Webb Dialogues: Peter Lindberg | Fleecelabs by lk9

In an attempt to draw some cohesion amongst the Swedish web community (or what we know of it), we wanted to reach out to a few people, whose work we admire, and see if they’d be interested in offering a little insight on themselves and their perspective on a couple web issues. And with the positive feedback we’ve received, we’re, now, hoping to share a small series of interviews, Webb Dialogues, over the coming month. Just want to give a big thanks! to those people who we’ve contacted (and will contact) for taking the time to help us out.

So, without further ado…

Peter Lindberg, Fleecelabs (http://fleecelabs.se)
1. Can you share a little background information and how you got where you are today…

34 years old, living in Stockholm with my girlfriend and our five-year-old daughter. Have worked as a software developer for 14 years. The last 8 years I’ve mostly developed web-based applications. Started a company called Fleecelabs with my friend Svante at the beginning of this year, with the intention to explore the new things happening on the web.

2. Number of blogs in your reader? If you could only read 3 blogs any given day, which ones would they be?

About 120, plus a dozen feeds for ego searches and monitoring activity in various web apps (Backpack, Campaign Monitor, Mephisto blogs, etc.)
If I could only read three blogs, those would be:

    (These aren’t to be seen as my eternal favorites. My interests shift frequently and I’m more of a skimmer than a reader when it comes to RSS. Every once in a while I delete all feeds and start subscribing from scratch.)

    3. In regards to new web development, what sites (within or outside of Sweden) are the most interesting to you?

    If I could only pick one website to observe and learn from, it would have to be Amazon.com. Not only the online store, but also the web services such as EC2, S3, Mechanical Turk, and so on. An ongoing experiment, very inspiring. Other favorites are Last.fm and Flickr.

    4. How would you charactarize the state of the web in Sweden?

    The Swedish web is alive and well, but a couple of years behind. Currently, we’re at the stage where blogs are gaining ground. This is an important stage. In many regards, Web 2.0 is the adoption of the blog model by non-blog websites. Decentralization, loose coupling, syndication, integration, openness, bottom-up, releasing early and often, and so on. When the first blogs started appearing here, they were met with skepticism. They were either seen as online diaries or as personal homepages, both of which had been around for years. But what made blogs different was that they came with a platform. There was RSS, so readers could stay updated about their favorite blogs. There were services you could “ping” when you had posted something new. There were search engines so you could find and discover interesting posts and blogs. Also, blog were different because they were about distributed discussion, whereas online diaries and personal homepages were isolated silos. So, blogs were a paradigm shift. And Web 2.0 is as well. But the Web 2.0 model has many commonalities with the blog model. Right now we’re still discovering what blogs are and how the blogosphere is different. At the next stage, we’ll be figuring out Web 2.0.

    5. Which would you say are the strongest aspects of internet development in Sweden?

    Sectors, industries, techniques? In Sweden, the web is still perceived as a publishing medium. You publish and others consume. I guess that is why web agencies here are sort of like ad agencies for the web. That’s where we are the strongest compared to the rest of the world, I think; at creating web-based ad campaigns, or web-based appendages to offline ad campaigns.

    6. What kind of applications would you like to see being developed? In Sweden?

    There isn’t any particular application I would like to see. Rather, I’d like to see the principles of Web 2.0 being adopted. Most importantly, I would like to be recognized as an individual by the websites I visit. I would like to see things like, “Last time you viewed these things.” Or, “These are your most frequently viewed things.” Also, I’d like those websites to more efficiently guide me to whatever it is that is relevant to me, based on past activities by previous visitors that somehow match mine. As in, “These are new things that we think you would find interesting.” In addition, based on my ever-evolving profile at those sites, I’d like them to surprise me, to bubble up things once in a while that doesn’t match my assumed interests. Simply put, I want websites to behave as if they were made only for me. From my point of view, everything all other users do seems to be fed back to make my experience better.

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    December 21, 2006 / 3 Comments.

    3 Comments

    1. jonathan replied:

      \”In many regards, Web 2.0 is the adoption of the blog model by non-blog websites. Decentralization, loose coupling, syndication, integration, openness, bottom-up, releasing early and often, and so on\”

      …very well put, I often scratch my head, wondering why this isn\’t embraced more often, but I understand it\’s tough to break certain levels of comfort and it might not be suitable for all markets. But I really feel there is still some space (both consumer & inter-business services) out there that will (matter of time) really benefit. In any case, it will catupult competency levels of those services.

      December 21st, 2006 at 4:39 pm. Permalink.

    2. Beta Alfa 2.0 » Ett sexpack replied:

      […] Peter på Fibrer bjuder på lite personliga tankar hos i en liten intervju hos Lab:kloud9.1 […]

      December 21st, 2006 at 6:29 pm. Permalink.

    3. lab:kloud9 - Webb Dialogues (2): Fredrik Wass | Bisonblog replied:

      […] Webb Dialogues (2): Fredrik Wass | Bisonblog by Jonas So, one week after sharing some insight to Peter Lindberg and his views on certain ongoings within the web, it’s time to deliver another perspective and again, we were fortunate enough to receive answers from one of Sweden’s more recongnized net-trend bloggers… Fredrik Wass, Bisonblog (http://www.bisonblog.se) 1. We’d like to give the reader a little background information… I am a web editor and freelance journalist living in Stockholm. I have worked with Internet communication since 1998 in both public and private companies. At bisonblog.se, I blog about social media, marketing and Internet. I’ve been blogging since 2004 and it has been very benefitial to me. Blogging is a great way to create a network of interesting contacts and also investigate my profession further than my day job allows me to. 2. Number of blogs in your reader? If you could only read 3 blogs any given day, which ones would they be? On last count I had 233 feeds in bloglines. I try to trash some every now and then but always seem to add feeds at a higher pace. If I could only pick three blogs I would say Martin Jönsson (SvD), Vassa Eggen and Betaalfa. Martin and Vassa Eggen for the great depth of knowledge and Betaalfa for the wide range on topics. 3. In regards to new web development, what sites (within or outside of Sweden) are the most interesting to you? I think virtual worlds such as Second Life are really interesting. This is a way of using the web that is just at it’s embryo stage and we’ll see much more of this in the future. Other sites I fancy are the ones that focus on just one topic. Sites that do one thing and do it well. I don’t want portals. I want content that can be mixed with other content into my own “application”. Google Co-Op is a good example. 4. How would you charactarize the state of the web in Sweden? There’s a lot going on, and there is a whole bunch of skilled programmers and individuals with great ideas out there. This is the first generation who has grown up using the Internet. I think the web is or is going to be a much more central part of all corporate communication in the years to come. If Sweden is going to be on the forefront of this development we need to take more risks when it comes to investing in different ideas and realize that not all new companies can or must be the new Google. 5. Which would you say are the strongest aspects of internet development in Sweden? Sectors, industries, techniques? […]

      December 28th, 2006 at 10:52 am. Permalink.

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