Continued from Ben Siscovick's post:

Google Wave offered "the fully open email model" from the very beginning. That is, an open protocol and API that any server can employ to talk to any other server anywhere on the internet.

Its creators envision precisely this and they wisely recognize that it's the only way their product, which they believe holds such promise, will become ubiquitous.

So Google Wave is already beyond Twitter in concept, already embracing, intrinsically, the fully open email model. So, to me, from that angle at least, there's no similar story with Twitter.

Just like email, Google Wave came out of the gate not just as a protocol and platform (the API) but also as a *product" which is Google's version of the interface to that fully open protocol, like what Outlook is to email. And while much of that product, that interface, Google will *not* share, it is sharing a lot of it, plenty of it, and a lot more than matters. Because the important stuff is the protocol, the API, the stuff that lets you and I create our own interface, maybe one that suits our users better.

Continuing with the email analogy, it's like Outlook and Eudora and Gmail and the countless other email clients. They're all different interfaces, but they are all based on the same underlying platform -- email (or more specifically POP and SMTP and IMAP). Here too, you'll eventually have many wave clients besides Google's, like Microsoft Wave, Woven Wave, whatever.

Just skim http://www.waveprotocol.org/wave-community-principles and http://www.waveprotocol.org/draft-protocol-specs/draft-protocol-spec.

Twitter, by contrast, never even indicated they wished to enable anyone to become a Twitter server, able to communicate with other Twitter servers. It's entirely different, and their vision is far narrower!

With respect to Twitter's future, a more broad and open, alternative communications platform (or specifically an open protocol) will rise and Twitter may in time become one of the interfaces using that, even the most popular one. If you haven't got it yet, that open protocol that Twitter and others use may very well be Google's wave protocol.

Ok, so i'm fairly tech savvy and have a good understanding of what's going on in the tech world, but can someone maybe shed a little light on this web 3.0 thing? Fact/Fiction? Gimmick? -- Steven

I think it's important not to get carried away by monikers, but terms like Web 2.0/3.0 are important at least for marketing purposes (i.e. your organization or service needs to take advantage of this), in that they relay a significant set of differences between older web services and a newer generation.

Where the retrospective Web 1.0 was about presenting information or offering goods for sale, Web 2.0 (to put it yet another way) is about incorporating sharing and collaboration into richer services that prioritize open standards and interoperability and leverage more powerful web development techniques.

It's impossible to limit to where Web 3.0 ends so I'll just refer broadly to what's next.

1. Structured (semantic) data. This is the most immediate one. The next wave of services will publish and consume structured data and objects, enabling more intelligent responses to our queries and more powerful, spontaneous mashups, where several services effortlessly come together to handle your request.
2. P2P. The network infrastructure of the future is peer-to-peer. Think wide open Google App Engine or Amazon Web Services, no need for web hosting, or as Sun says "the Network is the Computer".
3. Identity and trust. We'll move from IP addresses or individual "accounts" to a world wide identity. Your identity interacts with services and services interact with your identity. Forget countless profiles.
4. The network is the application. All the above will enable greater standardization, the merging of this whole mess into a more intelligent (operating) system. Countless websites and duplicate interfaces will give way to information as you want to see it. Book your movie ticket without ever going to Fandango. Do a real estate search without ever going to Redfin or another silo. Rate everything, across the network, and see your friend's ratings. Think all these services minus the walls and in a streamlined interface.

Dave Notik - Drums, Keys
Ben Siscovick - Guitar, Bass
Mark Mezrich - Bass, Keys
Levi Ross - Lead Guitar, Bass

Yes, I'm alive.

Just so you know.

:)

--D

There's been a massive cultural change in how people interact both with each other and the organizations trying to reach them. I've been dedicated to understanding this phenomenon from the very beginning, and I decided long ago that I'd play a role in shaping the products and services that will help us realize the full potential there. I firmly believe that this is only the start of a paradigm shift that will radically (but over time) alter government, business, education, and everything in between.

For anyone (whether you're on the inside or not) struggling to grasp these changes and what it all means, here's some required reading (found via Guy Kawasaki's excellent blog). The largest interactive agency in the US just released what they call the 2007 Digital Outlook Report. I haven't yet read it in depth but I can tell you it's an excellent report, chock full of all the right insights and relevant information.

It's all about the conversation. I've emphasized that concept time and again when explaining these changes to others. Whether you're in advertising or you run an organization or are selling a product -- if you're trying to engage people (and most of us are), you absolutely must understand this phenomenon, and understand it now. This report (PDF, 6230K) will help.

From the report's welcome note:

In retrospect, the massive digital disruption we’ve experienced over the last 12 months should have been anticipated. But it seems few were fully prepared for the speed and depth of the changes. Perhaps it’s because the changes weren’t just about what Web sites became popular or what new technologies were introduced. Rather, it was a broader cultural change. Consumers’ expectations of their media evolved. The places they trusted to provide information and entertainment changed. New outlets for consumers to express themselves emerged.

In this environment, marketers are being forced to retire some long-accepted strategies for connecting with customers. In place of those dated approaches, the new digital landscape presents a chance for companies to have new, deeper, and more relevant engagement with consumers. Given the growth of interactive in 2006, it’s clear that marketers have recognized this opportunity and are ready to embrace the era of digital disruption.

For you advertisers:

Prediction. Marketing strategies will increasingly need to start with the digital channel. The interactive environment will become the central expression of a brand, and all other media will work to drive customers into that experience. The changes of the last decade will pale in comparison to those of the next—interactive video, mobile media, and the immersive qualities of gaming will challenge us to find new perspectives, new frameworks, and new standards. We are fortunate to be living in a transformational era in advertising—and we can either resist these changes or welcome them for what they are: a fantastic opportunity to redefine the customer experience. Ain’t it grand?

Your thoughts? Let's discuss.

Updated w/ more.