These are fast moving times for those of us interested in the continuing convergence of the web and media (when we're not bored by it). Check out the articles below to see how the future might be... more wide open than the first few years of the web, on more devices, and significantly more relevant to you!
The Times looks at the 25% stake a private equity firm took in Palm (makers of PDAs). It looks like they're betting on a nice seat at the table in the wild west world of mobile handsets. "The hand-held computing world is still in its infancy and that designs and rapid innovation will continue to proliferate, making it impossible for several large players to dominate the market for software or hardware." Palm Investor Sees Hand-Held Free-For-All - New York Times
The Times also looks at the software architects (literally) at Microsoft and Apple charged with creating the next generation of Operating Systems in a world where many, many applications only need a web browser. Competing as Software Goes to Web - New York Times
My former boss, the superstar Tapan Bhat called personalization the future of finding stuff on the web (not search in the current form). Yahoo might be the ones to pull it off (if they focus).
Last week, Google announced their Gears product, which I keep intending to write something about. It's a very cool open platform that will allow web-based applicaitons (like Gmail, Google Spreadsheets, Wikis, even Yahoo! Mail) to work when your computer is offline. It's a huge step in their attack on Microsoft, but it's also a major building block that just may well unleash a new round of innovation around portability.
And then there is Joost. The guys behind Kazaa and Skype offer you media-conglomerate-friendly Internet Video. I've used it, and it's very flashy, but it feels like it's trying a little too hard and lacks any revolutionary thrust. Will their new CEO pull it off?
Phew, that was a lot.
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Interesing commentary.
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