Tech analyst, AI & the web
I founded the tech blog ReadWriteWeb in April 2003 and ran it until October 2012. During my time running the business, it was well known for its cutting edge content (“What’s next on the Web”) and its influential global audience. At its peak, RWW was ranked among the top ten blogs in the world by Technorati.
This category contains all of the articles I personally wrote for RWW, now archived on ricmac.org for easier browsing and search. If you’d like to explore the original context, you can also view a year-by-year archive with links to the Wayback Machine
The UK has its own Web 2.0 Conference on 11 November in Brighton, in the form of d.Construct: “d.Construct 2005 is the UKs first grassroots Web 2.0 conference. It is an affordable, one-day event aimed at those building the latest generation of web-based applications. The event will discuss how new technology is transforming the web … Read more
So the latest ruckus in tech.blogosphere is about Dave Winer’s call to Clone the Google API (note the URL name). Robert Scoble wrote an enthusiastic post entitled Yahoo’s new pretty maps are doomed (and so are Microsofts), which understandably got up the nostrils of Yahoo!’s Jeremy Zawodny. Microsoft’s Dare Obasanjo wrote a post that outlined … Read more
This what it’s all about: “Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations.” That finding is from the Pew Internet & … Read more
Dion Hinchcliffe has an excellent post outlining the top 10 issues for Web 2.0 today (an 11th was added in the comments by Paul Montgomery). Here’s a summary of Dion’s list with comments from me, but be sure to check his site too because he has useful commentary for each point. 1. Excessive Hype: “Nothing … Read more
Summary: My Day 1 impressions of Windows/Office Live are positive and I think Microsoft is taking up the challenge of an increasingly Web-based software world, while at the same time sticking to their desktop software knitting. I’m particularly intrigued by the Xbox 360 relationship and I think we’ll see a lot more multimedia coming out … Read more
Microsoft just announced its new Web-based Windows and ‘software as a service’ strategies. After first announcing the Xbox 360 will be released on Nov 22 in North America, Gates talked about their new “Live” brand (thanks Mike from TechCrunch for the news – he has pictures too). The “Live” era will encompass the “Software Plus … Read more
As part of the news this morning (my coverage here), Microsoft has released a website called live.com. It appears to be start.com under a new name – i.e. the RSS Reader/portal homepage that was released earlier this year. And it still doesn’t have decent Firefox support! Dave Winer has a screenshot. Back-story of live.com domain … Read more
This week: Microsoft’s Web 2.0 strategy, Google Base, Yahoo! travel, Web 2.0 Humour, 2.0 Post of the Week. sponsored by: Microsoft’s Web 2.0 Strategy There’s big news coming this week from Microsoft, on the consumer as well as business side. It sounds like Microsoft is really ramping up its Web 2.0 strategy. Meanwhile, this week … Read more
I was quoted in an IDG InfoWorld story, entitled Gates, Ozzie seen unveiling hosted services next week: “Some prominent Microsoft watchers, such as Richard MacManus, also have suggested a hosted version of Microsoft Office may be in the works. In his Web log, Web 2.0 Explorer, freelance Web analyst and writer MacManus on Sept. 28 … Read more
I’m really hoping this ‘Dot Oh’ term takes off – kind of like Dot Com, ay? 🙂 Anyway, Paul Scrivens has written a great post on the value of branding in the Web 2.0 world. Scrivs wrote: “A major problem with this phase of the web that many people seem to miss isn’t that companies … Read more
My latest ZDNet column is a potential doozy: Microsoft is leaping into hosted applications big time. InformationWeek reports that Microsoft plans to offer hosted implementations of SharePoint, CRM and ERP applications. But the best quote in that article was left till last. A “Microsoft insider” was asked which other products and services Microsoft would host … Read more
Lots to eat today in Dot Oh Cafe. Here are some of the tasty tidbits that caught my eye as I perused the tech.memeorandum and Rojo menus: Google’s smorgasbord classifieds service Google Base is eating the lunch of many a hungry 2.0 start-up. Here are some of the mouth-watering dishes in Google Buffet (aka Base): … Read more
WebDosBeta is Spain’s equivalent of the Web 2.0 Conference and it was held on 24 October in Madrid. I noticed it the other day in Technorati’s Top 10 searches, but at the time I couldn’t find any English translations. Thankfully Yannick Laclau has come through for us English-speakers and posted a fantastic summary on his … Read more
In today’s ZDNet column, I review Internet TV start-up Brightcove: “Brightcove was presented at the Web 2.0 Conference and is what I would class as a disruptive Web 2.0 start-up – one to keep an eye on. Whether or not they meet their ambitious aim of becoming a Google-scale Internet TV business, will play out … Read more
This week: Anti-Web 2.0, Bubble Meme Map, Flock, Web Libraries, Techie Post of the Week – Ben Barren on Architecture Astronauts sponsored by: Anti-Web 2.0 This was the week when the Web 2.0 Naysayers reached a crescendo of cynicism and even bile. Some of the criticism about Web 2.0 is right on the mark, don’t … Read more