Party Like It's 1999
Tue, 07/19/2005 - 21:47
The Business
Bumper sticker seen in Silicon Valley: "Just one more Internet bubble - Please!".
This guy may just get his wish, according to an article in Business 2.0 that declares the coming of the Fifth Wave of computing. According to them, the combination of embedded devices, web services, abundant bandwidth, wireless communications, and open-source software add up to the Next Big Thing.
The immediate response is, of course, "Duh!".
Now that I've got that out of my system we can reflect on the fact that there do seem to be a lot of factors lining up. Investment capital is looking for something to get excited about, there is a lot of dark fiber left over from the last party, and the web services infrastructure is a lot more real than it was the last time we talked about Internet appliances. People also seem to have gotten over stupid ideas like putting browsers on toasters and may be ready for a brand-new round of stupid ideas. There is the lingering feeling that people can't have memories that are that short, but the capacity for self-deception should never be underestimated. Maybe things really will be different this time around... (snicker)
Larry Mittag
This guy may just get his wish, according to an article in Business 2.0 that declares the coming of the Fifth Wave of computing. According to them, the combination of embedded devices, web services, abundant bandwidth, wireless communications, and open-source software add up to the Next Big Thing.
The immediate response is, of course, "Duh!".
Now that I've got that out of my system we can reflect on the fact that there do seem to be a lot of factors lining up. Investment capital is looking for something to get excited about, there is a lot of dark fiber left over from the last party, and the web services infrastructure is a lot more real than it was the last time we talked about Internet appliances. People also seem to have gotten over stupid ideas like putting browsers on toasters and may be ready for a brand-new round of stupid ideas. There is the lingering feeling that people can't have memories that are that short, but the capacity for self-deception should never be underestimated. Maybe things really will be different this time around... (snicker)
Larry Mittag
