Mike Arrington and Tim O'Reilly engage in a spirited debate. O'Reilly argues that companies competing against Google, Apple or Facebook should strike out into new territories. Quoting Sun Tzu, O'Reilly admires PayPal for carving out a new niche, while he gives Apple's iPhone group kudos for outflanking competitors.
Mike Arrington joins in, describing the battle between Microsoft and Google over search. Facebook locks up eyeballs but still can't reliably generate cash. Meanwhile Microsoft, Google and Apple still have giant cash machines. Arrington worries about a potential privacy disaster at Facebook. He asks: will monetization goals conflict with Facebook's desire to protect users?
Arrington stokes conspiracy theories about Steve Jobs (Apple) and Eric Schmidt (Google). He breaks news on Google's energy initiatives, scooping his own blog. This talk began as a spirited debate between Arrington and O'Reilly on their own blogs and continued at foo camp. This debate will continue beyond Where2.0.
Michael Arrington is founder of TechCrunch, the blog that The Wall Street Journal calls a "must read" for Silicon Valley venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. The San Fransisco Chronicle: "TechCrunch has become the most important tech publication in the world because the team's hard work day-in, day-out has made it a font of information and the industry water cooler." Arianna Huffington defines Arrington as "the quintessential blogger: intense, passionate, consumed with his subject..." An entrepreneur and consultant, Arrington was named in 2008 by Time Magazine one of the world’s most influential people. Charlie Rose calls Arrington a "kingmaker of new technology startups." He's known for posting to his own sites at 3 AM.
Tim O'Reilly is CEO of O’Reilly Media, Inc., reputed to be best computer and information technologies publisher in the world. O’Reilly Media hosts conferences on open source, government data and internet technologies. O’Reilly is an advocate for the technical community and a key figure in the development of the computer industry and free software. In 2010, Inc. Magazine called Tim O'Reilly Silicon Valley's leading intellectual, an entrepreneur who sees business as a profound way of of exploring and changing the world.
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