Will Pate's blog

Web 2.0 Conference: The Future of Entertainment

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 23:38:06 -0700

Mark Cuban, Reed Hastings, Michael Powell, Evan Williams

When will we see iTunes for Video?

Forces of control (traditional media companies) want closed, proprietary system
Even strategically aligned groups can't get access to the content
They are worried about eyeballs and time moving to the internet, want to slow it as much as possible
Broadband needs to get better, getting Netflix to deliver a DVD is still often more convenient than downloading a movie

Will the producers of good creative content be able to make money without singing with major companies?

The mechanisms already exist, need to get more people using them
Quality levels that people accept change: VHS - > DVD -> HDTV next?

Why is Korea ahead

80% of the population lives in a high rise
Deployment has to be built around geography and politics
Broadband policy is still treated like it's not a socio-economic driver

Content media companies suing customers

#1 job of a general manager is not to win a championship, its to keep their job
Need a bogeyman, if they don't hit their numbers its someone else's fault
Hiring lawyers is easier for most companies that being creative
Asking 16-18 year olds to spend $15 on a CD with maybe one good song doesn't make sense
Attempt to buy time

Quality

12 hours for a movie download is better than 24 hours for a DVD delivery
People don't listen to music much in rich environment, lots of little headphones, cars, etc
Consumers will spend a lot on big televisions, DVD players, etc

What should be done?

Communication policy in the US is based on premise of natural monopolies based on efficiency
Law builds silos between delivery methods that are now arbitrary
Government should stay out because the technology is in the innovation phase

Consumer generated media and access to remixable content

Talent is being restricted
In other countries the restrictions don't apply, or aren't followed
Don't always need base of media to remix

What's old media's place?

Consumer generated media don't replace traditional media, they extend it
They want to sell other people's work
New distribution systems and lower cost of entry for media creators

Technorati Tags: evanwilliams, markcuban, michaelpowell, reedhastings, web 2.0, web2con

Web 2.0 Conference: Launchpad

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 21:45:47 -0700

Socialtext

Socialtext is the first wiki company
Make wikis for enterprises
200+ customers
Built for collaboration, unlike email
Wiki came from open source - Wikipedia, etc
Socialtext going open open source
Starting with rich text editor for wikis, being used for other applications people are developing
Next is real-time collaborative editing of documents on thee web
Web 2.0 is made of people (cheers)

Rollyo

Been blogging and investing for 8 years
Search engine that lets people organize their searches by source
Find search engines created by others
Can also search the whole web
Engine powered by Yahoo
Allows people with domain expertise to create custom searches and get credit

Joyent

Mail, calendar, contacts, files, binders
Tagging, smart filters
XML-RPC, RSS, ICS, vCard, vCal, WebDAV support
Shared calendars

Bunchball

Doing things with people you know
Social applications currently don#039t match what people do in the real world, there are gaps
Replication of social network each time a new one launches
Social infrastructure for developers
Many applications and one social network for users

Realtravel

Travel information site that combines user-written blogs and social networking
Internet primary channel for travel
Focus on price is commoditizing travel
Google maps integration

Zimbra

Open source collaboration suite
Support standards
Compatible with legacy systems
Mobil: Blackberry, Windows Mobile, etc
Allows for developers to integrate with third party applications
Crowd very impressed with integration between applications, third party applications
Good use of AJAX
Easy to find information inside the system
Conversation grouping like Gmail
Big applause

Zvents

Local event search and web service
Running in Bay Area right now
Has 3x the events for that area of anyone else
What-where-when search
Search results as list, map & calendar
Makes it easy for bloggers to post calendars of events on their blogs

KnowNow

RSS notification service
Hosted service for enterprises
Open, anonymous access
Internet Explorer browser plugin

Orb

Desktop computer software, windows only right now
Streams your media from home to anywhere you want
Used it to control lights in someone#039s home, watching from live streaming webcam
Access filesystem on home computer from anywhere

Wink

Aggregate tags from across the web, analyze and rank relevance for search results
Users can create personal search sets

AllPeers

Development platform built on Firefox
Metadata via tags, ad hoc protocols like XML, decentralization of data and asynchronousness
Adding extensible profiles, peer-to-peer data transfer, data storage and resource replication
AllPeers MediaCentre allows import, tagging, organization, sharing of data + media files into Firefox
Web Page Sharing allows annotation, with sharing, of web pages
Third party apps coming soon

