Obama Vows Swift Action on Vast Economic Stimulus Plan - NYTimes.com

I'm reading The New York Times November 22, 2008. Not the paper version but the digital version that feeds to my Gmail. The new US president is going to face though uphill battle from the first day in charge. The US and global economy isn't giving an easy start. He will need all his persuasion power and speaking talent to get people behind his plans. What will happen to GM, Ford and Chrysler before that. The Citygroup bank is on the brink of a collapse.

He promises 2,5 million new jobs.

Obama Vows Swift Action on Vast Economic Stimulus Plan - NYTimes.com: "In the Democrats’ weekly radio address, Mr. Obama said he would direct his economic team to craft a two-year stimulus plan with the goal of saving or creating 2.5 million jobs. He said it would be “a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face.”

Mr. Obama said he hoped to sign the stimulus package into law soon after taking office on Jan. 20. He is already coordinating efforts with Democratic leaders in Congress, who have said they will begin work next month.

Advisers to Mr. Obama say they want to use the economic crisis as an opportunity to act on many of the issues he emphasized in his campaign, including cutting taxes for lower- and middle-class workers, addressing neglected public infrastructure projects like roads and schools, and creating “green jobs” through business incentives for energy alternatives and environmentally friendly technologies.

In light of the downturn, Mr. Obama is also said to be reconsidering a key campaign pledge: his proposal to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. According to several people familiar with the discussions, he might instead let those tax cuts expire as scheduled in 2011, effectively delaying any tax increase while he gives his stimulus plan a chance to work."

Internet Ten Years Ago

The picture to the right was used by me in a report ten years ago, 1997.

The statement "Futurists say that the Internet will radically alter global culture" is becoming reality.

1. We Twitter
2. We Jaiku
3. We Facbook
4. We Ning
5. We Basecamp
6. We Barcamp
7. We Pownce
8. We Blog
   
9. We Microblog
10. We Skype
11. We YouTube
12. We Podcast
13. We Webcast
14. We Collaborate online
15. Internet has become a communication work horse

Ten years ago email was the killer application. Today its a spam-machine.

Ten years ago a web-page was a huge step forward. It was your business card.

Today I blog on several channels on a daily basis.

Wikinomics

A deep change has happened on the Web. Collaboration of people around the world has become possible. When you say the word wiki some people at corporate level are ready to run and hide, but there is no need to be scared. Now we, you, us can plug into new platforms and cooperate with people we haven't seen ever befor. We may plug into surging communities and co-create business models, tools, products and services. This is something that should be embraced and loved. We don't need to be afraid about this progress. More and more R and D will happpen online with outsiders.

* There is a paradigm shift
* Leaders in the industries are the last one to adopt change
* Crisis of leadership is changing the business landscape fundamentally
* There is an emerging open market for uniquely qualified minds

This is a new mode of production. Wiki does now even connect with economics. There is the biggest change of the century. Hundreds or millions of people can come together and create new products, services. Social networking is becoming the new mode of production.

Who cares about Web 2.0

I've been writing about Internet, new technology, Web 2.0, social collaboration and digital villages for years, about internationalization, globalization and how technology affects our every day life. Who cares? These issues are marginal for the general public. I try to make a list of who might be reading.

1. Web 2.0 - Just a few and close to nobody
2. PC versus Mac - Geeks
3. Visual Radio - Who cares
4. Globalization - Some
5. Internationalization - Maybe a few partners
6. Social Collaboration - The whole idea is still too complex
7. Wikipedia - Maybe some geeks
8. Outsourcing - Readers hope it will not happen in 'our company'
9. Blogging - Geek stuff
10. Podcasting - What's that?
11. Videocasting - More "What's that?"
12. Venture Capital - Too complex for small companies
13. RFID - Question mark
14. Smart phones - Use them, don't talk
15. MP3 and iPOd - For kids

What should I be writing about instead?

1. People relations
2. Celebrities
3. Weight watching
4. Food
5. Wine
6. Travel
7. Gossips
8. Cars
9. Jokes

What's the motivation for writing about issues nobody or close to nobody cares about? Honestly, I started to write these digital diaries for myself and will continue to do it. These are notes for my own use and they have a value for me on a long term basis. I can go back to some of my blogs and check out what I had on my mind January 2004.

The global economy

In the global economy, collaboration within groups of geographically dispersed knowledge workers is quickly becoming the locus of creativity and innovation. Advanced Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that enable e-Collaboration enhance group work, especially when teams must share information and make decisions across business and national boundaries, provides numerous new ways of networking on a global level.