫) then try to use a mascot to promote Kumamoto.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.The Success of Kumamon
Huge amount of products related to Kumamon.
But almost all products are NOT made by Kumamoto
Government!
In fact, everyone can use Kumamon with the condition (in
short) that your product has to be related to Kumamoto.
In contrast, if you use Disneyland characters, you have to pay license
fee.
The Bank of Japan estimates that from 2012 to 2014,
Kumamon has been promoting Kumamoto that he has
generated ¥123.2 billion in revenue.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Some Interesting Stuff
Promotion strategy:
Despite of Kumamon is created for promoting Kumamoto, it
first appeared in Osaka (大阪) and promotes Osaka!
Can you think about why?
An interesting event:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECWPnUyCefw&feature=y
outu.be
http://beauty.ulifestyle.com.hk/m/hk/news/girlstalk/AD4RYh
EgA3A.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ2eegZuZm8
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Minolta – Reverse Thinking
Another example:
The 135mm STF Lens of Sony (or Minolta)
A modern high class lens should be able to produce “prefect blur
effect” (known as bokeh). Having auto-focus is also a norm.
Technically, larger aperture will produce a better bokeh. So most
designers focus on creating large aperture lens.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Minolta – Reverse Thinking (cont’d)
The 135mm STF lens is “manul focus” and “small aperture”
Yet, it is one of the best lens. Even Sony acquired Minolta in
2006, Sony continues to manufacture it even now.
The lens designers from Minolta realized one issue:
Photographers are interested in producing the best boken, NOT
parameters of the lens (i.e. value of the aperture).
The only draw back is to sacrifice auto focus.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open Source and Open API
When we talk open source, we should not forget open API
API (Application Programming Interfaces)
API describe how software talk to each other.
It let others easily integrate your code into an existing system.
Try to understand: Closed API vs. Open API.
Open API examples:
https://developers.facebook.com/
https://code.google.com/
…
In most cases, the success of an open API depends on its ability
to attract external developers and help them create truly
valuable new apps that people actually want to use.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open API Challenges
Opening an interface to external developers can significantly
add to the management and security challenges associated with
publishing APIs.
It can be very challenging to ensure that interface updates do
not break application functionality.
Publishing an open API theoretically mean that any developer
can access exposed backend systems, it also risks bringing the
existence of that exposure to the attention of hackers.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open API Opportunities
Increasing Revenue
This may involve charging developers for access to the API,
facilitating the in-house creation of pay-to-play applications or
enabling ecommerce. A key consideration here is that the API
must offer something worth paying for.
Extending Customer Reach & Value
APIs provide the ideal solution for enterprises that wish to reach
new customers or increase the value of current customers by
offering existing services via new platforms and devices.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.Open API Opportunities (cont’d)
Stimulating Business & Technical Innovation
APIs can help an organization develop new systems, offerings
and strategies from the inside because they reduce technical
barriers to innovation.
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.E-Commerce vs. E-Business
What is E-commerce?
What is E-Business?
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.References
http://apievangelist.com/
http://www.apiacademy.co/lessons/api-strategy/private-apis-vs-open-apis
http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/open-systems-loosely-
coupled-creating-an-integrated-museum-ecommerce-system-for-the-mca/
http://opensource.com/
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Linus_s_Law.
html
http://kumamon-official.jp/
https://www.facebook.com/kumamonofficial
https://www.facebook.com/kumamotodiary.en
Copyright (c) 2019. Gabriel Fung. All rights reserved.You can also read