Flock

Building tools to help people do the things they do already, better and faster
Dozen folks in a garage in Palo Alto
Built on open source - Firefox browser
Alpha release coming in a few weeks, beta in a few months
Focusing right now on favorites and history, integrating blogging features
Making subscribing to feeds, favorites the same
Reading RSS in the browser
Blogging topbar - new interface element
Blog editor with rich text editing
Flickr topbar browser in blog editor

PubSub

Structured blogging - structuring blog posts so that machines can read and aggregate similar content (ex. movie reviews)

Technorati Tags: allpeers, bunchball, flock, joyent, knownow, orb, pubsub, realtravel, rollyo, socialtext, web 2.0, web2con, wink, zimbra, zvents

More San Francisco Web Digit X Events

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 21:38:41 -0700

So the conversation continues around the definition of Web 2.0. There's been some backlash from the web geek community about the high price of the Web 2.0 conference, so there are already two concurrent un-conferences

My buddy (and gracious host while I'm in San Francisco) Chris Heuer is throwing a Web 2.1 BrainJam, based on the model of Bar Camp - which rocked. Hopefully some cool people will show up and demo some neat stuff, make informal presentations or spark interesting conversations. Oh Chris, tempting me to skip a session or two of the conference I'm supposed to be in town for!

Plucky Merlin Mann is throwing a Web 1.0 event where people come and pitch their 1999 era business plans.
Mine: an entirely Flash-based travel magazine running on an Oracle database that pays writers nothing and has large ad accounts with Fortune 500 companies as the only revenue stream. Somehow, we need to get local delivery of goods factored in there too. Awareness will be built on TV ads during sweeps week and the Superbowl, celebrity endorsements, some full airplane branding paintjobs, a fleet of H2's, glitzy parties in world class cities (Tokyo, Paris, London, New York, LA) and ads beamed by laser onto the moon. We'll steer it with a brand name CEO with no relevant industry experience, at the end of his career and looking to slack off before he retires. We'll go public six months after the first record-breaking round of VC funding. (No resemblance to any failed dot bomb company implied, accidentally or otherwise)

Technorati Tags: brainjam, chrisheuer, merlinmann, sanfrancisco, web1.0, web2.1

Web 2.0 Conference: The Future of Entertainment

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 20:25:03 -0700

Mark Cuban, Reed Hastings, Michael Powell, Evan Williams

When will we see iTunes for Video?

Forces of control (traditional media companies) want closed, proprietary system
Even strategically aligned groups can't get access to the content
They are worried about eyeballs and time moving to the internet, want to slow it as much as possible
Broadband needs to get better, getting Netflix to deliver a DVD is still often more convenient than downloading a movie

Will the producers of good creative content be able to make money without singing with major companies?

The mechanisms already exist, need to get more people using them
Quality levels that people accept change: VHS - > DVD -> HDTV next?

Why is Korea ahead

80% of the population lives in a high rise
Deployment has to be built around geography and politics
Broadband policy is still treated like it's not a socio-economic driver

Content media companies suing customers

#1 job of a general manager is not to win a championship, its to keep their job
Need a bogeyman, if they don't hit their numbers its someone else's fault
Hiring lawyers is easier for most companies that being creative
Asking 16-18 year olds to spend $15 on a CD with maybe one good song doesn't make sense
Attempt to buy time

Quality

12 hours for a movie download is better than 24 hours for a DVD delivery
People don't listen to music much in rich environment, lots of little headphones, cars, etc
Consumers will spend a lot on big televisions, DVD players, etc

What should be done?

Communication policy in the US is based on premise of natural monopolies based on efficiency
Law builds silos between delivery methods that are now arbitrary
Government should stay out because the technology is in the innovation phase

Consumer generated media and access to remixable content

Talent is being restricted
In other countries the restrictions don't apply, or aren't followed
Don't always need base of media to remix

What's old media's place?

Consumer generated media don't replace traditional media, they extend it
They want to sell other people's work
New distribution systems and lower cost of entry for media creators

Technorati Tags: evanwilliams, markcuban, michaelpowell, reedhastings, web 2.0, web2con

Fun With APIs

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 13:11:48 -0700

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are an important pillar of Web 2.0. An API is a defined list of ways that one piece of software (or web service - they are one in the same) can interact with another. Confused? Think of APIs like super diplomats - they use defined protocols to allow separate systems to work together to do something new. If only international geopolitics was that simple, or effective.

For instance, Housingmaps pulls housing listings from Craigslist and dynamically puts them on top of a Google Map - it does this by using both of their APIs. Neato, huh?

So how do you get into this exciting world of APIs?

