Dave’s post today about his sale of weblogs.com, which has been pretty well recieved (except for some folks pointing out some institutional stupidity at Verisign).
I think news, good or bad, is always received this way: “What if it were me?” And this idea fits well into people’s minds that way. It actually could be me, they think, and I think that’s great. We need more people starting projects for the community, that build the community, and then have the perseverence to stick with it, in the hope that there will be a payday someday.
-Dave Winer
Dave is saying something important. Right now, whether you call it Web2.0 (with all the acquisition and investment news in the last 2 weeks it feels a little like 1998 again) is that people are creating, making, shaping with technology for themselves and sharing it with others. The tools are becoming commodities. Its what we do with them that makes it interesting. Dave, with a small bit of technology (small in complexity – I know I couldnt build a ping server), is able to facilitate a lot of other people/businesses/investments. He should get paid for it – to go and create something else.
Rinse and Repeat. Rinse and Repeat.
The innovation isnt coming from Oracle or AOL or MS. The smarts are with the audience, and not the guys and gals on the stage. The point of this ramblign mishmash of regurgitated stuff Ace and I have been talking about for years is that its not the technology, its what you DO with it and how you SHARE it.
Citizen Media
Citizen Journalism
Citizen Developers
Citizen Makers