Andreessen On The Humming Innovation

Marc Andreessen says exciting stuff "is happening all over the map" - especially in Silicon Valley. Andreessen’s Opsware is now focusing on software that helps companies better and more efficiently manage an ever-growing number of servers with multiple operating systems. This is at the backbone of several cutting-edge trends in tech, including running free Linux software on commodity servers; utility computing, where companies can pay for hardware and software as they go, like electricity or water; and autonomic computing, the idea that networks can run and monitor themselves. Andreessen is also behind a new venture called Ning. It's a Web site that lets people use very simple developer tools to build so-called social Web applications, such as developing a Match.com, but for activities other than dating, or a Craigslist for specific cities not on that site now. The Web site whimsically calls itself a free "playground" for such applications, and it plans to make money eventually through charging for premium services and advertising. Echoing Bill Gurley’s views that innovation in the internet world has not peaked. Andreessen thinks that the high rate of change has stayed like that for over last five years. He says that pockets of innovation are centered on broadband and mobile, there's the build-out of new, huge Web startups. There are huge rates of change, and businesses are continuing to build out Web applications. The consumer electronics sector is also vibrant with new technology, from music to video. There's actually a big story on the economics to build out information systems. It's falling in price so fast, the cost is becoming almost trivial. Then that's leading to explosion of new applications. Servers are completely commoditized. It's shocking the velocity with which networking and storage infrastructure software has commoditized. He believes that invention of 1990’s is being deployed at a massive scale. There are a large number of new software companies, and more categories are emerging all the time. Andreessen thinks that [Previously], people built all their own software & in the next 30 years [will be dominated by] the [application service provider] or service style. He goes on to predict that PHP may gain more acceptance over Java and expects that in the next five years, there will be new developers trained on all of the open-source stuff, having more control, and these trends will all continue and he believes that Valley is the place to be in for tech business.Pretty insightful and full of passion.