What will revolutionize the web next?

[n0other]

I understand that this may be offtopic, but still, what do you think will be the next thing to revolutionize the web? I think the most recent was blogging, those who got it first, are now rich or will be soon. Wish I was among them at that time :/

[ccourt23]

rss (when the general public uses it)

[black]

I don't think it's too late to get into blogging. If you start now, maybe in a few years you'll start to see some nice profit. I can't say what I think will become the "next big thing" because I haven't got the slightest idea. If I do happen to figure it out, I'll be sure to capitalize on it first before letting in competition.

-black

[aspen]

heh blogging

I bet most blogs don't exist (or end in inactivity) in 5 years. I see it mostly as a fad.

[sid egg]

Originally Posted by aspen

heh blogging

I bet most blogs don't exist (or end in inactivity) in 5 years. I see it mostly as a fad.

But, I see that fact as a creating a very profitable industry. You'll know what I mean when I release it :-) .... how's this, my current site (refrozen) gets a lot of traffic from bloggers. :-)

[sid egg]

Also, n0other, if we knew, there is no way we'd tell you, think about it: we could either get rich off it, or we could tell you and you get rich =\

[Nintendo]

Make datafeed sites, or duplicate content sites. There currently the hotest thing on the block. Google LOVES them!!!!

[ph33rgear]

I read an article on the guys that owns binoculars.com

he paid 60,000$ in blogging fee's so far this year and said he's going to pay another 50,000 in the next

He obviously finds it working for him, thats alo of money tho for blogs but i guess you need

- 10 NICE domains that are business'
- 10 blogs sites domains to match
- 10 script setup, im sure he has custom
- 10+ writers that are paid to do so

So that 60,000 would be gone quick but he links all keywords to his products which i would imagin pays good.

[fireklown]

I think the most recent was blogging, those who got it first, are now rich or will be soon.

That would be nice, I could use the money. I was blogging long before blogger and such came around. My very first site was nothing but a page I made in FrontPage express where I would go and just write what was ever on my mind. It all came from an english class I was taking where the teacher told us the power of free-writing. This was back in 96.

It started off getting like 5 hits a day just from friends, now it does about 200,000-300,000 a day. And to ths day it's my #1 site (out of 26) and the most profitable, and the only one I really enjoy working on. I get sick of the others easily. But those are for business, the blog is for pleasure, and the fact it makes the most is just a bonus.

I agree RSS might be th enext big thing, but I'm not sure. Generally the vast majority of people aren't very bright. Most people come online to look at pretty pictures, and need them to have you hold their hand with simple navigation. I think RSS would be over the heads of a lot of people

[BigBlueBall]

Originally Posted by aspen

heh blogging

I bet most blogs don't exist (or end in inactivity) in 5 years. I see it mostly as a fad.

I agree that most blogs that exist to day won't exist in 5 years (the same could be said about a lot of forums, or websites in general for that matter). But I think blogging as a publishing technology is here to stay.

In general, I think the "next big thing" is community. Technology that encourages and supports a strong sense of community will thrive. This includes forums, blogs (though I'm not really talking about the personal diary sort, but the technological concept), and wikis (allowing community CMS). Behind the scenes, it includes technology that connects people and systems. Things such as RSS, trackbacks, instant messaging, VoIP, podcasting, etc.

Here's a great example. There have been dozens of photo sharing sites, including Shutterfly, Yahoo! Photos, Webshots, etc. But none have created such a buzz as Flickr. At first glance, you might wonder what the difference is, but Flickr emphasizes the community concept with group tags, RSS and tools that help facilitate sharing and connecting people with similar interests.

Other good "connector" technologies include RSS, online presence awareness, and localized vicinity information (for both people and services). Of course, these technologies won't be meaningful to my mom, and won't be the next "big thing" until they are seamless integrated in the background. When mom uses RSS without knowing what the heck RSS is, then it has truly succeeded.

One other key will be ubiquitous access from a variety of devices -- transparent connectivity from my phone, my PC, my TV, my PSP, etc....

Here are a few cool examples, off the top of my head:

• Flickr Tags - This shows the most popular tags people have assigned photos (and you can assign tags to other people's photos, too). The more popular the tag, the larger the font. Affinity tools such as this are a great way to connect people with like interests. Yahoo's My Web 2.0 beta uses a similar tagging metaphor. And of course, there are great collaborative projects like those created by the squared-circle group.
• Meetro - At first glance, just another instant messenger, but if you're connected through a public hotspot, it'll show you other Meetro users and tell you how close (or far away) you are. In a similar vein, there's FeedMap for nearby blogs (integrated with Microsoft MapPoint).
• HousingMaps - Google Maps meets Craigslist. It's what users really want.
• Skype - Extensible, P2P VoIP with better sound quality than a standard phone line. And clients from most operating systems (even my Pocket PC). Conference calls and podcast recordings are a snap.
• P2P mindshare - I'm not referring to Napster-like P2P applications, but the concept of people sharing knowledge more fluidly, person-to-person rather than relying on "expert" to feed us. This is evident in blogs such as Make:, and sites such as Wikipedia.

