The Next Web

In 2008, I became addicted to these 5 apps. And you?

Written on December 19, 2008 – 3:29 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

End of the year lists are here to stay. Here are my two cents. I decided to share the five apps I got hooked on last year - blended with some The Next Web travel stories. Hope you dig the read and most of all, share your favorite five programs of 2008. Best wishes, dear readers!

1. Evernote - a second memory for everybody

I met Evernote director Alex Pachikov during the Altsearchengines meet-up in San Francisco, last April. He showed me the beta version of my memory. I can make snapshots, text notes, sound messages on my iPhone, sync them with my Mac and the Evernote server, and access them whenever I want. At first, I didn’t really use the service (also because I didn’t own an iPhone yet). But when I found myself on a beach in Italy for two weeks, I started collecting my new ideas - which popped up like flying fish in the flat Adriatic sea. Ever since those two weeks, I write my drafts for blog posts on the go, note down lessons learned from great books, and save inspiring pics. I’m also digitalizing the best parts of my old paper notebooks. Evernote rocks, it’s as simple as that.

// Evernote.com

2. Things - getting things done, really

During The Next Web Open Office Road Trip I spent the hours in the car reading Getting Things Done by David Allen. The new blogger lifestyle required a new way of working. Maybe the Allen way. While Arjen and Patrick blasted the car across the roads from Amsterdam to Brussels, Paris, Ghent, Geneva, and London, I realized that there was know way I could escape a GTD tool.

On another trip, this time Krakow, Next Web mobile editor Peter Evers advised me to use Things. This is a beta product which will be released in January 2009 for around forty dollars. But during 2008, you could use it for free. So why not give it shot? Well, it will cost you money in the end. The program is so simple and damn good that you can’t escape paying the forty dollars - plus eight dollars for the iPhone app (which syncs with your Mac through Wifi). Yep, I feel ripped off - but I’m also getting things done.

// Things on Cultured Code

3. Tweetdeck - organizing the total mess on Twitter

During the China 2.0 trip last November, Shel Israel, Mike Butcher (TechCrunch UK) and I found ourselves in many Chinese offices - listening to the presentations of the entrepreneurs who will take over the world. We tweeted it all - there was no way you could ignore the #china20 hashtag. I noticed Mike used Adobe Air app Tweetdeck in a rather effective way: sorting a group of friends, the China hashtag, his replies, and DM’s in four columns. Ever since then, I Twitter via Tweetdeck. On the iPhone, Twitterific is the way to go. But it’s not nearly as innovative as the awesome Tweetdeck.

// Tweetdeck.com

4. Boxee - throw your tube out the window

“Hi, I’m Avner from Boxee“. Another cool New York 2.0 guy pitches his product at the preliminary rooftop party of Web 2.0 Expo New York. But hey, this friendly chap actually has a great story. He turned a XBMC open source revolution into a commercially interesting product that will shape the future of online social media centers. Boxee integrates local and Internet content with social networking and overlays it with a good-looking remote-friendly interface. You can either watch a ripped DVD, content from CNN.com or BBC, or videos from popular video sites like YouTube, Blip.tv, and Revision3. All by flipping through the screens with a remote or arrows. This is the stuff major TV companies will copy. Tivo? You ain’t seen nothing yet!

// Boxee.tv

5. Yahoo Pipes - boring but oh so good

Yeah I know, I know. After all this glamorous cool, hip, and shiny start-ups, Yahoo Pipes is a bit like the boring corporate cousin at a Christmas party. But you know what? This cousin actually does some very useful work - organizing the life of a from-the-information-overload-suffering blogger. I won’t follow thirty major tech blogs. Screw that. It will limit my vision and I’ll probably get as sucked up in the bubble like the very persons who think Twitter is as mainstream as gasoline. Thus I pump all their RSS feeds into one pipe. They get pushed through a filter and only the articles which have mentions of a European country, language, city, or company will make the cut. Saves me a lot of time. And have I already told you how I use Pipes to build a community around The Next Web?

// Pipes.Yahoo.com

[Photo credit: Toni Blay]

I hope you like that post!

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2008, boxee, evernote, Things, tweetdeck, Yahoo Pipes

23 Comments »

User Generated Telecom, Media and Technology Predictions

Written on January 24, 2008 – 2:01 pm
Martin Kloos, Web Strategy Consultant

The title of this blog is ‘The Next Web’. We are constantly looking for events, technology, services and people who are changing the web. In a way, we are trying to predict the future so you can take advantage of that. And of-course we are not the only ones doing this.

Deloitte, a company that offers services in audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory, is also interested in the future of technology. But instead of just reading this blog they have invited the public to help them.

They are hosting a Dutch predictions event in association with Fast50.nl which will take place on February 13, 2008. During this event, Deloitte presents its vision on the Telecom, Media, and Technology market for 2008.

Prior to the event, everyone is invited to participate in a discussion on these predictions on the weblog www.dutchpredictions.nl. The input from this blog discussion will be an important driver for the event on February 13.

It will be interesting to see what will be the result of all these user generated predictions. If valuable information comes to light I’m sure we will see similar events in the other 139 countries where Deloitte is based.

2008, dutch predictions, media, technology, telecom

2 Comments »

What year is it?

Written on January 1, 2008 – 10:55 am
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur

Every year it takes webmasters a few days (or months!) to realize that it is a new year and they should update the copyright notices at the bottom of their websites. I know, it is trivial, but I just can’t help but smile when I see the most expensive and well watched frontpage of the world display ‘2007′ when it is actually 2008

Google and Yahoo: both wrong

CNN and Reuters: Reuters wins!

Wired and Techcrunch: both wrong

Apple and Microsoft: sorry Apple fans, both wrong

See any other funny examples of outdated websites?

2007, 2008, Apple, CNN, copyright, google, Microsoft, Opinion, outdated, Reuters, TechCrunch, Wired, yahoo

5 Comments »

Who will be The Next Web Oracle?

Written on December 30, 2007 – 6:23 pm
Patrick de Laive, Internet entrepreneur and co-founder of The Next Web Conference

It’s the end of the year. Time for flashbacks and predictions. As we like to talk about the future at The Next Web we’ll keep it to the predictions.

We’ve come up with some questions about the near future. Can you foresee what is going to happen with the Google stock quote? Which company will be acquired? Will it be the iPhone or the Google Phone? Well… Why don’t you tell us. We will publish the results in the second week of January and of course at the end of 2008 we’ll see who is most paranormal gifted.

All ‘visionaries’ will get first access to and a discount for the third edition of The Next Web Conference (April 3&4, Amsterdam).

Grab your tarot cards and fill in the questionnaire

2008, predictions, survey

1 Comment »