Is the "Open Web" in Danger?

Speaking in the UK , one of the web’s most successful entrepreneurs said:  “very powerful forces that have lined up against the open internet on all sides and around the world.”  That quote was from someone who should know,  it was Google‘s Sergey Brin.

So, is the open internet in danger?  That was the very question I posed at SXSW – inviting a panel of some of the webs best known thinkers to explore the dangers ahead.

Our then and there panelist is Tim O'Reilly is the founder of O’Reilly Media. O’Reilly Media's mission is to spread the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, innovation, and conferences.  He is the founder of Make Magazine, and coined the term Web 2.0.  I asked him if he thought there were lines between a cloud ecosysteand a closed web.  He said he sees Apple as more of a threat to openness than other web companies.

And in short, I invited Juan Enriquez to join the conversation. Juan is a big thinker who studies the intersection of science, business and society.  He has a talent for bridging disciplines to build a coherent look ahead. published widely on topics from the technical to the sociological, and was a member of  Craig Venter’s marine-based team to collect genetic data from the world’s oceans.  Simply put,  Enriquez can see the future.

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The internet is the most powerful thing to come along since electricity. The beauty of it is that it’s an international entity beholden to no one country. So control is only possible in localized areas.

The ever increasing dataflow

As for the ever increasing dataflow, we’ll adjust. Research will progress to handle it. And our brains will adjust to handle it. Moderation is a very personal thing and some are capable of processing huge quantities of information during others go to the bathroom and throw up over the workload.