YiTan Tech Conference Call - iPhones

Too tightly coupled with iTunes, tough with the wifi

Very fluid interface - gorgeous. Sometimes dials are better than buttons. This was just pleasing in a way I never thought. Much better than having a stack, the thumb access was wonderful.

Signup procedure is considerably easier than signing up for other phone services. Some times it took a few hours to sign up.

Paul: touch interface, gesture is completely indescribable. It is more of a biological and analog, more than a poking and button. Hits the monkey brain. Modeling certain things that are more than likely the real world - subtleties - need to articulate one way or another to explain how this interface is working.

Jerry: Microsoft Desktop Computing - was here and then disappeared. Steve Jobs held the patents on the touch interfaces.

Dean: how can Apple own patents on touch when other patents are out there, etc? And with Microsoft Desktop $75K per installation. cdragon and photosynth - Microsoft is doing a lot of work with visualization and control in a "visual database".

Steve Crandle: a lot of work in the past 20 years - large numbers of patents. Nothing is particularly new and novel. Now, there is enough processor to make the interface fluid.

Key to fluidity - it is the responsiveness - especially with the touch interface.

Steve Crandle: how else are they (Apple) going to square everything. Interesting engineering design choices. Forced into the slower networking so they put into WiFi so they could have a working system.

Jerry: wifi at low power

Joy to use - roll your thumbs around. Typing - use one finger (the hints are "thumbtips"). Auto-corrections become more to the where you type, versus the word you are aiming for. Sound gives a visceral feel to the typing experience.

GPRS is so pokey slow.

Yi Tan Tech Conference Call - twitter

Social Network/twitter top with Ev Williams, Howard Greenstein (Social Media Club), Deb Schultz, Ben Rattay (change.org)

Ev talking about twitter is a social networking tool, SMS less. All sites will eventually be SMS. Categorization as a social network is becoming increasingly helpful.

SMS as it gets blends in and gets mainstream.

OpenID is becoming more mainstream.

Change.org - give people a way to get involved with activities with change.org

Alot of sites are becoming really good at one service, and not being ubiquitous. Valuation is equal to number of names/email addresses/mobile numbers.

Joining each social network is the heavy lifting - not really - in each social network,

Social network is already in your address book.

Uber-networking services: sixdegrees.com - never got to the opportunity.

Ben: Dopplr and no specific value. Couldn't LinkedIn/Facebook do it? Not easily - it is about information architecture. Could so a crossover of stuff since it will never be good enough as using Yelp.

Are we see an explosion of innovation and variety - and the one with the best "information architecture" - Yelp adds compliments for social credit. Basic functionality is the same, but the community incentives determine the "feel" of the site.

Deb: architecture helps to define culture. The hub and spoke mentality (Facebook) versus OpenID which is owned by the individual. The architecture helps determine the "temperature" in the room.

Jerry: open architecture allows the platform to be used into other services/repurposed functions (e.g. LinkedIn could not easily be used to become Yelp).

Plasticity: can the products be made to be plastic. Ev: big fan of being a very focused product. twitter is just the right balance of focus and openness. Too many people widen the product they build too quickly, and do not stay focused.

twitter is gearing toward the usual crowd - maybe when the size grows, it will skew more toward the younger crowd (Sanford's opinion - nah)

Likely business models of social networks three years from now?

GoodContacts: multiple business cards. Allowing people to have multiple identities.
Experimenting on the "patterns in the wild"

No physical/tangible metaphor in the "real world" - it is a verb, not a noun. Ev: look at "blogging" - it is now in Microsoft Word. So, the features migrate to the main process.

TRIZ invention (see wikipedia)

Is this some federation of peer-to-peer data collaboration? Ben: very similar to NetVibes model. Allow you to see the niche services in one place. The incentives in the big companies will keep from being "open" - big companies are very, very proprietary. We do not want one big social network - I go to a social network because I want "something", I do not want a big bloated social network.

YiTan Tech Conference Call - Tempest in the Blogosphere

From Jerry's original email:

In early April, some teasing and badgering online ran out of control. Anonymous commenters became abusive and threatening, and blogger Kathy Sierra responded in a way that lit up cyberspace.

Soon the story ricocheted out of cyberspace, making stops on Salon, BusinessWeek and eventually CNN. The first week ended with Sierra and Chris Locke, publishing a joint statement that helped calm the waters.

Jerry started out with apologizing for what could be perceived as framing the call in a potentially negative way - wanted to be sure that this call was a discussion of feelings and how we personally felt, rather than finger-pointing and recriminations.

Jerry: what were your personal responses in regard to these issues:

• What is the general state of cyberspace discource? Civility in general?
• Discussion on gender in the blogosphere
• "Cute Kitty" moniker - how this became an issue
• Labeling in blogs - what can we do to minimize the negative discourse

Quick and dirty history of the story:
Meankids.com by rageboy, then Bobsyouruncle - all sorts of threats, Kathy was targeted and chose not to go. Got a lot of attention in the world. Blew up into Salon, MSM. A week later, Kathy and Chris showed up on CNN and issued a joint statement (potentially brought together by Tim O'Reilly).

