The Bryan's 2.0 Experience

The self-titled post.


It has been a long, hard row to hoe getting this far. There were randomly placed stones strewn about the field, blocking any attempt to cultivate the land. Some of these boulders, namely the ones known as blogging from the circulation desk (like right now) and procrastination, were added by yours truly.



This is not, however, supposed to be a rant of the faults or failings of this program or its participant. What this is supposed to be is an analysis of the positives. So:



The best things in this life are the simplest and most flexible. The same is true for the applications explored in this exercise. Those options which improve communication without being cumbersome win out over those which fail to do so.

RSS allows end users to consume content in a manner that suits them while permitting the producers of said content to disseminate information to a wider audience (that is, it's quicker and simpler to add a feed than to frequent a website, meaning that more people will have an easier time getting the message). Similarly, the direct comm-oriented bits (IM, Twitter, MySpace, Flickr, etc.) allow the rapid transmission of ideas without a cumbersome interface (for the most part). There is a reason that cell phone text messaging is so popular: it's fast and easy.

Which brings me to my final point, one which was also made much earlier: portability is paramount. RSS, IM, MySpace? Welcome to 2000. Really. Some of this stuff has been around since the 90's! Amazon has had user-reviewed products and the so-called long tail since what, 2001 at the latest?

Around the same time as all this, an ingenious little device known as the BlackBerry made its debut. By combining the powers of a PDA, cell phone, and (underpowered) notebook computer, this little guy brought all these cool webby particulars into the palm of your hand. Now Steve Jobs has given the BlackBerry a fancy touch screen and two-year period of servitude, er, service contract. By releasing the product as the iPhone at five times the cost of its predecessor, Apple has revived interest in portable computers.



Welcome to the future.



Style over substance.