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Mittwoch, 19. Januar 2005 |
John Doerr at Web 2.0 Conference. Here are some notes taken from John Doerr's talk at the Web
2.0 Conference, held October 2004 in San Francisco. Thanks to IT Conversations for
recording it!
John Doerr is a
well-known venture capitalist, who apparently had the foresight to back Google in 1999
when few others did. His Web 2.0 speech had a lot of insightful nuggets and tantalizing
snippets of insight. I got the feeling he was holding a lot back, but that's to be
expected from someone who is on the board of both Google and Amazon. Still, very
worthwhile listening to. Or if you can't be bothered listening, here are my notes:
Parallel Webs
After about 10 minutes of banter and rambling, it got interesting at the 11.40 minute
mark. That's when Doerr launched into his Web 2.0 theories. He started by saying "...take
the idea of the string theory and apply it to the Web", which led to his suggestion that
there are "at least 6 parallel webs." Although this caused a round of titters in the
audience, I think everyone was on tenterhooks! So the 6 parallel webs are:
* Near Web -> the PC upfront; "innovations are around services"; examples:
Friendster, Visible Path
* Far Web -> tv web; people don't interact with it as much; e.g. Akimbo.com, which
delivers video to your tv set
* Here Web -> one that is "ubiquitously pervasive"; e.g. phones
* Weird Web -> "talk to and it talks back to you" e.g. 3D VRML where the perspective
changes; An example company is TellMe, which offers voice recognition over your phone
(e.g. directory assistance - AT&T uses it)
* B2B Web -> the plumbing behind the scenes (xml, rss, web services - eg amazon);
example: "companies building and promoting wikis".
* D2D Web -> Device Web (e.g. RFID info, remote sensors, smart dust)
He puts the 6 Webs under rubric of "EverNet". The most interesting one sounded like
the "Weird Web", which John said had "opportunity for innovation" further into the
future.
Platforms
Doerr talked a bit about platforms. The OS as a platform was followed by databases (eg
p2p), and now we have web / web services / "search in particular" ("a very powerful
platform").
He said browsers are not so much a platform, but "a great enabler". People in the
Netscape era used the browser as a thin client. He said that "most of the old web-based
services [Web 1.0] are in the process of being systemically reinvented - including the
browser." He reckons "browsers are going to come back", but dismissed the likelihood of
Google doing a browser.
Opportunities
When questioned what are the opportunities or markets open for entrepreneurs, Doerr
said there is scope for "lots of web services-based companies". In particular "really
targeted services for the explosive Hand Web" [aka the Here Web] - for example, social services and tracking
services.
"We live in time and we're assaulted by events", Doerr went on to say. He wants
filters to be developed so that we're only assaulted by "the most relevant information".
That's a "Google-sized" technical challenge, but an example of something he'd invest in.
There are also opportunities to tackle information that is not currently on the
Web - he gave the example of a video company that could aggregate all the backlist info
about videos.
But he cautioned that a lot of those types of opportunities will go to "the
larger companies" and the smaller innovators should be wary of "getting in the way" of
Google, Amazon, EBay or Yahoo!. [Read/Write Web]
4:25:25 PM 
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dmp3 CD Ripping Service Reviewed.  LiveDigitally reviews the dmp3 CD ripping service, which stands out from mail-in services like RipDigital
by also providing the option of a live technician to pick up your and
deliver your CDs, as well as help you set up iTunes and your iPod and
the like. It's cheaper to just mail the CDs in, of course, but if
you've got the cash to drop (and you live in the San Francisco area),
you can have a real nerd come to your door and walk you though digital
music step by step. And it sounds like they will rip burned CDs, too,
which is something Rip Digital will not, out of a desire to not get
sued (I don't know the legality of ripping burned CDs; I'm just saying).
dmp3 CD ripping services [LiveDigitally] [Gizmodo]
4:24:38 PM
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When in doubt, buy in bulk: 36 pounds of cellphones.
If you like buying your gadgets in bulk, then maybe you should check out police lot 0100-121391; it[base ']s kind of like a
trip to the pay-per-pound thift store. But with cellphones. And like a pay-per-pound thift store, you shouldn[base ']t really
be counting on getting the best of quality, but hey, there[base ']s a passable amount of Ericsson, LG, Motorola, Nokia,
Samsung, and Sanyo phones to work with here. Caveat emptor: [base "]Phone [sic] may have been listed as STOLEN on carrier[base ']s
records.[per thou] In other words, you could very well buy these phones and use them only to have them re-confiscated, and see
them re-auctioned at a later date. But seriously, how good would that recursion be?
P.S. - Yes, we know the lot already sold. Final total: $427.50. That[base ']s about $11.86 per pound of phone; not bad, if
you ask us. The RAZR V3, by
comparison, will set you back about $2388.06 per pound.
[Thanks, Joshua]
[Engadget]
4:23:41 PM
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Hyperlinking via Photo's. 
