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Category: Web 3.0

Web 2.5: A Dangerous Crossroads

Web 2.5: A Dangerous Crossroads

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Image by Lisa Johnson from Pixabay

Web 3 is not about to take over any time soon, especially given the damage that FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried have done to reinforced the public’s view that crypto (an element of Web 3) is rife with fraud and no, we have idea why Bankman-Freed isn’t in prison (‘Why aren’t you in jail already?’ Internet erupts after Sam Bankman-Fried confirms participating in New York Times’ DealBook). Yet according to MSN, We’re Witnessing the End of Social Media, and while the Age of Social was supposedly about ‘connecting,’ it has mostly been responsible for the disconnections that have been going on between people and groups.

So, we seem to be in a strange tech stasis: a no man’s land between the last and the next phase of tech.

Even FAANG – Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google stocks – isn’t FAANG anymore

Now it’s MAMAA – Meta Platforms FB, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Apple – although we propose MAMMAA, and although not stock related, Musk definitely belongs in the cabal mix and make no mistake about it: The Web 2 cabal is still alive and kicking – and not about to surrender their lead positions to the so-called next iteration of tech and yet a new crop of tech wunderkinds any time soon. Read More...

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

Everything You’ve Been Told About Tech May Be Wrong

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Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

At the dawn of the Age of Social, tech bros built promised the world  goodness and light – to bring the world closer together; to give everyone a voice – built walled gardens, amassed billions of users, made themselves more or less the only game in town and became a vital part of life. Which made them too big to fail.

Or so we’d been told. Often.

Yet by the end of September, Facebook’s Meta Lost Two-Thirds of Market Cap Value From 2021, NewsMax reported. Mark Zuckerberg Admits He ‘Got It Wrong’ as Meta Lays Off 11,000 Employees. At Least He Signed His Name. Twitter laid off 7500 employees – but at least Zuckerberg signed his name??? Which will no doubt make all the difference, especially once the benefits run out. Read More...

Has Zuck Run Out of Luck?

Has Zuck Run Out of Luck?

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Photo by Annie Spratt @unsplash

 Mark Zuckerberg/Facebook (now Meta) has always been something of a bellwether for the Web 2.0 Age of Surveillance nee Age of Social and high time to just call it as it is.

Since Zuckerberg did help to define the last iteration, it stands to reason that he would lead us once more into the fray as we barrel towards Web 3, no?

He thinks so. He may not be building his own metaverse as originally planned, but nor is he sitting idly by. Au contraire. Instead, as Futurism noted, “the company wants to get in on the ground floor and determine its rules.” Read More...

The New Era of Tracking: Too Much to Swallow?

The New Era of Tracking: Too Much to Swallow?

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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

 We have entered a new era of tech. Web 3.0, including blockchain/the distributed web, cryptocurrency, the metaverse, 5G and before too long, quantum computing (The Need, Promise, and Reality of Quantum Computing), which will certainly be a huge game-changer.

After all the loss of privacy we’d experienced during Web 2.0h???, as we now like to call it, as capturing all our personal data was supposedly all in the name of selling us yet another pair of, say, sneakers. Oh, and connecting the world through social, too, as it was the social web after all, no matter how anti-social it became over time. But considering how much more the next era in tech is promising – and let’s not forget robotics, connected glasses, eg the upcoming Apple Glasses, the Internet of Things, AI, Smart Cities, Smart Agriculture, et al are also in the mix – what a wonderful era of promise awaits us! We’re finally going to get it all right and in fact, to help you prepare, head’s up: “To succeed in the future, you MUST learn web3, @Mishadavinci tweeted.  These 7 world-changing concepts get you up to speed.”

  Read More...

The Metaverse and the Peloton Saga: A Cautionary Tale

The Metaverse and the Peloton Saga: A Cautionary Tale

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Technologies change with time and circumstances. The lockdowns brought the rise of Zoom, Peloton and Hopin, to name a few. But times change, as do needs and fortunes.