Nancy White and David Reed - discussing the issue in general.

Nancy: was not online when it first unfolded. If we rush to judgment, we will screw up.
First rush, Kathy is a friend - and immediately made her defend Kathy. Her personal reaction was as a friend, a mom, a blogger and immediately had a defensive reaction in terms of the attack. Then she thought - waitaminute - we do not have all the facts. Online, we immediately rush to judgment.

DocSearls (on IRC): It isn't just a rush to judgement. It's about where that rush ends up, in aggregate. You don't so much get a "piling on", but a kind of buzzy hive swarm, where everybody makes the same sounds about the subject. It's a kind of amen corner.

Nancy: People were immediately passing judgment - you should be tougher, men were trying to advise as if they had true experiences like this. The issue migrated from Kathy to gender, then the conversation totally shut down.

DocSearls (on IRC): In the absence of facts, the ratio of opinion to facts reaches the infinite. It becomes better to say nothing than to issue yet another opinion. I reached the point where I realized I *couldn't say anything* to help, unless it was to provide more facts. Black-hole status had been reached.

DocSearls (on the call): was brought in when Kathy mentioned his name. "Blackhole" issue - no more facts were forthcoming and opinions were becoming the dominant factor. We had to take things "offline". Blogs are really the new pulpits. Maybe it is broken.

Jerry: blogging is not a dialog, rather a duologue.

Something about blogging makes opinionating too "newsy" - there is no commons on the Web yet. Like a real "public place" - blogging is not it. (e.g. Tim O'Reilly's call for "code of conduct"was him getting on *his* pulpit). In Europe, they understand the need for public spaces FIRST, then you build your personal and business around that. In the US, we overserve the individual and underserve the collective.

Doc's reaction to the story: shock and frustration. First call received was claiming the Chris *must* have done it - especially since he was "so good at Photoshop". Immediately became a blandishment of opinion. It became a huge time suck - that he resented. It brought the enemies to the forefront and (ed. opinion) friends were stalwarts.

A lot of good work did not get done because of this "thing".

Weren't there good lessons in this to be found? Yes and no - blogging has been something I have enjoyed, but not a large part of my life. Considering stopping blogging - much more work that is being accomplished with real progress (VRM at Berkmann Center, other projects). Doc felt the release of the VT files/Cho materials by NBC on his blog may have been a big mistake.

Hives gather around the "black holes" - becomes a large "suck" of time.

Nancy: interplay between blogs and MSM. Pandora's box is opened - reaction rather than analysis.

Jerry: MSM did not help in the healing, rather helped in the controversy.

SWITCH OVER: Heather - go back to thinking about this personally. Situations of where people have power and do not have power. Despair in should she event get engaged - is this really an opening of conversation. Where is collective engagement?

Pip: Blogging seems to be able listening more than speaking on. Wants to be in the receiver position, not a specific position - to allow one to evolve themselves. In a meeting, better to listen since you know what you know, and what others know. Want to be where people are "open to discussion".

Nancy: spaces online - nurtured online - by deep relationship and trust. Anonymity can happen, but often destroyed. Was extraordinary in the Israeli/Palestinian forum - first three months was good and then it fell apart.

Dennis: Saw a lot of gender and power relationships. When Danah Boyd posted - it was a light on the issue to show what was happening and gave him an appreciation of what happened. Had not thought it was happening STILL.

Posted without fact checking - because he wanted to help. What he could be responsible for and how he would conduct himself. Very much aligned with Nancy's perception of "personal responsibility" versus "code of conduct".

Nicole Lazzaro: lampooning and satire might have gotten misunderstood. By violating social norms, created more emotions. Shocked that it was happening to an individual.

PhilWolff: surprised it spiraled out of control so quickly.

Trudy: came at this very late - learned about what happened. Was not really surprised at what happened and the comments on public spaces. Which is why she does not spend time there. Lots of blogosphere places which do not have the tools or the spirit (interested in the depth of the connection, not the quantity of connections). There was no community manager to take care of the negative posts - on DailyKos, trolls are there to clear the negative comments.

DocSearls (on IRC): "Black holes as entertainment = Blogging as television, as tabloid culture, where celebrity is everything and no minds ever change but merely swim in trivia."

HowTo:
Doc (on call): need something new - blogging is ten years old - tagging works, syndication - very early in the development of whatever we are going to make of the 'net. We need the "geeks" to invent something new. We are trying to aon a 'planet' that has not terriformed. Blogging has turned into People Magazine - 70MM bloggers.

When AOL opened the pipes, the web changed. There are downsides to having everyone getting involved. Need more conversation to happen, instead of lobbing opinions. (Jerry's opinion: very diverse).

Heather: having a person "present" will overcome the need for a 'code of conduct' - how to have your true self. Scaling civility well or intimacy - has anyone seen it happen?

DocSearls (on call): open-source community - very brutal, someone at the top, very challenging - maintains civility through management. "brutally meritocratic", but have developed methods over time. Scaling civility should be possible, intimacy can be more difficult.

