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Drift
Reality > Washington,
DC > Putting Web 2.0 in Perspective Part 4
Conclusion
When initially brainstorming ideas for an article
on Web 2.0, our chief technology officer Bob Schmidt made the
valid point: the use of '2.0' is ironic. O'Reilly claims that
in Web 2.0, "None of the trappings of the old software industry
are present. No scheduled software releases, just continuous improvement."
Well, the 2.0 signifier is representative of the software release
cycle, isn’t it?
Do the tenants of Web 2.0 not apply to the offline
world?
In a true Web 2.0 world a non-profit organization
shouldn't have to worry about being threatened with legal action
for using the name "Web 2.0." In a true Web 2.0 world,
the name Web 2.0 wouldn't be trademarked. The proof of whether
Web 2.0 is representative of a new era in communications will
be in the pudding. If we are truly linking ourselves into a global
brain, and the technology is leading us in that direction, we
should see real world impact on the way we live and behave. If
Web 2.0 holds water, we should be able to embrace its principles
in the way we work and how we communicate.
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