So I'm flipping through one of the random bits of mail totally unrelated to my job that somehow find their way to my work mailbox, and I see an article talking about the Web 2.0 explosion.
Web 2.0?
Did I miss something? Is there another World Wide Web? An updated version of the regular-old Web that I use almost daily? Do I need to plug in new addresses (now called URLs) when I search for information? Do I need some kind of expensive new software to access this?
Totally befuddled, I walk back to my desk and ask the guy next to me. He's just out of college, so he knows about these things.
"Is it like Windows Vista, which replaces Windows XP, which replaced Windows 2000 which replaced Windows 98?"
At least when Microsoft started, they had the consideration to go by years, so you could figure out what came when, in which order and how out of date you were. Now, you have to know that Vista is better than XP and that there really isn't a Web 1.0, so Web 2.0 doesn't mean that the Web you're using is out of date.
Glad I got that cleared up.
And what about MP3 players? Why don't they just call it a portable music player or a digital music player or electronic music player or whatever? Why do they have to use funky code words that don't mean a thing to people like me who understand the function of the technology but not the technology itself?
Just imagine how the following sentence might sound if you heard it five years ago:
"So I was listening to an MP3 and surfing Web 2.0 while I ripped music to my notebook to burn for my friend."
It's like a foreign language. Only nobody's waving any "It's America -- speak English!" banners.
Wow, that was woefully poor.
Ten years ago, everything but the "Web 2.0" thing would have made perfect sense to me... which I guess qualifies me to follow-up by saying that Vista is not really better than XP. I agree with your basic premise in a way, though -- Web 2.0, as a term coined by marketers, is pretty stupid.
I guess I see where you're trying to go with this, but it's just somewhat specialized language. For instance, if you asked someone to adjust the kerning on my byline font and justify my mugshot, they might give you equally odd looks.
First of all, a definition of web 2.0: http://www.loiclemeur.com/english/2006/11/differences_bet.html from the blog of Loïc Le Meur.
What I personally find amazing is the number of people who should be in the know about such things as Web 2.0, and are completely missing the boat. Bloggers, marketing professionals, people who could be using this change to their advantage, but don't know what it even is.