Web-Tones

Web 2.0 & Microsoft

Link: � Will Web 2.0 ultimately kill Windows? | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com. Google annouces that it has bought Jotspot (a business wiki company) today and it continues to put together the pieces of its "Google Office" strategy while a Microsoft executive implies that Google is a "one trick pony." My retort is "yeah but that is a pretty damn good horse!"

Web 2.0 will not provide that kind of "deep integration" that a "fat client" can provide any time soon, but for a huge percentage of users something like"Google Office" will work just fine, thank you very much! I am mo Microsfot hater, they have helped revolutionize computing as we know it, but this "one trick pony" nonsense is pure hubris, and the sound of someone desperately trying to hold on to the past.

Net Neutrality: $$ & The Masses

Link: Lawrence Lessig. The Net Neutrality wars continue to rage & this time the combination of big money (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft) and the voice of the masses (Searls, Lessig et. al) will ultimately win. Why? Well having some folks with big money on your side doesn't hurt, BUT it is the combination of themes/rationales that will ultimately prevail.

Net Neutrality is good for business (both large & small) & paying "premium tolls" appear to be good only for the Telcos, the cable companies, and the folks that shill for them. Hard to imagine that we are going to "kill the goose" that will enable the next Google or eBay to emerge.

There are hundreds of millions yet to be spent trying to influences Congress into allowing the "gatekeepers" to control what they "own." But there are powerful forces aligning on the other side as well, and at the end of the day there is only one thing that politicians want more than $$--getting elected.

We are "taking it to the street"--for those of you old enough to remember the Doobie Brothers.

"Free Culture" But Not as In "Free Beer"

Link: == Free Culture ==. Lessig should be required reading in IP law classes but unfortunately, I suspect, many (if not most) law students get through all their IP classes without ever hearing his name. Why? Because law schools are too busy teaching the basic elements of this or that test to focus on something as "mundane" as real education. And what might that be? Well, at least for starters, questioning why things are the way they are and who might be asserting a "controlling influence" on that reality.

I suspect that this will all change and we head into the IP wars that are certain to follow the mega deals such as Google/YouTube. The "good professor" is likely to get his due. You might agree with him or disagree, but he is a force that will have to be reckoned with! For those unfamiliar with his work check out Creative Commons or his blog here.

Google & YouTube

Link: Techcrunch � Blog Archive � Google Has Acquired YouTube. What is the import from Google buying YouTube? Who knows, but if it was a moronic move (as per Mark Cuban) then Google must have been the smartest moron in the room, since Microsoft & others were suitors as well. Microsoft does not have a history of "moronic acquisitions"..they are usually buying "market share" in a profitable, or soon to be profitable, space & they use acquisition as a better way to play in "internet time." We don't have as much history with Google acquisitions, BUT is clear that video will be king & apparently Google thought that any IP lawsuits that might follow were something it would need to confront sooner or later since it is clear that it was not going to be shut out of this "sandbox."

Google & Vertical Search

Link: Techcrunch ? Blog Archive ? Google Presents Code Search. The "boys" from Google are not about to concede the vertical search space anytime soon. Here they have come out with a competitive offering to Krugle , a specialized search engine for source code. How much longer before Google enters the vertical search space for health care? How much longer before Lexis & Westlaw are in its sights?

This is how natural monopolies evolve...just good 'ole fashioned rationality at work!

Cheap Storage

Link: Replacing my home backup server with Amazon's S3 (by Jeremy Zawodny). Here is why the "cheap storage" math makes sense. Once you grok it you will be tempted to make the move. Now since we are ALL (more or less) procastinators by nature, we won't make this move immediately...but soon enough (perhaps after our laptops have crashed for the nth time) we will make the move. Soon after, we will start wondering why not get rid of the server as well? Why buy it when you rent it cheaper?

The opportunities today, both business and personal, have everthing to do with how you use technology--so "muck it with it less" and "start using it more!" Web 2.0 is coming to a theatre near you....

The Web as OS Meme

Link: ResourceShelf � The Word “Mashup” Key to Newly Registered Google Domain Names. Google is busy buying domain names that include "search & mashup". While this could be a "head fake" or just planning for a "somewhat distant future", I seriously doubt it. The "Web as OS meme" has been gathering traction ever since O'Reilly coined the Web 2.0 moniker and the hype machine went into a "full court press"--however, while what we have seen to date could be called "interesting" (some might say "cute"), we have yet to see significant signs of a "platform" that is maturing. It is my sense that this is all about to change!

YouTube Is Everywhere

Link: YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.. Seems like YouTube is everywhere these days. About a year ago (more or less) I started seeing YouTube videos on blog posts, one every now and then. These days YouTube has a ubiquitous prescence, & as broadband gets better, faster, cheaper video will once again be King. This does not portend well for the future of TV, sure it is not going to disappear, but its glory days are over. Welcome to the brave new world of Internet TV...a million channels and maybe, just maybe, there might be something on!