My notes on the discussion, not everyone agreed with all the points.

What does Web2.0 mean to you.

• 36 point font, gradient colors and rounded corners
• fewer minutes of life wasted
• participation and interaction (integrate with other things such as media, mixed broadcast)
• community and the ability for people to share ideas in the same space
• media power to the people (grassroots)
• technologies behind it (ajax, tagging)
• big media advantages are disappearing (signal, mass readership)
  • independent media to get a signal and distribute their content - opportunity to get a signal
• mashups - craigslist, googe maps and stuff
  • elevate to a new level
• opening things up
  • things, companies, technology more open
  • empowering and easier to use
• Renaissance of the web
• bullshit
• realization of what everyone talked about in the bubble
• no one making any money
  • small companies that have popped up all over the place
  • different approach to entrepreneuship
• some doing just for technology
• some doing just to resell (Flickr only Canadian site)
• some people go too far with web2.0 (e.g. uses RoR and ajax - doesn't nesseccarily mean you are cool)
• industry has had 15-20 years experience
  • web2.0 is the evolution due to that experience
  • what we have already been doing
• easier to use web pages, done in a new way
  • many things attributed to this term
• just another over-hyped term
• some see web2.0 = RoR and AJAX
• but some see it as just part of it
• web2.0 age technologies
• interesting impacts that it has had on businesses
• inverting the structure of how things are monetized
• technology is a tool for allowing these things to occur
• Microsoft doesn't get web2.0 - they are not sharing (for them to be cool they have to give you free stuff)
• new business models based on advertising (e.g. adsense)
• Adsense - hits the small companies
  • the 95%
• doubleclick only got the 5%
• sometimes click on an ad just to support a web site
• ad support in models
  • google is only one
  • free411 (in the telephony space)
  • listen to 20 second ad before talk to 411 operator
• google has done adsense very well
• people click on them because they are useful
• sometimes click on own ads since interesting
• ads - by topic
  • where it is going to go - choose ads that you want on your site?
• recent development
  • web sites under a certain banner - very selective on the ads that they run (e.g the Deck)
  • you have to approach them if you want to ad on their space
  • have to look great
• compare to radio - ads are so horrible they are driving users away

Can Big Business Take Advantage of what web2.0 is

• yes
• when they realize the opportunity that will make them the most profit
• big media will jump all over this
• convey their message and understand the networks underneath
• salesforce.com - accepted by most fortune 500
• how they reach and connect with their audience
• execs are blogging already with this form of media
• when will big business understand this media
• will blogs replace traditional media
  • no, because BBC has certain authority
  • disagreement
• craigslist is greatly affecting newspaper profits
• news on paper - too slow
• never seen kids read the paper
• just on the cusp of this massive change
• kids don't listen to radio
• authority - some journalists transferring authority to web
• how can a blog ever replace international news
  • big media doesn't own news, just distribute it
• media is embedding ads in the newspaper
• example - blog is syndicated with a newspaper - will appear a day after he posts it on the paper
• internet is just faster
• we assumed newspaper had authority, but they have been getting their info from random sources
• except newspapers have fact checking
• not saying that CNN will be a blog in 5 years
  • CNN will find a new way to deliver the news
  • how will compete with Digg
  • have correspondents all around the world
  • CNN will be an aggregator
  • media will become a filter to help highlight through the volume
  • can put stories into context over time
  • no blog will replace the economist (no one author)
  • writer - editors - final writer
• erosion of trust of mainstream media
• newspapers pick and choose what goes in
• get two sides of the argument, which you don't in mainstream media
• see discrepancies between
• is media sitting around discussion "development" going away
  • companies in Shanghai
• most people are using common blog software - only some are using home-grown
• what if web3.0 is no more software developers
• talk to each other in a standard way - as a user I don't care how it works in behind
  • does it work for the 10% that are using it
  • still have a need for CNN, but can also create blogs for 100 readers
  • getting rid of the layers
• who's taking the decision and who is the stakeholder
• Sympatico and Rogers are not worried - everyone is using them
• rogers doesn't want to be just a bit provider
  • trying other things
  • all other people that just want them to be a bit provider
• look at what is going on in the voice industry
  • metering minutes - but it isn't scarce anymore
  • .0085 cents per minute
  • price elastic
  • what happens when price goes to 0 (bandwidth up, revenue down)
  • have to realize that they have to take advantage of the long tail
  • me and hardware store conversation is more important to the hardware store
  • monitize things in context

• how long is it going to take for business to understand
• some of those businesses are going to die
• Bell laid off 4000 (6,000?) people in February
• if those economies die, then there are economies in other parts of the world that will kill us
• will manufacturing go there
• people will want to spend moeny on stuff that represents them?
• office with people in Sri Lanka - work for a quarter that we do
• we talk about making Toronto an international tech hub
• we talk about decentralizing content - but
• there are 11 or so root DNS servers - each house will have its own?
• google - who knows the actual algorithm of pageranking that google uses
  • why don't we have a trust issue there, even though we do with Media
  • we don't trust google to tell us the news
  • but depend on them for our businesses
• trying to fool ourselves if we think web2.0 is about decentralization of power
  • web2.0 success on coattails of other companies
• same as 1995-1996
• amazon blew up the bookstore
• barnes and noble still sells more books than amazon - because location matters
  • 800 pound gorilla is still there
• kids don't need to go to library anymore
• psychological - people are lazy
  • don't have time to read all these blogs
  • is the author Jewish, does that impact their opinion
  • average person can't figure that out on everything they read
  • mainstream - much smaller list to choose from
• feed fatigue
  • whatever pops up on on main filter blogs
  • still need some filter
• still read the paper
• reason why newspapers exist as a collective of authors
  • access to readership
  • umbrella groups of blogs
• CIA finds blogs interesting - sucks it up and comes up with a position
• time for beer

moderated by Chris Nolan.ca (notes by Jen)