The Future of Advertising
Great quote from Dave Winer on Why Google launched OpenSocial:
Advertising is on its way to being obsolete. Facebook is just another step along the path. Advertising will get more and more targeted until it disappears, because perfectly targeted advertising is just information.
I don't see Facebook seriously threatening Google, as Dave does, but that quote is a classic, and long-term (surely!) spot on the money.
I'm much more in agreement with Tim O'Reilly's critique of OpenSocial. Somehow OpenSocial seems all backwards from the company whose maps openness help make mashups a whole new class of application.
It smells a lot like OpenSocial was hastily conceived just to get something out the door in advance of the Facebook announcements today, by Googlers who don't quite grok the power of the open juice.