Chris Dixon wrote a fantastic blog post a few weeks ago about the current success of companies like Etsy and eBay that are marketplaces where individuals can offer their goods. He points out that these have been tried over and over again for years, and only recently become successful. He posits that the reason for this new found success is that the internet has turned in to “An Internet of People” where trust is often only a quick Google Search verification away. It’s a great post and I highly recommend it.
It got me thinking though. This is a case of one type of company (online marketplaces) succeeding because another type of company (online profiles) had already succeeded. Let’s be honest, if it weren’t for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn there wouldn’t be much to Google about most people. It made me wonder, what other successes are poised to enable other technologies. Here are a few thoughts:
- One I’ve already discussed is how the advance of SaaS deployments allows more independent enterprise IT tools.
- Similarly the BYOD movement will allow new productivity tools to replace Microsoft widgets for things like ToDo lists.
- There are many around the social, viral consequences of platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Things like Zynga games for example.
Anyone have any more? What do you think the success of PaaS will enable? What about 4G from carriers? Online marketplaces? Netbooks and tablets?
