I would love to have a public conversation about which part of these visions has materialized already, which is currently happening, and which part is likely never to happen. And why. Where we were right, and where we were wrong. What have we learned, and which mistakes are likely to repeat themselves – if we are not careful.

Would you happen to have a good story to initiate this conversation?

For example, what Yahoo just announced that it is doing across all of its properties in terms of uniting the data using semantic web elements. This is good, as it makes a lower barrier to entry for competing services, but also gives consumers options towards how they want to use that information. While hardware is a bit less versatile, having open standards can promote the same kind of workings.

Open source is a slightly different matter. Personally, I think it should be commnuity driven, but big company funded in some endeavors. For example, what Nokia is doing with Maemo is a good thing for the industry, and a solid model to follow for some applications of mobile. As open source developers and communities become a bit less new at this, I would expect to see better relationships and products that come as a result of a shared vision (in some areas) and freedom to innovate (in all areas).