Let's say you're a developer, looking for a weekend project or something to make you name with. Maybe you even know a company like Google or Yahoo that you want to work for, and they have an API (both do). What should you do? Why make something cool with their API! The best way to get their attention is to show them you've got "mad skills son", as the kids say. Some even have contests where you enter your work for prizes and notoriety. Check out Chris Campbell's API roundup and the API wiki page to get started. The del.icio.us API tag will keep you chock full of resources and examples to learn from.

Or maybe you're a businessman or investor looking to find your next cool web service to develop that will change the world. Problem is, all your ideas involve the suicidal premise of competing with Ebay or some other benevolent goliath. Or they mean you would need to combine capabilities of two or more of them. Don't compete, build on top of them and take advantage of their existing user base and brand reach. Make their service better, if it's that great they may make you an offer for it.

If you own or work at a web service company and you dont' have an API yet, get on it pronto. APIs allow people to build things on top of your service that make it more valuable to your customers. You can't buy enough developers to dream up and make all the cool things your web service could do, even Google and Yahoo with their large numbers have figured that out. Tim O'Reilly has a great guide to rolling out an open API.

Technorati Tags: api, business, craigslist, ebay, google, internet, raincitystudios, web 2.0, yahoo

Fred Wilson: A VC That Bets on Web 2.0

Tue, 05 Jul 2005 23:01:31 -0700

One of my favorite venture capital bloggers, Fred Wilson, was featured in Business 2.0 recently. I've read Fred since he started blogging and the guy is quite sharp. He talked about his investment thesis, and where the technology industry is heading - Web services (aka Web 2.0) by his estimation.

"So what's the next wave? The next wave is what we're calling applied technology. The Internet is a computing platform built on top of core technology. Applied technology is what gets built on top of that: It's Web services."

Wilson recognizes that the web is capturing an increasing amount of consumers' attention, and bets that is going to grow.

"The Web is going to capture an increasing share of people's attention, and billions of dollars are going to flow in," Wilson says. "What Web 2.0 is about is harnessing those dollars in highly leverageable ways." Pointing to Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO) as examples, he says, "The potential profitability here is simply amazing."

Technorati Tags: fredwilson, venturecapital, web 2.0

Microformats

Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:16:48 -0700

Some really smart web people have recently launched a new site called Microformats.org. It has a group blog (much like What's Web 2.0?), a gorgeous design thanks to Dan Cederholm, some of the smartest geeks on the web as contributors, a wiki for collaborative documentation, a code repository, and a suite of discussion resources.

If you're unfamiliar with what a microformats are, the site has a good description:

Designed for humans first and machines second, microformats are a set of simple, open data formats built upon existing and widely adopted standards. Instead of throwing away what works today, microformats intend to solve simpler problems first by adapting to current behaviors and usage patterns (e.g. XHTML, blogging).

If you're not a geek, this may not make a lot of sense or seem very important. But microformats are important because they involve all the same sorts of principles that make up Web 2.0 and are also directly related to it.

For instance: if every web publishing tool wrapped reviews of books with certain kind of information explaining that they were, people could build new tools that aggregate and provide information based on all the book reviews on the web. Imagine Amazon reviews pulled in and sorted from all over the internet. Or imagine being able to easily download any event on a website to your own calendar. Microformats open up opportunity for publicly displayed information to get into the places where it can do the most good for end users.

So if you're interested in Web 2.0 or microformats, subscribe to their RSS feed.

Technorati Tags: microformats, web 2.0

WebVisions

Wed, 15 Jun 2005 14:14:55 -0700

If you're looking for a good web geek conference to go to on the west coast in July, check out WebVisions in Portland. I can't make it myself, but you should check it out.

The theme is how web services are integrating with digital devices like iPods, PDAs and cell phones sounds cool. The keynote will be delivered by Stewart Butterfield of Flickr. Peter Merholz of Adaptive Path and Cameron Moll will be speaking too.

It seems like we're further along in the discussion about making data easy to get in and out of sites than in and out of devices. Don't discount devices though, look how iPods have driven Apple's iTunes store to be the largest retailer of music online.

Technorati Tags: portland, webvisions, web2.0

Web Designers Talk Web 2.0

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:53:29 -0700

First there was Jason Kottke's Design for Web 2.0, where he asked his readers 15 questions and let them answer.

Then Richard MacManus and Joshua Porter wrote Web 2.0 for Desingers, summarizing six trends that are characterizing the new kind of challenges designers face.

Last week D. Keith Robinson wrote about Web 2.0 and linked back to us. A really good discussion ensued with some other web designers and Keith did a great job explaining why designers need to talk about Web 2.0 more - something we agree on.

