The Economist writes: "Whether or not computer, software, consumer-electronics, telecoms, cable and internet companies are in fact out of touch with consumers may be the biggest question facing these industries today. That is because the 'digital home', a concept and category hugely hyped in executive circles but still rarely heard in discussions among consumers, represents their greatest hope for revenue growth. Demand from corporate buyers of technology has barely recovered from the dotcom bust and is widely expected to be unimpressive for years. By contrast, the homes of consumers appear to technology vendors as a barely tamed analogue wilderness."

[via Ramesh Jain] PC Magazine looks ahead:

Asked to speculate on how the Internet might advance in the next decade, Van Houweling says, "I think we don't yet understand the implications of the mobile Net. There is so much activity and risk attached to people when they're moving around that if you could really make the Net part of that world, it could have an enormous impact. If every vehicle had direct access to the Net and the roads they travel on facilitated inter-vehicle communication, driving could become immensely more safe and vehicles much more reliable."

Jupiter Research's Schatsky agrees that Web connections may blend into our surroundings. "They will become much more ubiquitous, and wireless, with connected cars, connected clothes, and real-time connections in formerly inanimate objects," he predicts.

Ten years is too short for the Net to become the totally immersive sci-fi "Metaverse" that author Neal Stephenson envisioned in his book Snow Crash. But it's a good bet we'll stop thinking of it as an environment separate from our physical surroundings, and realize instead that it's all around us.

Charlie O'Donnell lists out 10 steps to building a Web 2.0 company. Among them:

1. Solve the smallest possible problem (that is still big enough to matter) for the user and know exactly what problem you're trying to solve. Google's first and primary job was very simple: Help people find stuff. They didn't start layering on everything else until much later. Brad calls this the "narrow point of the wedge." Its the easiest, simplest version of what you're trying to do... the smallest bite your users will ever have to chew--small enough to get hooked on very easily.

3. Launch. Now. Tomorrow. Every day. Don't wait until its perfect to put it out in the open. No more closed invite-only betas. Your idea of perfect may not jive with your users' ideas of perfect. Put whatever you can out there and get people using it as soon as possible. Feed them daily with new features to keep them interested and coming back. No one likes waiting six years for new releases.