20060929

MIT Emerging Technology Conference MITETC

Just got back from the MIT Emerging Technology Conference - very cool indeed.

I'll post a summary when I get around to it...which may be a while the way I'm going these days.

What was the coolest thing?? Hard to say. I think the most "descriptive" aspect of the conference was not who was there, but rather who was not there. MIT did a great job of bringing in luminaries, thought leaders, nobel lauriates, and other heavyweights from around the country and around the world. I was very impressed with the quality of the speakers. What was interesting was the rather large hole created by the absence of one major company - Microsoft. During all the exciting discussions of Web2.0, ASPs, webapps, webservices, etc., the only time the Redmond-based company came up in discussion was as the butt of a joke by one of the speakers. True, they are an easy target, and it did get some cheap laughs, but the reality is much more telling.

Our computing and Internet industry sits nearing a significant crossroads, with Web2.0 and other open-standards proponents clearly on one side, and Microsoft on the other. The Vista operating system will be a step-function in the negative direction in this respect, with its myriad proprietary protocols and formats.

The first step toward solution in any negotiation is dialog. When Microsoft does not even care to be in the room...that is truly sad.