At the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco a few days ago, John Battelle (author of The Search) interviewed Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt.
The interview was thought-provoking, as Schmidt hinted at Google's future, and that of the Internet.
Here are some of the points he touched on:
Google has acquired Double-Click because advertising is one of the four "thrusts" within the company. "Advertising is both an art and a science", said Schmidt. "We can apply the science".
Another thrust is creating the world's most powerful supercomputers and largest data centres. This will give them a massive Web 2.0 type platform, allowing them to create scalable applications and release useful APIs.
The loss of "Net Neutrality" -- whereby telecommunications companies would begin charging tolls on web traffic -- would ultimately be bad for users and bad for society. While Google would be able to afford this tariff, many other companies would not.
The integration of the internet and mobile devices (e.g. phones) is a space Google is watching carefully
The internet has only just started "scaling". We ain't seen nothing yet.
Soon you will be able to move your personal data (search history etc.) from Google to other services (like Yahoo), i.e. you will "own" your own data
Well, that's my take on it. Watch the interview for yourself:
I recently re-read Karaoke Capitalism by Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom. The book is a follow-up to -- and really just a remixed, remastered version of -- their better known Funky Business.
It's hard to categorize these books. You will probably find them in the business/economics sections of the bookstore, but they touch on many other aspects of popular culture, biology, psychology, philosophy, etc.
I like the eccentric, eclectic style of writing/thinking in these books. Moreover, I gained insights from the arguments of the authors -- a pair of Swedish economists. I am sure I will read Karaoke Capitalism again in the future. You learn different things from the same book as your own life experience evolves and your perspective changes.
Here is my take on some of the book's key insights:
It's not just a cliche; the world is changing rapidly. Places across the globe that were once culturally diverse are now much more similar.
Companies and organisations across the world are able to copy each other. It's hard to get a competitive edge.
In fact, the only way to get a competitive edge is with knowledge. Brainpower is becoming the most important element in contemporary organisations.
But brainpower is a liability, not an asset. You don't own your employees, and you certainly don't own their brains.
Thus, employees with the most brainpower (the most talented, the most innovative, the ones who make things happen) will demand far higher rewards than other mere mortals.
In many businesses, we're going to trends that we currently see in Premiership football -- where an elite set of exceptionally talented individuals (or primadonnas, depending on your view) get to demand an awful lot more than everyone else.
The demands of talented individuals may not be (solely) monetary. Like pop stars who will only bathe in Evian water (from bottles), talented individuals will make decisions on who to work for/with based on who best meets their peculiar needs.
All of this, of course, will impact on the bottom line. Profits will also be squeezed by consumers who, because of our flatter world, ever-cheaper technology and ever-increasing competition, have greater choice.
The authors' messages are not all negative. Where there's change, they argue, there are opportunities. But you will have to uncover those opportunities yourself.
I use many tools when designing websites, but here are the four I consider to be most important:
HomeSite -- although the lack of updates in recent years is pushing me, with much regret, towards HTML Kit. (The latter is not really a replacement, but each has features the other could do with, so I use a little of both -- not an ideal scenario, but what can you do?)
TopStyle -- a CSS editor by Nick Bradbury, creator of HomeSite
The latter is the new kid on the block but, over the last 12 months, I have become dependent on it. I originally discovered the Microsoft Web Developer toolbar. However, I soon learned that the Firefox version (which came before the Microsoft one, natch) had superior features.
Here are the features I use most often:
Ruler -- indispensable when evaluating, reverse-engineering or redesigning websites
"CSS > View Style Information" -- for tweaking CSS to relieve cross-browser headaches
"Information > View Id and Class Details" -- for reasons similar to above
"Information > Display Div Order" -- to solve those niggling float problems
In fact, I'm still discovering new uses and features -- like "Forms > Populate Form Fields" -- which will save me countless agonising minutes filling in form fields while testing applications such as a shopping carts.
Hats off to Chris Pederick who invented this fantastic -- and FREE -- utility.