Openess is the New Post-Black

  letch3 
  Originally uploaded by cherbert.

The OpenSocial news dominated the Web/tech news two weeks ago but there were some other noteworthy stories out there too. As Hillman Curtis, the famous design and Flash god might suggest, what's the theme of all this recent development?

Free and open always (or almost) wins over closed and proprietary.

What we should all realize and understand is that openness isn’t the new hot trend or the new black, it’s really the post-black. It means that we should be past openness as a fad or emerging trend, it should be the norm, the status quo. It means for consumer-facing company, especially web/technology companies but others as well, you should already be embracing openness and collaboration rather than closed and proprietary.

To borrow Umair’s style, here are a few case studies from the last few weeks that underscore the openness concept:

1a) NYT article on the unlocking of mobile phone and the exclusive contracts that force to go with carrier attached to the phone they want.

1b) WSJ's 11/16 story on Google entering the FCC’s 700mhz spectrum auction in early 2008.

[Side note: my choice for snarky post of the week, given my anti-Telco post from a few weeks back (emphasis added):

' Carriers such as Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Groupay they guard their networks closely to provide high-quality phone and Internet service and protect consumers from security breaches and invasions of privacy.' 

Just like how AT&T wouldn’t let people plug in their own phone or other devices into the early telephone network, only AT&T could plug-in new devices. You can imagine how well that spurred on innovation…]

2) CEO of AP talks about just how dire the situation is for the newspaper industry. The reasons are plentiful but see Silicon Alley Insider’s annotated/snarky post on the speech.

[Side note: But I do disagree with this part from the AP CEO:

'We have the power to control how our content flows on the Web. We must use that power if we're to continue to be financially secure and  independent enough to speak truth to power.'

Sorry, but you don't control how your content flows over the web, that's the most essential part of the internet. In fact, everyone is losing control over their intent and message in the Digital Age but that's a small price to pay- and is really an advantage if you're smart about it- for the advantages you gain from being on the internet. If you want perfect control over the content, go back to print.]

3) Engadget vs. Gizmodo battle of the blogs (a bit sexed up but people want to read about conflict). When was the last time you heard about newspapers competing like that. (I meant recently and yes, I'm  aware of the wars waged/waging between a few major newspapers and their free dailies.)

4) Consumer services outsourcing to India (or the globalization of consumer services)