Continuing with some of the highlights of the Web 2.0 Summit:
Googles Marissa Mayer discussed Ajax use at Google:
She notes that the key reason they created Gmail in Ajax was speed. This is a theme in Google Maps too. In terms of Google Videos, she says how instant something is and giving instant gratification is key – they used to make users wait 24-48 hours to see their videos after uploading to GVideo.
She asks what does speed mean for future apps? She has a slide that shows browser support – FF2 and IE7. Marissa says we’ll see built-in support for client side languages (e.g. javascript). She says also that people will spend more time online, due to increase in broadband etc – and this is good for Google. Another point she makes is that mobile hardware will improve a lot.
In conclusion, she says speed is very important for web 2.0 and the future of the Web.
Dan Farber wrote about Don Tapscott, who previewed some the highlights from his forthcoming book, Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything.
He views the next phase of the Web as about mass collaboration and harnessing the power of self organization. It will have a profound change in way companies innovate, orchestrate to create value and compete in marketplace, he said. With billions of smart devices on the Net and billions of people on it, for those users it will be like programming a giant computer. Social networking is becoming the new mode of production, Tapscott said. He gave an example of Procter & Gamble, which has developed a productive ecosystem of external collaborators that he said creates value more effectively than a hierarchically organized business.
One of the highlights on the Web 2.0 Summit was the Launchpad, where entrepreneurs will debut their companies or launch new products. The 13 companies: 3B, Adify, InTheChair, Instructables, oDesk, Omnidrive, Klostu, Sharpcast, Turn, Sphere, Stikkit, Timebridge and Venyo. Read/Write Web and TechCrunch have profiles on these companies.
InfoWorld summarised it well:
Participants here seemed to accept that theres lots of competition and commoditization out there, and that if you build something, it had better deliver real value to users at a low price.
Even Google seems to have gotten this religion, with CEO Eric Schmidt, for example, warning the collected entrepreneurs to never trap an end-users data, let them move it around if they want were even going to do this with search data; it will keep us honest.
And nobody blinked when Chinese Internet kingpin Jack Ma said his company planned to launch a Web-based enterprise software suite. Why wouldnt he, if he has the developers, the capital, and the local market knowledge?
Everybody here wants to become a platform, to build out their connection with customers into something broader and deeper. “If you want to be a survivor, you have to go from being a killer app to a killer platform,” said Salesforce.coms Marc Benioff.
So who will the winners be?
Whos the dog thats really wagging the long tail? asked conference organizer Tim OReilly in the best mixing of metaphors at this years event. Hed apparently forgotten the old Web 1.0 saying on the Internet, no one knows youre a dog!
Some more reports:
– Marc Orchant
– News.coms coverage
– InfoWorlds reports
– Between the Lines has extensive reports on the sessions
– GigaOms Best and Worst
On a different note, Kevin Maney of USA Today found little new at Web 2.0. This is what he wrote after the first day: Nobody has anything new to say, at least not when it comes to Big Ideas. So far, in the on-stage interviews and dozens of private conversations, I have not heard one idea that wasn’t around at last year’s Web 2.0. Niche social networking, wisdom of crowds, user-generated content, online applications, yada yada yada. To be generous, maybe these are better versions of the same old thing. Well, maybe.
Tomorrow: Mobile 2.0 Conference
Continue reading TECH TALK: Two 2.0 Events: Web 2.0 Highlights (Part 2)
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