This post is the fourth of 15 posts following the adventures of George S. Jones, a journalist from 2058 who has been sent on assignment back in time to report on the Web2.0 Expo Europe to be held in Berlin from the 21 – 23 October 2008. George, of course, is fictional. And the surrounding story is a figment of my imagination. However, the Web2.0 Expo in Berlin is very real and could very well be the most outstanding conference of its kind. If you want to be a part of it, I have a 35% discount code for anyone who is planning on attending the conference. You can register here https://en.oreilly.com/webexberlin2008/public/register using the code webeu08gr56 to get your discount. The official conference website is at http://europe.web2expo.com/.
No word again this morning from the boss. I got a clipped message from Bob in the Future Reporting Department which said:
“Massive things happening here. Can’t say much. Issues with Time Travel Machine…will msg back when I can…”
What does he mean, ‘issues with the time travel machine??’
I spent the morning trying to get a message through, to no avail. I don’t have a lot of choice – all I can do is wait it out. They have had problems before, I know. The question is, am I more afraid of getting stuck here, or am I more afraid of my boss?
I decided I was more afraid of my boss, so I continued with my research.
I looked today at one of the talks which was given at the Web 2.0 Expo. Entitled “The Emerging Business Risks of Web 2.0 Models”, Drew Bartkiewitz was exploring what he felt was the future of Web 2.0 in business and what problems he could anticipate arising. He covered such things as privacy and data risks, personal and brand reputation risks as well as the difficulties which intellectual property rights would cause. Fascinating stuff…
Having spent several days here now, and experienced the fact that the democratisation of information in 2008 was still in its infancy, I can see why issues such as data ownership and intellectual property rights were so important. And from my memory, they remain so for at least another 30 years. I think it was 2042 that capitalism hit its biggest crisis and things really began to change. Was it the internet that caused the world to get there? I think it was – it was the growing pressure, which Bartkiewitz so eloquently expressed, between the consumers of information and the bodies who presumed to own it.
As for privacy, again I can see why this was such an issue. The privacy controls that each individual had in 2008 were positively ancient. Now – well, in 2058 – I can control the privacy levels on every byte of information about me if I wish. Of course, it isn’t so necessary any more after the breakthrough was made in the catching of identity thieves. They went the same way as spammers did in the 20’s, and I suppose that body snatchers did centuries before.
Feeling pretty morose this evening. Worried about how I am going to get back. Hoping that the Time Travel Machine is sorted out pretty damn quickly. I don’t particularly want to meet my own mother riding along on a little pink baby scooter in the street…
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