Comments on: Schmidt on scaling Google http://www.wordyard.com/2007/04/17/schmidt-on-scaling-google/ Technology, politics, culture Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:02:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Kevin Farnham http://www.wordyard.com/2007/04/17/schmidt-on-scaling-google/#comment-571 Kevin Farnham Wed, 18 Apr 2007 06:46:06 +0000 http://www.wordyard.com/?p=1255#comment-571 The big difference between now and the late 1990s is that in the late 1990s people had visions for the potential of the Internet to utterly change the way we live, but the necessary infrastructure was not yet in place (for example, high-speed Internet access was not available in most of the U.S.). So, it was a case of unrealistic expectations being chased by money that correctly understood the long-term potential of the Internet, but misunderstood the impossibility of it happening at that time. Now the infrastructure is in place. This is not a bubble, but the start of the actual long-term wave of developments that will indeed utterly transform the way humans live. It's very similar to the history of automobiles. "Horseless carriages" in a sense failed, they were laughed at legitimately, because the necessary infrastructure (good roads) did not exist. A great many companies went out of business. But once sufficient effort was put into building the infrastructure, a long-term wave of "adoption" of automobiles (including trucks) began, lasting for decades, and indeed the way people live was changed forever. Web 2.0 is the start of that long-term wave for the Internet. The big difference between now and the late 1990s is that in the late 1990s people had visions for the potential of the Internet to utterly change the way we live, but the necessary infrastructure was not yet in place (for example, high-speed Internet access was not available in most of the U.S.). So, it was a case of unrealistic expectations being chased by money that correctly understood the long-term potential of the Internet, but misunderstood the impossibility of it happening at that time.

Now the infrastructure is in place. This is not a bubble, but the start of the actual long-term wave of developments that will indeed utterly transform the way humans live.

It’s very similar to the history of automobiles. “Horseless carriages” in a sense failed, they were laughed at legitimately, because the necessary infrastructure (good roads) did not exist. A great many companies went out of business. But once sufficient effort was put into building the infrastructure, a long-term wave of “adoption” of automobiles (including trucks) began, lasting for decades, and indeed the way people live was changed forever.

Web 2.0 is the start of that long-term wave for the Internet.

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