I was recently reading Harvard Business Publishing and I ran into Umair Haque’s article on Web 2.0. The second I saw the article pop up on my RSS this morning, I wanted to check it out as he doesn’t write very much.
His article is titled "An Open Challenge to Silicon Valley" I found awesome. Take a read. I’m pretty swamped tonight with some software development projects, but I wanted to make sure to post the link. It basically is along the same lines of my last two rants. Nobody is really innovating with Web 2.0. Umair actually takes it to the next level, challenging readers to think of huge problems that can be solved with Web 2.0, and let him know! He will help you get it done!
"What’s really going here? I think the malaise is deep and systemic. Many of you may disagree – but I’m vastly disappointed in the moral and strategic bankruptcy of today’s crop of venture investors and so-called revolutionaries." – Umair Haque
Clearly he was listening to Tim O’Reilly during the Web 2.0 Expo where Tim also challenged everyone to solve big hard problems, and avoid all the headlines full of hype. I love the poem he used to end his speech, The Man Watching. Umair has actually been talking about the "problem" with Web 2.0 for some time now on his blog.
Anyway, back to work, but there are dozens of articles that back up my perception of Web 2.0. I’m glad because I was starting to wonder if maybe I had issues, and should be writing some revolutionary Flash Facebook Plug-in to give my friends virtual wedgies! What’s sad is someone out there is going to read this, do it, and make millions. Something is clearly wrong…