This week in links - week 14, 2008

Meredith Whittaker at Google emphasizes that Google Docs is collaboration tool by launching the Google Docs Community Channel at youtube.com:

"Google Docs is all about being able to share and collaborate, and now we're taking the idea of sharing a step further with a new Google Docs Community Channel. This is a place to watch videos from regular folks all about Google Docs, connect with others, and pick up smart tips about all the ways to use the application."

Continuting on the subject of Google, Network of Unreasonable men poses the question: "Is Google goneburger?"

"Is Goggle heading for trouble? Despite all their product development efforts & a significant amount of hype, they still only have one revenue stream, advertising.

On top of that the word is that they are loosing staff in large numbers due to growth pains.

Finally, look at their strategic stance or lack there of. Who are they strategically aligned with? Perhaps more importantly who have they rankled? MS, Yahoo, Apple, Broadcasters, news companies….Wouldn’t a more prudent stance be to take on just one of these giants (by partnering with their enemy) at a time??"

Whether or not this is true, I will keep enjoying the "free" apps and services from Google. I wrote a post a while ago, "Web 2.0 – A true Internet revolution?", which touches the same subjects as the post cited above:

"Interestingly, the primary business model on the web is based on selling advertising space which is primarily used for marketing consumer products. This is the paradox of Web 2.0. Even if people are really starting to change how they use the Internet and the web, no one should be surprised if Google and Facebook will suddenly stop showing outstanding growth and profit numbers when the business cycle reaches the next recession. When people don’t feel confident enough about the future to buy a new flatscreen TV och refridgerator, it will eventually hurt Google and Facebook badly. Hence, a true Internet revolution will in my eyes only only come when the primary products that we consume (accounting for the biggest part of our consumtion) are intangible digital content and experiences. Then the Internet can become the engine that drives the global economy, just as the industry once became more important than the agriculture for the national economies."

Finally, Bertrand Duperrin applies Archimedes' theorem to Enterprise 2.0 "with trust instead of liquid":

"If we consider companies will have to change, two solutions are possible:

- going quietly, in order to be ready when the “old” model will be out of date. It supposes to start early in order to have time to find one’s own way, since “magical recipes” don’t exist.

- jaming on the brakes and accepting the risk of facing violents changes later. Some, like Gary Hamel, think since change isn’t in corporate DNAs, this is what will happen.
But when it’s time to migrate to management 2.0, enterprise 2.0 or to adopt social computing tools, more than the fear of change, trust is essential.

And what about Archimedes ? “Any individual immersed in a trustful environment gives back to this environment as much trust as he receives”.

A good question would be: is the price to pay when you don’t trust the organization higher than when you trust it wholly, even if some aren’t trustworthy."