One person I really enjoy reading and listening to is Tim O'Reilly (podcasts here and here). He has some really interesting ideas about where we have been and where we are going on the Internet. The most relevant example is the explanation of what the Web 2.0 is and how it is going to change the way we doing things even further.

Part of this relatively new idea is the explosion of Web Services on the Internet and what that means. His description of what has happened to this point in the evolution of Web Services is right on target. So far these services have only been used in a "Star Schema" fashion with "Ebay in the middle and the developers on the parameter." (Tim O'Reilly's use of the term Star Schema explains things incredibly well and is very appropriate.) The next step seems to be the mashing up of different Web Services to create totally different ways of looking at available information. Examples being:

• Weather Bonk
• Mappr
• HousingMaps
• Plazes

Lately I hear people around me say how bad things are and how bad things are going to be in the future. My interpretation of this thought process is as follows. IT professionals think things are bad now because they were so good during the Internet bubble. They think the future is bleak because of the prospect of outsourcing and having to compete against the world for their jobs to earn a global wage. My outlook is nowhere near as dark as this and as a matter of fact I think our future is going to be bright.

The ideas Tim O'Reilly provides and the examples above are incredibly powerful. When I hear and see things like this it makes me think of all the incredible things that the Information Technology space has to offer and it is the reason way I've chosen it as my profession. I have no illusions that life is ever going to be easy and no one else should either. Nothing like the Internet bubble is ever going to happen again, so remember it well so you can tell your grandchildren about it someday. The future that we talked about back then is here so let us explore these possibilities and get on with it. We all have a lot of work to do and there is room for everyone.