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Quickly becoming the breeding ground of web innovation, Demo07 is launching today. In case you are new to the event, here is a quick summary:

The DEMO conference is a unique blend of general sessions, one-on-one demonstrations, and networking – all in a relaxed atmosphere that promotes casual business interaction.

DEMO’s Niche

The true value is that DEMO lies in being ‘the launchpad for emerging technology.’

It is a two day event that brings some of the biggest, newest, and brightest stars in online technology.

I was first introduced to the DEMO convention last fall, which featured the likes of AddThis.com, GarageBand.com, and Zapr.com. Some truly great stuff there.

If you check out the link at the beginning of the entry, you can access the site and the presentation videos.

The Technology Incubator of Web Innovation

In terms of adding value to a niche or a segment, these DEMO conventions are no different than a technology incubator. In an incubator setting, tech companies are brought together to develop, thrive, and do business in one place. The thought is that having entrepreneurs, developers, and designers in tight (and often cheap) quarters will spur innovation.

These conventions are also brilliant for marketing and networking… Both things that so many entrepreneurs need in order to succeed. The other side is the chance to meet new entrepreneurs. People that are truly changing the game.

In my own experience, meeting new entrepreneurs who ‘get it’ can be one of the most rewarding experiences ever. Just a 15 minute conversation can spur three new products or five new ideas…

DEMO07 News and Events Coverage

I am not attending the event, although I wish I could. So I will be tracking the video presentations and passing on the outstanding companies and concepts that come up.

I encourage you to get the feed for the site. It is only a two day event, but that might mean two weeks worth of recaps :0)

We all love MyBlogLog, right? A great little widget that tells you who has been to your site.

And Flickr? Or how about YouTube? Consider, maybe even Google’s Suite of Applications?

They are all web services. They are bits and pieces of code that allow you to mix and mash them, move them all around the web, and do whatever you damn well please.

Even Google Adsense and YPN! Web services… You don’t host those ads on your site, you install the code and it magically appears.

So I guess you can add that to the list of possibilities… making money from them.

Web Services and the Internet

I have been pretty immersed in web services for the past couple weeks. And they are fascinating. Not only does it minimize the time it takes to build a site, profit from a site, or gain readership; each of the services ads value in some way.

Take for instance – Flickr. I don’t use Flickr. None of my friends care what photos I take on a continual basis. But the application is cool. Upload your pics, install the widget into your side bar, and you immediately have a connection with the person that decided to stay longer than 3 seconds…

Fred from A VC just published an article which includes ‘The 10 things he has learned from using Flickr.’ Notable points include:

• Every web service needs to have a profile for every user
• Widgets should be used to make content available off of the service (also known as ridiculously free advertising)
• Content on the service should be bloggable

Expect to see bright, new, shiny web services in every possible sector and niche imagined. Investing, social networking, video, pics, blogs, dating, mobile, software… everything.

And, there is no better way to advertise, than to build a little web service and open it up to bloggers.

Software as a Service – The Web Service’s Big Brother

Enter Software as a Service, or SaaS for short. Software as a service is that 800 pound guerrilla that everyone from Zoho to Microsoft is clamoring to become dominant in.

Salesforce.com did it. Building a comprehensive customer relationship management application suite that is available online. No downloads. No updating. Only a monthly bill and reliable web service.

Granted, SaaS models have to look nice. They have to be easy to navigate and integrate. For the time being they need to be able to output Microsoft Word documents or whatever. But the business model is here to stay.

Quick question – Your company has 9 employees and needs 9 computers. You need CRM software and have a broadband internet connection. Pay a couple thousand dollars for software for each machine? Or sign all of your employees up to an online service for $29.99 a month?

I thought so..

The Conclusion

Web Services, Software as a Service, Application Service Providers… It’s all the same with different user interfaces. And if you are serious about building an application or a software package, going online is your best bet.

The Wall Street Journal just published an article titled, “‘Dumb Terminals’ Can Be A Smart Move.” The idea – have a host of computers accessing all of their programs and data from one central server. It increases security and lowers the cost of entry (initial investment).

My question is this.. Does it matter whether that server is in the same building or sitting on the Internet?

Have you ever wanted to get rid of your television? Forsaking cable or satellite for the latest in internet offerings? Here’s you chance…

Skype cofounders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis have turned their efforts to Joost.com, which is being molded into a ‘global television distribution platform.’ The free service allows you to watch television on the computer as you would a traditional cable box.

Growing absolutely and completely sick of Web 2.0-this and Youtube-like that, I am encouraged by this service. Not by what it is, but rather what it does.

Imagine bit torrent on steroids. That’s what this service is. Only these steroids are not to be saved on you computer in any way. They simply allow for faster and more efficient data transfer.

Joost compresses the file in a completely secure way, using the H.264 compression scheme. They upload the video, and the users begin swapping it around. Change the channel, and the video is transferred from other locations.

Joost combines the best parts of the television experience with the best parts of the Internet. It’s more than a fancy way to transfer files. The zippy, full-screen broadcasts and the browser allow users to change channels, search content, and receive recommendation lists.

The technology isn’t in any way new, just applied a bit differently. Apparently, almost 90 percent of the code is open source.. But the remaining 10 percent is what makes it function.

And again, we venture into the same model… The game can be played by all sorts of people, but the ones who make it easy are the ones who win.

It’s not the innovation, it is the concept and the usability. I am just excited to see how this concept will spawn all kinds of other new services.

via technologyreview.com

Several years ago, Microsoft tried to introduce what was called “Microsoft Services” to the general public.  Well, the developers of the general public at least.  How do you think that went?

What they had in mind was this:  Have scripts or programs sitting on a server, and allow people access to that server.  Basically, it was supposed to be a nice efficient way of allowing a whole lot of people access to everyday applications.  Kind of like corporate or private server setups…

Well, people failed to see the value in that.  They continued to standardize on all sorts of other platforms, but didn’t touch Microsoft’s setup. 

Why you ask? 

Trust.

Why Microsoft Services didn’t work 

There were basically six elements that prevented the legitimate use of Microsoft Services:

• Server and access availability
• Billing
• Discontinuation of service
• Quality and crashes
• Developers were shifting away to open source
• Changing code libraries

People hadn’t began to transfer over to high speed internet like they are now.  At the time 20-30% or the internet may have been high-speed, so a constant data connection could not be made.  On top of that, with the use of billing and subscriptions, if you didn’t pay your bill – there went your entire system!

Also, if you were to standardize on Microsoft, there was always the threat of discontinuation of the service package.  They could pull the plug because they weren’t making enough money or whatever.  And we all know of the quality and frequent crashes Microsoft is known for.  

Finally, developers had found other tools that work just as well (or better) than the Microsoft platform.  Tools such as PHP and Apache.  Neither change their code libraries and both are open source!

Build your business using trust

Business building is about trust.  Websites and blogging are both about trust.  Life in many cases is about trust.  Without trust in something, or being trustworthy yourself, there is not a chance in the world you will be successful.

When people start talking about application service providers or SAAS (Software as a Service) companies like Salesforce.com, that is always one of the first things I think of.  Do you trust them?  Are you sure that your data is safe up there on their server?  What if they go bankrupt after a year?  Where will your data be?

It really is an interesting question, the thought of trust intertwined in a system. 

But the thought of using trust to build a business… Now that’s powerful.