People are tired of surfing the web. But we never tire of expanding our horizons and meeting new people. Websites and technologies that support building those links between people (without requiring geek know-how) will thrive.

[rgremill]

My vote is for Podcasts. iTunes 4.9 was a HUGE deal. There's about a billion ways to grab a Podcast niche.


Here's an article that talks about the level of subscriptions podcasts are getting: http://informationweek.com/story/sho...leID=164904457



I'm still holding out hope for SVG too. (The mighty Adobe/Macromedia thing might kill that though.)

[ligel]

My new web site!

[hpal]

maybe audio and video logs ! or maybe video date

[Waraas]

friend sites... like myspace and such...

I think bloggin is stupid, just a fad, that's my opinion.

But the sites like myspace are doing quite well...

[ToddW]

Originally Posted by Waraas

friend sites... like myspace and such...

I think bloggin is stupid, just a fad, that's my opinion.

But the sites like myspace are doing quite well...

Doing well until something newer and better comes up then all the myspacians move to the new thing...

[Waraas]

Originally Posted by ToddW

Doing well until something newer and better comes up then all the myspacians move to the new thing...

Yes, very true, I need to make the new and better site for them to come to! HEHE! But seriously, those sites are doing very well! Is it true that myspace is getting that same amount of hits as yahoo? I heard that somewhere?

[dreaz]

Originally Posted by ToddW

Doing well until something newer and better comes up then all the myspacians move to the new thing...

that's the beauty of the internet

[charles1]

Tom of MySpace must be earning bank.

[hpal]

Actually I am luanching my new site soon, which is a socilal netwoking site , profile / dating/ friends /bloging / etc... but kind of different making bloging a component of profile and it is also directed toward christian crowq as i added an online bible/ should ge some valuable traffic. I'm a senior at cal state univ, so getting loads of traffic is no bigggy.

Problem with those sites is the script, an uniquness ! that is all

[hextraordinary]

Originally Posted by hpal

Actually I am luanching my new site soon, which is a socilal netwoking site , profile / dating/ friends /bloging / etc... but kind of different making bloging a component of profile and it is also directed toward christian crowq as i added an online bible/ should ge some valuable traffic. I'm a senior at cal state univ, so getting loads of traffic is no bigggy.

Problem with those sites is the script, an uniquness ! that is all

Social networking is dieing - All social networks but linkedIn are slowly loosing traffic. While getting less and less new users, veteran users are loosing interest. You don't create real new relationships with SN and there are much better ways to keep in touch with your current friends.

Now that Yahoo 360 (which I don't think would be a big hit either) I don't see the market for a new network.

[Andrewaclt]

http://labs.google.com/ridefinder

That's probally not the next big thing, but it's cool non-the-less.

I think social software, in which people are allowed to interact with new people in new ways is the next thing. It's all about web apps

[aspen]

Also realize that things that are popular in san francisco or in the tech world are not necessary popular with the public at large.

I read an article in a magazine (business 2.0, forbes small business, or wired, I forget which) that listed the traffic for some popular social networking sites. It was pitifully low. Many people on this forum, including myself, beat that handily. Yet these sites get boatloads of media attention.

This example is important in that it illustrates that media attention != actual usage. I feel that many things like blogs and social networking get far more media attention than actual attention and eventually, when all that VC money has dried up, they'll go the way of the dinosaur.

One thing that blogs had going for them was the novelty, that novelty is long gone.

For instance I'm sure you all know Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong yellow bracelets. Those were incredibly popular, and as anything popular they inspired hundreds or thousands of copycats. Now I see bracelets like that for the stupidest things and as such the meaning (unfortunately as it was for cancer research) of Lance's original bracelet is being lost in the wash.

Blogs are much the same, with everyone opening a blog the novelty is gone. In my opinion its only a matter of time before most of them evaporate out of apathy or disinterest.

[jumpbug]

Blogs aren't going anywhere any time soon. I vote for blogging

[Devious]

Better browsing.

[kjmz]

Well there have been many little things, like web templates, hosting, etc. but to be honest the next big thing is probably going to be all kinds of forums!