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You want disruptive? Here’s disruptive…

You want disruptive? Here’s disruptive…

In today’s ZDNet column, I review Internet TV start-up Brightcove:

“Brightcove was presented at the Web 2.0 Conference and is what I would class as a disruptive Web 2.0 start-up – one to keep an eye on. Whether or not they meet their ambitious aim of becoming a Google-scale Internet TV business, will play out over time. One thing’s for sure…

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 17-23 Oct 2005

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 17-23 Oct 2005

This week: Anti-Web 2.0, Bubble Meme Map, Flock, Web Libraries, Techie Post of the Week – Ben Barren on Architecture Astronauts

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Anti-Web 2.0

This was the week when the Web 2.0 Naysayers reached a crescendo of cynicism
and even bile. Some of the criticism about Web 2.0 is right on the mark, don’t get me
wrong. For example there are…

Mainstreaming of Web 2.0

Mainstreaming of Web 2.0

While doing some research for a work project I’m doing currently, I came across
this illuminating PEW report from January 2005, called Internet Evolution: A
decade of adoption: How the internet has woven itself into American life. The
following extract is from the introduction, entitled ‘Internet: The Mainstreaming of
Online Life’. Here it is, with…

Web 2.0 Naysaying reaches an all-time high (or is it low)

Web 2.0 Naysaying reaches an all-time high (or is it low)

Looks like the Web 2.0 Naysayers are starting to drown out those of us who’ve been preaching the 2.0 Gospel.

Joel on Software, who has a lot of influence in the programming world, comes down hard with his post entitled Architecture Astronauts Are Back:

“The term Web 2.0 particularly bugs me. It’s not a real concept. It has no meaning. It’s a big…

Rethinking Email

Rethinking Email

Gmail Engineer Paul Buchheit has a lovely post in which he explains why he created Gmail for Google. He begins by noting that email has just turned 34 – only one or two months younger than me as it happens. He goes on to say that Gmail gave him “the opportunity to change email”. This description is fantastic:

“We didn’t want to simply bolt new…

How Memeorandum tracks the mood of news

How Memeorandum tracks the mood of news

Gabe Rivera’s memeorandum got a great write-up in Wired News today. Also TechCrunch reported that memeorandum has a new feature, a news widget that bloggers can include on their site. As I was looking at tech.memeorandum again this morning (as I do multiple times a day), it struck me that the Flock coverage is a perfect example of how memeorandum…

Will mainstream people flock to Flock?

Will mainstream people flock to Flock?

By now most of you know that Flock, a trendy new Mozilla-based “social web browser”, has gone live. Because it’s said to be a quintessential Web 2.0 application, I feel duty-bound to try it out. So I’ve downloaded it and will give it a go as my main browser for a while. I won’t however jump to conclusions and give you a half-baked review right now…

Publishers sue Google – more evidence of 20th Century Media Delusion

Publishers sue Google – more evidence of 20th Century Media Delusion

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has filed a lawsuit against Google “over its plans to digitally copy and distribute copyrighted works without permission of the copyright owners”. I liked how John Battelle summed it up:

“I really don’t get this. I have been both a publisher and an author, and I have to tell you, these guys sue for…

The Great Disruptive Start-Ups Search

The Great Disruptive Start-Ups Search

In my ZDNet blog, Web 2.0 Explorer, I’ve launched an Indiana Jones-like quest to find the Great Disruptive Web 2.0 Start-Ups of our era. I’m on the hunt for two separate types of disruptive start-ups:

1) disruptive technologies that could change the Web – like Google did.
2) non-geek services built using Web 2.0 technologies. These will be…

I am Jessica Alba

I am Jessica Alba

Ben Barren’s posts just keep getting better and better. Today he ponders the question: What Connects Richard MacManus + Jessica Alba?. He writes:

“we may need a “Post-Valley Intervention” – Since The Father of Web 2.0 has left The Valley he has gone stir crazy. He was last seen walking around the set of Lord of the Rings – Prequel to the Fifth…

