Jun
17
Written by:
Joel Orr
6/17/2008
I'm at
SuperNova 2008, in San Francisco. Here are some of the session topics:
The Theory and Practice of Networks • Does Telecom Have
a Future? • Networked Business Models • Whose Social Graph? • The
Internet is People: What We Know, and What it Means • Cyberspace
Constitutional Moments • The Meaning of Openness • All the World’s a
Game: What the Web can Learn from Virtual Worlds • Liquid Conversations
and Distributed Content • Going Green: Toward a More Sustainable
Technology Industry • Who is Driving Marketing Innovation? •
Monetization for Today’s Internet… and Tomorrow’s • Wireless Disruption
• Privacy and Security in the Network Age • Does the Media Get the
Message?
"The shift to network-based computing, services, business processes,
marketing, entertainment, social relationships, connectivity, and
culture will challenge our assumptions about how the world works. Those
who fail to appreciate the complex implications are at risk. Those who
can take advantage of the power of the new network face extraordinary
opportunities."
If you want to experience some of the talks, there is a live feed (and later, recordings) at
this link.
This is the seventh year for SuperNova, and it is a well-connected conference: There is free wireless and there are powerstrips throughout the hall. Almost
everyone here is typing on a laptop while the speakers are speaking.
For the speakers, it has to be like looking out into a room where 400
people are doing their homework. Odd.
Some random observations:
- Average age is 40+
- Many people wearing black
- Macs seem to greatly outnumber PCs; I think it's a San Francisco/Silicon Valley phenomenon
- Many attendees are simultaneously surfing their phones (iPhones, Nokia 95s) and the web
- Using mozes.com, we were able to text messages from the audience to a large screen behind yesterday's wrap-up panel; some interesting, some inane comments
- Lots of Europeans; I think the strong Euro, weak dollar has a lot to do with that
You'd think it would zing with power and novelty - but it doesn't. Instead, it feels remarkably academic, full of interesting thoughts and conversations, but with no sense of The Next Big Thing. Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm jaded. But I'm having trouble relating it all to the world of engineering automation.
What are your thoughts? Check out some of the links and let me know where I'm missing it.