I wrote a feature for Net Imperative last year that proposed that an
important aspect of location based services will be real world
hyperlinks that you "click" on with your camera phone to explore the
virtual world behind it. This works in much the same way as if you click here you can read my original article.
Clicking in that instance was done with a camera phone reading a bar
code. But there are clearly other ways of tackling this. It could be
with a virtual hypertext graffito, like I wrote about yesterday. Or, if Hartmut Neven of The Information Sciences Institute is to be believed, it could be done with a fiendishly clever photo recognition service that he describes as a "visual Google".
There's an excellent interview by David at The Feature, in case you missed it.
The idea is that you take a photo of something you want more
information on (the Mona Lisa is the example they use). You send that
photo to a server, which recognises it and sends you back the
information.
While it would be fairly easy to include the top 10,000 paintings in
the world or include posters of films in a database, I'm a little
sceptical about the practicalities of scaling this up to what my vision
includes. Don't get me wrong - I'm in awe of the technology, but I want
to include everything from local restaurants to sites of historical
interest.
Unless, he can figure a way of including the public to create this
giant database, this is far too challenging a task, methinks. In other
words, if I want to write something about my Italian restaurant, I take
the photo and create the link to the content behind it. Then others can
add more content, as they like.
But even then, the scale of the thing is mind boggling. And how do I
know as an interrogator of the database that there's anything to link to?
You'd still need a physical indicator in the beginning, otherwise the
likelihood of clicking on something with a link would be minimal.
I appreciate it's very early days and Mr Neven openly admits the
problem with scale. But we do need to be asking some of these questions
if the real world hyperlinking concept can take off. Maybe, in the
short term, bar codes are a useful work around, before the visual
Google concept takes over. [The Mobile Technology Weblog]
4:20:15 PM
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iTorrent?. This may turn out to be nothing, but...
A week or so ago, an app named iFlicks 1.0 was released by Helixent Technologies (of Mitchell, SD, of all places!)
iFlicks was designed to help you organize digital movies, in much the
same manner as iTunes does for music. It's unique in that it also
integrates with Netflix to keep track of the movies you've rented. The app was available for download until late last week when Helixent mysteriously pulled the plug on downloads.
Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot provide further details as to
why we have made the decision to halt distribution of iFlicks. As soon
as we are aware of further details which we can make public, we will
post the information to this page. If you are concerned or otherwise
interested, just periodically check back to the iFlicks web site.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but might Apple and Netflix be
collaborating on offering an iTunes Music Store-like experience for
getting movies and TV content, and politely (with a wad of cash in
hand) asked Helixent to step out of the way? This guy is thinking along the same lines as me, that last week's release of the Mac Mini
is the first step in a process to supplant the VCR, DVD, and TiVo in
many an entertainment center. But perhaps Apple is thinking one step
further, using the Mac Mini with BitTorrent-like technology to speed up
access to movies and television content.
Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
This rabbit trail initiated by a MacSlash post. [Gadgetopia]
11:04:52 AM
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Wikipedia Votes for Deletion. Wikipedia:Votes for deletion:
Every couple of weeks, I go browse Wikipedia's "Votes for Deletion"
page, which is where veteran Wikipedians decide which articles stay and
which go. You wouldn't believe the things that people try to put up.
You get a lot of comments like these on an entry for a band:
A vanity article about a non-notable singing group. There's
just no evidence that this group is notable outside of its immediate
circle - no albums or even original songs are listed. [...] Delete,
definitely not notable, even among college singing groups [...] weak
keep apparently have produced an album Wolfman [...] Keep. They are
slightly more than three men in a garage, selling CD-RW discs (as one
recent VfD candidate was).
They have to get to some things quickly, as the comments on the entry for "U.S. Nuclear Test Causes Tsumani" attest:
Tin-foil hat POV BS [...] Speedily deleted as incoherent nonsense.
Or [~] here's an odd one [~] some friends of some guy from Turkey posted
a little obituary. Comments about the deletion were regretful:
A very sad memorial page for someone who sounds like a
genuinely nice man who was, unfortunately, completely non-notable. I'm
sure that his wife and friends still miss him, and I know that his
friend had the best of intentions in putting up this page for him. But
Wikipedia can't have an entry for absolutely everybody ever.
And, finally, an article apparently used by someone to write a
college paper. The title: "Class assignment for Gov 337 at Berry
College in Rome Georgia." Seriously. [Gadgetopia]
11:04:09 AM
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Detail of Super Mario Movie Poster.
The previous post on the Arcangel + Paper Rad Super Mario Movie has been updated with some background info and technical detail. Above is the poster,
compressed down to 66KB and stripped of the exhibit info and Deitch
logo. This Flash-flavored image is more Paper Rad doing Beige, while
the movie is more Beige doing Paper Rad. (Nerdy fan parsing.)
[Eyebeam reBlog]
11:03:08 AM
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Keychain Plants.  SorobanGeeks
has pictures of what they say is the latest fad in Japan: keychain
plants. Each one sells for around $10 and features real, live plants
that grow in a tiny arboretum until they become too large to be
contained, after which they can be transplanted to a larger pot. I
wanted to find a reason this was a bad idea, but I really can't[~]the
more greenery the better.
