Just Web 2.0.

Or something equally apt. Just listening to NickW's latest podcast where he talks about, amongst other things, how 'microbrands' are nothing new, it's just now there's a snazzy name and a lot of buzz about the whole concept (and for the record Nick, I don't like Gaping Void either).

Well, I think that's pretty much the same all over the web tbh. Virtually everything out there has been done before, it's just now there's a new implementation, a bit of snazzy ajax (which incidentally has been around for years in itself - now it's just been rebranded), and people are all over it again.

What suprises me though, is how little ability people seem to have to predict the success of these trends. Take Twitter (and I *promise* this is the last time I'll blog about that bloody site) - a lot of people are downplaying it, writing it off as just another childish fad which people will grow tired of. Well wasn't the same thing said about blogging?? And IM? And probably the whole Internet?

My point being (and there is one somewhere here. If you dig deep.) that it's easy to be cynical about this stuff. And with all the crap that Web 2.0 generates it's probably wise to a certain extent. But maybe we're too concerned that we'll get burned by the latest toy that we miss the wood for trees. And that's why we need the early adopters to get drawn into the hype so that we can join in when in looks sensible and safe. But maybe we should just hold our breath and dive in every so often.

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