Web 2.0 Weekly Wrap-up, 19-25 Sep 2005

2005-09-26T07:10:01Z

This week: Microsoft vs Google, Web 2.0 coverage galore, Web 2.0 Conference, The Real World: yoga blogging, Techie post of the week: Mini-Microsoft.

The Wrap-up is proudly sponsored by:

Microsoft vs Google

Over the last week the number of stories about Microsoft vs Google has reached a crescendo. The best one was a story by CNET entitled Microsoft's nightmare inches closer to reality - the nightmare incarnate being Google. The article had some great historical analysis along with a good poking around at MSN's current strategy.

This week also produced a slew of stories about Google's Wifi and TV initiatives. Plus Microsoft announced a re-organization, of which the most significant 2.0 aspects were:

1) the integration of MSN into its platform product development group, where Windows is developed.

2) Bill Gates' new phrase "server equals service" and it's inherent meaning - the Web is now on an equal footing with Windows, at least publicly.

The problem/challenge for Microsoft is that their software (Windows) products are much stronger than their Web products. Google's strength is of course their Web products. I'll be writing more about this in the coming week.

Web 2.0 coverage galore

This week saw a big increase in blog posts about Web 2.0, probably because of the upcoming Web 2.0 conference. Here are some of the highlights (I admit I haven't had time to read them all yet):

- BusinessWeek did a special called It's A Whole New Web.
- Dion Hinchcliffe wrote a well-linked to post at SOA Web Services Journal entitled The Web 2.0 is Here.
- Tim O'Reilly published a meme map that was created during FOO Camp 2005.
- MAKE magazine has an audio post entitled Distributing the Future - Data for Web 2.0.
- Stephen E. Arnold's eBook was released: The Google Legacy, How Google's Internet Search is Transforming Application Software (costs US$180, but damn I want to read it!)

There are also a ton of new Web 2.0 blogs, most of which provide a respectful link to the Father of Web 2.0 (Blogs) :-)

Web 2.0 Conference

I'm travelling from New Zealand to Silicon Valley at the end of this week, to attend the Web 2.0 Conference next week and network with Web folk. The TechCrunch crew is very kindly hosting me at their Atherton ranch-house, so I look forward to attending loads of BBQs! Seriously, the TechCrunch house seems to be a hub for Web 2.0 people currently and I'm honoured to be staying there.

I'm really excited about the trip and looking at the Web 2.0 Conference lineup, it's going to be a huge event. Here is the overview:

""Revving the Web" is the theme for the 2005 Web 2.0 Conference, reflecting the conviction that the web is being transformed into a new application and business platform. Web 2.0 will explore four key topics (computing and operating systems, media and entertainment, communications and mobile, and 'fun and inspiration') through short individual presentations, high-level interviews and lively panel discussions - all with ample time for audience participation and Q&A."

Needless to say, I'll be providing extensive coverage of the conference at Read/WriteWeb and my ZDNet blog Web 2.0 Explorer.

The Real World: Yoga blogging

Susan Mernit tells me the 10th annual Yoga Journal conference, a yoga conference in the rockies, will be live-blogged:

"The basic plan is to use multimedia to give the 10th annual Yoga Journal conference in EstesPark, Colorado, the kind of rich multimedia treatment a top-flight techconference receives. This is especially exciting because this conference honors B.K.S.Iyengar, 86 year old yogi and father of yoga in the West, who is coming to this conference from India to teach (and to be interviewed by Annette Beining). We'll have photo galleries (on flickr), podcasting, a range of bloggers, interviews with famous yoga teachers like Rodney Yee and Sean Corme, as well as exclusive footage of Mr.Iyengar and great info on the conference and related issues of wellness, balance, sprituality."

Excellent use of blogs and 2.0 technologies like Flickr! Not to mention very healthy (which is far more important).

Techie post of the week

I recently discovered a well-written and highly informative blog by a Microsoft employee, called Mini-Microsoft. This week the anonymous blogger wrote about the Microsoft Company Meeting 2005. I browsed the whole blog earlier this week and there's a lot of funny stuff - but also very insightful. One post discussed what Mini-Microsoft thought should happen if schedules slip, which has notably happened with Longhorn/Vista. Mini-Microsoft's advice:

"If you make a bad decision that trips up shipping key products on schedule it should be recognized as horrible failure. SteveB should throw your chair across the room and out the window - with you sitting in it. Chased with a good stream of swear words for you to listen to on your way down. "F------ slipping p----!" That's the leadership accountability I want to see!"

LOL, classic :-))