Home Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 19-25 Sep 2005

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 19-25 Sep 2005

This week: Microsoft vs Google, Web 2.0 coverage galore, Web 2.0 Conference,
The Real World: yoga blogging, Techie post of the week: Mini-Microsoft.

Microsoft vs Google

Over the last week the number of stories about Microsoft vs Google has reached a
crescendo. The best one was a story by CNET entitled Microsoft’s nightmare inches closer to reality – the nightmare incarnate being Google. The article had some great historical analysis along with a good poking around at MSN’s current strategy.

This week also produced a slew of stories about Google’s Wifi and
TV initiatives. Plus Microsoft announced a re-organization, of which the most significant 2.0 aspects were:

  1. The integration of MSN into its platform product development group, where Windows is developed.
  2. Bill Gates’ new phrase
    “server equals service”
    and it’s inherent meaning – the Web is now on an equal
    footing with Windows, at least publicly.

The problem/challenge for Microsoft is that their software (Windows) products are much stronger than their Web products. Google’s strength is of course their Web products. I’ll be writing more about this in the coming week.

Web 2.0 coverage galore

This week saw a big increase in blog posts about Web 2.0, probably because of the
upcoming Web 2.0 conference. Here are some of the highlights (I admit I haven’t had time
to read them all yet):

There are also a ton of new Web 2.0 blogs, most of which provide a respectful link to
the Father of Web 2.0 (Blogs) 🙂

Web 2.0 Conference

I’m travelling from New Zealand to Silicon Valley at the end of this week, to attend
the Web 2.0 Conference next week and network with Web folk. The TechCrunch crew is very kindly hosting me at their Atherton ranch-house, so I look forward to attending loads of BBQs! Seriously, the TechCrunch house seems to be a hub for Web 2.0 people currently and I’m honoured to be staying there.

I’mreally excited about the trip and looking at the
Web 2.0 Conference lineup
, it’s going to be a huge event. Here is the overview:

“Revving the Web” is the theme for the 2005 Web 2.0 Conference, reflecting the conviction that the web is being transformed into a new application and business platform. Web 2.0 will explore four key topics (computing and operating systems, media and entertainment, communications and mobile, and ‘fun and inspiration’) through short individual presentations, high-level interviews and lively panel discussions – all with ample time for audience participation and Q&A.

Needless to say, I’ll be providing extensive coverage of the conference at Read/WriteWeb and my ZDNet blog Web 2.0 Explorer.

The Real World: Yoga blogging

Susan Mernit tells me the 10th annual Yoga Journal conference, a yoga conference in the rockies, will be live-blogged:

“The basic plan is to use multimedia to give the 10th annual Yoga Journal
conference in EstesPark, Colorado, the kind of rich multimedia treatment a top-flight
techconference receives. This is especially exciting because this conference honors
B.K.S.Iyengar, 86 year old yogi and father of yoga in the West, who is coming to this
conference from India to teach (and to be interviewed by Annette Beining). We’ll have
photo galleries (on flickr), podcasting, a range of bloggers, interviews with famous yoga
teachers like Rodney Yee and Sean Corme, as well as exclusive footage of Mr.Iyengar and great info on the conference and related issues of wellness, balance, sprituality.”

Excellent use of blogs and 2.0 technologies like Flickr! Not to mention very healthy yoga (which is far more important).

Techie post of the week

I recently discovered a well-written and highly informative blog by a Microsoft
employee, called Mini-Microsoft. This week the anonymous blogger wrote about the Microsoft Company Meeting 2005. I browsed the whole blog earlier this week and there’s a lot of funny stuff – but also very insightful. One post discussed what Mini-Microsoft thought should happen if schedules slip, which has notably happened with Longhorn/Vista. Mini-Microsoft’s advice:

If you make a bad decision that trips up shipping key products on schedule it should be recognized as horrible failure. SteveB should throw your chair across the room and out the window – with you sitting in it. Chased with a good stream of swear words for you to listen to on your way down. “F—— slipping p—-!” That’s the leadership accountability I want to see!”

LOL, classic :-))

That’s a wrap for another week!

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

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