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web 3.0 posts

Filed under: Developer, Internet, Productivity, Social Software, web 2.0

Data Portability explained in video

There has been a lot of buzz about Data Portability with newcomers like Facebook and Plaxo joining, but you might still be wondering what exactly all this means in the big picture. Well, Michael Pick of Smashcut Media has been kind enough to create a little piece that attempts to put everything into perspective and what the Data Portability movement is about.



If we're allowed to take one random stab at what's in store for the future, this is probably going to be the first major component of Web 3.0. Since it looks like a lot of barriers that prevent users from integrating services will be removed, the focus will continue to shift towards content and usability. Chances are good that this is going to really bring in the competition - start-ups will find it easier to acquire new users and the big dogs will have to fight harder to hold on to them.

Since we're not professional fortune tellers, this is just a hunch. But it's probably going to take at least another year before we see Data Portability living up to any of its promises.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Filed under: Productivity, Web services, web 2.0

Jooce: online desktop & computer replacement


There's a lot of you out there that use computers everywhere, making use of web-based services like Gmail, Google Reader, Pixenate, and Zoho. Here's something that'll help you organize your computing experience no matter what computer you use: Jooce, the online desktop. We covered the service back in August, but it's finally out of beta with old features refined and new ones to offer.

Jooce is web-based, meaning all you need is a computer with a web browser and a connection to the internet. Through Jooce, you can store unlimited files, share those files, access applications, email others, instant message, and more just like you would on a regular computer. The difference is that Jooce lets you do it anywhere on any computer and keeps the experience consistent. Other similar services exist from other companies such as Goowy and YouOS, which also emulate the desktop of a computer.

Jooce looks fairly easy to use and simulates the desktop computer experience pretty well. It's funded through the occasional, non-intrusive ad, so it's free to use. Future improvements include third party widgets from Widgetbox and Jooce's very own email client. The company was started by three friends from around the world who worked together at a Paris based NGO. The project took off in the wake of the United Nations sponsored World Summit on the Information Society.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: News, Web services

NYT announces coming of Web 3.0, everyone groans

Web 3.0?!Yesterday's New York Times included an, um, interesting article by John Markoff about the next generation of the web. He says that computer scientists and start-ups want to "add a layer of meaning on top of the existing Web that would make it less of a catalog and more of a guide--and even provide the foundation for systems that can reason in a human fashion." He says their effort is "referred to as Web 3.0." That's nice, John, but why does your article have everyone who actually knows what they're talking about scratching their heads? Everyone who's been paying attention will identify that new "layer of meaning" as what people have been happy calling the semantic web for a few years now, but nobody but Markoff, and maybe a few overenthusiastic marketers, are calling it Web 3.0, and that bit about reasoning "in a human fashion"? Well, AI isn't new to computer science, and Hollywood got over it five years ago. I'm not sure what Markoff's excuse is.

Predictably, the blogosphere is all over the Web 3.0 meme, with notable responses from Nick Bradbury who says "The Semantic Web may happen, but if it does, it's going to be a helluva lot messier than the architects would like," and ex-Microsoftie Robert Scoble who proposes "Web 2007" as a much more hypeworthy name, Tim O'Reilly ("I was surprised to see Markoff referring to this as "Web 3.0", when that very fact is the heart of what we've been calling Web 2.0."), and, of course, Dave Winer.

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