03.22.06

Web 2.0 - Hype or Promise?

Posted in Web 2.0 at 9:35 am by Norm Garrett

I just read an excellent blog post (on WebMonkey) by Tim Ziegler. It is one of the best analyses of Web 2.0 that I have read. It is thorough and separates the hype from the facts. Web 2.0 has become an interesting subject because it is viewed (depending upon the perspective) as everything from a panacea to all of our ills to being dead in the water and nothing more than overblown hype. In between, there are many viewpoints:

1. Web 2.0 will greatly enhance our ability to collaborate, which is a good thing
2. Web 2.0 will greatly enhance our ability to collaborate, which is not a good thing
3. Web 2.0 will give power to the masses
4. Web 2.0 will give the masses information overload and, more importantly, serious information quality problems
5. Web 2.0 will allow ordinary people to publish, giving that power to the masses
6. Web 2.0 will fill our lives with trivial, unsubstantiated, poorly researched (if researched at all), and ubiquitous junk information

Are any of these true? Certainly, some must be. Read Tim Ziegler’s post to get a better handle on it and see what you think. What do I think? I think the jury’s still out. There is an old saying among programmers and software developers that goes like this: “Do you want your software developed quickly, correctly, or cheaply (select any two)?”

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