Several people have asked for a copy of the presentation I delivered a last weekend at Alibaba's China Internet Developer Conference. After clearing it with a few people at work, I'm posting them here for anyone who wants to see the slides.
As a bit of background and disclaimer, I'll point out a few things first:
- The talk is fairly high-level and full of unsurprising information if you've been watching trends on the Internet for more than a few years.
- I was giving it to an audience that consisted primarily of people who don't speak English, so I tried to keep it simple.
- There is too much text. I know that.
The Talk
The basic premise is encapsulated in slide #3 (Initial Thoughts), which talks about how the web continues to become more and more a reflection of those who use it. The infinite space nature of the Web, combined with the Long Tail effects, ends up providing some pretty interesting raw material for great stuff that doesn't yet exist today. It's my belief that Web Service APIs will be a key [required] ingredient in getting there.
From there I got through a bit of history to illustrate a couple trends. One is the move from the Yahoo! Directory to today's Web Search (from centralized authority to decentralized authority). Another is the tie between Open Source and the growth of the Web. Finally I get into Web 2.0 (which is all about participation) and Mashups/Widgets/Badges (where web sites become data sources, not just destinations).
Then I spend some time looking at what APIs Yahoo offers and look at three specific examples: MOO & Flickr, Pipes & Flickr (blogged here a bit), and Yahoo! Mail.
The presentation concludes with some lessons for technology providers, opportunities, and the challenges and risks that we'll all face.
Thanks to the folks in the Yahoo! Developer Network that provided feedback on this presentation and the folks at Alibaba for inviting me to give the talk in the first place.
Now... here are the slides: Web Service APIs: The Landscape and Opportunities [PDF]
See Also:
- How I write a Presentation
- Made it to China
- Experiencing the Great Firewall of China
- Thoughts on China
Posted by jzawodn at May 25, 2007 10:32 AM
