Tali Aben writes about a discussion at Com.Venture 2007:

# "Ubiquitous computing” is about access everywhere/anytime and multiple access devices - it’s not just “computing”.
# Wi-Fi enabled cellphones will be huge
# Business models are changing rapidly, with advertising-funded models expected to make it easier for users to access content cheaper
# Ubiquitous also means that users will access content from different places, and business models will have to become contextual. Accessing the same information within a different context will be billed differently.
# Service providers will have to shift the business model from selling access to selling content.

Fred Wilson points to a post by Mike Hirshland and writes:

Here's my take. Of course you can make money in the widgets business. I think you can make money in most any business if you take the right angle on the opportunity.

Many people thought you couldn't make money in feeds, that RSS was an open standard, that managing feeds would be a commodity, and that there wasn't a defensible position to be had. FeedBurner proved them all wrong and has built a wonderful business in feed management.

Will the widget opportunity be the same as feeds? Should the playbook for widgets be the same one FeedBurner used for feeds? I doubt it. Frankly FeedBurner is already moving into widgets so copying their playbook (being the FeedBurner for widgets) seems like the wrong angle to take.

Ed Sim provides an overview of the day's action:

must say that I came away quite impressed by Microsoft's progress in its cloud and Windows Live strategy. Last year, all of the Windows Live talk seemed quite rushed, disjointed and forced and seemed it was more of a response to the market saying that Microsoft did not get the SAAS thing. This year the strategy seemed much clearer and well defined and the executives knew how the Internet and cloud fit into all of the various business units. In the end, Microsoft has made some huge strides and will certainly be worth watching over the next year.
...
The consumer mobile breakout session was one of the more informative discussions that I attended. Basically as the world moves to three dominant operating systems for wireless (Symbian, Windows Mobile, and Linux), Microsoft will look to increase its penetration by leveraging an extensive development platform to allow third party partners to develop new consumer services which can be easily deployed via its worldwide carrier partners.

Alex Iskold writes:

Today's Web has terabytes of information available to humans, but hidden from computers. It is a paradox that information is stuck inside HTML pages, formatted in esoteric ways that are difficult for machines to process. The so called Web 3.0, which is likely to be a pre-cursor of the real semantic web, is going to change this. What we mean by 'Web 3.0' is that major web sites are going to be transformed into web services - and will effectively expose their information to the world.

The transformation will happen in one of two ways. Some web sites will follow the example of Amazon, del.icio.us and Flickr and will offer their information via a REST API. Others will try to keep their information proprietary, but it will be opened via mashups created using services like Dapper, Teqlo and Yahoo! Pipes. The net effect will be that unstructured information will give way to structured information - paving the road to more intelligent computing.

[via Thejo] Here. From the introduction:

In this report, we look at the first generation of traditional-media innovators in community engagement online. We’ll be talking about what worked, and what didn’t, in this early round of experimentation.

If you’re interested in the movement towards “crowdsourcing,” “citizen journalism,” or “user generated content” by traditional media organizations such as newspapers and television news programs, you'll find information about some of the major efforts underway today.

The third book I bought was Ram Charan’s “Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't.” I have read some of Ram Charan’s earlier books, and so this was an one easy decision. I was not disappointed.

Here is what Ram Charan’s site says about the book:

How often have you heard someone with a commanding presence deliver a bold vision that turned out to be nothing more than rhetoric and hot air? All too often we mistake the appearance of leadership for the real deal. Without a doubt, intelligence, vision, and the ability to communicate are important. But something big is missing: the know-how of running a business — the capacity to take it in the right direction, do the right things, make the right decisions, deliver results, and leave the people and the business better off than they were before.

For well over four decades, Ram Charan has been learning in the most visceral way the underlying reasons why leaders succeed and fail. As one of the most influential advisors to top management teams of leading companies around the world, he has had a front-row seat to observe the cause and effect of leadership practices and behaviors.

Ram Charan's insight into the real content of leadership provides you with the eight fundamental skills needed for success in the twenty-first century:

Positioning (and when necessary, repositioning) your business by zeroing in on the central idea that meets customer needs and makes money

Connecting the dots by pinpointing patterns of external change ahead of others

Shaping the way people work together by leading the social system of your business

Judging people by getting to the truth of a person

Molding high-energy, high-powered, high-ego people into a working team of leaders in which they equal more than the sum of their parts

Knowing the destination where you want to take your business by developing goals that balance what the business can become with what it can realistically achieve

Setting laser-sharp priorities that become the road map for meeting your goals

Dealing creatively and positively with societal pressures that go beyond the economic value creation activities of your business

Know-How is the missing link of leadership. By Showing how the eight know-hows link to, interact with, and reinforce personal and psychological traits, Ram Charan provides a holistic and innovative portrait of successful leaders of the twenty-first century.