WWW Plus 10
I was reminded of those days as I was thinking recently about the relationship between blogging, search and the evolution of the Web. Once more we seem to have a few very exciting technologies, which although not quite rising to the level of "magical", are once more capturing everyone's imagination and growing exponentially around us. Search, blogging and syndication are perhaps the most prominent such technologies, but so are game players with their highly visual interfaces and especially the emerging, collaborative virtual worlds around them. To me, this feels very much like 1995.
Excuse some of us if we don't feel like doing the mid-1990s again. But, he adds:
Once more, I find myself struggling to explain to people in business why they should pay attention to things their children are doing like blogging and participating in community games. I think that collaborative innovation and collaborative knowledge are breaking out beyond the world of open-source software and blogging and are now becoming major forces that businesses need to learn to embrace, just as they had to learn to embrace "universal reach and connectivity" ten years ago.
Don't just watch what your kids are doing. Watch what your parents and grandparents are doing and will do with today's and tomorrow's technology. At the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco last month, the chip giant rolled out its long-awaited Digital Health strategy. You can scroll down and click on Intel Digital Health GM Louis Burns' riveting keynote address here.
By using web-based, network-centric computing (Hat Tip: Lou Gerstner), Burns demonstrated how modern sensor technology can be installed in the homes of senior citizens to keep them (and their vital signs) connected to their local physician's office. At the first signs of health trouble, networks and doctors are alerted and prompt action can be taken. Medication can be adjusted. And your parents and grandparents can stay home much longer into their golden years.
That's a long way from the static web pages and browser wars of 1995. And the ultimate payoff could be worth much more for some than the return on investment of your 1995 Internet stocks.