There is no cult of the amateur, Mr Carr

There is no cult of the amateur, Mr Carr

Nicholas Carr, a real
journalist, has a blog post that argues that Web
2.0 is amoral. That’s a relatively uninteresting academic argument though.
Of more practical import, is his rage against the “cult of the amateur”.
But I find it curious that he bases his argument against amateurs on a
completely false statement:
“The promoters of…

Web 2.0 Worm Pandemic Threatens Internet

Web 2.0 Worm Pandemic Threatens Internet

Today The Register’s Andrew Orlowski gleefully reported the existence of the first “Web 2.0 worm”. Wrote our man in San Francisco: “It’s been a rough weekend for Tomorrow’s People. A JavaScript exploit that has been called the first “Web 2.0 worm” knocked out MySpace.com – and the $500m-valued website, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News…

Web 2.0 companies eclipsing 1.0 companies

Web 2.0 companies eclipsing 1.0 companies

Microsoft Emerging Business Team member Don Dodge has another thought-provoking post on Internet business. Don notes how so many innovative companies who were market leaders in the 90’s have been overtaken by the new era of “fast followers”. Here’s his list of examples:

* AltaVista -> Google
* Napster -> iTunes
* VisiCalc -> Lotus 123 -> Excel…

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 10-16 Oct 2005

Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 10-16 Oct 2005

This week: Geeks being creative, Yahoo! RSS research, Reading Lists, Making
money with Mash-Ups, Techie Post of the Week – Dave Winer on Nerd TV

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Geeks being creative

I’m now back in my home of New Zealand, after spending two fantastic weeks in Silicon
Valley. As I look back on my time there, and look forward to going back, I’m…

See you soon Silicon Valley!

See you soon Silicon Valley!

This’ll be my last post from Silicon Valley for a while. I’ve been here for two full
weeks and I’ve had a fantastic time! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mike Arrington for letting me stay at his house and
making me feel so welcome – thanks Mike! It’s been a hub of Web 2.0
activity in the house over the past two weeks. Fred
Oliveira’s been here…

More Web 2.0 Workgroup members

More Web 2.0 Workgroup members

As TechCrunch reported, two more resources have been added to our nascent Web 2.0 Workgroup. Mike wrote:
“Podtech.net is a very popular podcast site hosted by John Furrier that is redefining corporate press practices. Recently, for instance, Yahoo gave Podtech an exclusive pre-announcement right to discuss their podcasting service last…

craigslists gets heavy with Oodle

craigslists gets heavy with Oodle

Uber classifieds site craiglist has requested that Oodle, a classifieds ‘meta’ search engine, refrain from scraping its content. This has the potential to be the first high-profile case of a mash-up site being slapped for taking another site’s content.

In a recent ZDNet post, I wrote that the business models for Web 2.0 mash-ups are beginning…

Web 2.0 Cultural Homogeneity and Class Systems

Web 2.0 Cultural Homogeneity and Class Systems

Whether you love or hate the Web 2.0 meme, you have to admit it’s gained a lot of traction in both tech and business circles. Now we’re beginning to see cultural and sociological posts about Web 2.0, although Danah Boyd and Barb Dybwad have both written great posts on similar themes in the past.

Anil Dash wrote that the Web 2.0 conference last…

Read/WriteWeb mashed up

Read/WriteWeb mashed up

This is the best thing I’ve written in ages… thanks to Saurier Duval for doing a mash-up of my blog.

Some choice extracts:

“The stats they released today indicate theyíre well on their way to explain them in the Web as a serviceí concept (which is by no means a new regular feature of Web services ìpayloadsî ñ digital objects that are a…

Microserfs

Microserfs

For the record, I have actually read Microserfs, by Douglas Coupland. Indeed just over a year ago I wrote on my blog that Microserfs is my favourite Douglas Coupland book.
I wasn’t in the room when Dave Winer talked to the others about it, leading him to write this:”I’m over at the Web 2.0 Workgroup at Mike Arrington’s, and if you can believe this…