My good pal Mike has a new blog at uncrunched.com. Check it out
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Mike “launches” Uncrunched
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Cloud based services – the future of the Internet
Fred Wilson has a response today to Eric Schmidt’s declaration in Edinburgh that Google+ is an “identity service”. He asks and answers his own question.
“whom Google built this service for? You or them. And the answer to why you need to use your real name in the service is because they need you to.”
Of course Facebook is also an identity service. Facebook Connect is the means of distributing it. And of course Facebook too is built using real names because “they need you to”.
At this level FaceBook and Google have much in common, and both are vying for us to use them for online authentication. Facebook is far ahead of course.
Late yesterday I posted an opinion piece as a guest author on TechCrunch. It is about the uncertain future of web services as mobile devices proliferate globally. We will soon all have awesome identity machines in our pocket. They will be capable of being used to authenticate us (even using 2 step authentication). Any cloud-based 3rd party identity system will be unnecessary.
The future of identity is distributed, under user control, and owned and managed by the user from their device. It will be capable of supporting anonymity and real names and will be able to be trusted by sites requiring you to authenticate. The idea of any 3rd party dictating how you can present yourself online will no longer be applicable. Of course, it still has to be built…..
Having said that, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Google and/or Facebook building an identity system that dictates how we present ourselves. Our choice is to use it or not…..We don’t have to.
US Default looms large as Politicians squabble
I turned on Meet the Press at 8am Pacific time this morning to see one of the Gang of Six declaring that he would not agree to severe cuts in spending so long as President Obama insisted on raising taxes for the wealthy. I had to shake my head and clear my thoughts as my brain started to focus on what I was hearing.
The Guardian leader that has appeared in the UK publication’s Monday morning edition (see graphic) makes clear the fears others in the world have for the consequences for the world economy if the US defaults on its debts.
The song that came to my mind was “The Lunatics have taken over the Asylum”. And by this I don’t mean only republicans but politicians in general and the asylum that is Washington DC right now.
As a recent US Citizen I view these events partly through the eyes of a Brit. I’m 54 years a Brit and only 2 an American.
America is in relative decline as the worlds strongest nation. China is growing in both absolute and relative terms. The failure to decide on an approach to paying off the national debt is merely a symptom of the American political class failing in the game of world leadership. Petty domestic squabbles dominate debate even as major global events unfold. The thought that best sums up the future of the global economy, and with it humanity, under the leadership of these politicians is “Oh Shit!”.
Here’s hoping somebody reads this and remembers the world scale consequences of the failure of American leadership. It isn’t about the Congress or about the White House. Its about the whole world and the rest of this century as the world copes with America’s decline as the unchallenged global leader.
Quixey adds Eric Schmidt’s Fund and Archimedes Ventures to investor line up
Yesterday, Bay Area start-up Quixey announced that Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors fund had invested in the company.
I’m pleased to say that along with my partners in Archimedes Ventures we have also joined the roster of investors in the company.
All the best to Tomer Kagan and his team as they execute. The technology they have built is state of the art. Their team is fabulous. The world is theirs to grab.
Exciting times.
Sign up for the beta here
TechCrunch story here
GigaOm story here.
Stunning new Digital Video Cameras
One of my hobbies is photography. I have a Canon 5D Mk II. It makes great pictures and also awesome videos. Check out http://planet5d.com for examples.
Now the world of video is beginning to respond to the arrival of DSLR cameras that can do great video. There are three recent entrants into the space. They all significantly reduce the price point of awesome video. In order of release they are:
1. The Panasonic AG-AF100
2. The Sony PMW-F3
3. The Sony NEX FS-100
Here are samples of each:
AG-AF100 test – Poi girl in Union Square, NYC from Sandy Chase on Vimeo.
SONY PMW-F3 :: shots from FilmesDaMente on Vimeo.
NEX FS 100 Video Blog from Den & James on Vimeo.
Looking at Sovereign Debt
I am in Heathrow on my way to Cape Town for the World Cup. Sitting in the lounge I was watching Japan v Cameroon on the TV and, as the game was boring, began to read the Independent newspaper.
Then this graphic caught my attention.
After Chirp, is Twitter related investing still smart?
Robert Scoble cornered Ron Conway in the hallway at the Chirp conference yesterday and in the aftermath of Twitter acquiring Tweetie, and announcing their own URL shortening service, asked the big question. Is it still sensible to invest in companies seeking to expand or enhance the use of Twitter in some way?
Ron is unequivocal in his answer.
For what it’s worth I think Ron is right…. as usual 
TechMeme Link here