Master's Thesis

Master's Thesis Registration RC 1

Anders Vindberg — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 16:13:00 GMT

Having been occupied with commercial work, this thesis has been on hold until now. The direction is similar to my preliminary thoughts. The first candidate for Thesis Registration follows below.

THE COMPETITIVENESS OF MOZILLA FIREFOX AND ITS PRESERVATION AND ELEVATION OF THE INTERNET AS AN OPEN PLATFORM
- a cross sectional study of the Mozilla Firefox web-browser -

Keywords: Open Source; Open Standards; Dominant designs; Hyper-Competition; Technological Innovation; Network Effects; The Internet, The World-Wide-Web.

What is the topic

This is a cross sectional study of the Mozilla Firefox web browser. First and foremost the question “What drives dispersion of Firefox?” is raised. In order to answer this, a historical review is conducted followed by a contemporary description of the competitive environment. Secondly, an online questionnaire survey addresses the relevance of product innovation, ideological views, and open standards with regard to the dispersion and success of Firefox.

Specifically the main research question can be broken up into three principal questions:

What drove the first cycle of dispersion?
Are there signs that indicate a decrease in dispersion?
Will the next cycle of innovation increase dispersion?

Each of these equally separates into a subset of questions that contain one or more operationalized hypotheses. In particular, the importance of technological innovation is assessed, the influence of savvy internet users, ideological views, and general propagation barriers are examined.

Why is it relevant

The web is changing. A multitude of new emerging websites are often cited as being Web 2.0 websites, a hypothetical versioning of web development that entails usage of new standardized technology, in particular asynchronous JavaScript calls also known as AJAX. In addition, the Web 2.0 definition goes beyond technological advances including new ways of structuring online communication, specifically with blogs, increased user interaction and customization, and XML-structured data services - the world-wide-web is changing. The technology behind, the web standards, the perception of the web are evolving. Reawakened, following several years of solitude – some would say that Microsoft is to blame – the internet is becoming a viable platform for development of increasingly sophisticated software applications.

The rapid dissemination of Mozilla Firefox is totalling at an average market share of 16% as of writing and has a trend signalling further growth. Mozilla Firefox is and will be an influential player in the development of an open and increasingly powerful world-wide-web.

Firefox is a platform for development on two levels: (1) it is an application that can be extended with third-party software modules. It is possible to develop software that runs on Firefox in similar ways that, for instance, Microsoft Word runs on Windows XP; (2) it is a platform for development and execution of websites.

In the next development phase of Firefox, version 3.0, Mozilla is striving to combine these two development paradigms so that interaction between web applications and the web browser are improved and generally closer connected. This opens new possibilities for offline execution of web applications. A practical example would be Google Spreadsheets: a web application that allows for entering, editing, and manipulation of structured tabular data. The spreadsheet is saved on Google’s servers and can only be retrieved and updated with an online connection to the internet. With version 3.0 of Firefox, Google Spreadsheets would be able to save spreadsheet input and configuration on the local computer, thus enabling offline usage.

These new guidelines for the future of Firefox and the Internet as an open platform are reliant on the continued dispersion of Firefox. It is therefore interesting to investigate the dynamics that control dispersion of Firefox, both from an academic perspective with regard to the importance of technological innovation and emergence of dominant designs, but also from a human point of view with regard to a free and open Internet.

How will I tackle it

The research strategy utilized includes both primary and secondary data. The latter has been conducted using a classic desktop research approach – primarily consisting of scholarly articles, writings of industry specialists, and key notes from online article and forum discussions. Primary data is collected through two separate sources. First, statistical data concerning historical web browser market shares are collected. Secondly, a quantitative online questionnaire survey is conducted.

The survey process is composed of several steps that may be iterated or circumvented in any order. However, the initial sequence follows this path: (1) a focus group of roughly 20 people is set to discuss the topic in a private internet forum. (2) Pilot testing of the questionnaire is conducted, first with 10-20 subjects who have no prior knowledge about the survey, and afterwards with the focus group. (3) Questionnaire data collection is executed through word-of-mouth marketing and website advertisement. An attempt to get this survey on the main website of Mozilla Firefox will also be made. (4) Analysis and interpretation of data: Summaries are developed, patterns identified, and statistical techniques applied. (5) Results are discussed with focus group – Are the results really showing what I think they are showing?

Combining these research approaches should result in a reliable conclusion that may guide the Mozilla Corporation or evidently suggest areas of research that may need more investigation and focus.

