The Qube Exchange

I wanted to provide a summary of short white paper I just read, written by Philip Evans at the Boston Consulting Group. The article goes through the implications of web 2.0 on the world and how social platforms extend beyond the web. If not taken seriously, you have significant risk of being left in the dust. The last couple of sentences of the white paper sums it up nicely:

“Technologies that today look cute, tomorrow will prove lethal. There is a python in the garden.”

Mr. Evans talks about how there are two principles which define web 2.0: Loose modularity which is described as an architecture of small tasks “loosely joined.” Example: the mash-up in which one web site relies on data to create rich hybrid offerings. The second principle he terms as the empowerment of the periphery through a trusting community. Example: sharing of intellectual property within which reputation serves as a motivator and basis of trust. These principles are not new and were envisioned by the creators of the web. What is so astonishing is the scalability made possible by technology.

Take a look at some of the astonishing numbers he outlines:

- More than 220 million members of ebay trading in excess of $50 billion per year – a higher gross merchandise volume of Lowe’s.
- One thousand people writing the 30 million lines of Linux code, competing with Microsoft’s $10 billion investment in Windows Vista.
- IBM having more than 4,000 global executives and engineers collaborating as avatars on private virtual islands within Second Life.

The author also discusses the impact of Mobile 2.0 and how web 2.0 is impacting corporations such as Toyota. For those companies and individuals not keeping up and utilizing these new technologies, there is indeed a python in the garden.