in other news

i think this is freakin’ hilarious

8 Responses to “in other news”

  1. mom Says:

    Help me out. I don’t get it. Is it low-tech/high-tech irony?

  2. Philip Says:

    I love mom’s comment! I too, am baffled. And I’m just a dad.

  3. kynthia Says:

    explaining humor is hard…

    anyway, here’s how i see it:
    ‘web 2.0’ (in quotes, by which i mean the term itself (and i say that not to condescend, but only to make it clear that i’m not using quotes for simple emphasis, which seems to be the rage. the other day the hotel manager here left me a list of things to do which included “turn on ‘outside lights'”, which is something that i continually forget to do, so i can only assume that the quotes were there to make ‘extra sure’ that i saw the item. but i digress.)) gets a lot of flak for being nothing more than a fluff term, a way of making something sound hip without really having to explain why. people pepper their talk with how web 2.0 their site is, hoping people will autocool them in their brains, even if their site isn’t doing anything all that cutting edge.

    in other words, it’s got a bit of a smoke and mirrors, don’t-trust-what-you-hear aura about it, which gives it something in common with snake oil.

    fwiw, i think there really is something to the phenomenon otherwise known as web 2.0, and i think that it is one of the pieces of the puzzle that is pointing the way towards a new way of relating to information.

    it’s part of what makes me do what i do.

    but i agree that the term itself has become pretty much useless, and it sets off a red flag when i hear it tossed about.

    i am not the only one having this reaction, and as a result, the way people use the term is changing. some people are trying to come up with new terms, and some people are trying to claim it back and remind everyone that it really does mean something.

    so the way we talk about the reinvention of the web is constantly being reinvented, which is surely the way that these things always go, but i just think that this cartoon parodies it in a really simple, incisive way that cuts to the quick of why i like hugh macleod so much, and that’s why i posted it, i think.

    i like it when pictures sum up things that would take me, um, 5 or 6 paragraphs to explain.

    :)

    but writing things out is also good for me, so thanks for the second prod there, philip, and forgive me for dropping the ball, mama. :)

    hope i helped!

  4. mom Says:

    I get it now! It is funny. And I never would’ve known it if you hadn’t told about the check-box thing because I’d already given up.

    xoxoxomom

  5. mom Says:

    Woah! What was that! I leave a comment and something from someone else last March appears?

  6. kynthia Says:

    ummm… where’d it go? i’ll send the mystery machine after it if you give me another clue.

  7. mom Says:

    So, it seems to have fixed itself but what happened is: I submitted my comment and waited to see it appear but when it appeared it was not my comment it was something from someone named tim from last March!

  8. Guest Says:

    Nowadays ‘2.0’ makes everything funny. Examples:

    God 2.0
    Earth 2.0
    Shame 2.0
    Genitalia 2.0

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