nuance intelligence

I’m just back from Google’s I/O developer conference. Look for deeper thoughts in coming days and weeks, as the REM cycles process all the new info. In the meanwhile, here are some top-of-mind impressions:

1. I’m always on the lookout for corporations (like Google) to fall from grace. As near as I can tell, it’s just not happening. All the people I met have been focused, authentic and intent on their goal of opening up the web as a collaborative environment. At this event, that translates to enabling developers to build more interesting and integrated apps. The Googlers are all smart, authentic and interesting. There is a pretty high weirdo factor (which is to say Googlers are not dronish), and the T-shirt-to-khaki ratio was about 25-to-1.

2. Google leadership is doing a good job of pairing mature leaders with young engineers in technical presentations. This demonstrates a lot of trust in their teams, and provides these (relative) youngsters with great experience in working with their peers in the developer community.

3. Google Gears an App Engine will are changing the face of web application development. Google is doing for developers what eBay did for merchants — creating a whole new class of people who can operate in a more open and free environment, removing pedantic chores to focus people at a more strategic level.

4. Google Earth announced a web-based API that lets you run that application in the browser, on your site. More about this at AWhere.

5. As I began to describe, OpenSocial and related tools (including OAuth, OpenID, FriendConnect, Apache Shindig) will distribute the locus of energy to a broader community of websites who want to develop social network applications; at the same time, they will enhance the relevance of the major networks. Truly a simile for “think global, act local.” Look for a much deeper analysis of this transition in coming weeks. I expect the blogosphere will resound with commentary on this issue.

6. What does it mean to “syndicate the application?” Figure that one out, and you’ll have a 3-month head start on almost everyone. Where you’re going is up to you.

7. In the seven months since they announced the standard, there are 275 million people in social networks using OpenSocial; 20,000 developers working on it; and 50 million users actively using an OpenSocial application. Now that’s organic growth.

8. OpenSocial is truly a collaborative effort by the community. Google, MySpace, Yahoo, SUN, Apache, Hi5, Plaxo and many many others are contributing to a set of tools that will allow developers anywhere to extend the impact of social networks to any website and community that wants it. I’ll say much much more about this in the coming weeks and months, but it’s a key trend that will keep redefining the web.