John Borthwick, CEO of Betaworks, produced a “treatise” blog post on the now/real time web.   

The article is an observation piece on what’s organically happening in terms of how Twitter is impacting news, traffic patterns and audience.  The Prezi presentation page is nicely done, and has great specific information.  

Succinctly, he’s saying that the most desirable aspect of the internet to users, what’s new, is transforming from a page-based static medium to a stream-based information flow medium.   The Twitter stream, and it’s wake (blogs, Digg, Facebook, Friendfeed, etc) represent where most of the new information is, and where current discussions and opinions now emerge.  The stream carries the bulk of “new” information to the net.

It’s all pretty fascinating, although the more interesting question is how to make that valuable, how to find content.  Even now, only a small core of expert users are able to put Twitter to real use.  Borthwick brings up swarm types of traffic (like the Susan Boyle video).   The migration of the now internet to the mainstream will require tools and people that have the know-how to create influence and harness value.   When professors and scientists and companies and soccer moms are all adding to the stream, what software and revenue infrastructure will surround it.   Most non-internet people that I know are lost when they arrive at Twitter; it’s out of context for them.   So the value has yet to be created.  Great technology brands like Google, Facebook, Apple have all succeeded in giving their users immediate impact value as soon as a page is loaded or a device is powered on.   

Onramps to Twitter are in nascent stages, but they are being built at rapid speed.  The sand getting all kicked up, it’s hard to see clearly.

I’ll sign off with my own Kundera quote:

“People are always shouting they want to create a better future. It’s not true. The future is an apathetic void of no interest to anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritate us, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The only reason people want to be masters of the future is to change the past.”

-Milan Kundera