Thursday, December 10, 2009

Dennis Crowley: I Underestimated Him

Image representing Dennis Crowley as depicted ...Image via CrunchBase
Dennis Crowley and his gang presented FourSquare at the New York Tech MeetUp many many months back. I was not that impressed. Actually the app felt cheesy to me. But now I can see why it is being touted as the next Twitter. I met Crowley at a recent New York Tech MeetUp and told him about my initial reaction and congratulated him on his recent buzz.

You have to notice Fred Wilson is an investor in both Twitter and FourSquare. That guy can sure see trends. He spots.(Fred Wilson) Google obviously was not able to see what Fred Wilson was able to.

Om Malik: Why I Love FourSquare

And it is not just Dennis, it is also Naveen. I talked to him after their first demo at the NYTM. 

People have asked this question: If Twitter came after Facebook, what will come after Twitter? There were comics who suggested we might end up with a service that allows for only 40 characters maybe.

Ends up it is not what you can say in 140 characters. Your current location is interesting enough information.




FourSquare

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2010 Trends: Pete Cashmore's Take

Ted Murphy & Pete CashmoreImage by tedmurphy via Flickr
"....the continued spread of social media, location sharing, and Internet TV...."

Social media has not seen its full manifestations. So yeah 2010 might be bigger for social media than 2009 has been. But it was 2009 when Twitter really took off as a buzz brand. Facebook keeps growing by leaps and bounds. Facebook has figured out something basic that Twitter has not, not yet. The everyperson gets Facebook. That everyperson does not get Twitter yet. It has been more of a tech elite application. Granted that covers most of those who shape thoughts, but I would not bet my business model just on that.

FourSquare is the next Twitter, if you believe the buzz. Location sharing is the web going a little bit 3D. That is very much up my alley. I have kept arguing Web 3.0 is not the semantic web, it is the 3D web.

Our broadband pipes are going to get bigger. We will consume more video format content online. Video in real time is TV, right?

Pete Cashmore's CNN Article: 10 Web Trends To Watch In 2010

2010 is looking really good for one giant: Google. Wave and Android will really take off. But this Cashmore article will be an interesting read a year from now. Future can not be predicted. That is inherent. Could we have foreseen Fall 2009 in Fall 2008? I doubt it.

"....location is not about any singular service; rather, it's a new layer of the Web...."

This comment is very insightful.

Matt Galligan, Pete Cashmore, Brian DeWittImage by *Samantha Murphy* via Flickr

"How many desktop applications do we really need"

Just one, the browser.

".....a converse trend in which task-specific devices gain popularity......"

It is because our tech realities are an ecosystem. There is room for the all-in-one and the one-in-one. And more.

Farmville has a message. It is a major business trend.

Privacy as a concept will get redefined. It will get new life.



What is most interesting to me about this article by Pete Cashmore is the interaction between old media - CNN - and new media - Mashable. I think CNN is more a brand name than an old media entity. They have the option to incorporate new media and social media into that brand. And they are doing it. Old brand names need not die, but they do need to face the new reality.


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