Raw

I have a problem with the Semantic Web right now. We have plenty of solid specs (and SPARQL 1.1 as it's evolving). We have a lot of data online. The browser is getting smarter. Maybe it's because I don't trust myself with mobile devices, but I'm somehow missing the benefits all this should provide. The social side, which did seem to be doing very well with blogs and people setting up their own sites seems to have disappeared up a cul-de-sac with Twitter and Facebook. This morning I'd have liked to have found a hay fever remedy online, and been able to contact some local drug suppliers to stop me sneezing. It seems like we are all playing with toy projects and can't grow up (yes, I'm still working on my Turtle editor). I'm aware there's a huge amount of pharmaceutical data online, but to stop my sneezing the best bet still seems to be Wikipedia followed up with personal visits to medics. I expect, no *demand* more from the technology, but right now it all seems a bit Dark Ages. We have moved closer to the Bazaar model over Cathedrals, but that just seems to mean people have an excuse to be sloppy (it's open source so it's not my problem any more). About say 5 years ago there was inspirational stuff coming from academia, now it seems to have dried up into poor mimic of the commercial world. I've no real specific idea what is needed right now, but I suspect it looks a lot like a big kick up the backside.