While much attention given of late to Peloton, it’s also notable that Virtual events platform Hopin cut(s) 12% of staff, citing goal of ‘sustainable growth.’ As Techcrunch reported, “Following unprecedented growth and several acquisitions, we are reorganizing to align with our goals for greater efficiency and sustainable growth,” the company said in a statement…Hopin acquired five companies in just 2021, including a $250 million purchase of StreamYard.”

David Bowie said that tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming, and as TechCrunch noted, Hopin “merely 11 months prior…closed a $400 million raise at a $5.65 billion valuation. Then (founder Johnny) Boufarhat told TechCrunch that “his company intends on being operationally IPO-ready next year.” Read More...

Is the Long Arm of Silicon Valley Being Cut Off at the Knees?

Is the Long Arm of Silicon Valley Being Cut Off at the Knees?

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Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

f you’ve been following what’s been going on lately in tech and focusing on the headlines, you might have missed the forest through the trees.

Silicon Valley Disruption Part 1:

Facebook just lost half a million users, the headlines screamed (out of nearly 2B, and no bigs, you’d think, but a) they’re not growing, b) those users are in the US: prime market, which meant they took a big hit on their profits and c) it’s the first time ever that FB lost users), and the stock was devalued 20%, wiping  $200BN off the value of parent-firm Meta. Of course, founder  Mark Zuckerberg was quick to come up with the excuses, par usual (ever notice that it’s never his bad?): Read More...

“Beware the Tech Industrial Complex”

“Beware the Tech Industrial Complex”

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It was President Dwight D. Eisenhower who said that when leaving office, although most people quote his warning to beware the military industrial complex. He was right on both counts, but the former seems just a bit more prescient at this juncture.

The news that grabbed the headlines this week was Microsoft’s $70B bid for the troubled Activision (Microsoft’s Activision buy could shake up gaming), but the real news is that Microsoft is bigger than Google, Amazon and Facebook. But now lawmakers treat it like an ally in antitrust battles.

Odd, given that so much attention is focused these days on anti-trust and Big Tech and note to self, the acquisition would make Microsoft bigger in the gaming space than Nintendo. This, as we stand at the threshold of the metaverse and given Microsoft’s ownership of LinkedIn, this would consolidate its position in the metaverse in both work and play. Read More...

Life, the Metaverse and Everything

Life, the Metaverse and Everything

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The reference is the third book in Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series, The Answer to Life, the Universe and Everything, FYI.

It’s traditional at this time of the year to either look back at the best/worst ofs from the year before, or to prognosticate about the year ahead.

This point in the trajectory of tech feels different, as we venture across the threshold of Web 3.0. meaning that there have been two prior iterations: Read More...

Is Tech Starting to Get Under Your Skin?

Is Tech Starting to Get Under Your Skin?

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We used to play competitive field hockey. Center halfback. Winning team and why? We and our center forward had a strategy: Yours Truly always fell back – to the least protected part of the field – rather than shadowing her.  She would invariably get the ball at some point, send it to us, who would guard it until she was in position to score, return it to her. Score! Game over. Worked every time.

It’s one thing to skate to where the puck is going, as per ice hockey great Wayne Gretzky’s advice. And quite another to follow the strategy/keep an eye on the field at large. Which is also potentially a winning play.

As a result of our lessons from field hockey, we personally don’t necessarily only follow where the puck is going, but rather, attempt to sort out the underlying strategy as well – and look to what else is happening on the field. For example, it was recently widely reported that Elon Musk says the US should ‘get rid of all’ government subsidies re EVs. As The Verge said, “Musk’s companies have benefitted from many different federal and state subsidies over the years, and the government is a major SpaceX customer (though SpaceX won much of that business by dramatically undercutting the prices of established players). Tesla has also found tremendous success in China after receiving lots of help from the central government there. Musk said Monday that Tesla “did not anticipate any subsidies” when the company was in its early years. Read More...