Following the theme of Web 3.0, I was reading a Nature paper from Feb 7th Chemistry for everyone (subscription needed) that discussed the influence of computers and networking on scientists.
Two themes came up. e-Science and cyberscholarship.
“e-Science seeks to develop the tools, content and social attitudes to support multidisciplinary, collaborative science.”
“Cyberscholarship also embraces the revolution of ‘web 2.0′, in which humans and machines come together in unpredictable ways to create innovative knowledge resources.”
I think back to the beginning of the web and how its origins are in the need for extensive complex collaborations. The web started in CERN in 1989. CERN is a meeting place for physicists from all over the world, who collaborate on complex physics, engineering and information handling projects and it was out of this challenge to integrate and share information that the Web was born.
It seems like we are still inventing ways to try to handle these issues. Now however the move is to try to share this information with all readers and not just scientists, to create spaces where diverse opinions, thoughts and data can be talked about freely. A scientific utopia.
It also brought back another memory which will also date me! I am old enough to remember MUDs and MOOs. MUDs are text based multi-user dungeons that are the precursors to today’s graphical MUDs or MMORPGs (Massively multi-player online role-playing game) such as EverQuest or World of Warcraft.
Another variation is MOOs (MUD object oriented) and it was this that came to mind. The MOO I participated in was a collaborative effort. Again text based liked MUDs “its users can perform object oriented programming within the server, ultimately expanding and changing how the server behaves to everyone. Examples of such changes include authoring new rooms and objects, creating new generic objects for others to use, and changing the way the MOO interface operates”
One can look at Second Life as a graphical descendant of MOOs and this perhaps gives us a view of the collaborative future online.
Can social networking morph into social collaboration? I suspect that might be one future. We already see elements of this in place with virtual whiteboards, web-cams, instant messaging, VIOP, virtual worlds. It hasn’t really come together but perhaps like the birth of the web, social collaboration will evolve from scientists trying to tackle these issues and developing the tools needed to spark this next step.
What does this mean for predicting new domain real estate? I think there are two strategies. One strategy is to keep a close eye on emerging buzz words that describe tools and ideas in this collaborative space and the second is to jump in and provide niche collaborative environments and allow the users to build the tools.
The rapid uptake of widgets on MySpace shows that this can happen. Providing similar tools to niche collaborative groups may well spark the next generation MOO that can truly deliver more than the sum of its parts.
