Friday, February 13, 2004

George Colony: Googlescape -- Are we headed for Bubble II? [Scripting News] I don't know how to value an IPO, but I am very suspicious of a writer who claims that the Web as we know it will soon be overtaken by structured and active content based on Web services. This fantasy that knowledge and human communication are ripe for formalization has been going on at least since Leibniz, and there is no evidence that we are any closer to it than we were in the 17th century. Sure, each new new tool for human expression and communication facilitates formalization in some areas of science, technology, and business ready for it. But it also triggers a huge explosion of ideas, styles, and communities that overwhelms any fantasies of containment or rationalization. Formalization requires stable agreements as to the structure and meaning of information and processes in an area of human activity, but most areas of activity emerge or change too quickly for any such agreements. 11:25:36 AM