If you have other examples of designers talking about Web 2.0, please feel free to add them in the comments.
Technorati Tags: webdesign, design, web2.0

Web 2.0 Conference Call Out

Mon, 13 Jun 2005 10:37:28 -0700

John Battelle is asking for input on the second Web 2.0 conference this year. John is chairing for the second year in a row and said that the input he got last year when asked the same was great.

...this year it's all about showing what can be done on that platform, and uncovering the innovative companies, ideas, and models from which all of us can learn. I'm (loosley) focusing on three areas that are truly taking off in 2005: Media & Entertainment, Communications (ie, the Web goes mobile and swallows telecom along the way), and the Web as OS.

Sounds like the program is going to go from theory to example - excellent. This is one of the exciting things about working on the web for geeks - within just one year between conferences there will be a decent number of neat new toys already.

If you have yourself or have seen any of the following, get in touch with John Battelle:

A new product or company that you want to introduce
Examples of cool things you have seen that will change how we use or understand the web
Jaw dropping user interfaces hacks that have a Web 2.0 application
A workshop that you would like to see or do

Oh boy, this is going to be a web geek's playground.
Technorati Tags: web2.0

Kudos To Richard MacManus

Wed, 08 Jun 2005 14:33:23 -0700

No Web 2.0 site would be complete without a tip of the hat to Richard MacManus who has done an amazing job of carrying the Web 2.0 torch. His coverage has made the Read/Write Web a central resource for Web 2.0 information to many people, myself included.

Richard obviously knows his stuff and is offering his services for hire in the areas of Web 2.0 and RSS. If you are looking for consulting in those areas, you should get in touch with him.

How Do We Define Web 2.0?

Mon, 06 Jun 2005 12:25:53 -0700

One of the reasons this site started was the difficulty in defining exactly what Web 2.0 is. Is it a series of technologies, methodologies or best practices? We could use your help in defining what Web 2.0 is.

The people who started this site agree that for it to make sense to regular folks, businesspeople and investors it needs to be explained in terms that properly describe how it works and why it matters. If you disagree and believe that it should remain the domain of the technorati, well we'll just have to respectfully disagree on that.

In true Web 2.0 fashion, the original definition started on Wikipedia, the collaborative online encyclopedia.

"Web 2.0 defines a newer incarnation of the World Wide Web typified by the transition from the typical website hosting HTML/XHTML pages, to a platform that provides a point of presence (sometimes known as a Web portal), from which any of the following interactions may occur:

1. Syndication of content using XML based formats such as RSS, RDF, Atom, and others

2. Aggregation of content published using XML based formats such as RSS, RDF, Atom, and others

3. Publishing of invocation endpoints for XML based Web services (these may be of the SOAP/WSDL/WS-* variety of RESTian XML-RPC)

4. Conventional publishing of HTML/XHTML documents

5. Exposure of WebDAV based resources and collections"

The definition on Wikipedia has since changed:

Technical:

CSS and semantically valid XHTML markup
Un-obtrusive AJAX Techniques
Syndication of data in RSS/ATOM
Aggregation of RSS/ATOM data
Clean and meaningful URLS
Support posting to a weblog
RESTian (preferred) or XML Webservice APIs
Some social networking aspects (share your data with friends, etc)

General:

The site should not act as a "walled garden" - it should be easy to get data in and out of the system.
Users should own their own data on the site
Purely web based - most succesful web 2.0 sites can be used almost entirely through the browser

Roland Tanglao has his own definition, which is less technical than either of the Wikipedia definitions.

Clean URLs (ampersands, questions marks, etc. are not needed in the URLs of any "page" on any website)
Standards based code (CSS, HTML, XHTML etc). This enables machine processing of the website as well as accessibility (although of course accessibility doesn't come automatically from using standards based code!)
Syndication using RSS, Atom or any other standard syndication format
Aggregation using RSS, Atom or any other open standard syndication format
Clean Interfaces and APIs to get data in and out of the site
Dynamic
Easy to update without any technical knowledge of CSS, HTML, etc.

While writing up our marketing documentation for Raincity Studios we looked at all three of those definitions and developed our own based on it. We tried really hard to put it in terms that made sense to people who are not web geeks.

Web 2.0 is a series of best practices that create value greater than the sum of its parts. Web 2.0 is a distributed platform. Companies are using that platform to build powerful web services and ordinary people are using it to share and remix media.

Dynamic publishing without having to know HTML
Easy subscription to content updates for users
Notify other sites of updates
Pull in content from other sources
Plug in other powerful web services
Present intuitive interfaces
Clean URLs
Help search engines understand your content
Make design changes easier

So how would you define Web 2.0? Clearly we're just getting started.
Technorati Tags: wikipedia, web 2.0