the next big (web) thing
doug and i were chatting on the way back today about why american car companies can’t (and couldn’t) create THE hybrid engine (arguably, Toyota currently reigns in this area btw) that would be model to follow… we came to the conclusion that american car companies want to continue to make money on maintenance, while japanese car companies want to build products that last and satisfy, so that the customer returns in 10 years and buys another. i guess it wasn’t a great conclusion, as we practically excluded any other car makers (european, korean, etc), but the important part of that conversation was the notion of the idea.
everyone has ideas, and very few become the ones that grab hold and stick… this is even harder on the internet, as there is so much out there to filter that many of the brightest ideas can be lost to the most marketed ideas. and, even the most marketed ideas don’t always become those that hold out…
one of the discussions russ informally has with us as developers is what our ideas are, and how we can make them part of us and have them become the next big thing… the way i see it, the big “things” on the web are those that are highly pervasive in our (online and offline) lives. google has search. craigslist has classified ads. aim has conversation (in the US anyways, i’ve read it’s different elsewhere).
now let’s look at another big “thing” on the web: myspace. their idea wasn’t really all that novel… one could say social networks existed prior to myspace in instant messaging. you had all of your friends, you grouped them according to your different social circles. aim had profiles long before myspace. what really drove myspace to their current state was something else that is highly pervasive, practically on the verge of universal: music. i don’t know anyone who doesn’t like some form of music, heck i don’t know anyone who doesn’t like music period.
by using something that injected into all people, myspace drew everyone in. the social networking stuff came later. so now i wonder, in search of what could be the next big web “thing”, what is there that is as pervasive as music that could be tapped into and harnessed in the online world?
there are a few ideas that come to mind: money and food. but still, neither of those is still as pervasive as music because music is much more accessible… want money? have to work. want food? gotta find some berries. music? hum something, bang on something, clap!
genius, tom. as much as i didn’t really like doing work for you, that was a fucking brilliant idea.
it’s unfortunate that so much has surrounded myspace lately, that this notion has gone somewhat unnoticed. the next big (web) idea?? well, i don’t have it, i can tell you that. but, creativity is undoubtedly one of the better facets of working.
guess i gotta figure out what is or could be pervasive to our lives. then market it somehow.
hopefully it comes to me in the shower one of these days… that’s where i get my best ideas.
-m