Myself (Carl Fredrik), Martin, Oskar and Jörgen are on an excursion to Paris and the conference LeWeb3. I was here last year too – then it was an basically an orgy of politicians using the conference as a platform to launch their presidential bids.
This year it’s much better: a wonderful mix of web crews, researchers, Silicon Valley-esque individuals (with gaudy shirts) and interesting panels. During the first day of the conference Hans Roslings presentation – delivering some blunt remarks about both the French resistance towards Turkey joining EU as well as a warning about Paris becoming like Venice: a good place to tourist, but not a site for development and progress.
The Program Director of TED held a frighteningly good lecture about how the phenomenon we now refer to as “traditional media” in a wider perspective should be viewed as an exception to how media has worked in the history of humanity. Blogs and social media represent going back to the roots of human communication: conversations around the camp fire, having discussions and exchanging experiences. One-way media consumption, spearheaded by television, should be viewed as a transitional phase rather than the definition of media.
We also listened to a very informative panel about OpenSocial and where the social platform is heading. It was informative not in the sense that important information was relayed but in the sense that it made it clear that there is no important information to relay. Right now nobody knows how social networks are going to monetize their platforms, which means nobody is willing to let go of any asset that might become valuable.
Otherwise: a mixed bag. Some are obviously here to sell their dotcoms. But overall: a very positive impression of this conference. And the food is awesome.