The Hovercraft, SBI and Me

SBI is the lift engine that powers my craft. And I don't mean that "powered by..." is stamped on the hull of my hovercraft (although I might do something about that…). And while hovercrafting is a passion, I'm probably craftier at communicating passion than installing a lift engine :)

SBI is absolutely the engine that powers this site, conceptually and technologically.

The Geek Stuff in Me

The American Israeli in Me

The Web Writer in Me


So I always wanted to develop my own website beyond the little flash presentation I produced. By now I have enough contacts in my local area so that projects keep coming my way. I wanted a site I could have fun with, a project that doesn't feel like work, something hoveringly quirky, but grounded in reality.

It was all up in the air really. Ideas would go as fast as they'd come, and I'd be busy doing 1001 other things, and well you know us "creative" types (read: ADD :).

So I decided to be practical, and leave the creative planning to later (SBI helps there too). The point here is to show that one personal voice can make a HUGE difference on the web. So I want the site to get noticed. Wise geek that I am, I know about a special sub-species of geek called SEOers (read: Search Engine Optimizers). These guys know all about algorithms and key words and Google codes. I'm just not into that stuff, that's why I don't write code. But I still needed to work the engines, and knew a little something about content being king and key words and link rankings. I wasn't quite sure what went where though, and needed some help. I'm just the concept / content guy. I need some Scotty type (preferably with the accent) to get me to warp 5 and I don't care HOW much Dilithium crystals are missing or what's wrong with the antimatter drive. I just need those Klingons out of the way thank you very much. Did I mention I've worked with plenty of geeks ?

But I digress. SBI is the application platform that does all my web hosting and keyword / content optimizing, among other things. It's not magic, just good software that gives us laypeople access to the inner workings of e-business. SBI isn't a "Presto" kind of deal either – it takes time and there's a learning curve, but anybody can learn to pilot the system with enough effort. And it's one hell of a ride.

That's as techie as I'm going to get - suffice it to say that it works.

On the concept side, SBI was a great fit too. I do like to think I know a little something about the web, but it's hard to keep track of developments at the rate the digital economy is developing. A simple HTML site with the right content can still get higher search engine rankings than all those glitzy database driven sites? Cool. I've read about Web 2.0, that it's why sites like Google and Myspace took off. What I didn't realize was what Web 2.0 would mean for smaller, more modest sites. I didn't realize that the potential for self expression on the web would continue to be vast for quite a while.

And that's how I rediscovered the hovercraft. See I wanted a theme with a taste of the future in it, something just around the corner. I thought of Marty Mcfly's hoverboard from Back To The Future. How hard could it be to come up with one of those? So how come we're not seeing kids hovering around on boards? It's been 20 years or so, what are they waiting for? And then I realized they HAVE to be hovering around, since I know I've seen hovercrafts in movies. So I started researching. Lots of hovercraft related information, but very little up to date. I guess it's a traditionally niche market. Guess what – that's EXACTLY the kind of market SBI was designed to deal with.

Besides, I'm in love with the whole concept of hovercrafting. It's the next best thing to an actual flying car, but you're never too far off the ground. Kids can build simple models as science fair projects, maybe even learn some physics and basic engineering in the process. And the hardcore aficionados build amazing vehicles in the garage. Sure, some hovercraft was voted favorite millionaire toy, but you can spend twenty bucks on plans and build a working hovercraft in your back yard. It's like you're on the Jetsons, and it's the build-a-hovercraft episode :)

If you're thinking I have an ulterior motive here, you're right. I have a wishlist *this* big:

1. First and foremost, I'd like to get a Land Speeder so I can join the rebel alliance
2. But I'll settle for a REAL hoverboard that runs on magnetic energy and skims water too
3. OK FINE, how about a hovercraft then? Yeah, I think I'll get me a hovercraft. After all, that's why I started the site in the first place. And for the time being - I actually got my first hovercraft ride on a Hov Pod ! Read about it here.

I'll be updating this section as the site develops, so come back soon.

And if you actually read all the way down here – thanks !

Ohad

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