Recently there was a lot of talk about Apple not supporting Flash in the iPad. Moreover, there were articles in the press stating that Steve Jobs said Adobe was “lazy” when developing Flash. Those remarks were the cue for Adobe to enter the field and hit by saying that Apple has created a closed platform that can only be governed by them.

Basically most of the opinion articles around the web either say that Apple is right because Flash apps would crash the iPhone/iPad or that Adobe is right because it is the user’s device and he can do whatever he wants with it.

If we try to understand each company’s policies, and market behavior, we can see how they reached this situation.

Apple is a company that is forward looking, there are tiny compromises in terms of compatibility. This was proven over time like when the iMac shipped without a floppy disk or the Macbook Air without an optical one. Not only that but most of Mac OS releases only worked with a limited amount of older computers.

This means that Apple is always trying to bring the best possible experience to the user regardless of what is out there. Flash is proven to be less than optimum in the Mac and you can only imagine how it would look like in the iPhone. So they just decided not to support it.

Adobe, in the other hand, always tries to be compatible across the board. Flash, a technology that Adobe bought from Macromedia, was developed to bring compatibility, and extended features, to the web.

It is definitively not an easy task to be compatible with every platform out there, kudos to Adobe on that, but the compromise they need to do in order to bring Flash to every device almost ruins the user experience in some.

Furthermore, there are news today that Adobe wants to bring it’s AIR system to different platforms on the mobile space so developers can have one version of their app that works across the board.

As a user it’s frustrating that I cannot see Hulu on my iPhone but it is not pleasant seeing my CPU hitting 100% when I am watching it on my Mac.

That is why, in my opinion, new standards of web technology are needed that work on every device that supports them so there is no need for an artificial abstraction layer that compromises speed and reliability in terms of compatibility.

Nowadays it is almost instinctive for any business to create a website. Basically every person that is asked if a business should have one would doubt very little to reply affirmatively. But when asked “Why?” the doubt starts to grow.

It is so simple and so powerful that is hard to imagine why not, but in this humble post we will try to explain why it is not only important to have a website but a good one.

Before the internet was born businesses used strategies to promote themselves like having a big sign on top of the store, advertise on newspapers or TV, mail coupons or fliers, have a nice window display and rely on the happy customers to spread the word about it. This strategies are still being used today but they are moving online.

Having a website for your business is like opening a new virtual office or store. Visitors will come in, look around and eventually convert to customers or leave. It doesn’t matter if you sell shoes or plumbing services. Visitors will come in, and if your website works properly, you will get new customers.

And the beauty is that not only are you opening a virtual office for visitors around you but for a world wide audience. You might have the biggest sign on your town, but from two miles away it is hardly ever seen. You might have the biggest ad on the local paper but no one will call you from out of state. A website can open a business virtually unlimited opportunities.

The value of an internet presence is much more tangible for retail stores since they are opening their doors 24/7 to customers all over the world without much hassle. If your store is in Kentucky you wouldn’t care to ship your products to Bangladesh, there is almost no difference that shipping it to New York. For a small investment your possible customer base is expanded borderless.

So, what will a site provide you? First of all, presence. If you have your website it will be there when someone is looking for your products or services. It will also let you tell the story, it is not just a phone or address in the Yellow Pages but a display of what you want to tell your customers. If they have a warmer feeling about your website they will pick you instead of the competition, the battleground has changed. And lastly, it is a great tool to communicate with your patrons. Not only you can tell your message to them, but you can also hear them back, receive feedback about your work and how to improve it.

With the present status of the internet the communication is not only between you and your customers, but between them. The mouth to mouth marketing has moved to social networks like Facebook and Twitter. If you fix computers and someone was happy about your work they will talk about it and your site can be the hub of that information, and if someone was unhappy you can prevent the word from spreading by just saying sorry.

It is now clear that you must have a website. The quality and functionality of it will depend on your budget and willingness but if it is just a free one with the business description and a phone you are on the right track.

A couple months ago Google started a campaign about their Google Apps products called “Go Google”. We have no affiliation with them but I must say that we have been using their products and I can provide some insight about how it is to live with an online suite of productivity and collaboration tools.

Google Apps is basically designed to work for every type of organization: from a small group to a big corporations. If you are a small business or group with up to 50 members you can opt for the Standard Edition which is completely free and provides most of the features you could want. If you need more users or more that 7gb of storage per user you can choose the Premier Edition.

These Google Apps that we are referring to include: Email, Calendar, Contacts, Word processor, Spreadsheet, Presentations, Google talk and Google Sites. In Microsoft terms this is Exchange + Office + Messenger.

If you ever asked about Exchange you probably know that the cost of a MS Exchange setup can cost thousands of dollars and you need quite some time and knowledge to get it right. And if your team grows over time you need to spend more in Exchange licenses.

Having that in mind , Google Apps is a huge money saver. But it not only it has an advantage from the money point of view, it also saves time in the setup (it’s almost as easy as opening a gmail account), and it has a great interface for web collaboration. You can use it online in any computer in the world and you don’t have to rely on the IT team or your internet connection. Google had some outages but they are minor compared with the things that can go wrong with your own setup.

They even have interfaces for iPhone and free POP/IMAP email so you can read it in Outlook.

For me it was a no brainer, it works great and it is really easy to manage.

There are plenty of online sites that claim they can get you rich online, most of them are scams and some others get real in very few cases, but this blog is not going to be about it. We want to help real people, with real jobs, improve their work and their business with online tools, tips and solid advice.

My name is Diego Lapiduz, I will be one of the writers here. I am an economist who has specialized in business IT  who have been working on the web for over 10 years now at Sinai Studio.

The title of this post will be the general topic of the blog: how to make or save money by using online tools or IT strategies on your current business.