• E-mail this page
• |  Print this page
• | 
• | 
• | 

Web 2.0 Summit Liveblogging: Opening Comments By Program Co-Chairs Tim O'Reilly, O'Reilly Media, And John Battelle, Federated Media

It's a little after 3 on the opening day of the Web 2.0 Summit. I've alienated thousands of my fellow conference attendees by elbowing my way to the front of the crowd of people waiting to get in so I could score myself a seat next to an electrical socket. It's like _Mad Max_ here folks -- hordes of barbarians fighting each other for access to precious supplies of juice.

Momentarily, program co-chairs Tim O'Reilly and John Battelle will kick off the opening remarks. Look for liveblogging here, and liveblogging of future sessions this afternoon in other posts on this blog. Keep hitting the refresh button on this post to get updates, and do the same on future posts this afternoon as the conference progresses.

Right now, I'm going to try to take off my jacket without dropping my PowerBook on the floor or dislocating a shoulder.

The Wi-Fi connection here is extraordinarily slow. Earlier, in the press room, I overheard a man talking about a recent conference where all the iPhones seeking Wi-Fi connections swamped the network.

O'Reilly: "I asked the qeustion at the Web 2.0 Expo - is it a bubble yet? How many people think this is a bubble." Only a few hands go up.

This year's conference came from hallway discussion last year -- people wanted more edge. Less big-company CEOs, more hackers.

Battelle: Brought in companies like AT&T Microsoft, more edge.

O'Reilly: Are you seriously saying Steve Ballmer is edge?

Battelle: Also trying to bring in places in culture where the Web has yet to colonize. So we'll see a lot of that on the program.

O'Reilly: A year ago, social networking was just starting to "bubble up." This is not just another Web 2.0 application. Think about Google: Access to the world's information. Socnets are access to people and connections.

Battelle: Starting with Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, ending with Rupert Murdoch and MySpace. So "we're sort of bookending" the first day of presentations.

O'Reilly: "Much of the data on the web until now has been generated by people typing on keyboards and reading it on the desktop." Now, going mobile. But over time will be seeing a Web of devices. What happens when the camera becomes a sensor? "The global brain is getting eyes and ears."

Battelle: Will have discussion, probably will be a debate, on 700 MHz auction. Will talk about video, traditional media.

One edge, company that dominated the conference previously was Google. One panel coming Friday: The Google alumni . Shows maturity of Google, peolple are leaving.

O'Reilly: As companies get older, there comes to be more money in something else.

And now they're bringing up Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and I'm going to start a new post.

« Google Exec Raised By Wolves, Kidnapped By Gypsies | Main | Web 2.0 Summit Liveblogging: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook Founder And CEO »