And then things went quiet.

Fast forward to 2010, and Siri is back. The back-end technology is faster, more robust, and fuelled by loads more data. Robert Scoble has been amongst those dropping not-so-subtle hints on Twitter for days, and other big names in and around the Valley have also been targeted in a carefully orchestrated programme of pre-briefings and beta invites. That all ends today, as the iPhone app is now out of beta and available this morning from Apple‘s App Store. Versions for Android devices and the Blackberry are coming along close behind, and the company has big plans for building upon what they already have.

I got my hands on the app earlier this month, and put it through as many of its paces as I could from 3,000 miles outside the US market for which the current app and data are optimised.

I’ve written up the results of my play (and my conversation with Siri’s other two co-founders) for ZDNet, and look forward to trying it for real on my next trip to the States.

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“Now that is actually different than what many Cloud aficionados are doing. They, I would argue, are still focusing on how infrastructure and software will be the difference in the Cloud. I don’t feel that way. The real difference that the cloud will bring about will be in how people interact with the services they care about.”

Using his admiration for the iPhone as the hook (yes, I like mine too), Daryl goes on to argue that;

“Make no mistake. The cloud is about services – not about infrastructure or software. And, what people do with those services will be the most telling bits of reality surrounding this emerging phenomenon called Cloud computing.”

The infrastructure and the software are, of course, vitally important components in realising the Cloud’s potential, but Daryl clearly has a point when he reminds us that we’re all doing this for a reason. A significant proportion of those getting excited about the Cloud today are ‘just’ getting excited about the technology. They’re getting excited about speed, and size, and APIs, and technological disruption.

I’m certainly interested in the technology, but I get excited by the things that become possible when it is put to work; when large sets of resources are put in the hands of a large and interconnected network of people.

That’s why I see so much opportunity in the convergence between the technological, social, economic and strategic threads so loosely labelled ‘Web 2.0,’ ‘Cloud Computing,’ ‘Semantic Web,’ and ‘Linked Data.’ Alone, each is technically interesting (and, possibly, even exciting.) Together, they move us to a whole different level. And that is what this site will increasingly be about.

It sounds as if Daryl may share at least some of those sentiments, and I look forward to the journey.

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