This is the first of a 3 part series. The third one includes this paragraph:
At buddycloud we're working to create an ecosystem of servers and clients that will enable open federated social networking. We're trying to avoid as many of the problems mentioned here by quietly doing things the right way. We are building some nice mobile clients. If you would like to help us please join buddycloud's dev team.
So it seems that they are indeed actively working towards the future that they are talking about.
The author founded http://buddycloud.com (an open, federated social network) - there was a lot of buzz around its Diaspora integration not so long ago; he already is working towards a (in his view, at least) better future.
