Is the Internet Too Crowded?
Recently I’ve mentioned that I’ve been a little uninspired lately, and a big chunk of that is due to the internet. It seemed like there was this huge stretch in time a few years back, where tons of web companies were doing great things and all of these new web apps and services were coming out. I felt that at least once a week, I was signing up for some new public beta and/or service because it seemed that these services would be of value to me.
Now it seems that lots of companies are coming out with crap. It would be too much of an overstatement to say that all of the good ideas are taken up, however, I’m just not seeing much innovation on the web lately. Did everyone rush to the internet and exhaust all the good ideas? Who knows, but there has been one problem I’ve notice about all of new web apps these days.
There is no human aspect to them. In other words, what value does some of this stuff bring to my life? Not everything will be relevant to me, but it seems that companies get too caught up on providing the latest and greatest technology without thinking all the way through the human aspect of applications and services. One company will copy another thinking that because they can use better technology, their app will be better. But technology doesn’t solve human problems. The fact that something is “cool” doesn’t make it a good service to users.
When everyone is looking for gold in the same river, the best opportunities are somewhere else. Via
There is no way to counter the huge rush to the internet, and it’s going to happen in any industry where there is a lot of success. What is frustrating, though, is the lack of innovation. Everyone is doing the same thing, and hopefully that will change.
Do you think the internet is too crowded with not enough innovation? Or is it just me?
3 Comments
It’s you. I have been exactly where you are. You are asking the Internet to be something it’s not. And you’re so involved in it that your paradigm has become limited.
Step back. There is innovation going on all over the Internet, just not in the circles you’re travelling in. Try to find a different niche to explore online. The Internet is so big there’s an infinite number of them.
The Internet will not ’save the world’. Nor will it be all things to all people.
Find a problem, solve it well. This is innovation, and success will follow you along that path.
Adrian, I’m not exactly expecting the internet to “save the world”. I do know what the internet is capable of (for the most part), so I don’t think I’m expecting too much from it, however, I think you are right that I need to expand my niche a bit.
I agree that the rush on private beta invites has subsided. But that’s a good thing as well. Pownce was the last one I wanted, got and am now stuck with two dozen invites for. And P is dead in the water after all.
The internet is crowded, yes, but there’s also a lot going on. We saw the move online during the past few years: get your blog, get your pics on, share your stats, bookmarks, music. That indeed has dried up a bit, but what else could you still put up, that would have value, or be of help or interest to others?
I think the next move will be getting all that content back in a meaningful way, and bringing it to the masses: data scraping, taxonomy, even RSS.
We all have days when we think it’s all humbug, but there’s a lot of territory still out there to map and exhaust.