Web 2.0 Business Models Discussions

Am looking into how Web 2.0 apps make money... found these interesting descriptions:

1. http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2005/12/01/web-business-models - Ken Yarmosh maintains that 'There are mainly two Web 2.0 business models today, one based on technology and the other on network effects':

i. 'The technology business model is one primarily based around innovation, offering a compelling value proposition not available elsewhere. These services are extremely useful and can be fully utilized without any investment on the part of a user. Bells and whistles, however, are only available as premium or pro upgrades.'

ii. 'The network effects business model is one primarily based on user base and user interaction. Like its counterpart, technology is key for this model but it is not the focus. Instead, technology is important as an infrastructure tool, facilitating the business models of these companies.
Of course, in any network effects business model, the idea behind Metcalfe's law comes into play - the total value of the service is roughly proportional to the square of the number of customers' utilizing the service. So for MySpace, if Suzy Q could not connect to Betty B or John S but might be able to do so on another network, she might leave.'

Also like these presentations on what it takes to make money in the blogosphere:

2. http://www.slideshare.net/mathowie/making-money-blogging Making Money Blogging

3. http://www.slideshare.net/yizmo/10-ways-to-a-killer-blog/ - 10 Ways to a Killer Blog

4. http://www.slideshare.net/darmano/conversation-by-design?src=related_normal&rel=7780 - Conversation By Design

How OPEN Source Disrupts Traditional Economics

Really enjoyed this video snippet of Law professor Yochai Benkler explaining '..how collaborative projects like Wikipedia and Linux represent the next stage of human organization. By disrupting traditional economic production, copyright law and established competition, they're paving the way for a new set of economic laws, where empowered individuals are put on a level playing field with industry giants..'

Regards
Trevor Nel - 011 - 705-2790 - www.innercircleforum.com
trevor@innercircleforum.com

Hmmmm.....the thinking and the thunked ;-)

Now where have I heard that before??

Suddenly there are a proliferation of open source social networking systems out there.

I wonder what the "real" motivation is behind the sudden surge to make your code available to the world?? ......

Looking to get the code sorted out for free perhaps?

Once again the trend seems to be moving rapidly towards sites looking to create the "killer" database ... rather than the "killer" application. Now we've seen the aggregator of "IM" sites in meebo and now there's Mugshot
the open source aggregator of social networking sites.

Where is this all going? Are the creators of software solutions once again trying to give commerce technological answers to questions that have not been asked?? A mistake I believe the original creators of the "CRM" (Customer Relationship Management) systems made.

If this is true?! then what is the "killer" app? Why are supposedly smart investors pouring millions of "angel" & VC dollars into buisnesses than have NO visible or identifiable revenue generating ideas, plans or hopes?

How many amazons, ebays, ICQ's, etc. are there out there?

MSN's 25 Web Sites to Watch

See 25 Web Sites to Watch... these links discussed:

1. www.popfly.com - easy way to build and share mashups, gadgets, Web pages, and applications. Popfly consists of two parts:

1Popfly Creator is a set of online visual tools for building Web pages and mashups.
2Popfly Space is an online community of creators where you can host, share, rate, comment and even remix creations from other Popfly users.

What’s Microsoft’s motivation for releasing Popfly - FREE?

A. Popfly is another piece in our company-wide outreach in helping non-professional developers build everything from Xbox games to Robotics to custom Web applications using Windows Home Server. Popfly becomes the online home for building and sharing all types of non-professional projects, from static Web pages to mashups, to game mods.

2. www.circleup.com - With CircleUp you can email or IM a question to a group of any size and get back a single result with everyone's answer.

3. http://pbwiki.com/ - PBwiki lets you quickly set up your own free, hosted, password-protected wiki to edit and share information. It's as easy as a peanut butter sandwich.

4. Yodio

How the "BIG" players are using the Open Source concept

I've just received this email from IBM:

"Open source not only offers potential benefits like flexibility and cost savings, it also offers potential challenges like support and maturity. See how these new open source offerings from developerWorks can help.

Webcast: Integrating open source into your business
Join us on June 6 at 4:00 p.m. (BST) as we explore IBM's unique set of abilities and offerings designed to help you integrate open source into your existing strategy, your IT infrastructure, and your business. We will cover the IBM combination of open source and commercial software offerings, our more than 8 year involvement with open source, and our experience with Linux, Apache, Eclipse and more. This webcast will be available on demand within 24 hours following the live broadcast.

Jump-start your application development with complimentary software from IBM
This comprehensive, no-charge development, data management, and deployment environment has an IDE, a database server, and a Web server -- everything you need to get simple Web applications and Web services up and running.

Tutorial: Develop and deploy J2EE Web services using WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
This comprehensive, no-charge development, data management, and deployment environment has an IDE, a database server, and a Web server -- everything you need to get simple Web applications and Web services up and running.
Sincerely,
IBM developerWorks "

So what's the plot? If these guys are doing this kind of thing there has to be a serious business motive behind it!

Free Cell Phone Calls - WORLDWIDE !

Innovative SA start-up slashes cellphone costs -
Written by SA Good News on Monday, 14 May 2007

"Three Business Science graduates from the University of Cape Town have set up a technology company that offers VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology for cellphones. What this means is that users of their communication service can make free cellphone calls to other users. They are not only the first South African company to offer this service, but one of the first companies worldwide to do so. "


Read the full story here

Visit the site Here

OPEN SOURCE THINK TANK FINDINGS PUBLISHED

The Second Open Source Think Tank was held in March in California. A report on the events findings has now been released.The event saw 100 key members of the open source software (OSS) industry collaborating, discussing, brainstorming and developing solutions to develop and mature commercial open source.

Areas of Consensus-
1. Open source and proprietary software models are converging, and virtually all proprietary software companies will adopt key elements of the open source model, including collaborative development, and the building of viral distribution channels.
2. A new open source branding or certification is not needed, beyond the established (Open Source Initiative) OSI definition and approved licences.
There are too many OSI-approved licences, and much confusion over licence terms in the most popular licences.
3. There needs to be a new OSI-approved open source licence that better meets the needs of commercial open source vendors and commercial customers then existing licences.
4. There is a need for a new industry body where the concerns and requirements of commercial open source vendors and customers are represented. Existing organisations such as the Linux Foundation (see previous Tectonic story) and OSI do not yet meet this need.

Areas of Disagreement-
1. GPLv3 (draft 2) is accepted by some but disliked by most. (see Tectonic story on the third draft's release) Many open source companies and customers had very strong negative opinions about GPLv3 (draft 2), and will manage their organisations to reduce their exposure to GPLv3.
2. The Microsoft-Novell deal remains controversial. While San Ramji and Justin Steinman did a good job explaining some of the reasons for the deal, some in the open source community remain skeptical.
3. The future of open source vendors is uncertain. Some were very bullish on open source vendors, but others noted the relatively small number of "successful" open source companies and that most of them were started and funded many years ago. There was also disagreement on what would happen to open source if the economic cycle turned and companies cut back spending on IT. Would open source accelerate due to lower licensing costs, or would it stagnate as companies revert to tried-and-true solutions?
4. Is open source good or bad for the software industry in the long run? Many cited the open source development model as the future of software development, producing better software faster. However, the difficulty in building strong open source business models could jeopardise the future as venture and other investment capital is redeployed, away from software startups.

Read the full story here: