The future, as instructed by Zuckerberg during TechCrunch Disrupt

I had the privilege to be at the TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco when Mark Zuckerberg had his first public interview since the IPO. At first, I was wavering if I should go see him, given the damaging IPO and the history we all have come to accept as defining his character. The brush with fame took over, and I decided, after all, to see the men in the flesh answer questions that were obviously predictable. He was very upbeat and positive and exemplified how we learn from our mistakes and step up to the plate in America. In all fairness,, he did what was expected of him to improve confidence. A few things, though captured my attention. His criticism of HTML5 as a sub-standard option for mobile applications was not a surprise, but his focus on mobile as the end-all of the future of consumer computing left me perplexed. I do not believe that the end is the mobile phone as the terminal of user interaction.  

When Zuckerberg focuses on this vision, he actually mirrors the criticism regarding the failure of Facebook to have capitalized on advertisements on mobile platforms. This is when the CEO loses his eye; he simply invested his strategy in the short-term expectation to monetize the fact that many people use mobile devices to communicate. O I have a very different vision about the future of the mobile phone and how people will interact with information. Let’s say that I believe that the phone will be an information wallet capable of interfacing with pervasive touch screens equipped with human interface exchange features accessing our personal and community information. But I digress.  

One big disappointment, although expected, was that he left after his last question and did not take any questions from the audience. This was a good decision from the board of directors, but I don't think it worked out for Mark, who was starting to have the audience warm up to him!

What fascinated me is that after Zukerberg’s interview, everyone was asking about HTML5 and mobile native applications. It immediately became the single focus of every conversation surrounding any, and I mean any, site and application shown at TechCrunch. It was amazing to observe the power of a few words and how they could set an “important” expectation from investors and force the retooling of product development teams.  

Overall it was interesting to hear him and see the impact of his claims and strategy on the attendees when they left. Fame is a great influencer, especially when you have an agenda to execute. My takeaway is that innovation was clearly different from what he was communicating. Basically, it kept all the issues, other than how Facebook can make more money, open and on the table for grabs! 

 (My screen shows the tweather report during the event as Zuckerberg was making his way to the stage)