I am scoreboarding (in fun) Jake over at Thoughts of Net.Developer by posting that I was fortunate enough to go to the Web 2.0 conference in New York City yesterday.
The world wide web has changed the way we do things, from buying books to finding old friends. Web 2.0 is the name for the next step in the evolution of that change.
Today, we are doing work on the web that we would have done with a desk top application 5 years ago. Google documents is a example of this. But it goes beyond that in that you may have half a dozen applications on the web that work together but that are distinct applications. That's an over-simplification of what is called "cloud computing" and is a part of the larger 2.0 movement.
I'm kidding about getting one up on Jake because his company Drop.io, is a case in point as an example of both Web 2.0 and cloud computing. Drop.io is a way to share files online and move them around if and when you want. For instance, you may have an application to edit your photos online but you still need a place to store them a while. Today, desktop applications like Photoshop and a hard drive need never be used. I used Drop.io last night and it worked perfectly. http://drop.io/
The Web 2.0 movement reminds me of PC's before they found a center in Microsoft's Windows and the web itself at the advent of the Navigator browser. There will be a few that will emerge as leaders, and like other industries they will consolidate as they grow, but for investors this is the sector to watch.
Other companies of interest at the show:
Quickbase and Caspio: database building
Sitemasher: web site building
MZanga: Social network platform
Synthsite: web site building
Spigit: analyzing social network use.
Dreamfactory: Database reporting
Zahdoo: personal social networking
Lifesize: Video conferencing
2 comments:
Thanks Francis for the shoutout!
Later today at the conference we'll be announcing some crazy new features for Drop.io!! It's seriously the simplest place to share files online. :)
And I'm jealous, I'm stuck in Fort Worth while all my NYC cats are having fun at Web 2.0!
Did you happen to see the Gary Vaynerchuck there (http://garyvaynerchuk.com/). He runs a family wine business but brought it into the Web 2.0 world... from a $5MM to a $50MM in doing so. He's super intense and is very inspiring!
Now... the real question is, *why* were you at Web 2.0? :)
Jake -- I wanted to meet the Quickbase people and the DreamFactory people. Which I did. That was the excuse, the real reason is to satisfy my curiosity about the industry. I have been online since 1200 baud modems and when the information was limited to newspapers, software Groups and universities. The growth and change is fun to watch.
I looked for your booth but couldn't find so ifigured you guys were just presenting.
See ya.
(I did not see Gary V, but will look at it online)
Post a Comment