As a web obssessed person who follows everything that’s happening on “the next web” I am constantly trying to come up with “the next big thing”. Usually about every month or so I do. I convince myself I have thought of the next Facebook or Twitter and spend late nights thinking through my idea and dreaming of giving my TED talk on how I’ve changed the world. Then, a couple of weeks later I come to my senses. I take a step back from the caffeine high that I was on when I thought of the idea and realize that my idea is stupid, someone is already doing it or in most cases all of the above.
The problem is that when you have that great idea your initial instinct is to keep it secret for a while why you think it through – you don’t want to tell your friends or anyone else who might steal the idea and leave you in the cold – regretting that you let your excitement get the best of you.
Well worry no more about the nefarious actions of your friends. Next time you think of the next Facebook or Twitter be sure to save valuable time and vet your idea with them immediately by sending them the FriendDA – an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) for friends that’s “Slightly more than a hearty handshake”. As the Termination clause says, “just don’t be a douche.”
Someone just emailed me this video of Patrick de Laive (co-founder of The Next Web Blog, Conference & Incubator) personally ensuring that the CEO of Sevenload finds his way to the conference area where he was scheduled to speak.
I guess we could have gotten him a limo too but this is ‘Amsterdam style’ transportation for you right there…
Can you image having a product named ’spam’ and then having ‘bad spam’ getting named after your ‘good spam’?
It might have taken a few years but the people at Hormel Food Sales have finally come to terms with the bad public image their product has. Now they have released this new ad compaign cleverly using the Internets lingo to promote their product.
They even have a website, fanclub and online recipes at Spam.com. You can sign-up there and become a member. Just make sure you double-check your spam folder for the regsitration email…
So what is next? “SPAM & FAIL”? Maybe “SPAM and ROFL”?
Maybe the NSFW “SPAM & NSFW” version with a whole lot of meat in it?
Browse your NSFW content in style! Imagine 15 people in an office all wearing this. How awesome would that look?! Okay, there are some drawbacks: how quickly can you get out of the pullover to pick up your phone? How attractive will you be to the opposite sex? Is there room for a cup of coffee and a sandwich?
It is hard to imagine, even for a second, that we’ll ever forget about Google and all start using a new search engine. But that is exactly what happened in 2003 when we all forgot about Yahoo, Lycos and AltaVista. If history is any indication within 10 years we WILL be using something else other than Google to search. Do you believe it?
I know, it takes a very large leap of faith to believe it but experiments like Spezify do make me wonder what the ‘Next’ big thing will be. Spezify is a visual search engine that collects search results, arranges them on a desktop and allows you to drag around that desktop. It feels more like spreading out old photos and articles on a big desk and shuffling them around than what you are used to with regular search.
Could it be that we pissed off someone somewhere recently on this blog? It certainly seems so.
In the last 2 days Zee’s email accounts and my Twitter account have been hacked. Zee is still working on fixing his stuff.
I was able to change my Twitter password pretty fast and take back control over the account. Unfortunately the hackers haven’t given up. This is what Twitter told me this morning:
Looks like your account was compromised and then suspended. I show multiple login attempts.
After that I received a new password (64 character hexadecimal) which won’t be easy to guess. But you can imagine my surprise when I logged into Twitter yesterday evening and saw this:
Unfortunately Zee is still locked out of some of his emailaccounts. I hope the damage stays limited to Twitter and email but if you see something out of the ordinary here at The Next Web blog do let us know.
Adding an RFID reader to an iPhone allows all sorts of possibilities, and this video shows how everyday objects can trigger a video related to that object.
In the example, with an RFID reader attached to the iPhone, when holding the iPhone in close proximity to a certain object, that object tells your iPhone to play a particular preloaded clip.
There might be any number of nice applications where content could be pushed to a phone to act as, say, a flexible museum guide, or instruction manuals or videos could be played to remind you how to program your washing machine, or even cook a particular dish.
In 3 days we will listen to a bunch of experts talking about The Next Web. In general they look to the not so distant future. What is going to happen with Twitter, Google, online advertising and online advertising in the next 2 years or so. Some look out way past that at, maybe, the next 10 years.
You and me aren’t limited to making reliable predictions however. So lets go wild. Lets take a look at the following 30 years and lets do it together.
What will Apple do in 30 years?
What will spam look like in 30 years?
What will social networking be like in 30 years?
What will Google allow you to search for in 30 years?
What body part will update its status via Twitter in 30 years?
Use your imagination and fantasy and let us know in the comments. Links to video, images or blogposts are very welcome to0.
Written on 1st July 2009
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The Next Web Blog is closely associated with The Next Web Conference which is held annually in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. At this event speakers from all over the world come together to talk about, and show off, the future of the Web. (More info 
