Quite often, you may have noticed, I will summarise a conference in a blog post. I’ve done it for SIME, ETRE, WebMission, Entrepreneur Country, and many more. This afternoon I met my nemesis. Simply put, AWA digital (www.awadigital.com) beat me to the punch by putting the whole thing online ...   more »

After a month or two off, one topic has risen to the top of my agenda sufficiently to be blogged about. I’ve been concerned for years now in how people use software to entertain themselves. Then, more recently, how software can be used to help people realise creative tasks at home that previously required professional tools and teams of people. Since around 1996, I have been personally concerned with how the internet enables communities to socialise and co-operate. During that time, I’ve enjoyed watching ‘serious business’ people look down their noses (sometimes figuratively, but surprisingly often, actually) at computers being used for creativity or entertainment. My views are clear “the only proper use for a computer is entertainment”. I’ve had to stretch that to include “the only proper uses for computer are entertainment and empowerment of everyone”. Still, it has proven hard to convince business people that they owe more to the fact that consumers love entertainment than they ever cared to acknowledge. OK, there have been pockets of prescience in the major software companies: Oracle (in the form of David Christopher for one), BT (with Dan Baillin), Sun (the inestimable Stewart Townsend), Microsoft (Claire O’Halloran then Bindi Karia both carry the new media torch elegantly), and in those places the social media / entertainment revolution has clearly found its voice. Elsewhere, not so much. Which is why I have been delighted to attend a short seminar this morning on Software as a Service sponsored by Spectrum. The speakers were really excellent, insightful and relevant. They all had a core theme (apart from, obviously, trying to sell us their solution...). That theme was: the real pressure on business software is coming from your employees’ and your customers’ experiences at home of consumer entertainment and social media. The speakers were Keynote Address: Dr. Steve Garnett, Chairman EMEA, Salesforce.com  Emerging Venture Perspective: Andrew McGregor, CEO, eCommera  Sector Update: Claudio Alvarez, Principal, GP Bullhound Client Perspective: Bernie Segal, European Head, Software as a Service, Infosys I won’t embarrass anyone with quotes, but will try to pick up on themes.   more »