Oh My God! The Internet is Overwhelming... Again

I am not the first to say it, but I will say it louder. The Internet is completely overloaded!

There is not one single original idea that doesn't find replicators (multiple replicators may I add), leading to an increased number of repeated offers with no significant improvements from one to another. For some time we had two champions to choose from: either MSN or Yahoo! for web portals, Yahoo! or Google for search engines, Expedia or Travelocity for travel. But today, it is a sea of options that seems to have no end, and apparently, this is just the beginning.

The Personal Computer Has Ceased to Exist

Seriously...

I am baffled at the nascent web applications that are simply creating virtual working spaces, thus enabling users to work seamlessly anywhere they go. Personalization is no longer in the machine you are using (at home, office, or school), but on the Internet, allowing users to carry their persona wherever they go.

Applications such as Netvibes were incredibly impressive; a manifestation of the capabilities of Ajax and how it would transform the Internet experience forever. Yet it took me a while to figure out the purpose of these sites, until just recently, when I came across Schmedley (http://www.schmedley.com/). With a stunning visual interface and incredibly useful and simple widgets, it was almost a replica of my Mac's desktop (with dock, animation effects and all).

The Social Networks Phenomena

Ever since the Internet made its way to the vast masses, it has managed to wow us with its ever evolving technology. Many have been able to turn their ideas into reality (some more successfully than others) making available for the masses an universe of online tools on every imaginable category.

The most recent wave has come in the shape of what has been smartly coined as "Social Networks". Websites that provide a space for people to communicate and interact in new ways via their computers. You all know the names of YouTube, MySpace, Facebook. Sites that offer their members the ability to create and share contents with others, interact via posts and chat tools, publish pictures, videos, even music. It's the social heaven for the newer generations.

YouTube will be the end of conventional Television... NOT!

Okay, I am not saying YouTube.com doesn't offer a great product that has come to stay. I find it amusing like almost everyone else and see its value as a new form of entertainment for some, and a form of expression for others. What I find hard to believe is that this library of non-sense videos will ever be a threat to conventional television. And I extend this belief to all forms of online video as they exist today.

Thinking that quality produced entertainment can be threatened by low-end, one man, non-scripted shows is our typical sensationalist reaction. But in reality, how much more can you watch of a crazy cat staring at a ball?

Kicking Off

I guess the most difficult part of getting a blog started is writing your first few lines. You sit with plenty of ideas and motivation, but your fingers freeze facing the challenge of coming up with something that shows wit and brains.

So, without further ado, let's kick off by making the introductions and talking about motivations and objectives.

I've been involved with the digital advertising world for the past ten years. Right out of school I was involved with the development of a massive online directory that promoted events, and we had built a substantial mailing list with which we had started conducting non-intrusive email marketing. No, I am not trying to sound like a good guy (even though I am); what I have failed to say is that all this we were doing in my home country: Cuba, back in 1997.

Ten years later I now live in Canada and work for one of the largest media companies, managing interactive projects and designing new products for advertisers.

That I think covers the intro. If you want to know more about me I will have some more details posted later on, but I don't want to make this a blog about who I am and what I do...

Lately I've been attending a series of interactive marketing events and have been exposed to the theories of so-called experts about what they think the future of Internet will be. Complex theories about the power being now in the hands of individuals and how control of the Internet is now diluted.

Others have presented the most daunting ideas about user generated contents threatening conventional television and all forms of modern entertainment; and some companies are starting to take these "experts" seriously, taking steps to jump into the wagon before the train leaves the station.

So, that's the reason that brought me here. While I know my words will likely be diluted across the Internet, and particularly hard to find by anyone who may benefit with them; at least I will have unloaded my thoughts and maybe reached one or two other souls that share my views and help me spread the word.

The purpose of my "rants" is to try and bring some common sense to marketers and advertisers alike, and help them see the light at the end of the tunnel as the Internet becomes an ever darker World in their eyes.

Thanks for reading and keep checking for a new rant.