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PodCamp Boston 3 was amazing. The venue this year was unbelievable, thank you, Harvard! It was easier to run into people this year, which was fun. PodCamp Boston 2 was nice and big, but this year the event was very close knit. I was more social at PCB3, and this year overall - last year I was very reserved. I also knew more people in general, those I had met on Twitter and at various Social Media Breakfasts. (For those interested in the Academic Technology session I led at PodCamp, check the end of the post.)

My junior achievement award. Photo Credit: Gradon Tripp

I won a Junior achievement award this year! Thank you, Adam Zand (I think, at least.) Unfortunately, I was the only teenager (I knew of) at PodCamp Boston 3. Last year, I was 1 of 2, this year, I was 1 of 1. I had hoped more teens would show up. I did know a few who wanted to come, but couldn’t. Next year!

Jamming at PodCamp.

Being social and having fun makes a huge difference. Don’t be afraid, introduce yourself to everyone. We have so much virtual, or digital, contact with each other, it makes such a huge difference to get together and have fun in person. Twitter went down for maintenance on Saturday July 19th, during PodCamp, and I think it actually was for the better - it helped people actually connect with each other. Not to say that Twitter is bad; sometimes, the best part of the session was the conversation taking place on Twitter. Check out the PCB3 tag on Twitter Search.

Steven Sherlock.

My Session

I led a session at PodCamp Boston about Academic Technology, mostly outlining the work I did at the Cambridge School of Weston, for my Capstone Project. If you’re interested in the presentation, you can see it on Slideshare, download it as a PDF, and download the audio recording.

Earlier this morning, Microsoft proposed a bid of $44 Million to Yahoo. In otherwords, Microsoft may buy Yahoo. This brings up a number of concerns for myself and others. What will happen to those Yahoo! services we love, like Flickr and del.icio.us? What kinds of “cultural” changes would Microsoft push (for more about culture, head over to Whitney Hoffman’s blog)?

Microsoft has historically had success based on engineering innovation, not usability for the user or the design of the product. I don’t enjoy the way engineers think - they only seem to care about the machine, not the person. Their products are clunky (for evidence, just look at the 1st Gen Zune). For years now, Microsoft has been trying to create a vibrant online community, dubbed “Live.” They’ve failed - it’s costing them more money than they’re getting from it. Their “Live” service can’t compete with Google. I’m happy to report I don’t use any Microsoft products!

Yahoo! has been in a touch place, also competing with Google. They too seem to be based on engineering. Their designs are also cumbersome, search pages blast the viewer with information and too many options. Yahoo! has had success with their Mail and their search, but they’ve yet to develop a suite of original web services. The only two Yahoo! services I use are Flickr and del.icio.us, neither of which are designed by Yahoo!. I love both of these services.

The Two United

Together, I don’t think Microsoft and Yahoo will be able to “hit it big” - their philosophies are fundamentally flawed.

Microsoft and Yahoo may do things differently, but the cultural DNA, as seen from the outside, leads me to suspect everything will be more of the same, middle of the road, “good enough” products, but nothing that will surprise and delight. And that’s really too bad for both companies in the end. (Whitney Hoffman)

All I care about right now, what I’ll be watching closely, is the development/demise of Flickr and del.icio.us.

Tell me what you think.

I guess it’s time I establish my “definition” of Web 3.0. I’d like to thank Jason Calacanis for starting this discussion, but, in all honesty, I think he’s full of shit. So, lets start with Jason’s “official” definition of Web 3.0 (you can see the rest here):

Web 3.0 is defined as the creation of high-quality content and services produced by gifted individuals using Web 2.0 technology as an enabling platform.

So, what’s wrong with this picture?

Well, for starters, it seems he’s just trying to justify his failing business, Mahalo, the “Human-powered search”, but I’ll get to that later.
He’s a journalist. He’s used to checking the facts, making sure stories are “correct”. It seems like he’s taking a step back in time. He even says, “Web 3.0 is a return to what was great about media and technology before Web 2.0″. What was great about Web 2.0, is that people had the power to express their own voices. In traditional media, highly trained journalists with editors are in control. In Web 2.0, the people are speaking. Take Digg, for example: people, not machines, submit stories they find compelling, and let other people “digg” them. But in Jason’s view, Digg would have a team of editors “fact checking” (who’s creating the facts here?) and editing the stories that are submitted. He would be making social news “better” by taking out the true social aspect. Jason wants “gifted individuals” to have the power.

Jason keeps bringing up “individual excellence”, “experts”, and “accuracy”. Who’s defining what’s accurate? Don’t editors have their own bias? Aren’t editors a layer of censorship? Who trains these experts? What stops these specialists, who are no doubt being paid, from acting on money, not personal beliefs? Nothing. Once you are paid by someone, you are no longer an independent agent. You work for them.

What do I think Web 3.0 is about?

It’s about making “the cloud”, or the Internet, more accessible. It gets people out of their chairs, off their desktop computers and places the Internet in their hands. It makes the cloud more tangible, and ultimately, more human. I’ve been doing some reading on Wikipedia, and I’ve stumbled upon some fascinating things. Nova Spivack believes that Web 3.0 will bring together various technological trends. Here are a few I like:

In short, Web 3.0 makes Internet more available to everyone. In addition, Web 3.0 will make the Internet more tangible, so we can get out of our desk chairs and experience the world. This is already happening. Take the Chumby, or the XO Laptop for example.

Now, here’s what I think about Mahalo. As William Smith says, “Mahalo is something like, Web 1.1. Web indexes maintained by hand is hardly innovative or deserving of being the poster child for what’s next with the web.” I agree. Does Jason Calacanis even know what the Semantic Web is?

I know, it’s long, but it needed to be said.

Kabren