Open Source Business Models

Anders Vindberg — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 13:52:00 GMT

As part of my thesis on Open Source Firefox web browser, I am compounding a list of Open Source Business Models in order to identify how Firefox fits the pack. Since I was not able to fit Firefox in Aaron Schiffs list I have added the Ad-supported model. Please add a comment if you think that a particular Open Source Business Model is wrong or missing. Thanks.

Name	Business Model	Example
Loss-leader/Market positioner	Use open source software to maintain a market position for a related proprietary software product.	Netscape’s open source Mozilla web browser and proprietary server software.
Widget frosting	Sell hardware with open source driver software	Apple’s MacOS X
Give away the recipe, open a restaurant	Distribute open source software and sell service and support contracts.	Red Hat
Accessorising	Sell accessories for open source software such as documentation or proprietary add-ons.	Aladdin’s Ghostscript
Free the software, sell the brand	Sell other developers a brand that certifies their implementation of your open source technologies is compatible with all others who use the brand.	Sun’s StarOffice
Free the software, sell the content	Develop an open source product that receives proprietary content that the firm sells	N/A
Ad-supported	Direct users to a third-party service and reap some of their revenues in return	Mozilla Firefox and Google partnership

Source: Adapted from Aaron Schiff (2002), The Economics of Open Source Software. Originally adapted from Raymond E.S. (2000), The magic cauldron.

Specifically discussed at http://discuss.joelonsoftware.com/default.asp?biz.5.367424.0

Proposed research - in short

Anders Vindberg — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 13:03:00 GMT

Proposed title: Competitiveness of Firefox
The preliminary introduction was a rough assertion of my topic direction. By now, I have realized the magnitude of research areas this subject has potential of evolving into. So, confining the subject area has been my first priority. Focus is, well yes – you guessed it – in focus. This research will direct attention to the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

Purpose of research:
By analyzing Mozilla Firefox’s technological innovation processes in combination with results from the questionnaire, this paper will articulate a set of propositions that could contribute, if executed, to the future success of Firefox.

I will address the specifics of the technological innovation processes later. First, here is what spured my idea concerning the questionnaire:

A self-acclaimed requirement of this paper is collection and use of primary data – in order to prove my understanding of what constitutes as a methodological correct approach. Investigating the web browser industry/market poses several challenges concerning this requirement.

First, undisclosed financial information from both Microsoft (MS) and Mozilla limits comparative research using financial results. Although MS is required to release periodic financial statements, it is impossible to subtract web browser specific earnings and costs. Along the same lines, Mozilla Corporation – a wholly owned subsidiary of non-profit Mozilla Foundation – is not required to disclose financial information and to not do so accordingly. From an organizational perspective, conducting email interviews with respective individuals from Mozilla may supply the needed primary data. However, I believe it is a partially saturated subject area. Numerous email and chat interviews of chief personnel from Mozilla are available online [Insert sources]. I will use it as a secondary data source and instead concentrate on an area that poses as less investigated: Why do users actually shift to Firefox?

The research question can be broken up into three principle directions which subsequently include different questions: (1) Yes, I am only using Firefox; (2) I only use IE; (3) I use both; (4) I use none of them. Selecting the fourth option ends the questionnaire at that point. To separate between home and office usage the questionnaire can be answered twice, one for each IP.

(1) This line of questions will answer many of the unknowns regarding product characteristics as well as highlight the influence from users that are ideological adverse toward Microsoft. Additionally, this will identify to what extend users consciously consider the importance of having multiple active browsers in order to ensure proliferation of none-proprietary web standards.
(2) This line of questions concerns issues related to shifting costs which includes some degree of product characteristics, user behavioural adaptation, and institutional settings. In additional, this direction will answer a marketing related question concerning awareness of Firefox which is used to exclude non-informed users.
(3) Finally, this line of questions highlights user behaviour concerning multiple browser usage.

The questionnaire will follow within a month.

Short introduction

Anders Vindberg — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 13:55:00 GMT

A new browser war has emerged between proprietary Microsoft and open source Mozilla Corporation. It is a battle of Microsoft veteran Internet Explorer (IE) versus Mozilla Firefox. The situation is not unfamiliar to conglomerate Microsoft as this battle closely resembles previous struggles with pioneering Netscape Navigator. A returning sighting from industry critics is that Microsoft has rested on its monopoly bless while small dynamic competitors have eaten into their arena. In the early browser war this materialized as a latent attention to the importance of the World-Wide-Web and the browser itself. Similarly, recent shifts in browser domination have left Microsoft with a substantial loss in market share. The chief reason often cited is that IE 6.0 is lacking support for tabbing. Another is an overall dissatisfaction with the low level of innovation IE has undergone since its domination of Netscape in 1999.