Web Sites That Will Have an Impact in 2007

Amazon S3 (taken from Amazon S3 main site):

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

Amazon S3 is storage for the Internet. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers.

Amazon S3 Functionality

Amazon S3 is intentionally built with a minimal feature set.

• Write, read, and delete objects containing from 1 byte to 5 gigabytes of data each. The number of objects you can store is unlimited.
• Each object is stored and retrieved via a unique, developer-assigned key.
• Authentication mechanisms are provided to ensure that data is kept secure from unauthorized access. Objects can be made private or public, and rights can be granted to specific users.
• Uses standards-based REST and SOAP interfaces designed to work with any Internet-development toolkit.
• Built to be flexible so that protocol or functional layers can easily be added. Default download protocol is HTTP. A BitTorrent(TM) protocol interface is provided to lower costs for high-scale distribution. Additional interfaces will be added in the future.
  

The Burg.tv:

The Burg is a web-based sitcom that is gaining somewhat of a cult following. It is like some of the YouTube videos out there that have a continuing element, but this is treated as a real show. The people are professional actors trying to break into the biz, and are hoping to get noticed or gain experience by being on this show. I think that if it gains enough of a following, web-based sitcoms could be the way we watch TV shows in the future. No more having to make sure you can watch at a specific pre-ordained time and hour (although I'm sure many hardcore fans want to watch as soon as a new episode is released). This could be great for the failing genre of sitcoms, or really any show in general.

Centiare.com:

Wikipedia for businesses. Basically, founder Gregory Kohs offered to create Wikipedia pages about companies if they were willing to pay him a small fee. He would still write the information by researching himself, not by taking what the company simply wanted up there, but at least they would be represented. Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales disagreed with his theory and ultimately shut him out. Kohs started his own site, Centiare, as a directory of information for corporations in the business world.

NikePlus.com:

The home page for any runners who use the new Nike/iPod technology for tracking distance, pace, and many other stats through music and sneakers. This home page lets you keep track of your own runs, find new Nike Plus products, and find the top work out songs from all Nike Plus users, including pro athletes' favorite hits.

Virtual Laguna Beach:

The dulled down MTV is finally tired of playing catch up with the latest trends and finally trying to pioneer one on their own. In September, they launched "Vitual Laguna Beach", a virtual world in which users take control of a Laguna-esque character and live in the real fake world of Laguna Beach, Orange County. It not only lets you keep up with the show and talk about it with others, but you can even be a part of it. It's Myspace meets YouTube meets Reality MTV.