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Bothered 2.0 - a new look at mobile and the web

Why does Eric Schmitt the CEO of Google say that "mobile, mobile, mobile" is the next opportunity? The AMF Ventures viewpoint is that the ownership of mobile-originated data is the opportunity.

Within our understanding; 2.0 as a movement is about the network effect, collective intelligence, wisdom of crowds, tribes, clans, clubs and all other manner of long tail matters. Web 2.0 is the passing phase from1.0; which centred on cost reduction and brand values. Moving from 1.0 to 2.0 is the same as moving from separation, isolation and solitude to relationship, engagement and conversation. Consumerism 2.0 will be built on mobility and trust.

Eric Schmitt, the CEO of Google, said "mobile, mobile, mobile" as the next opportunity at the O'Reilly Web2Expo in San Francisco last month, where I was speaking on Mobile Web 2.0. AMF Ventures fully agrees that the mobile platform provides an opportunity that can advance faster and further than any other platform; such as the Web, TV, radio or newspaper.

The mobile based form factor will be both the preferred method of IP access globally and, being always with you, will be the prime source of collecting your data or 'Digital Footprint', which Google would like to own and exploit!

Our mobile device is not only with us, it is increasingly part of us; it has become for many users the most personal thing. Published research suggests that we notice the loss of the mobile device faster than our wallet. The mobile device, if capable, can capture your 'Digital Footprint*' which is our daily actions and activities; when we start moving in the morning, what information was searched, requested or delivered, where we have been, where we stayed and for how long. Relationship analysis using our contact base would detail who we were with and who was nearby.

Other Screens of Life** will be unable to repeat this data collection feat, at best a fixed access Web model may get 10% of the available data of your daily pattern, TV maybe 1%, but the mobile device opens the possibility of 90%

Assuming privacy laws and big brother objections can be overcome, this Digital Footprint of captured data or its aggregated trends has a use and a value. The use is personalisation, the exploitation of personalisation is sales and marketing, the value is based on ownership of Digital Footprints.

This Digital Footprint being made up of clicks, attention, location and is the focus of our converged industries. 2.0 as a movement has a fascination with this data, in O'Reilly language 'the next Intel inside.' Digital Footprints are about where we have been, for low long, how often and the inter-relationships. Digital Footprints are not about individual identity, passport numbers, bank account details or social security numbers.

Digital Footprint metadata comes from the Screens of Life – the digital metadata of who we are, the true value to marketing income based companies who need this data for personalisation and why the ownership of this data is the battle ground to be won and lost, the reason why AMF Ventures speculates that Eric Schmidt wakes up thinking about how to own an individuals mobile metadata before he looks at his email or worries about the value of Double Click or improving the search algorithm.

AMF Ventures contends that this Digital Footprint or metadata belongs to its creator. However, who will I trust with my Digital Footprint if I don't want Google, Amazon, Ebay, Vodafone, News Corp or Disney to have ownership of it?

I need a trusted, open Digital Footprint store, collecting, collating and serving my metadata, through an open API across all platforms and services. Users recognise the value of sharing a Digital Footprint, as it leads to service companies improving the mobile, Web or TV experience through personalisation and offsetting cost. But who should I trust and what should I trust them for; as most 2.0 corporations want my Digital Footprint metadata to justify the business model; as owners of Digital Footprints will control advertising revenue. As Google only controls the Web footprint, control of the mobile is critical, especially as mobile devices adds two whole new classes of unclaimed data platforms, availability and location.

Mobile Web 2.0 is beyond the extension of the Web, requiring special thought and needs a deep understanding of media, mobile and web, with business models built on mobility and trust. Further, trying to address or understand mobile strategy and its economics outside of the wider context of the Web and other platforms is rather futile as in the new 2.0 land, Loyalty is Dead, Trust is the Challenger, the Princes are Editors, the Princesses are Sense and Simplicity, Attention is Queen and Metadata is King. We hope that this Viewpoint improves awareness, raises questions and promotes deliberation over coffee.

You can e-mail comments back to me as viewpoint (at) amfventures.com, blog at www.etribes.com/tonyfish or text them to + 44 (0) 7796 574567. Alternatively you can come to Mashup where we meet once a month to debate topics of interest. In June the Mashup discussion will focus on the value of location.

* Digital Footprint. My first impression of this was described as "the slug trail' in Being Digital by Nicholas Negroponte 1996. Digital Footprint is also known as a 'Lifestream.' 'Lifestreams' will soon be structured using APML as a common data interchange format for attention or iPALS - identity, Presence, Attention, Location and Services.

** 'Screens of Life' is a phrase explored in Mobile Web 2.0 as a mechanism to describe how we interact with media; both as a consumer of content and as a creator. The screens of life being