COMING ON THE NET: PEOPLE POWER

摘要

The dot-corn bust has left many technology entrepreneurs and investors so weary and wary that they're actually hiding from new ideas. Big mistake. Nearly a decade after the Web browser ignited the Internet, it may well be time to gear up for the next tech revolution. But this time, the spark may not be another gadget or "killer app" software. Instead, it may well be a new social movement, contends Howard Rheingold in his new book, Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. Eheingold knew something was up when, on a trip to Tokyo in 2000, he suddenly noticed that more people were staring at their cell phones than talking into them. What he soon discovered was that these oyayubizoku, or "thumb tribes" as they're called in Japan, were using their phones to exchange instant messages, forging new kinds of ad-hoc social groups. He also found a Japanese matchmaking service, called Lovegety, that alerts people on their mobile phones if someone with the mate-worthy attributes they've chosen is nearby.