Hourglass Architecture main points PDF

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A short summary giving main points about the hour glass...

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Chapter 6 – Hourglass Architecture Presented by Jonathan L. Zittrain (2008) in his book “The future of the internet – and how to stop it”

Shape: 1. Broad from top (application) and bottom (physical) to show broad number of possible uses (A) and users (P) (anyone can be part of the network by obtaining the required hardware) (Add examples; application/uses derived: Skype call, uploading a photo to Instagram, posting a status update to Facebook, sending an email writing a book in Google Docs etc. Users: anyone with the hardware can be a part of the network, which is pretty affordable. E.g. (network effects) more smartphone users, more app developers can make apps; more people have the hardware to join the network, more ISPs – snowball effect, network externalities – therefore creating ecosystems of innovation like Microsoft, Apple etc.) 2. Narrow from waist to show it is meant to be as feature-free as possible (containing only IP), open to innovation and meant to be built upon – Microsoft Linux, Unix and open-source software intentionally left incomplete for user to adapt Apple notoriously bundles its software with its hardware (macOS just for Mac Books as opposed to Microsoft Windows for a range of computers: Lenovo, Dell, Acer; which might account for Apple’s mere 14.8% market share of PCs as of 2019)

6.2.2 Generative architecture 3. Hourglass architecture is generative – flexible & allows innovations to be built upon it Generativity: a system’s capacity to produce unanticipated change through unfiltered contributions from broad and varied audiences. (Zittrain, 2009) 4. Independence of layers reduces the need to comprehend complexity – work on one layer without others interfering E.g. the user can send a WhatsApp message without knowing how it breaks up into packets using TCP, a developer can develop a game without being concerned with the hardware of the router in the user’s house that will enable the game to reach him, he is just concerned with the application programming interface (API), ISPs aren’t concerned with apps etc. 5. Generative infrastructure fosters innovation and constant improvement – groups responsible for various parts of a big

infrastructure can work on a particular element without affecting any other. In contrast to a hierarchical infrastructure where changes are decided by management. E.g. suggesting changes to Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft will probably be unproductive. In a generative infrastructure users can create new things & make changes provided they stay within the broad rules & standards of the system 6. The layered architecture allows new users/devices or protocols to easily join an infrastructure, fostering continuous growth and increasing the influence of a given infrastructure. E.g. more smartphone users, more app developers can make apps; more people have the hardware to join the network, more ISPs – snowball effect, network externalities – therefore creating ecosystems of innovation like Microsoft, Apple etc. *Gawer & Cusumano: Platforms are distinct in that they are often associated with “network effects”: that is, the more users who adopt the platform, the more valuable the platform becomes to the owner and to the users because of growing access to the network of users and often to a growing set of complementary innovations. In other words, there are increasing incentives for more firms and users to adopt a platform and join the ecosystem as more users and complementors join.

(All people seem to need data processing) 7. Physical: the hardware required. Modem, WiFi router, PC, copper cables, fiber optic cables 8. Data link: responsible for moving frames – bits further decomposed for easy delivery – from one hop (node) to another 9. Network: delivering packets from source (host) to destination (host) 10. Transport: delivering message 11. Session: Length of activity. E.g. how long spent on a webpage 12. Presentation: translation, compression & encryption 13. Application: the uses derived

Features of a generative system: 14. Leverage: Wide range of uses, versatile. Allows itself to be used in diff ways. E.g. electricity. A PC can do many things that the app developers don’t have to worry about, like transferring bits – hence drawing back on the aspect of hourglass architecture reducing the need to comprehend complexity 15. Accessible: fairly easy to gain access to. Factors limiting accessibility: cost (price), laws and policies, producers’ secrecy of how it was created to reduce imitation & competition 16. Adaptable: how easily system can be built upon, user can change it to suit his needs. (Hence the narrow waist.). Adaptability is

a spectrum: an airplane has many uses (transport things, bomb ppl) but limited when compared to other things like holding doors open. Internet has very high adaptability, and PC maybe even more 17. Transferable: how easily changes can be conveyed to other users. – The PC and the Internet together possess very strong transferability: a program written in one place can be shared with, and replicated by, tens of millions of other machines in a matter of moments. Software updates on internet-connected devices 18. Ease of mastery: how easy it is to use/start using. E.g. a pencil has high ease of mastery even if extracting Da Vinci levels of leverage may take some time.

Innovation The key output of generative systems/infrastructures is innovation 19. Tidd and Bessant (2013): Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas. Growing new ideas into practical use. 20. Four areas: innovation in products, in processes, in position (the context in which products are introduced), and in paradigms (in mental models e.g. business models defining the way a business works) Position: When Lucozade was originally released in 1927 it was aimed at children & invalids in convalescence; however after its takeover by Beechams (now part of GSK) the drink has been portrayed as an energy drink, enhancing performance and going hand in hand with health & fitness. Paradigms: e.g. shift to low-cost airlines, repositioning of drinks like coffee as being premium ‘designer’ drinks Lego & Adidas are reinventing themselves by engaging their users as being builders & creators rather than passive consumers

6.2.4 The layered model applied to the study of digital infrastructures Cloud computing -

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Works on top of the internet – anyone with internet can access cloud-based services The cloud infrastructure of servers, virtualisation (a way of better using servers), data storage and sharable software is itself generative, allowing in turn the development of other useful applications Companies can make website and users can access it using the cloud (using online site builder like Wordpress, Tumblr, Medium etc.)

Social media -

Facebook has made its API public, ppl can build games on it (Zynga) and others can access, ppl can advertise

Mobile technology -

APIs are available so millions build apps...