»
Rich Media and Web 2.0: Interview With Salim Ismail, Yahoo!
In this Astoria Blogs interview I chat with angel investor and internet entrepreneur Salim Ismail, Head of The Brickhouse at Yahoo! Discover why Ismail says Web 2.0 would more accurately be called Internet 3.0. and find out he thinks rich media will play a role in the expansion of XML publishing and content syndication.
Chip: Salim, tell our readers a little about yourself and how you found your way into the world of content management.
Salim: I have been fascinated by internet publishing technologies for several years now and founded a company (PubSub) in that space. The internet started out with millions of readers and relatively few publishers, and now we have millions of readers and millions of publishers. Managing all that complexity is a fascinating problem.
Chip: What is the Brickhouse and what do you do there?
Salim: Brickhouse is Yahoo’s new initiative for product development. It’s an off-site facility where we build out new product ideas. Where the main company is focused on the monster products like mail, messenger, etc, Brickhouse is a go-to-market channel for more nimble ideas.
Chip: What types of projects is the Brickhouse staff trying to solve? And, what new projects can you tell us about?
Salim: Projects at Brickhouse run the gamut in terms of breadth. Unfortunately I can’t speak about specific projects, but we'll be making noise about some new projects. So, keep an eye out!
Chip: Until then, is there a website where we can keep up-to-date on the Brickhouse crew and their efforts?
Salim: Not at the moment – though here’s a Yahoo Pipes feed of all our blogs.
Chip: I noticed you are giving the keynote address at the Content Management Professionals Fall 2007 Summit on Web Content Management. Your presentation title has me intrigued. What is “Internet 3.0” and what’s makes it so important?
Salim: The first two phases of the internet were mail and the web. We’re starting the third phase of its evolution. It’s sometimes called Web 2.0, but it’s really internet 3.0 and it’s characterized by XML publishing, syndication, content management and user-generated content. This third wave really opens up the hidden -- or invisible -- web, which comprises the vast majority of information on the internet.
Chip: Web 2.0 and Semantic Web technologies are hot right now. We’re seeing rich media also playing an increasingly important role. Can you share with our readers what you think the web will look like five years from now? And, what types of new services might we see that incorporate rich media?
Salim: We’ve spent a number of years getting to grips with publishing HTML and we can see all effects of that all around us. I believe the next few years will see an explosion in the publishing and syndication of XML. From that we’ll see a new services layer (e.g. a web-based O/S), real-time search, internet-based content management systems and a new wave of content management inside the enterprise.
Chip: Assuming that rich media becomes the base standard for user interaction with information, what industries and functional lines of business are likely to lead the charge? Any thoughts?
Salim: Industries that have a lot of data flowing around will be the first to adopt rich media. The canonical example is the financial services industry, which has the ROI to have really invested in fully leveraging data. Others examples include retail and travel, where you have a great deal of data aggregation/integration. There’s a lot of opportunity there.
Chip: Some of our readers are still struggling with the issue of adopting structured XML content. They don’t always see the impact this paradigm shift is having. What are some really cool things you can do today because of structured XML content that you couldn’t easily do otherwise?
Salim: Ha! Have a look at pipes.yahoo.com – there are any number of interesting examples of how you can manipulate XML feeds. We’re really at the earliest stage of a long evolution in this space. For example, this is a Pipe that mashes up several French cycling news feeds, de-duplicates similar items and translates them into English!
The simplest analogy I give is that where HTML is like a word-processor, XML is like a spreadsheet. Much more powerful and machine readable. This enables entire classes of new applications to be built leveraging semantic information (think microformats or the Semantic Web). Most Web 2.0 companies leverage XML extensively.
Chip: Many new technologies aim to improve the user experience by integrating richer content in the mix. What are your thoughts about using rich media to improve the user experience. Can you tell us a story about before/after – how rich media makes content stickier and encourages users to stay around longer, interact more, but products, etc.
Salim: A great example is Confabb.com (full disclosure, I’m the Chairman). Confabb is a directory of conferences and fully utilizes Web 2.0. The company recently powered Take Back America and produced a fully interactive site where users could chat, give feedback on sessions and view the Democratic presidential candidates give speeches all from within the browser. The entire conference experience was replicated online.
