Problems with Uber-Databases

Interesting posting on potential problems with the “uber-database” approaches embodied by Ning and Google Base from Nova Spivak:

Systems such as Google Base and Ning present an N-squared integration challenge to developers. Every app has to be potentially continually re-integrated with up to every other app in the worst case. But even in the best case, they present unworkable challenges to developers because every app may have to be continually re-integrated with at least a few other apps.

This is the very problem that the Semantic Web was created to solve…
Read more at The Problem with Google Base and Ning.
Makes me wonder if one way to address Danny’s frustration at lack of apps is to produce/promote a simple playground in the style of Ning: a simple web service that allows one to store and retrieve arbitrary RDF, complete with SPARQL querying. Schema awareness/inferencing is a must to address the issues that
Nova raises and, more importantly, practically demonstrate their utility (or not!)
All the pieces to build such a beast already exist. I’m not that far from it myself.
(And here’s a another link to his blog that’ll help feed his curiosity about his readership)