Live Blogging The Future of Web Apps
part IX

This is moving fast, so who knows what I'll capture. There will be a video. I'll link to it later. One thing is for sure, they are using the words "paradigm shift" quite a bit. Uggg. Update: Panel gets a bit better as session wears on.

The guys at Futurilla blog this session better than I managed to do.

The folks at Carson say that a video of this panel (and others?) will be made freely available.

Panel Questions

Many of the services considered to be "Web 2.0" are specialized tools
that have a narrow focus on performing a single specific task very well
(dropsend, tada lists, del.icio.us, etc). Is the future of the web
primarily about solving small problems very well with focused solutions
and highly specialized tools? - Josh Clark, Global Moxie
Steffen: Things need to be related. Bookmarks, inbox, calendar, etc.
Cal: Focus on open ID/authentication. Single sign-on is back.
David: Regi sucks, not the IDs and passports

Given that AJAX allows for user interaction comparable with desktop
applications, should AJAX applications be designed like desktop
applications too? Put another way, are pretty, unique interfaces
important for Web 2.0 or is it more important to establish interface
standards whereby the user can feel comfortable across a number of
different applications? - Jonathan Leighton
Josh: Desktop apps will look more like web apps, not the other way around.

Model is that the browser is the platform or vis-versa. Discuss.
Universal connectivity will change the way we think about OS, browsers, desktops, etc.

When do you know it is time to launch?
You get feedback from launching early.
When you can use it every day and it works.
Doesn't need to be complete.
Half a product, not a half-assed product. (37 Signals mantra)

Debate on the value of VC funding takes a few minutes.

Replication of data. How will we get at it.
Yahoo! API's are opening up. Issues w/ authentication.

Influence of maps search in CH
Heavily scripted web apps.
Steffan claims to have built a 1-to-1 scale of the planet Earth

Opinions on Microsoft
Vista has RSS integration

Tom:
Web 2.0 is about getting a lot of older stuff right.
10 years to get the industry to use XML the right way.

Accessibility was big. Now it has not been mentioned. Where is it?
Awkward silence from panel.
Great non-answer from a couple guys.
Ryan tries to let everyone know how important it is to everyone.
Universal design principles are mentioned as important.

Web services. Are there new commercial agreements? Cascading SLAs?
Josh: People just went out and built stuff on Flickr. These are contracts, but they are not legal contracts. Agreements, but not legally binding. Perhaps the end of the SLA.
Others, however, disagree and state that yes, there will be the need for this kind of hybrid arrangement.

Balance between 2 Types of web apps: critical mass vs making money up front
Social software needs masses of people, therefore less emphasis on $
Charging from the start would have hurt Flickr
David: Google's revenue permits it to play with tons of cash