I thought I’d trial a new feature on Read/Write Web, a weekly summary of news and views relating to Web 2.0 (Web as platform). Most of the links will be sourced from my linkblog, which btw I’m now managing with del.icio.us. So here are some highlights from this week:
1. Weblications is a must-read article by Adam Rifkin, that clearly explains the benefits of using the Web as a platform. He cites Gmail in particular, which I too cited in my Best Web 2.0 Companies of 2004 article. Choice quote: “They don’t see that the power of Weblications is that “simplicity and flexibility beat optimization and power in a world where connectivity is key”, as Adam Bosworth put it.” NB: see also The Web Way by Adam.
2. Tim Porter on morph, re content and containers. Continuing the Tom Curley discussion, Tim gets to the nub of the issue for journalists: “Adaptation, flexibility, innovation, intentional decision-making, distinctive content, recognizable point of view ñ these are the qualities of the news organizations that will flourish in the coming decade.”
See also this great post by Jay Rosen from PressThink and a Simon Waldman article on Permanence (also from PressThink).
3. Mitch Kapor converts to Web 2.0! This is big news because of course Mitch made his fortune with the first killer app for the PC – Lotus 1-2-3 – and now he’s building a smart client app called Chandler.
Choice quote from Mitch: “For 25 years, I’ve preached the superiority of the PC as an application platform, but times change and reconsideration is in order. The web browser and the infrastructure of the World Wide Web is on the cusp of bettering its aging cousin, the desktop-based graphical user interface for common PC applications.”
4. Shore Communications: 2005 Content Business Models. Quote: “All-singing, all-dancing proprietary content vendor interfaces and exclusive distribution are “out”: being able to deliver information built to “just-in-time” custom client specifications, facilitating the collection, distribution and linking of content from individuals and institutions and providing content through any and all distribution channels desired by a wallet-holder are “in” – especially those that build upon the search and aggregation tools which enable users to create content value on their desktops and in portable devices.”
5. Six Apart acquires LiveJournal. You will have heard this news already, but here are some good quotes and stats:
– Six Apart pov: “Many of our weaknesses are LiveJournal’s strengths and many of LiveJournal’s weaknesses are our strengths.”
– LJ pov: “…we’ll continue to focus on technology and they’ll help us make our stuff pretty and usable. They want LiveJournal to stay LiveJournal…”
– LJ stats show what SA is getting: Age Distribution is clustered around 15-20 year olds; 67% female users; 2.4 million “active in some way” accounts (5.6 million total).
