From a recent lecture, The Brief and Glorious Life of Web 2.0, and what comes next:
Okay, “webs” are not “platforms.” I know you’re used to that idea after five years, but consider taking the word “web” out, and using the newer sexy term, “cloud.” “The cloud as platform.” That is insanely great. Right? You can’t build a “platform” on a “cloud!” That is a wildly mixed metaphor! A cloud is insubstantial, while a platform is a solid foundation! The platform falls through the cloud and is smashed to earth like a plummeting stock price!
There’s an interesting book by John Zittrain, which can be read from free at the Yale Press site. (It’s incidentally a nicely designed site.) I started reading it today, and I’m looking forward to purchasing a hard copy, which is also nicely packaged.
The author’s premise for the book is quite simple- it asks what the future of Internet will look like. This seems not to be a static prediction, though, but a cautious look at how we have computed on the web, the technologies that will transform the web, and the problems ahead if the web is not reformed :
The PC and Internet were the engines of those innovations, and if they can be saved, they will offer more. As time passes, the brand names on each side will change. But the core battle will remain. It will be fought through information appliances and Web 2.0 platforms like today’s Facebook apps and Google Maps mash-ups. These are not just products but also services, watched and updated according to the constant dictates of their makers and those who can pressure them.
