A Paradigm Shift
Today the net is evolving from a network of websites that enable firms to present information into a computing platform in its own right. Elements of a computer and elements of a computer program can be spread out across the internet, and seamlessly combined as necessary. The internet is becoming a giant computer that eeryone can program, providing a global infrastructure for creativity, participation, sharing and self-organization.
How is this different from the internet as it first appeared? Think of the first iteration of the web as a digital newspaper. You could open its pages and observe its information, but you could not modify or interact with it.And rarely could you communicate meaningfully with its authors, apart from sending an e-mail to the editor.
The new web is fundamentally different in both its architecture and applications. Instead of a digital newspaper think of a shared canvas where every splash of paint contributed by one user provides a richer tapestry for the next user to modify and build on. Whether people are creating, sharing or socializing, the new web is principally about participating rather than about passively receiving information.
The result is that todays most exciting and successful web companies and communities are stitching together their own services from shared databases and lego-styled pieces of web-software. The year 2006 was when the programmable web eclipsed the static web everytime. Flickr beat webshots, wikipedia beat Britannica, Blogger beat CNN, Epinions beat Consumer reports, Google maps beat Mapquest, Myspace beat Friendster and Craigslist beat Monster. What was the difference? Losers launched websites. Winners launched vibrant Utopias. Losers built walled gardens. Winners built public squares. Losers innovated internally. Winners innovated with their users.
The losers jealously guarded their data and software interfaces. The Winners shared them with everyone.
-Dan Tapscott &Anthony Williams
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