Dragan,
Agree with you on the knowledge sharing initiatives. I think when you look at it all as part of a service offering to a corporate customer, it makes enourmous sense for both faciliatating the project as well as enabling the team concerned to carry on once the project has been implemented.

I also agree with you regards selling Web 2.0 technologies by themselves – I think that kind of mindset is destructive as it encourages a waste and “Godspeed” mentality. After doing some more reading, it looks like the consensus for stuff like Wiki’s and Blogs underscored by RSS is around information flow, reducing unneccesary email, and engaging with customers and employee by pushing the right information to them when they want to read it.

Masedi,
I think your point about disruptinve business models is an important one to bear in mind – traditionally media was a top down affair, with the content regulated and approved by the top of the pyramid.

Now, however, we’re finding that people are able to talk to each other with increasing ease, and technology is enabling this grassroots type, bottom up flow of information to level the playing field for the consumer, as well as change the way we deal with information on a daily basis. Now, instead of visiting 300 information sources a day via a web browser, I check to see if the 300 sources have been updated, and choose which information I want to consume. This desire for choice, and a voice, I think, is driving innovation right now.

The benefits are obvious, and I think this sea change will have a dramatic effect for consumers once it starts going mainstream. And then, as you point out, I think it will start filtering into mainstream business. Microsoft Office 12 I think will have a lot to do with that mainstreaming effect…

David,
You’re right about the Web 2.0 thing, but then what else would you call it so people knew you were talking about next generation web apps? I think your point about reducing cost is valid, so I guess the question is then “can these technologies make things more efficient, so as to reduce cost, either through resources used, or time made more efficient?”, so that the technologies become useful in the enterprise…

Your point about data rings true for me as well – who owns the data, what are they doing with it, and how are they allowing people to mash it up to make it more useful… and since data knows no boundaries, geography becomes a function of cost and convenience.

Good luck with http://www.businessitonline.com!

Andy,
I’m super pleased to hear that you guys are doing that – thanks for the heads up. Would you say that a relationship was essential in winning the pitch, or was it more about the technology / solution you pitched?

Agreed regards the Web 2.0 network here in the Uk – do you know of any other suppliers / vendors doing anything in this space?

Peter,
Pity you missed the dinner – was pretty cool, and some cool people met as well. But, there will be others I was reading the Yahoo RSS Whitepaper earlier today (some kinda dubious conclusions about My Yahoo!), and it seems that most people have about 6 feeds in their feedreaders (whatever they are using), so your point about people consuming feeds and websites not using RSS to push content makes a lot of sense – so it seems that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the minds of the consumer, and a technology delivery shift or addition in the minds of the technologists. I wonder which will come first?

I hear you about the BBC – perhaps it’s most significant contribution will be alerting people to what RSS can do for them, and providing the credibility that people need to start changing the way they consume content?

Thanks for the comments guys

Good article. I’m sorry I missed the dinner with Tim O’Reilly, I’d have definitely liked to be there but was tied up elsewhere.

I think that your observations make a lot of sense. I think that your rundown of the status quo is also pretty accurate.

As you know, I’m very interested in RSS but I can also see exactly why it’s not taking off at the moment and that’s because for most people, there’s not that much that they have to gain from consuming it. Most people only check two or three websites a day and those that they might check less often and would appreciate updates from don’t have feeds.

What’s the point in gettting a reader when you’re only planning to get the BBC news each day and even that’s not full text?

Peter

I went to the Geek Dinner last night, with Tim O’Reilly, and got to listen and participate in some interesting conversations, so there’s a bit to update here now.

I’ve got to dash now, but will come back later and put some more thoughts down.

I read your article and read O’Reilly’s too. I must admit I did find them informative and thought-provoking, not to mention very well written.

My two-penny’s worth is that the concept of ‘Web 2.0′ makes me laugh, as it’s extremely ironic. I’m fairly certain the irony is intended by O’Reilly or who every coined it, but to put a version number on what is just a more current evolutionary stage of a ‘living and breathing thing’ takes us back to pre-packaged software release memories – it seems like some habits die hard with developers.

In terms of application of this knowledge. If you’re working for a corporate (as a contractor or consultant etc) – then I don’t think there’s much money in knowing what we know now. Traditional bricks and mortar Corporates save millions of pounds with IT that supplies the real-time exchange and collaboration upon data – simple as that – it’s about cost, not about revenue for them. It’s getting cheaper to develop such systems in the new age, but in principle – they’re still striving to achieve the same thing, cost reduction – irrespective of Web 1, Web 2 or Web 10.

However, what the concept of Web 2.0 is doing as you point out, is its reshaping the new business landscape completely, and I love the point O’Reilly makes about the data and database being the true ‘asset’ of the Googles and Amazons of this era. We’re going to see more new businesses in the West leveraging the collective and viral revenue benefits of a growing online customer and more and more businesses in the East benefiting by providing greater aggregated supply at lower costs.

Effectively – the major development for me of this era is the de-coupled geographic value chain. Marketing & Sales in the West – Suppliers, Manufacturing and Logistics in the East – with a very lean Management team in the ‘virtual’ middle.

As for pure ‘clicks’ businesses like Business IT Online (www.businessitonline.com) – the main point for me is that a team with a headcount of less than 10 can make millions of pounds quite easily, which is very appealing!

Keep well!

From what I hear, I think MSFT is going to be doing that in Office 12, as they’re seeing that shift to RSS/XML as an important one. I think they’re looking at making RSS “ubiquitous” in Office 12…

I am struggling to see how you would succeed in selling the Web 2.0 technologies by themselves for a sufficient premium. But this problem disappears when they are offered as part of the overall solution.

Looking forward to other comments. Dragan