Chip: Wow! That is cool. And, very useful. I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today. I really appreciate it.
Salim: You’re very welcome, Chip. I really enjoyed it.
If you'd like to learn more about Salim Ismail, check out his blog, You've Got Ismail!
Salim: I have been fascinated by internet publishing technologies for several years now and founded a company (PubSub) in that space. The internet started out with millions of readers and relatively few publishers, and now we have millions of readers and millions of publishers. Managing all that complexity is a fascinating problem.
Chip: What is the Brickhouse and what do you do there?
Salim: Brickhouse is Yahoo’s new initiative for product development. It’s an off-site facility where we build out new product ideas. Where the main company is focused on the monster products like mail, messenger, etc, Brickhouse is a go-to-market channel for more nimble ideas.
Chip: What types of projects is the Brickhouse staff trying to solve? And, what new projects can you tell us about?
Salim: Projects at Brickhouse run the gamut in terms of breadth. Unfortunately I can’t speak about specific projects, but we'll be making noise about some new projects. So, keep an eye out!
Chip: Until then, is there a website where we can keep up-to-date on the Brickhouse crew and their efforts?
Salim: Not at the moment – though here’s a Yahoo Pipes feed of all our blogs.
Chip: I noticed you are giving the keynote address at the Content Management Professionals Fall 2007 Summit on Web Content Management. Your presentation title has me intrigued. What is “Internet 3.0” and what’s makes it so important?
Salim: The first two phases of the internet were mail and the web. We’re starting the third phase of its evolution. It’s sometimes called Web 2.0, but it’s really internet 3.0 and it’s characterized by XML publishing, syndication, content management and user-generated content. This third wave really opens up the hidden -- or invisible -- web, which comprises the vast majority of information on the internet.
Chip: Web 2.0 and Semantic Web technologies are hot right now. We’re seeing rich media also playing an increasingly important role. Can you share with our readers what you think the web will look like five years from now? And, what types of new services might we see that incorporate rich media?
Salim: We’ve spent a number of years getting to grips with publishing HTML and we can see all effects of that all around us. I believe the next few years will see an explosion in the publishing and syndication of XML. From that we’ll see a new services layer (e.g. a web-based O/S), real-time search, internet-based content management systems and a new wave of content management inside the enterprise.
Chip: Assuming that rich media becomes the base standard for user interaction with information, what industries and functional lines of business are likely to lead the charge? Any thoughts?
Salim: Industries that have a lot of data flowing around will be the first to adopt rich media. The canonical example is the financial services industry, which has the ROI to have really invested in fully leveraging data. Others examples include retail and travel, where you have a great deal of data aggregation/integration. There’s a lot of opportunity there.
Chip: Some of our readers are still struggling with the issue of adopting structured XML content. They don’t always see the impact this paradigm shift is having. What are some really cool things you can do today because of structured XML content that you couldn’t easily do otherwise?
Salim: Ha! Have a look at pipes.yahoo.com – there are any number of interesting examples of how you can manipulate XML feeds. We’re really at the earliest stage of a long evolution in this space. For example, this is a Pipe that mashes up several French cycling news feeds, de-duplicates similar items and translates them into English!
The simplest analogy I give is that where HTML is like a word-processor, XML is like a spreadsheet. Much more powerful and machine readable. This enables entire classes of new applications to be built leveraging semantic information (think microformats or the Semantic Web). Most Web 2.0 companies leverage XML extensively.
Chip: Many new technologies aim to improve the user experience by integrating richer content in the mix. What are your thoughts about using rich media to improve the user experience. Can you tell us a story about before/after – how rich media makes content stickier and encourages users to stay around longer, interact more, but products, etc.
Salim: A great example is Confabb.com (full disclosure, I’m the Chairman). Confabb is a directory of conferences and fully utilizes Web 2.0. The company recently powered Take Back America and produced a fully interactive site where users could chat, give feedback on sessions and view the Democratic presidential candidates give speeches all from within the browser. The entire conference experience was replicated online.
Chip: Wow! That is cool. And, very useful. I'd like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today. I really appreciate it.
Salim: You’re very welcome, Chip. I really enjoyed it.
If you'd like to learn more about Salim Ismail, check out his blog, You've Got Ismail!