Dennis: example would be in the Euro acceptance in Europe.

Heather: when you blog, you are very naked, and being naked on a blog is being very vulnerable. "Being intimate in public" - intention is created. Witnessing in public.

DocSearls (on IRC): I love what Kurt Vonnegut said: "You've got to be kind." That's very hard when you perceive other people as "bad", deserving of rebuke, and at a distance.

Nancy: how can we be in communities in the networked world. The boundaries are in motion - we are trying to refigure them. The North American view is that anonymity and privacy is very different than the rest of the world.

Most communities have four stages - the way to true communities is through chaos. Either by leader (lead us) or MTA (emptiness).

Credits to Jerry on his recap and Peter Kaminski (and others on the IRC) for their quoting abilities.

Yi-Tan Tech Conference Call - Predictions for 2007

From Jerry's request for predictions:

Dean Landsman: Microsoft will make serious moves on online advertising and attempt a hostile takeover of Yahoo! - might save Microsoft's own blunders.

Pip: Microsoft is on the crest - ready to become bolder - and become more active. Microsoft's R&D budget is too high compared to their peers ($8B in 2006) - will make a change. Wii becoming a very powerful voice. Alternative energy/glovbal warming will become higher and higher. Some new idea will come into the framework will translate into a change. Action may occur. Stage 2 of energy independence, climate change - will be at the top of the agenda by the end of the year. Green will become cool - and will be a way for people to become rich (Jerry: "green is the new black") - audience has expanded.

Nicole Lazzaro: Wii stats - very impressive - continued success - outselling the PS3 with the new experience. Gets back to what is most exciting about gaming - forcing designers to innovate and create new innovation elsewhere. Low end of the market.

Nancy White: SecondLife - what will people be doing with online environments - how will people make it easier for users to use SL environments. Second wave adoption is going to get serious attention - and will help develop revenues and adoption opportunities.

Jerry: no community is takling up SL like college students took up FaceBook.

Allen Kelly: Gartner hype-cycle - initial hype, disillusionment, then mainstream adoption - 2007 will be a disillusionment and then 2008 will become the real growth. SL (hopefully) will offer a chance to allow for creative and innovative opportunities after the disillusionment trough.

Pip: Web browser allows for simple navigation - ISPs got you on. Need similar slide for SL. Initial adoption - and then something that is radically compelling. Needs it to become more navigatible and create compelling experiences.

Jerry: in Web 1.0 - early browsers - you could view code and then reuse code. Easy dissemination. In SL, not easy - growth constraint - IP has slowed it down.

Nathan: energy issues- lend even more fire into energy-efficient computing. No info on google aiming for energy efficiency. AMD is maintaining its advantage over Intel in terms of energy efficiency. Virtualization will be the place to be.

Pip to Nathan: will there be fewer and fewer servers in the world? Nathan: some of the high volume has to start experiencing slower growth with the virtualization expansion. In addition, power and real-estate issues.

Howard: Dan Miller pointed out that in Y2K in '99 has depreciated in the past seven years - look to replace their equipment and look to virtualization and centralization. Amazon cloud-in-the-sky solutions. Social media is not dead - despite what Steve Rubel says.

Bo: FindMe/FollowMe will exist - IM, SMS, mobile phone lines - and control access views to contact you. Will be able to happen in '07 - smart phones, FON - will happen for real.

Jerry: will be have an aggregation of free wifi - muni? What effect will that have on the carrier model? Will it syphon off that solution.

Esme: Yes, you can roam NOW - police in several cities are already running around using their laptops, high speed chases - anmd getting high-speed wifi. Number of cities that have a network up and running or RFPs are over 300. Grassroots level wifi - can not roam. One companies network - wireless local LAN - you can roam. 802.11N will win over WiMAX - need to win over the laptops, need to get over the upgrade cycle. Delay in the replacement of the devices. N good replacement of current tech.

Jerry: social filtering (using social information to find information)

Heather: what is next - social filtering will proliferate - will be a huge influx of human curating - displaying visually - sort of like Jerry's Brain. Will always be challenging to find what you want. Yahoo! did it in the beginning - and now others are doing it better. Tools that will go into it - but human beings will have to be part of the equation.

Jerry: right-brain: "A Whole New Mind"

Jay: Drop Web 2.0, 3.0 and call it WebN - not webX (already copyrighted)

Nick: Identity in '07 - productive and accelerated work in converging technologies in terms of interoperation. When benefits of single signon becomes more than password/authentication - and then eyeballs/identities are allocated - this will become the major acceleration. Major places to look: iiw2006 - workshops, Berkman Center w/ Doc Searles, technometria, Sxipper - single signon browser. Identity/SS - middle of the spam issues - more important to validate who sends what to make identity very important - will, in a lasting way, be important. Could help and really hurt as well - tracking the policy side. Watching how people are able to manage their identity and other aspects.

Jerry: 2007 appears to be spam. Image spam - much larger in file size - applicaion acceleration. Now it is becoming more important to handle.