I Have A Dream: My Personal API is almost here! (Part 2)

(Almost) as soon as I hit the "Submit" button on my last post, I see this post from RWW on a new startup (but really built on online storage company Mozy and an acquired personal information aggregator startup, into a new service called Decho. This makes my dream a lot closer, because it provides the backbone infrastructure for app developers (of which I am one) to build on top of this infrastructure and bring the dream closer. The key factor here, as one commenter posted is the UI, but I also think that user-driven control of their own data is key: it must be really user-driven, very granular (share my gizmo interests/profile with Jack, but not with Jill, tc. and ONLY when I am in a browsing-gizmos sites mode, versus a business mode. And while you're at it, also don't share that data with Walmart for Black Friday, but only with my local gizmo retailer company - I had to give an extreme example, lol). Now Decho is not quite there because it takes a lot more than user-owned digital data, e.g. online behavioral data. The crux is to build an ecosystem that convinces the BIG Data Owners (those that have a LOT of your data but that don't necessarily use it for anything else than to enrich/optimize on their own core business proposition) that there is more value in data itself beyond using it for operational purposes.

For instance: the Walmarts of the world own a TON of data, BUT: they're not optimizing it per se (other than building CRM systems to improve their own sales goals via marketing, promotions, etc.). If/when they will realize that just owning that data (but then sharing its control with the consumer) - thus extending their core value prop to a more platform-y, data network secondary business, that will bring the dream closer.

But of course, this must start somewhere and Decho seems to be on the right track here. Thoughts? More to come tomorrow.