ETech: That’s Cool, But So What?

ETech is great, talk about some very very cool technology. Some of the smartest developers and minds of the web are right here trying to figure out problems and predict the way technology will be taking us in the years ahead. I mean, where else can you sit down for brunch and talk to gurus like Joel Spolsky, Doc Searls and David Sifry?

So there’s basically two things going on here: the philosophy and trending of web software, and then the actual applications. I’m really enjoying the philosphy part; talking about how technologies of tomorrow and the way we develop them actually have an impact on real-life social structures for instance.

However, when I see the applications – the great mashups, aggregators, tagging and bookmarking tools – I can’t help but say, “so what?”. It makes me ask the question, are the developers of these new applications really looking to solve a problem for people, or are they just trying to find a use for some new, cool technology?

Obviously, this means nothing without examples so here are a couple:

• Plum – a very cool aggregator with an open API. (to be fair, I should drill into this some more, but currently I just don’t see how it makes my life easier yet)
• Ma.gnolia – a bookmarking tool, a better looking Del.icio.us, but I already have Del.icio.us, so “so what?”

How about some apps that I think will really help people do things in a new way:

• Eventful (and EVDB) – for events and calendaring
• Edgeio – for sales from the long tail

Anyway, I’m really interested in finding more examples of technology created to solve real problems that people have. The technology is there, or is almost there, we just need the application of those ideas in the proper tools.