If you're in the web services space, you know that there's been lots of whining lately about how things are boring, no game changers are in sight, blah blah blah....

For the most part, I agree with this notion. But let's be optimistic for a moment and look at some web services that are hot, why they're hot, why we should be rooting for them, and what we can learn from them:

4. Adaptive Blue. I'm actually a bit skeptical of Adaptive Blue, because I think adoption issues will be too hard to overcome. I also think technology in the semantic web space is too hard; making a killer semantic app is tough, and I think users will get better results just by asking someone they trust. The human infomediary is the real winner here, in my opinion -- but we're still very early in that game (Mahalo has the right idea, but the search play is the wrong bet).

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Adaptive Blue has what it takes to make a killer app for the semantic web. And while their CEO, Alex Iskold, has fallen hook, line, and sinker for the Jack Bauer propaganda, don't be fooled: he's definitely one of the sharpest minds when it comes to understanding where the web is going, and that fact in and of itself makes Adaptive Blue an exciting company worth watching. And if a startup does come out with a killer semantic web app, and if this app does get adoption, it's going to be huge -- like game changer huge. And that's pretty exciting.

3. Ning. I think people grossly underestimate the opportunities in the social networking space. It's huge, and there is room and demand for more than just MySpace and Facebook. I like Ning a lot because it understands that social networks will get commoditized, and thus everyone will be able to have their own social network. I worry about Ning's major round of financing, as that makes an exit via acquisition tough, and I don't see the IPO market coming back for a long time -- possibly never. And those acquired dollars are seriously inflated, so they may not go as far as one would hope. And I don't think they will be able to compete effectively in the social networking for professional businesses space, which in my opinion is the larger market. But still, their strategy understands commoditization, the application is simple enough for consumers, and the market is huge (and I mean HUGE). That's exciting.

2. Jaxtr. An exciting play in the telephony space. I'm always a bit skeptical of telephony plays, just because they tend to be capital-intensive and thus often have scalability issues -- even more so than the average startup. But anything that drives down the cost of telephony is a good play; it's betting on the inevitable. The only question is execution. Someone's gotta do it -- so why not Jaxtr?

And now, without further ado, the hottest web service out there (that is not owned by Google or Yahoo)....

1. Outside.in. The local game is huge, and the winner of the local game will be a game changer. The challenge here is that the local pie is so big that Google is inevitably going to focus on it. Competing with Google is always dangerous.

But Outside.in gets it. It's simple. It's a portal. It remixes and re-annotates content. That's great stuff -- the stuff the future is made of. And while there are plenty of firms trying to play the local game, I haven't seen anyone come close to Outside.in in terms of playing it right.

Now, that's not much -- only four companies. But I don't think we're going to get much further in terms of game changers until we start looking for business models that leverage open source production communities and open publishing systems. That is, in my opinion, where the next round of game changers will really come from. That's the stuff that's going to end up doing the truly radical stuff: redefining the corporation; creating virtual currencies that rival "real" currencies; creating governance systems that rival governments; and other exciting stuff that makes the Internet the most revolutionary invention in the history of mankind.