Web 2.0 needs a monopoly

I was chatting with Kurt (my colleague at digitalinfest) the other day and we started complaining about the things we don't like in this web2.0 environment. Don't get me wrong, web2.0 is lovely but there are some really annoying things about it.

One of it's biggest problems is a sort of compatibility issue, an ethic compatibility issue. There are a lot of social web2.0 services out there, primarily social networking services. All those services work in there own way and couldn't care less about connecting with other networks. That's a problem really, for example:

In Belgium the two largest social networks are Facebook and Netlog. I spoke to a South-American person a few weeks ago and he told me his name on Orkut, then a week later a met a guy from England and he gave me his meebo profile.

Do you see my problem? There is no way I'm going to make an account on all those social networks, but I would like to keep in touch with those people other than only sending them emails (IM is hard too 'cause there's a billion IM services out there).

To elliminate this problem that - I'm sure - many of us have been irritated with, I see two possible options: a big player with a monopoly or a system like openID that functions as a platform with basic profile information on which social networks can act as a sort of higher level layer.

A system like openID would be the most perfect solution I can imagine, but I think we all know that there's nobody out there willing to dedicate a whole serverfarm to a service that nobody will actually see and thus no end-user will care about.

So I turn to the other solution which is a lot more realistic, we need a big player in this market who can forge a strong monopoly so every single user in the world will be using that social network. I know the word monopoly sounds evil but look at it this way: How many railroad companies do you have? How many choices of services do you have when mailing a letter? One, and that's because it's the only way that works.

This post also concerns other web2.0 services like social news websites or services to get your photos online, I use Digg and Picasaweb but there are a lot of other commonly used services out there: Reddit, Yahoo Buzz, Flickr, photos on Windows Live Spaces, ...

So what's my conclusion? I think it would be better for the end-user to have one service provider for every specific service such as social networks, photos, social news sites, instant messaging, ...
This might sound rather strange because normally an end-user benefits when there is hard competition which pushes companies to deliver better 'stuff' to the consumer. But that's not the point here, the point in social services on the web is that you can connect with each other.

VOIP, the way to call whenever,wherever!

VOIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) will be having it's major breakthrough not far from now; because the only thing you really need is a stable broadband connection with the desired speed,.. to support internet telephony with some quality of service. In good conditions it is no longer noticeable that you're making a call over the internet. So landlines are becoming superfluous, particulary because they are more expensive.

Of course there is the wellknown tool: Skype, with this softphone (software program that let's you make phone calls) you can call other Skype users for free. It also offers attractive rates for calls to landlines or mobile phones and even a monthly fee so you can call unlimited (available in the US for about 3 bucks a month). And this technology is mobile too, especially when mobile phones (e.g. Iphone 3G) are connected to the internet through a relatively fast internet connection (3G or wifi); if this is the case you're able to make VOIP calls wherever you are. So it's a good thing for VOIP that such wireless networks are expanding and will have a great coverage in the near future.

It's understandable if you don't like to make calls with your computer using a headset,... and don't want to start your computer whenever you'd like to call someone (or have to leave your computer on just to be reachable). Therefore there exist phones that only have to be connected with a router. This phones support a protocol: Skype (Skype has it's own protocol) and/or the alternative Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). So while installing this phone (e.g. Siemens Giggaset C470IP) you just provide your SIP (or Skype) account information and you're ready to make VOIP calls with a (cordless) phone whenever you want. Another thing that is often offered by providers is an adapter so your current telephone can be used to make calls over the internet (e.g. Vonage V-portal).

There are a lot of SIP tools available, but my favorite one is Voipcheap. You just create an account, download the application and are ready to start making calls: so you can call other Voipcheap users and send SMS messages for free. In most countries it's free to make calls to landlines and in the US it's even free to call mobile phones. You'll think what's the catch, well the only thing you have to do is buy credit (10 euro) every 90 days to receive "freedays" (otherwise cheap ratings apply); this credit can be used to make non-free calls or you can use it to make your mobile calls by calling through a provided access number.

The only minor disadvantages opposed to an oldfashioned telephone line are that in case of a power failure you probably want be able to make any calls and when you call an emergency number it may not be routed to the nearest local emergency dispatch center. Also most services don't provide you a telephone number, so people can't reach you using their general phone, but it's possible to buy a number and connect it to your VOIP service. But we can conclude that if you want to pay less even when you start calling more it's time to switch to a VOIP service.

Lord Of The Rings Musical

The LOTR musical (www.lotr.com) is a big production that played already in Toronto for over a year,

and is currently running in London's "Theatre Royal Drury Lane" till July 19th. It will probably go to Germany after touring through Australia and New Zealand.
The show is produced and directed by Kevin Wallace and it's "Without doubt the most spectacular show in the West End (lastminute.com).

It's hard to believe how good they managed to bring such a big and great story to life on stage.
Of course some parts of the book are missing, but this should't surprise you (for example the battles aren't as present in this live show as they were in the movies), because they made one show in which they tell whole the LOTR story.
But this 3 hour long show is amazing as it is, it contains very good acting, in particular Gollum is played wonderful; the two voices, the way he moves, .... everything just feels right. The music score is great and also the costumes are surely noteworthy.

Before the show start some hobbits entertain you which is really fun, after that the use of some astonishing magical and special effects in the show becomes clear when Bilbo disappears from his party after putting on the One Ring. The show manages to take you right from the beginning with them on a journey through Middle Earth. So if you ever have the chance to see this production, I recommend to go see it.

PS: While you are in London don't forget to visit the Movieum (www.themovieum.com): a museum dedicated to films that shows you lots of movieprops, costumes, ...