October 19th, 2007
Podcast: Web 2.0 Summit action, Twine, Ballmer will dunk Google, the gPhone and more
This week on the Dan & David Show, Dan and I kick things off with a discussion of Google’s worst kept secret: the gPhone. Dan briefs us on what it is and then I riff on why I love it and hate it at the same time. The way I see it, we’re heading towards a world where the silos that the Internet is already being carved into will be further exacerbated by the hardware that’s tied to them. iPhone’s will no doubt be great iTunes terminals to the exclusion of all other handsets. The gPhone will be a great terminal to Google’s services and even though Dan says it will be open because of its roots in Linux and how Google theoretically does no evil, I’m not sure any of that matters. After all, regardless of how open it is, will Google’s competitors really want to join the party if it ultimately serves Google’s goals in the long run?
Eventually, we move on to talk about the Web 2.0 Summit where Dan is still (this evening) rubbing shoulders with the digerati (and the glitzerati). Using Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s explanation of how some years from now, Microsoft will be able to score a dunk over Google on search and advertising without offering details of how, Dan says the that The Summit is more about networking than it is about substance. He serves up Cisco’s pitch of its “Entertainment Operating System” as another example.
Dan offers some of the highlights of his time at the Summit and talks a bit about Twine which was publicly previewed for the first time at the event and is getting some cred as the first Semantic Web app. We also touch on some of the news highlights of the week including the opening up of MySpace to developers and Microsoft’s release of the PopFly public beta.
Eventually, we wrap it up with a rant on FaceBook. Bottom line, it’s so secretive (in its email) and involves so much friction, the social phenomenon is somehow managing to succeed in spite of what are clearly some usability snafus. According to Dan, the company simply lacks the muscle to cover all its weaknesses right now. But he expects that to change next year.
