Why interoperability matters in Social Networks

It’s in the news, there is a war of Social Networks. But the current system, where bloggers and web commentators ask “will Google+ kill Facebook, or Twitter or both?” is not sustainable. This type of business cannot survive in the long term. I am not going to elaborate on the benefits of the market economy, but I’m simply talking about how a communication network actually functions. Yes, eventually the digital divide will be filled and pretty much everyone will be in the grid. No, it won’t be because one company won and got the monopoly of “social”.

Think of phones networks, and their many operators. Imagine two people, living in two different countries, using different providers, one on a fixed line, and one on a mobile phone.

Can they call each other?

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Facebook is dead. Everything’s gonna be OK.

Pointing out Facebook slip-ups is like shooting fish in a barrel, except the fish is actually a dead horse. Facebook has replaced Microsoft as the dream target of everyone looking for a good rant on unethical business behaviour. But while Microsoft is like a vampire who can’t ever die, Facebook could easily pull a Hendrix (or worse, a Tony Soprano) any day if it’s not more careful. Read between the lines of recent headlines and ask yourself who will benefit from Facebook’s collapse.

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Please mobile me already!

Foreword — Jobs has spoken

In case you missed it, you should know that everyone has been talking about Steve Job’s “Thoughts On Flash” in the last couple of weeks. This is an important read, not because it talks about what’s currently happening (i.e., the lack of Adobe’s Flash technology in the iPhone, and now the iPad), but rather because Jobs is writing about how Apple (and other Internet big players) are going to position themselves in years to come. Sure, the iPad is sexy, but the changes ahead go much deeper, and announce where Internet business is heading.

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© 2023 Yves Bennaïm