No-one wants to own mail servers or mail clients – apps that are part of the cloud. No-one would pay for a browser these days – to access cloud material – you have to consider these apps to be part of the cloud.

You also have to be careful with the companies you mention. Though they all use and feed back into the Open Source ‘pool’, all of them definitely maintain their crown jewels as closed source and this is important to sell this point to business heads. Embrace Open Source where it doesn’t give you a competitive advantage.

I think we do need to find a model for encouraging technology startups in Ireland (and Northern Ireland). There’s definitely a sense of conservatism here in the province but this is because people are stuck in the rut of the tried and tested methods and the alternative is to downsize, sell off assets and hope for the best that your Web 2.0 app will pay your way eventually. This is simply not practical for anyone but college students which writes off the older folk immediately.

Someone recently accused me of not having enough commitment to an idea because I choose to work on it in the evenings. They ignored the successful business I had previously built, the fact I want a house for my wife-to-be and kids to live in, the fact I want a climbing frame for the kids and the ability to decorate or renovate – I don’t want to be renting!

The “code for pizza” model may have worked in 1999 but it’s old, tired and dead now.

{Haven’t gotten a Feed from you since May 16th despite refreshing costantly.)

Great point. Reminds me very much of Brian Eno’s concept of “Scenius” – http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/06/scenius_or_comm.php