ClappingTree’s Web 2.0

ACCORDING TO READWRITEWEB.COM (RWW), the top 10 profitable (or very close to profitability today) enterprise Web products for 2008 are:

1. Amazon Web Services (AWS): Amazon, which began as a bookseller, has generated such enthusiasm and loyalty in the developer community. Platforms will do well in 2009, though not many will. The platforms market is a race for scale, requiring massively deep pockets.
2. Basecamp: 37Signals, maker of project collaboration app Basecamp, is the favorite start-up of a lot of people (even its competitors). Their “less is more” elegance has become the mantra of developers everywhere. The one issue? It keeps its products separate. You have to choose which one to use.
3. Confluence (Atlassian): RWW expects to see major wiki adoption in the enterprise. Atlassian (and MindTouch below) seems a safe bet for enterprise, having traction and a good breadth of products.
4. DimDim: In a recession, companies travel less, so they use web conferencing more. DimDim’s proposition is incredibly simple: web conferencing for less cost. The one issue? It is still a bit raw, and the company will need deep pockets to satisfy an expected growing demand.
5. Google Apps: The move from PC-based office software to web-based “office tools” accelerated in 2008 and became increasingly mainstream. The one issue? Google’s flagship Gmail is still in beta and suffers from reliability issues, and some modules (such as for spreadsheet) still seem a bit raw compared to those of competitors. Read the rest of this entry »

I’M RELUCTANT TO ADMIT THIS, but it’s true: I love to hang out in Facebook nowadays. I’m normally inactive on social networking sites, and I’ve quitted social networks when many strangers tried to add me as friends. However, I enjoy using Facebook and I’m fascinated by it for at least seven reasons:

1. Business. When Facebook crossed the 100 million member mark last year, I began to explore and experiment with its features (wall, notes, links, photos, tagging, videos, events, groups, pages, etc.) and numerous third-party apps, with the intention of teaching them during my Web 2.0 workshops at NTU’s Center for Continuing Education.
   
   As Mari Simith of WhyFacebook.com put it, it’s a great place for promoting business: “Meet your peers. Find business contacts. Instant gate opener. Build relationships. Raise visibility. Develop your personal brand. Target your niche. Get rapid top Google placement. Place targeted ads. No cost marketing.” (See also: Tom Lindstrom’s Myspace Marketing Tips.)

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