Contrasting Views of the Internet

Thought it would be interesting to juxtapose/archive these two interpretations. On the left is Fred Wilson referencing Seth Godin and Marc Andressen on Feb 11th, 2008. On the right is Mark Cuban on Feb 10th, 2008:

   

Here's What We Have To Do   If you are thinking about building a   web service, take the advice of Seth Godin. This is from his post today on rethinking   what an auction can be.   my point is that this is just the   beginning of using internet tools to change the world we interact with, as   opposed to trying to make it easy to interact with the standard world using   the Internet   Marc Andreessen   said this about web 2.0 last year:   what we have seen over the last   several years is the Web itself coming into its own.   After an initial phase of the Web as a   medium, in which lots of people attempted to make the Web look like a newspaper, or a magazine, or a TV channel, we as an industry have recently   been collectively developing a much clearer idea of what the Web is really   like as a medium in and of itself.   This has led to broad realization of a   set of design   patterns for how Web services and Web companies often get built and used.   Which is great.   Exactly. But as Seth said, it goes   even farther. The web is changing the world we live in. And we have the tools   to change it even more. Way more. That's what we have to do.

The Internet is Officially Dead & Boring -   Its the economy stupid !     Feb 10th 2008 2:45PM   There was a lot of discussion about my previous posts   here and here.   My point is that the internet is a stable platform. Its a utility. Its   evolved to the point where you can count on it and develop applications for   it without much fear that its going to change.     What confirms my point is that with all the talk of a possible or existing   recession, not a single mention is ever made about how increases in   productivity from technology will pull us through. That is counter to the   recessions of the past 25 years. Whether it was the early 80s, the 90's or even   the post bubble , economists and others pointed to technology as a catalyst   to productivity that would help pull us out of our economic doldrums.     When there were boomtimes , as we saw from about 91 to 2000, technology was   given the lions' share of the credit.     So where are the claims of further productivity enhancements from technology   ? They are no where that I can find.     In fact, we can start to make arguments to the contrary. That technology and   in particular social network and video sites can be a hindrance to   productivity in the workplace.     Further arguments can be made that the MSFT YHOO potential merger is further   evidence that the technology industry is maturing.     It is what it is.

I agree with the Wilson/Godin/Andressen view. I think Doc Searls has said everything we use on the Internet today is an alpha/prototype - it sure feels that way sometimes. Advances in data integration, more intelligent personalization, social connections that can be assembled and dis-assembled at an instant, improved service discovery, better identity handling, etc. all will enable our lives to flow through the Internet in more efficient, more pleasing ways. You'd have to be a cashed out billionaire to call "bor-ring!" at this point.