Web 2.0 business models, just add water

Facebook TV, Facebook Talk, Facebook Cola:

So the creators of Web 2.0 apps build these massive communities that everyone uses everyday and they do it because they can and its really cool stuff. They then spend more hours than the whole system took to build initially, somehow working back to a sustainable revenue model? Right?Wrong! Ok...maybe.

As a colleague pointed out, Facebook is evolving into a ‘platform’ rather than just a website. By opening itself up and allowing developers to create and load apps onto the network, this platform is starting to show that it has the potential to be far more than a simple way to hook up with old buddies. With 24 million active members, growing at a rate of 3% a week one has to wonder why they turned down a 1-billion dollar buy out offer from Yahoo.

The potential of the Web 2.0 platform:
I recently heard an industry exec talking about how Facebook is looking to grow their mobile apps. What would happen if you linked GPS enabled mobile phones, with social networking sites, advertisers/retailers and service providers/operators?

What if your FaceBook profile on your phone intelligently alerts you to the fact that a mate of yours is also walking down a particular road/visiting a particular shopping mall. Using Google Maps and your built-in GPS module, it plots your location and that of your mate, tracking you down to 1 meter. It then cross references a Facebook database that intelligently profiles target markets based on all the interactions you have had online (and your friends/communities) and pops up another layer of info. This layer is a map of possible meeting spots and the quickest way to get there, suggesting that you go to a Mugg and Bean/other partner stores as a joint meeting place. If you agree to meet, you get an electronic discount voucher on a coffee or whatever from the retailer that has an agreement with the Facebook platform.

Some refer to this new breed of website come application as a mashup. Mashups are mish mash of info, easily collated and pulled together, with different layers automatically pulled and provisioned into a usable format that is far more than the sum of its parts.

Facebook might soon start to offer VoIP calls, apparently looking to provide the service off any Symbian handset or any other mobile operating system. How would MTN/Vodacom reacte to the news that their lucrative voice revenues would be bypassed for cheaper VoIP data rates? Would they embrace or continue to fight?

What's next? Facebook TV, Facebook branded Internet service provider, all on one bill and paid for online? How would DSTV/Telkom counter this? Talk about being side swiped.

What is Telkom Do Do Do Do'ing?

From Telkom's recent annoying TV and radio ads (do do do do, do do do do..), you'd never get the impression that our fat, slow moving, incompetent incumbents were ever planning on mixing things up and adding some real value.


Well, I was wrong. If you check out their new website, you'll see they are in line, if not ahead of most international telcos in terms of transforming their business model and income streams. It seems they still have some clever folks there and the company is looking at creating value for their share holders by driving new services and being a little innovative.

Moving past offering basic connectivity?
Perhaps if government could see the full potential of how much money Telkom stands to make with new services, they might have taken a bit more of a productive and aggressive stance on deregulation (locking down the local loop for another 4 years? Infraco dog show? WTF?).



Besides the fact that I still don't want to buy an mp3 for R10 (a 2 bop cut might really make a diff on a ten track CD...20%), I'm sure they will be nailing down plenty techie issues before they start punting their new services properly (because they know their kak ads won't drive the kind of traffic that will lead to any serious uptake of new services).

It seems they are purposefully not trying to make any noise about the fact that they are doing some really cool stuff. For now, it seems Telkom continues to fly under the radar, but it wouldn't surprise me if they come out with plenty big announcements of new content and services, now that they'll nailed down the platform. Cool website.

For now, congrats Telkom!

Lifecasting: Now you have your own channel, says Kyte

A colleague of mine sent me a link to a cool Web 2.0 app that allows you to film movies off your mobile phone and upload them onto the net in real time. He pointed out, that Kyte will essentially allow anyone with a cellphone and a broadband connection to set-up their own TV channel.

This is just another example of how the web is creating another access point for switched on traditional media outlets to engage with their audiences. With a service like Kyte, every mobile phone with a camera now becomes just another eye or roaming reporter on the network.

Just as the introduction of the television forced radio stations to examine their role and adapt (the same can be said for the emergence of online media vs. the newspaper), the emergence of live video blogging creates an opportunity for media houses that are switched on. As the quality of the cameras on mobile phones and the cost proposition and speed of mobile connectivity increases, it won't be long before we see citizen journalists posting eye witness reports live from the news scene. This is also another example of how new media has the potential to set and influence the traditional media agenda.

The offline TV set is dead and with the exponentially increasing amount of good content (user generated and premium content) that is being made available online, its no wonder that the race is on to connect and own the living room. The connected home is where the money is at for manufacturers and service providers. The company that can combine the best of the web, with the functionality and ease of use of the old school TV set, is in for a good ride.

Telkom stand no chance in this race and should rather stick to being the backbone. DSTV seem to be in the pound seats, but they could very well be side swiped by a nimble web TV company that comes in, with the ability to offer far more, off a far lower cost base.

Is it too far fetched to see the content providers/owners (film studios, networks) partnering with the likes of Vodaphone/Vodacom and seeing them offering TV into the home service off a WiMax/WiBro connection?