Naturally Selected Web

I presented at Web3.0 and the Future of Social Media Conference yesterday (see Twitter hashtag #web3).

I wanted to push ahead a few years and get the point across that we need to think about the web in a more naturalistic way. It’s not about silicon, electrons and data. It’s now has a life unto itself and displays the traits of living things.

I also wanted to focus on the way the web application and business space faces consumers. Essentially that we need to change direction and treat each individual as important, be careful with their time and relevent when we give them content and services.

Here’s my slide notes…

Burning Questions

So much technology
:: Why am I so time poor?

Photo: ToniVC

The next big thing
:: Where are we at?
:: Web 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, yada, yada.

Photo by David Prior

The Web Entity

The net is a beast
:: It has developed a life unto itself
:: Relative to natures evolution it’s a mini-beast, amoebic.

Photo by microagua

Primordial Days
:: Quality of info filters builds
:: Good levels of sharing
:: Early sensory control
:: Early utility adoption
:: Start of linked data

Life like
:: Homeostasis
:: Organization
:: Metabolism
:: Growth
:: Adaption
:: Response to stimuli
:: Reproduction

Biotic
:: Consumers
:: Employees
:: Developers
:: Investors

Abiotic
:: Applications
:: Network
:: Platforms
:: Web construct

Devices

Generation D
:: The data generation
:: The device generation

It’s about the data
:: Data surpasses the importance of the digital bodies that it lives on.
:: Data is created about data. A world of linked data.
:: Data lives on the web and Devices are windows into the web.

Data is set free.
:: User permission.
:: Socially permission.

Everything has a brand
:: People, Ideas, Services & Products. Not just companies.

Numerical Brand
:: Algorithm + vote search
:: Social bookmarking
:: Followers & friends
:: Crowd sourcing
:: Content rating
:: Like vs link

Information overload
:: We need better controllers of the data we see.

Restraint
:: We collect and regret
:: Collect = Gather and store data, experiences, apps, tools.
:: Regret = Missing something like news, ideas, experiences.

The Cost of the Habit
:: Time
:: Effectiveness
:: Self expression
:: Quality of experience

Data Addiction
The old addiction
:: Physical Consumption
The new addiction
:: Digital Consumption

Sales Automation

Educate vs Sell
:: Authenticity

Trigger vs Campaign
:: Trigger based email/mail/web

Targeted and relevant
:: Don’t waste their attention

Off balance sheet Sales
:: Community, Customers, Partners & F&F

Data Brokers

Data Brokers
:: Integrate and connect applications and data
:: Examples: WDCI, Boomi, OneSaaS

Web applications will change
:: less device dependent
:: more connected.

Application Constraints
:: Apps that don’t connect and that are feature light weights
:: Applications that are niche require hand holding

Moving data around
:: Too many pieces in the puzzle.
:: Too many connected apps to solve business problems.
:: Too many moving parts.
:: Higher risk of failure

Attention Dollar

Attention Dollar
:: The currency of the web is attention.
:: The attention police is relevance.

Attention Defined
:: 8 hours a day playing Warcraft

Photo by glenn batuyong

The Attention Economy
:: The web beast evolves based on your attention votes.
:: Your time is being absorbed by websites and apps in piecemeal
:: Systems seduce you into giving your time away.
:: Good systems will reward your time

Marketing emails
:: Like the guy at the party who talks & talks *eyes glaze over*

Attention engineered email
:: The new email regime.
:: Email that is exactly relevant to my needs in time, place and interest. e.g. Marketo

Infographics
:: Pictures trump text

by Davvi

Meta Data Driven Content
:: Wikipedia trumps Encarta
:: Twitter trumps Yellow Pages

Digital Soap Box
:: You have something you want to say
:: e.g. walls, tweets, blogs, chatter

Data and graphic rich business apps
:: Replacing numbers/words with pictures

Memetic Engineering
:: Designing business models to produce memes.
:: Capital value is based on the consumer & business Attention acquired.

Ubiquitous Web

Required Elements
:: Data, Utilities, Connection & Computation

The web is evolving based on what works & what doesn’t
:: Small nuances = Big differences

The web is getting judged, naturally selected
…and across many devices

Consumers are mini VC’s
:: Invest small amounts attention dollars

Consumers are natural selectors
:: May the best “web genetics” survive.
:: Facebook is genetically superior to MySpace? Or does it have a privacy cancer?

Do you have an iPhone?
:: How many apps have you tried?
:: Small numbers of apps survive your standards
:: The few that do have common traits

iPhone App Survival Traits
:: Extremely entertaining
:: Create or save time
:: Window into content

Utility Web

Low rather than No Software
:: Software burns time and CapEx from business
:: Software = Rekeying data, upgrade software, buy licenses & maintenance

Cloud applications / SaaS
:: Converts CapEx into OpEx
:: Google, Microsoft, Amazon are re-building the webs architecture

The Semantic Web is a WIP
:: Resource Description Framework
:: Ontology Language
:: Folksonomy

The AI Web
Mechanising our activity
:: Mechanical turks
:: True Artificial intelligence
:: Data collection and connection
:: Collective web intelligence
:: Knowledge coding
:: Recommendation Engines e.g. Apple Genius
:: Rules Engines: Triggers, Rules, Scheduled Events
:: Business Logic Layers that are flexible, learning, crowd sourced

Web Evolution

Darwinian
:: Natural Selection applies

The future will be strange
Strangeness is a consequence of innovative thinking
Ross Lovegrove

The future will be functional
its the only vehicle which have the elegance of intelligence, because it’s not driven by marketing, it’s driven by function
Philippe Starck (on military vehicles – his favourite vehicle)

User Designed Applications
:: Behavioural design
:: Relevance design
:: Theme serving

Q: With all this technology why are we time poor?
:: Shouldn’t the evolution of the web help?

A: The web doesn’t let you triage your time very well
:: We are designed to collect, gather & hunt = Quick, while it’s there.
:: We are opportunists by design

A: We are bad at delaying gratification
:: The marshmallow experiment.
:: We are still learning how to do this with financial dollars.
:: What hope is there for us with the attention dollar. It’s too easy to spend.

Web 3.0 will
:: penalise inefficiency
:: lack of connectivity
:: poor relevance

A new kind of Capital Punishment
:: Inefficient, expensive, disconnected will lose the survival of the fittest contest
Failure to be efficient
:: The new “margin squeeze”.

All business are really two+ businesses
:: They are what they normally do and they are technology businesses.
:: Survivors will have embraced this passionately
:: Survivors will ensure tech creates time rather than consuming it.

Saasu calls this
:: Engineer the way you work

Thank You

Marc Lehmann
Email: marc@saasu.com
Twitter: @marclehmann
LinkedIn: marclehmann
Web: saasu.com
Blog: saasu.com/blog
Personal blog: marclehmann.net
Address: 1st Floor, 111 Elizabeth St Sydney, Australia 2000
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