The past two weeks have seen a number of announcements by Microsoft, Google, and Facebook that have set the stage for an incredible clash of the titans when it comes to the future of the Internet.

On one side, reigning champion Microsoft, monopolist of the personal computer era, backing young upstart Facebook, the early leader in the emerging social computing era.

On the other side, reigning search engine and online advertising king Google, and instead of backing a single emerging player, they've taken the longer tail and have embraced the concept of Open, which while including open source, also includes a broader philosophical approach to open internet development and initiatives.

This past Wednesday I appeared on TVO's prime time show The Agenda with Steve Paikin, to talk about the Facebook side, addressing the question "Is Facebook a Fad"? You can watch a copy of the video via TVO's website.

My co-panelists on the show were Om Malik, Mark Evans, Mathew Ingram, and Nancy Baym. Nancy wrote a post on her blog today sharing her thoughts on the discussion, and encouraging educators to use this video in class, which I think is a great idea, as all sorts of threads can be pulled out and continued.

With regard to the Google side of this clash, I was on CBC News Morning last week talking about Google's OpenSocial announcement, and earlier today I was on CBC News Today discussing their Android mobile platform and the Open Handset Alliance.

I also wrote an article for cbcnews.ca, focusing mostly on the Android announcement, but also touching upon OpenSocial. Here's an excerpt:

The reason this announcement heralds such a seismic shift in the way mobile devices are developing is that Google is embracing the Open Source movement and aligning itself with the Open model of technology development.

The Open Handset Alliance is an impressive group of 33 large corporations that Google has brought together to support an entirely open format of mobile computing. The combination of all these corporations and their combined resources, coupled with the momentum and speed at which the Open Source model can be employed, means that we will see the rate of change increase substantially when it comes to mobile technology. There are several reasons and benefits to Google going this route — the company is not supporting free and open software out of strictly moral or altruistic reasons. Its embrace of Open Source fits right into its existing business strategy. Google's business model is based on advertising. This new mobile platform allows it to integrate both its online services as well as its advertising system into each device that is created using this technology.

- read more via cbcnews.ca

Earlier last week I wrote another article for cbcnews.ca, this one regarding the culture war going on over copyright, innovation, and file sharing. Another example of the type of battles underway to influence how the Internet impacts society. Here's an excerpt:

A war over culture is being waged on the internet as the worlds of copyright and technological innovation collide. The outcome of this battle will have an impact not only on how we consume our media and information, but also how the internet as a whole may be governed, regulated, and even segregated.

On one side are lawyers and content companies that seek to extend traditional definitions of copyright and ownership to the internet. On the other are millions of internet users who seek to take advantage of innovations in technology and media to share culture and create a new consumer-centric model of content delivery and production.

- read more via cbcnews.ca