Plantes à emporter... [SorobanGeeks] [Gizmodo]
10:48:57 AM
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Hotlinking.  'Just found this item from trying to click on a blogdigger enclosure link. This is an issue I was meaning to get into with my reBlog hack,
but I planned it too soon - didnt have enough time to write everything
up - still thinking about it. Anyway, reBlog displays images on their
pages that are 'hotlinked' to the images on the servers of the
referrers. Its not that big of a deal with reBlog, but actually may in
some cases cause some problems and especially with video, which is
where this message comes from - it's a questionable practice. It's a
difficult question because sometimes hotlinking is more benifical for
both parties. BTW, I hotlinked the image above instead of the usual
method Julia Set employs which is to d/l the image to the parsons
juliaset server folder. Why? I dont know, maybe it will door-bell the
human behind the message to tell us here now more about how (s)he
feels. Via juliaset
[Eyebeam reBlog]
10:44:44 AM
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Recycled phones and "blood Tantalum". Eric Lin explains why recycling mobile phones is important
(Via Mobitopia)
There is an even deadlier reason why it is critical that old phones
don't get tossed away- people are literally dying for them. The legacy
of "blood diamonds" is well known, however the fact that a similar
arrangement exists to mine coltan (Columbium Tantalum) is lesser known.
Tantalum is a superconductor, one of the best on Earth. It is used to
coat capacitors to help them create more power from less energy so that
your cell phone no longer needs a battery larger than the phone itself.
In war torn central Africa, people are forced into modern day slavery
to mine this rare element, which is then sold to fund the wars in this
region. Recently the majority of Tantalum production has shifted to
Australia, however it is a rare element, so decreasing demand helps
decrease the likelihood that manufacturers will turn to African
supplies.
Sadly, it is very difficult to reclaim Tantalum once it has been
manufactured into an electronic component. Because of this, and these
other environmental factors, we strongly recommend that no matter how
you choose to get rid of your phone, you donate it to an organization
that will make all efforts to re-use it rather than simply "safely
disposing" of it. Luckily current economics dictate that it is more
lucrative to refurbish phones rather than safely recycle them.
[Smart Mobs]
10:40:16 AM
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Interview with founders of Dodgeball. The Future of Wireless interviews the founders of Dodgeball.
(Thanks, Hylton)
The gist of the service: Go to any restaurant, nightclub, or movie
theater lobby, and you will see large numbers of people on their
phones, talking to and text-messaging their friends. And if you happen
to overhear these conversations, you'll notice that many of them
involve spontaneous planning. A couple could be at a music club where
the first set absolutely rocked - and they want to SMS their friends to
come down for the second set.
That's the premise that dodgeball.com is built on, enabling you
to broadcast your whereabouts to friends by sending a text message
stating your location. And if you have a camera phone, the service can
send a photo of where you are as well as send you pics of nearby
friends-of-friends or pics of users within 10 blocks that have a crush
on you (we do not allow people to send photos from their cameraphone in
a moblog type fashion). If your friends are registered with
dodgeball.com and have their cell turned on, they get a message stating
where you are, and where they can join you if they wish.
[Smart Mobs]
10:38:44 AM
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Self-Destruct Button DX.  The
Self-Destruct Button DX is a handy bit of kit to have around,
especially if you access your living space through any manner of
airlock. Noted as the "luxurious edition" on the product page (only the
best for your last milliseconds in corporeal form), it's made perfectly
clear that " Installing in the reception table, and on et cetera the
foot warmer please enjoy. As for function this way as a switch
completely being not to be, please note." Noted.
Home Page [LiveDoor via TechJapan via SlashdotJP] [Gizmodo]
10:33:42 AM
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Designing for kids: Moblo and Ankio
The Associazione Design Italiana (Italian Design Association) has
recently organized a competition targeted at young designers. Among the
winning ideas were two products specifically aimed at kids, Moblo
and
Ankio
.
Moblo has been designed by three students of the
IED
(Istituto Europeo di Design) in Milan, Luca Galnarini, Cristiano ViganÚ
and Linda Pobega. The system consists of different modules, which can
be rearranged to create a playing-space for kids with different forms
and functions. Unfortunately the presentation of the product is only in
Italian, but you can get a pretty good idea, just by seeing the
pictures.
Ankio, was designed by Barbara Gilardetti a student at the
Industrial Design department of the Polytechnic Institute in Milan
. Ankio could be described as a three level faucet, where the different
basins can be used according to the kids' age (and therefore height)
and afterwards dedicated to different functions, for example just as a
storage place. Again, unfortunately the productís presentation is only
in Italian.
Read on VenerdÏ di
Repubblica
- camilla [Popgadget: Personal Tech for Women]
10:29:08 AM
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© Copyright 2005 Joerg Rheinboldt.
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