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
While doing some research for a work project I’m doing currently, I came across this illuminating PEW report from January 2005, called Internet Evolution: A decade of adoption: How the internet has woven itself into American life. The following extract is from the introduction, entitled ‘Internet: The Mainstreaming of Online Life’. Here it is, with … Read more
Looks like the Web 2.0 Naysayers are starting to drown out those of us who’ve been preaching the 2.0 Gospel. Joel on Software, who has a lot of influence in the programming world, comes down hard with his post entitled Architecture Astronauts Are Back: “The term Web 2.0 particularly bugs me. It’s not a real … Read more
Gmail Engineer Paul Buchheit has a lovely post in which he explains why he created Gmail for Google. He begins by noting that email has just turned 34 – only one or two months younger than me as it happens. He goes on to say that Gmail gave him “the opportunity to change email”. This … Read more
Gabe Rivera’s memeorandum got a great write-up in Wired News today. Also TechCrunch reported that memeorandum has a new feature, a news widget that bloggers can include on their site. As I was looking at tech.memeorandum again this morning (as I do multiple times a day), it struck me that the Flock coverage is a … Read more
By now most of you know that Flock, a trendy new Mozilla-based “social web browser”, has gone live. Because it’s said to be a quintessential Web 2.0 application, I feel duty-bound to try it out. So I’ve downloaded it and will give it a go as my main browser for a while. I won’t however … Read more
In my ZDNet blog, Web 2.0 Explorer, I’ve launched an Indiana Jones-like quest to find the Great Disruptive Web 2.0 Start-Ups of our era. I’m on the hunt for two separate types of disruptive start-ups: 1) disruptive technologies that could change the Web – like Google did. 2) non-geek services built using Web 2.0 technologies. … Read more
The Association of American Publishers (AAP) has filed a lawsuit against Google “over its plans to digitally copy and distribute copyrighted works without permission of the copyright owners”. I liked how John Battelle summed it up: “I really don’t get this. I have been both a publisher and an author, and I have to tell … Read more
The Times of UK reports: “Google has dropped the Gmail name for its e-mail service in the UK following a long-running row with a small British company that has claimed the rights to the trademark. […] From today new users of Google’s e-mail service will get an @googlemail.com address. Those that have already signed up … Read more
Ben Barren’s posts just keep getting better and better. Today he ponders the question: What Connects Richard MacManus + Jessica Alba?. He writes: “we may need a “Post-Valley Intervention” – Since The Father of Web 2.0 has left The Valley he has gone stir crazy. He was last seen walking around the set of Lord … Read more
Today The Register’s Andrew Orlowski gleefully reported the existence of the first “Web 2.0 worm”. Wrote our man in San Francisco: “It’s been a rough weekend for Tomorrow’s People. A JavaScript exploit that has been called the first “Web 2.0 worm” knocked out MySpace.com – and the $500m-valued website, recently acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News … Read more
Nicholas Carr, a real journalist, has a blog post that argues that Web 2.0 is amoral. That’s a relatively uninteresting academic argument though. Of more practical import, is his rage against the “cult of the amateur”. But I find it curious that he bases his argument against amateurs on a completely false statement: “The promoters … Read more
Microsoft Emerging Business Team member Don Dodge has another thought-provoking post on Internet business. Don notes how so many innovative companies who were market leaders in the 90’s have been overtaken by the new era of “fast followers”. Here’s his list of examples: * AltaVista -> Google * Napster -> iTunes * VisiCalc -> Lotus … Read more
This week: Geeks being creative, Yahoo! RSS research, Reading Lists, Making money with Mash-Ups, Techie Post of the Week – Dave Winer on Nerd TV sponsored by: Geeks being creative I’m now back in my home of New Zealand, after spending two fantastic weeks in Silicon Valley. As I look back on my time there, … Read more
This’ll be my last post from Silicon Valley for a while. I’ve been here for two full weeks and I’ve had a fantastic time! I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Mike Arrington for letting me stay at his house and making me feel so welcome – thanks Mike! It’s been a hub of … Read more
Whether you love or hate the Web 2.0 meme, you have to admit it’s gained a lot of traction in both tech and business circles. Now we’re beginning to see cultural and sociological posts about Web 2.0, although Danah Boyd and Barb Dybwad have both written great posts on similar themes in the past. Anil … Read more