Many, many people have asked whether concepts like “mash ups” are really going to have any long term relevance to, say, business. Well, it appears IBM thinks so. To quote:

The IBM Mashup Starter Kit, available today on IBM alphaWorks, enables line of business users to assemble their own Web 2.0 mashup applications, solving business problems without aid from information technology (IT) specialists.

The IBM Mashup Starter Kit contains two key technologies. The IBM Mashup Hub is a mashup server that stores information feeds such as in the RSS, ATOM or XML formats to enable reuse and collaboration. Mashup Hub can also merge, transform, filter, annotate or publish information in new formats.

Serious stuff – so if you want to have a good laugh to balance it out, check out some of the things Microsoft CEO Ballmer has been saying… this article has my favorite summary. Apparently, Facebook is just Geocities with some newfangled whatzits riding a fad wave.